andrew dodson

It seems I’ve gotten a lot of questions lately about Calvinism and Reformed Theology, so I thought I’d gather some resources together and put them here.  Desiring God has a couple of great pieces explaining their take on TULIP and what they believe about Calvinism:

> TULIP:  John Piper’s seminar notes (PDF)
> Desiring God:  What We Believe About The Five Points of Calvinism (HTML)

For those of you “on-the-go,” I’ve created a PDF copy of the Five Points of Calvinism article:

> Desiring God:  What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism (PDF)

The TULIP seminar is also available as a booklet ($4) and a set of audio CDs ($30) from Desiring God’s online store.

Whether you’re a Calvinist, Arminian, or neither, these are good resources to explain the history and theology behind Calvinism and Reformed Theology.

Seems that Josh Martin has tagged me, so I’ve gotta come up with six weird things about me.  I’ve done this once already.  It will be difficult to come up with six more weird things about me (maybe…).  Here goes:

1.  This may be more of a pet peeve - I get a little angry when people place large orders in a drive thru.  I mean, the purpose of a drive thru is to get your food quickly and move on.  If you’re ordering for sixteen people, go inside!

2.  I’m not sure I could go to bed before 11 p.m. if my life depended on it (typing this at 11:49 p.m.).

3.  For some reason, I think corn tastes better on the cob.

4.  I’m picky about undershirts in two ways:  a.) I always wear one - I can’t just wear one layer, unless I’m working out, and b.) they have to be snug around my neck.  Anything just short of choking me is okay in my book.

5.  As of this entry, there are 12,501 items in my iTunes.  That’s enough to listen to for 45 days and it takes up 70GB on a dedicated MP3 external hard drive.

6.  I cut my own hair.

Sadly, I’m not going to tag anyone else right now.  Chances are, I’ve already tagged you, or you’ve been tagged by someone else.

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I’ve been re-reading my Westminster Shorter Catechism (in Modern English) this weekend.  Here’s a few highlights:

• “Man’s primary purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
• “God’s providence is His completely holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing every creature and every action.”
• “Sin is disobeying or not conforming to God’s law in any way.”
• “Effective calling is the work of God’s Spirit, Who convinces us that we are sinful and miserable, Who enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and Who renews our wills.  This is how He persuades and makes us able to receive Jesus Christ, Who is freely offered to us in the gospel.”
• “The Spirit of God causes the reading and especially the preaching of the word to convince and convert sinners and to build them up in holiness and comfort through faith to salvation.”
• “For the word to become effective for salvation, we must pay careful attention to it, prepare ourselves, and pray for understanding.  We must also receive it with faith and love, treasure it in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.”

Sorry for the lack of blogging, folks.  I’m in the midst of “recording season.”  A couple of weeks ago, I recorded the Lexington Brass Band’s final concert of their season.  Last night, I recorded the Georgetown College Chorale’s home concert of their Spring Tour.  Tomorrow night, I will be back at Georgetown to record the Symphonic Band.  On Sunday, I’ll be recording Georgetown’s Concert Choir.  The following Sunday will be the Central Kentucky Concert Band’s final concert of their season.  On top of mixing, editing & duplicating these recordings, I’m still at work on the Josh Martin Band’s DVD recording.  Oh yeah… don’t forget recordings of The Point sermons & bible studies on Sundays and Wednesdays. 

After this month, recording will die down for a good while.  Other than working with Travis Huber on his solo material, most of my other clients won’t be active again until Fall.  I’m sure my attention will shift to more web projects.

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Ok… now, I officially know I’m a nerd.  I mean… I’ve always sort of knew it, but this confirms it.

Last Friday night, I went to Corinth’s “private sale” because I had a 40% off coupon.  After perusing the store for about an hour, I finally settled on Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology.  I’ve always wanted it, but have never wanted to pay $40 for it.

I’m really enjoying reading it (that’s the part that confirms my nerdiness).  It’s more of a text book than something you’d read cover-to-cover, so I’ve been jumping around in it.  Last night’s reading was the section on inheriting sin, and about how even babies are sinful little creatures.  This doesn’t come as too big of a shock for some parents.  For others, it’s sad, but true, according to Scripture.

Back to being a big nerd….

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Well… it’s that time of year.  CLS has been busy printing a job for a big Kentucky event (can’t say the name b/c we’re only printing it - it’s a contract customer’s job).  So… my life is CLS right now, as is a lot of other people’s lives.  I don’t mind so much.  The only real plans I have for this weekend is going to see MercyMe in concert on Saturday night.  I will also be off work on Sunday due to church activities.  Other than that, I’ll be at CLS.  Drop by if you want to help 

(p.s. - big thanks to all of those that have agreed to come in and help!)

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I spent most of today redesigning The Point’s media site.  It’s actually one of the quickest site redesigns I’ve done.  Go check it out…

> TPCC Media Site

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In what seemed like electing a new President or Governor, the University of Kentucky has hired a new coach for its basketball team - Billy Gillispie.  Initially surprised by the decision, I can now say I’m a fan.  I think he instantly won over the Kentucky faithful during his press conference/pep rally.  He displayed wit, humor, dedication, pride, humbleness.  I just think you can’t help but like the guy.  After reading up him for the past couple of days, I think we’ve got the right guy for the job.  Is it November yet?

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In honor of Good Friday, I am posting the April 6th entry from Oswald Chambers’s My Utmost for His Highest:

The Collision of God and Sin
“… who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree …” (

1 Peter 2:24 (Listen)

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

).
The Cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God’s judgment on sin. Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundations of hell. There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross—He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God. He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God.
The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus—He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming. He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (

Revelation 13:8 (Listen)

8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

). The incarnation of Christ would have no meaning without the Cross. Beware of separating “God was manifested in the flesh …” from “… He made Him … to be sin for us …” (

1 Timothy 3:16 (Listen)

16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.

;

2 Corinthians 5:21 (Listen)

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

). The purpose of the incarnation was redemption. God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself. The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both.

The Cross is not the cross of a man, but the Cross of God, and it can never be fully comprehended through human experience. The Cross is God exhibiting His nature. It is the gate through which any and every individual can enter into oneness with God. But it is not a gate we pass right through; it is one where we abide in the life that is found there.

The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.

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This is way-cool. Alesis will soon release the iMultiMix 8 USB. It records directly to an iPod. I can’t say I’ll be adding this to my list of recording gear, but it’s a pretty cool idea.

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