The Day After the Election
Dr. James White speaks truth here that all Christians should carefully hear…
How Could God Do This to Us?
“Thursday in Minneapolis it was so gorgeous walking home I thought: I should write a post on how astonishing it is that no earthquake swallowed up this city today.
Instead God sent warmth and crystal skies and cool breezes and golden leaves and hanging sea gulls over Elliot Park.
Amazing. Absolutely amazing!
We deserved the 52-story IDS tower to fall, and bridges to collapse, and poisonous gas to kill thousands. But instead God gave us over-the-top foretastes of heaven.
This is why everyone is crying out, Where was God on Thursday! Where were you God! How could you do this? Why did you let this happen?
Everybody is saying that, aren’t they?”
- John Piper
Copyright 2008 John Piper. Used by permission.
The Sacrifices of God
“All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2)
Last weekend my wife and I spent time in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina on a weekend retreat with our Sunday school class. The drive up was exhilarating as we approached the mountain line and began experiencing the popping of our ears as our bodies adjusted to the change in pressure. The colors of the leaves were astounding. The views from the car as we climbed higher and higher were absolutely breathtaking.
read the rest of this article …
The Triumph of Grace over the Power of Sin
Mike Ratliff has posted an excellent article on the condition of the visible church with regards to a lack of understanding and preaching on repentance. In fact, it seems these days that even mentioning repentance may get you thrown out of the “popular” culture within the church visible.
The debate in the visible Church in our time concerning the need for Christians to walk in Repentance is actually quite perplexing to those of us whose hearts and consciences are bound to the Word of God. It clearly exhorts us all to repent and walk in righteousness. I had a conversation with a Pastor a couple of years ago at lunch following his sermon that Sunday morning. We discussed the dreadful condition in the visible Church today in which most professing Christians appeared to be very immature and in bondage to their flesh. I asked for his opinion of why that was so. His response was that it was the result of the Church not being the Church as God designed. There was little or no Church discipline. There was little preaching of the Law and the Gospel together. There was hardly ever a mention of walking in repentance before our Holy God. I agreed completely with his analysis. He also shared that he did not believe that a very large percentage of the professing Christians were genuine.
Head on over to “Possessing the Treasure” to read the rest of this great article.
Practical Atheists
“Christians are condemned who profess to own God for their God and yet do not live as if he were their God. (1) They do not believe in him as a God. When they look upon their sins, they are apt to say, Can God pardon? When they look upon their wants, they say, Can God provide, can he prepare a table in the wilderness? (2) They do not love him as a God. They do not give him the cream of their love, but are prone to love other things more than God; they say they love God, but will part with nothing for him. (3) They do not worship him as God. They do not give him that reverence, nor pray with that devotion, as if they were praying to a God. How dead are their hearts! If not dead in sin, they are dead to duty. They pray as to a god that has eyes and sees not, ears and hears not. In hearing the Word, how much distraction, and what regardless hearts have many! They are thinking of their shops and drugs. Would a king take it well at our hands, if, when speaking to us, we should be playing with a feather? When God is speaking to us in his Word, and our hearts are taken up with thoughts about the world, is not this playing with a feather? Oh, how should this humble most of us, that we do not make God to be a God to us! We do not believe in him, love him, worship him as God. Many heathens have worshipped their false gods with more seriousness and devotion than some Christians do the true God. O let us chide ourselves; did I say chide? Let us abhor ourselves for our deadness and formality in religion; how we have professed God, and yet have not worshipped him as God.”
- Thomas Watson, “The Right Understanding of the Law“
Does God punish children for the sins of a parent?
The bible tells us that fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sins. (2 Kings 14:6 and 2 Chronicles 25:4) Who can argue with that? If I eat sour grapes, surely it is not my daughter’s mouth that will be filled with cavities. No! Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge. (Jeremiah 31:30)
But the bible also says that He punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation? (Exodus 20:5; 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9) Now there’s something the world would argue with? What kind of a God punishes innocent children because of what their parents do? To quote Abraham, will not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25)
True Conversion
No Greater Joy!
I have a confession to make. I know that as a follower of Jesus Christ, I am to be a faithful witness. I am commanded to share the gospel as I go. Obedience to Christ’s command is not optional. Every Christian is to be on mission for Christ in the world making Him known. Pastors are to be at the “head of the pack.”
And my confession? Too often my sharing has been out of a sense of duty or obligation. Furthermore, I allowed “feeling” to be my guide. If the situation “felt” right, and the circumstances were right, I would share. If not, I kept the message to myself.
This is sin plain and simple. James said, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (4:17, ESV). I asked for God’s forgiveness and renewed my commitment to be faithful in witness no matter how I felt. As a result, God has brought about a transformation in my thinking and practice. I give Him the glory!!
The transformation in thinking came after reading the Great Commission for no doubt the millionth time. It hit me, that sharing the gospel isn’t about “feeling” it is about loving obedience. I realized that if you will do what God says, in spite of how you feel (a biblical counseling principle), He will find great delight in it, and He will provide the means to follow through-His enabling grace. The transformation in my practice occurred when I then learned The Way of The Master method taught by Ray Comfort. Ray believes, and rightly so, that the Law (the Ten Commandments) must be used prior to sharing the gospel so that people will see and acknowledge their true sinful nature. This is the Law’s purpose, to bring about the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). Only then will they recognize the trouble they are in and turn to the only One, Jesus Christ, who can redeem them. The rule of thumb is “Law to the proud, grace to the humble.”
The transformation has been life changing. Sharing Christ with strangers is now a regular and on-going part of my life. Again, to Him belongs the glory!
The icing on the cake, so to speak, came while reading Mark Cahill’s book One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven. Mark mentions that often we do what we do in the Christian life because we “got to.” We are driven by obligation or duty. There is little joy in our efforts. We “got to” pray. We “got to” read our bibles. And yes, we “got to” witness. Mark suggests to change our thinking from “got to” to “get to.” We “get to” pray. We “get to” read our bibles. We “get to” witness. It’s all a privilege!!
The truth is a simple one: There is no greater joy!
With each day, God sends me opportunities to share the gospel. What was once done out of a sense of duty or governed by my own personal “feelings” of comfortableness, is now the joy of my life. I cannot think of anything I would rather do! Fellow believers! Listen up! We don’t “got to,” we “get to.” We get to share the greatest message the world could ever hear–the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no higher privilege. There is no greater joy!!!
When Sinners Say “I Do”
At first glance of the title When Sinners Say “I Do”, It is possible that an immediate response might incur a curiosity that leads to the question: “Does this book address the hard results of a marriage covenant made between two non-believers?” This is a great assumption for that matter. Yet, in its curiosity, which is warranted with a genuine desire to see such implications answered, has failed to acknowledge the foundational principals upon which this book is built.![](http://www.reformedbrethren.com/wp-content/51hyl9xagpl_ss500_.jpg "When Sinners Say \")
With the difficulties of marriage on display throughout, several themes are intertwined through each chapter as foundational truths that pierce the heart of any marriage. As a unifying thread, sin is brought to light as the leading culprit in the fallen nature of man and the some of the harsh realities we face in relationships. Accompanying its challenges, sin is magnified as the root reality from which humanity has found its struggle with God. More over, Dave Harvey completes the story by making evident the beautiful song of redemption and restoration that marriages require. Read more
Job the Book
Polls
Loading ...