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HT: Matt Haney
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Thoughts on the Way Home
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Orality and Scripture.
Some good thoughts from Piper. The principle, get them the gospel quickly, but don't make them second-handers.
This is extremely relevant for Bangladesh, what with many uneducated believers.
This is extremely relevant for Bangladesh, what with many uneducated believers.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Things Missing in Modern Preaching - Iain Murray
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Among things missing in much preaching today, I regret the following:
1. Too often no distinct text is announced at the outset (almost as though a text is a boring way to start a sermon). But nothing was more important. In former times; a preacher often gave out his text twice.
2. Lack of passion and urgency
3. On the the part of the preacher, there is a lack of faith-- not a lack of faith in his message, but of faith in Christ to enable him to speak in His name without dependence on a written manuscript. There is too much paper in pulpits!
4. Lack of memorization of Scripture! We all ought to know much more Scripture by heart than we do, and especially preachers. An occasional turning up of a reference with the congregation is understandable, but to make a practice of it, and to fail to quote Scripture freely, is to diminish what preaching ought to be.
5. Far better to be short than to be dull! A number of eminent preachers could be quoted who did not think 20 minutes is too short or is unacceptable. There ought to be more variation.
- Iain Murray
HT: Mack T.
Things Missing in Modern Preaching
Among things missing in much preaching today, I regret the following:
1. Too often no distinct text is announced at the outset (almost as though a text is a boring way to start a sermon). But nothing was more important. In former times; a preacher often gave out his text twice.
2. Lack of passion and urgency
3. On the the part of the preacher, there is a lack of faith-- not a lack of faith in his message, but of faith in Christ to enable him to speak in His name without dependence on a written manuscript. There is too much paper in pulpits!
4. Lack of memorization of Scripture! We all ought to know much more Scripture by heart than we do, and especially preachers. An occasional turning up of a reference with the congregation is understandable, but to make a practice of it, and to fail to quote Scripture freely, is to diminish what preaching ought to be.
5. Far better to be short than to be dull! A number of eminent preachers could be quoted who did not think 20 minutes is too short or is unacceptable. There ought to be more variation.
- Iain Murray
HT: Mack T.
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Monday, December 21, 2009
How Good I Am! - J.R. Miller
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The lives of godly people are sometimes compared to the dew. One point of likeness, is the quiet way in which the dew performs its ministry. It falls silently and imperceptibly. It makes no noise. No one hears it dropping. It chooses its time in the night when men are sleeping, when none can see its beautiful work. It covers the leaves with clusters of pearls. It steals into the bosoms of the flowers, and leaves new cupfuls of sweetness there. It pours itself down among the roots of the grasses and tender herbs and plants. It loses itself altogether, and yet it is not lost. For in the morning there is fresh life everywhere, and new beauty. The fields are greener, the gardens are more fragrant, and all nature is clothed in fresh luxuriance!
Is there not in this simile, a suggestion as to the way we should seek to do good in this world? Should we not wish to have our influence felt--while no one thinks of us; rather than that we should be seen and heard and praised? Should we not be willing to lose ourselves in the service of self-forgetful love, as the dew loses itself in the bosom of the rose--caring only that other lives shall be sweeter, happier, and holier--and not that honor shall come to us? We are too anxious, some of us, that our names shall be written in large letters on the things we do, even on what we do for our Master; and are not willing to sink ourselves out of sight--and let Him alone have the praise.
Our Lord's teaching on the subject is very plain. He says: "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." That is, they have that which they seek--the applause of men.
"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." The meaning would seem to be, that we are not to wish people to know of our good deeds, our charities, our self-denials; that we should not seek publicity, when we give money or do good works; indeed, that we are not even to tell ourselves what we have done; that we are not to think about our own good deeds so as to become conscious of them; not to put them down in our diaries and go about complimenting ourselves, throwing bouquets at ourselves, and whispering: "How good I am! What fine things I have done!"
This is an insightful test of our lives. Are we willing to be as the dew--to steal abroad in the darkness, carrying blessings to men's doors, blessings that shall enrich the lives of others and do them good--and then steal away again before those we have helped or blessed awaken, to know what hand it was that brought the gift? Are we willing to work for others . . .
without gratitude,
without recognition,
without human praise,
without requital?
Are we content to have our lives poured out like the dew--to bless the world and make it more fruitful--and yet remain hidden away ourselves? Is it enough for us to see the fruits of our toil and sacrifice--in others' spiritual growth, and deeper happiness; yet never hear our names spoken in praise or honor--perhaps even hearing others praised for things we have done?
If you go about doing good in simple ways, in gentle kindnesses, not thinking of reward, not dreaming of praise, not hoping for any return--you are enshrining your name where it will have immortal honor! Our lesson teaches us that this is the way we are to live--if we are followers of Christ!
How good I am! What fine things I have done!
(J. R. Miller, "The Beauty of Quietness" 1903)
"They will be like dew sent by the Lord." Micah 5:7
(J. R. Miller, "The Beauty of Quietness" 1903)
"They will be like dew sent by the Lord." Micah 5:7
The lives of godly people are sometimes compared to the dew. One point of likeness, is the quiet way in which the dew performs its ministry. It falls silently and imperceptibly. It makes no noise. No one hears it dropping. It chooses its time in the night when men are sleeping, when none can see its beautiful work. It covers the leaves with clusters of pearls. It steals into the bosoms of the flowers, and leaves new cupfuls of sweetness there. It pours itself down among the roots of the grasses and tender herbs and plants. It loses itself altogether, and yet it is not lost. For in the morning there is fresh life everywhere, and new beauty. The fields are greener, the gardens are more fragrant, and all nature is clothed in fresh luxuriance!
Is there not in this simile, a suggestion as to the way we should seek to do good in this world? Should we not wish to have our influence felt--while no one thinks of us; rather than that we should be seen and heard and praised? Should we not be willing to lose ourselves in the service of self-forgetful love, as the dew loses itself in the bosom of the rose--caring only that other lives shall be sweeter, happier, and holier--and not that honor shall come to us? We are too anxious, some of us, that our names shall be written in large letters on the things we do, even on what we do for our Master; and are not willing to sink ourselves out of sight--and let Him alone have the praise.
Our Lord's teaching on the subject is very plain. He says: "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." That is, they have that which they seek--the applause of men.
"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." The meaning would seem to be, that we are not to wish people to know of our good deeds, our charities, our self-denials; that we should not seek publicity, when we give money or do good works; indeed, that we are not even to tell ourselves what we have done; that we are not to think about our own good deeds so as to become conscious of them; not to put them down in our diaries and go about complimenting ourselves, throwing bouquets at ourselves, and whispering: "How good I am! What fine things I have done!"
This is an insightful test of our lives. Are we willing to be as the dew--to steal abroad in the darkness, carrying blessings to men's doors, blessings that shall enrich the lives of others and do them good--and then steal away again before those we have helped or blessed awaken, to know what hand it was that brought the gift? Are we willing to work for others . . .
without gratitude,
without recognition,
without human praise,
without requital?
Are we content to have our lives poured out like the dew--to bless the world and make it more fruitful--and yet remain hidden away ourselves? Is it enough for us to see the fruits of our toil and sacrifice--in others' spiritual growth, and deeper happiness; yet never hear our names spoken in praise or honor--perhaps even hearing others praised for things we have done?
If you go about doing good in simple ways, in gentle kindnesses, not thinking of reward, not dreaming of praise, not hoping for any return--you are enshrining your name where it will have immortal honor! Our lesson teaches us that this is the way we are to live--if we are followers of Christ!
HT: Grace Gems
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Sinners Always Avoid the Obvious - Mack Tomlinson
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A friend recently mentioned they heard someone ask Martha Stewart the question, "You are so busy and active. What would you do if you got sick?", to which Stewart replied, "Sick? I'm too busy to get sick; I can't get sick; I don't have time to get sick; don't talk about getting sick; I don't want to even think about it."
Such is the world's attitude and approach to reality. Sickness?- "I don't like the subject"; Sin?- "don't talk to me about that religious stuff"; Death?- "O, that's morbid, why don't you talk about something pleasant?"
Often unbelievers, when facing the end of life, they and their families won't even discuss death and the need to be ready and face it; instead, the attitude is, "let's just enjoy and have fun in the remaining time we've got with you- let's be pleasant, laugh, eat, share memories, and be positive; we don't want to be discouraging and negative; let's all smile and be positive." Let's translate that:
Denial- "I don't want to talk about it."
The largest, most applicable realities that affect life the most are those that the world doesn't want to deal with it; Instead, they will only talk food, fun times, cars, movies, jokes, clothes, gossip, the latest Tiger Woods news, college football, movie stars, and fads. It's not that they only want to talk about lesser temporals, those are the only things that are real to unbelievers so its all they can talk about.
If God, Jesus Christ, sin, sickness, death, and eternity are not real to you, then you will have no interest in thinking about or focusing upon the greater issues of life, living, dying, and entering eternity.
So I would ask Ms. Stewart, "Well, Martha, when you come to die, will you be cooking then? What will you do when sickness does come and you are not before the cameras, but instead are on a sick bed-- what will you do then? Then, you will have time to be sick. When death comes to you, then you will face it. You may not want to think about it now, but then you will have no choice."
Sickness and / or death are fast approaching, and you will have a personal encounter with the irresistible force of every greater reality--sickness, death, eternity, and facing God in judgment and the unavoidable appointment of standing before the judge of the universe, Jesus Christ; then, you will not discuss cooking, or aunt Molly, or Facebook or Twittering, or the latest fad; when that day comes, guess what will be real then? Him and eternity and your fixed eternal destiny.
And guess what will not be in the thoughts of unbelievers then? Food, fun times, cars, movies, jokes, clothes, gossip, the latest Tiger Woods news, college football, movie stars, and fads.
"I don't like to think about it?" Every unbeliever, including Martha Stewart, needs to get real, get honest, get a Bible, and get to the Saviour to get ready. Now is the only time to think about it.
-- Mack Tomlinson
Sinners Always Avoid the Obvious
A friend recently mentioned they heard someone ask Martha Stewart the question, "You are so busy and active. What would you do if you got sick?", to which Stewart replied, "Sick? I'm too busy to get sick; I can't get sick; I don't have time to get sick; don't talk about getting sick; I don't want to even think about it."
Such is the world's attitude and approach to reality. Sickness?- "I don't like the subject"; Sin?- "don't talk to me about that religious stuff"; Death?- "O, that's morbid, why don't you talk about something pleasant?"
Often unbelievers, when facing the end of life, they and their families won't even discuss death and the need to be ready and face it; instead, the attitude is, "let's just enjoy and have fun in the remaining time we've got with you- let's be pleasant, laugh, eat, share memories, and be positive; we don't want to be discouraging and negative; let's all smile and be positive." Let's translate that:
Denial- "I don't want to talk about it."
The largest, most applicable realities that affect life the most are those that the world doesn't want to deal with it; Instead, they will only talk food, fun times, cars, movies, jokes, clothes, gossip, the latest Tiger Woods news, college football, movie stars, and fads. It's not that they only want to talk about lesser temporals, those are the only things that are real to unbelievers so its all they can talk about.
If God, Jesus Christ, sin, sickness, death, and eternity are not real to you, then you will have no interest in thinking about or focusing upon the greater issues of life, living, dying, and entering eternity.
So I would ask Ms. Stewart, "Well, Martha, when you come to die, will you be cooking then? What will you do when sickness does come and you are not before the cameras, but instead are on a sick bed-- what will you do then? Then, you will have time to be sick. When death comes to you, then you will face it. You may not want to think about it now, but then you will have no choice."
Sickness and / or death are fast approaching, and you will have a personal encounter with the irresistible force of every greater reality--sickness, death, eternity, and facing God in judgment and the unavoidable appointment of standing before the judge of the universe, Jesus Christ; then, you will not discuss cooking, or aunt Molly, or Facebook or Twittering, or the latest fad; when that day comes, guess what will be real then? Him and eternity and your fixed eternal destiny.
And guess what will not be in the thoughts of unbelievers then? Food, fun times, cars, movies, jokes, clothes, gossip, the latest Tiger Woods news, college football, movie stars, and fads.
"I don't like to think about it?" Every unbeliever, including Martha Stewart, needs to get real, get honest, get a Bible, and get to the Saviour to get ready. Now is the only time to think about it.
-- Mack Tomlinson
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Sunday, December 20, 2009
Why Should We Require Unregenerate Children to Act Right? - John Piper
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If mere external conformity to God’s commands (like don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t kill) is hypocritical and spiritually defective, then why should parents require obedience from their unregenerate children?
Won’t this simply confirm them in unspiritual religious conformity, hypocritical patterns of life, and legalistic moralism?
Here are at least three reasons why Christian parents should require their small children (regenerate or unregenerate) to behave in ways that conform externally to God’s revealed will. I say “small children” because as a child gets older, there are certain external conformities to God’s revealed will that should be required and others that should not. It seems to me, for example, while parents should require drug-free, respectful decency from a 15-year-old, it would do little good to require an unbelieving and indifferent 15-year-old to read his Bible every day. But it would be wise to require that of a 6-year-old, while doing all we can to help him enjoy it and see the benefit in it.
So the following points are reasons why we should require smaller children to behave in ways that conform at least externally to God’s word.
1) For children, external, unspiritual conformity to God’s commanded patterns of behavior is better than external, unspiritual non-conformity to those patterns of behavior.
A respectful and mannerly 5-year-old unbeliever is better for the world than a more authentic defiant, disrespectful, ill-mannered, unbelieving bully. The family, the friendships, the church, and the world in general will be thankful for parents that restrain the egocentric impulses of their children and confirm in them every impulse toward courtesy and kindness and respect.
2) Requiring obedience from children in conformity with God’s will confronts them with the meaning of sin in relation to God, the nature of their own depravity, and their need for inner transformation by the power of grace through the gospel of Christ.
There comes a point where the “law” dawns on the child. That is, he realizes that God (not just his parents) requires a certain way of life from him and that he does not like some of it, and that he cannot do all of it.
At this crisis moment, the good news of Christ’s dying for our sins becomes all important. Will the child settle into a moralistic effort the rest of his life, trying to win the acceptance and love of God? Or will he hear and believe that God’s acceptance and forgiveness and love are free gifts—and receive this God in Christ as the supreme treasure of his life?
The child will have a hard time grasping the meaning of the cross if parents have not required of him behaviors, some of which he dislikes, and none of which he can do perfectly.
Christ lived and died to provide for us the righteousness we need (but cannot perform) and to endure for us the punishment we deserve (but cannot endure). If parents do not require external righteousness and apply measures of punishment, the categories of the cross will be difficult for a child to grasp.
3) The marks of devotion, civility, and manners (“please,” “thank you,” and good eye contact) are habits that, God willing, are filled later with grace and become more helpful ways of blessing others and expressing a humble heart.
No parents have the luxury of teaching their child nothing while they wait for his regeneration. If we are not requiring obedience, we are confirming defiance. If we are not inculcating manners, we are training in boorishness. If we are not developing the disciplines of prayer and Bible-listening, we are solidifying the sense that prayerlessness and Biblelessness are normal.
Inculcated good habits may later become formalistic legalism. Inculcated insolence, rudeness, and irreligion will likely become worldly decadence. But by God’s grace, and saturated with prayer, good habits may be filled with the life of the Spirit by faith. But the patterns of insolence and rudeness and irreligion will be hard to undo.
Caution. Here we are only answering one question: Why should parents require submissive behaviors of children when they may be unregenerate rebels at heart? Of course that is not all Christian parents should do.
* Let there be much spontaneous celebration verbally of every hopeful sign of life and goodness in our children.
* Let us forgive them often and be longsuffering.
* Let us serve them and not use them.
* Let us lavish them with joyful participation in their interests.
* Let us model for them the joy of knowing and submitting to theLord Jesus.
* Let us apologize often when we fall short of our own Father’s requirements.
* Let us pray for them without ceasing.
* Let us saturate them with the word of God from the moment they are in the womb (the uterus is not sound proof).
* Let us involve them in happy ministry experiences and show them it is more blessed to give than to receive.
* Let them see us sing to the King.
* Let us teach them relentlessly the meaning of the gospel in the hope that God will open their eyes and make them alive. It happens through the gospel (1 Peter 1:22-25).
-- John Piper
HT: Mack T
Why Should We Require Unregenerate Children to Act Right?
If mere external conformity to God’s commands (like don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t kill) is hypocritical and spiritually defective, then why should parents require obedience from their unregenerate children?
Won’t this simply confirm them in unspiritual religious conformity, hypocritical patterns of life, and legalistic moralism?
Here are at least three reasons why Christian parents should require their small children (regenerate or unregenerate) to behave in ways that conform externally to God’s revealed will. I say “small children” because as a child gets older, there are certain external conformities to God’s revealed will that should be required and others that should not. It seems to me, for example, while parents should require drug-free, respectful decency from a 15-year-old, it would do little good to require an unbelieving and indifferent 15-year-old to read his Bible every day. But it would be wise to require that of a 6-year-old, while doing all we can to help him enjoy it and see the benefit in it.
So the following points are reasons why we should require smaller children to behave in ways that conform at least externally to God’s word.
1) For children, external, unspiritual conformity to God’s commanded patterns of behavior is better than external, unspiritual non-conformity to those patterns of behavior.
A respectful and mannerly 5-year-old unbeliever is better for the world than a more authentic defiant, disrespectful, ill-mannered, unbelieving bully. The family, the friendships, the church, and the world in general will be thankful for parents that restrain the egocentric impulses of their children and confirm in them every impulse toward courtesy and kindness and respect.
2) Requiring obedience from children in conformity with God’s will confronts them with the meaning of sin in relation to God, the nature of their own depravity, and their need for inner transformation by the power of grace through the gospel of Christ.
There comes a point where the “law” dawns on the child. That is, he realizes that God (not just his parents) requires a certain way of life from him and that he does not like some of it, and that he cannot do all of it.
At this crisis moment, the good news of Christ’s dying for our sins becomes all important. Will the child settle into a moralistic effort the rest of his life, trying to win the acceptance and love of God? Or will he hear and believe that God’s acceptance and forgiveness and love are free gifts—and receive this God in Christ as the supreme treasure of his life?
The child will have a hard time grasping the meaning of the cross if parents have not required of him behaviors, some of which he dislikes, and none of which he can do perfectly.
Christ lived and died to provide for us the righteousness we need (but cannot perform) and to endure for us the punishment we deserve (but cannot endure). If parents do not require external righteousness and apply measures of punishment, the categories of the cross will be difficult for a child to grasp.
3) The marks of devotion, civility, and manners (“please,” “thank you,” and good eye contact) are habits that, God willing, are filled later with grace and become more helpful ways of blessing others and expressing a humble heart.
No parents have the luxury of teaching their child nothing while they wait for his regeneration. If we are not requiring obedience, we are confirming defiance. If we are not inculcating manners, we are training in boorishness. If we are not developing the disciplines of prayer and Bible-listening, we are solidifying the sense that prayerlessness and Biblelessness are normal.
Inculcated good habits may later become formalistic legalism. Inculcated insolence, rudeness, and irreligion will likely become worldly decadence. But by God’s grace, and saturated with prayer, good habits may be filled with the life of the Spirit by faith. But the patterns of insolence and rudeness and irreligion will be hard to undo.
Caution. Here we are only answering one question: Why should parents require submissive behaviors of children when they may be unregenerate rebels at heart? Of course that is not all Christian parents should do.
* Let there be much spontaneous celebration verbally of every hopeful sign of life and goodness in our children.
* Let us forgive them often and be longsuffering.
* Let us serve them and not use them.
* Let us lavish them with joyful participation in their interests.
* Let us model for them the joy of knowing and submitting to theLord Jesus.
* Let us apologize often when we fall short of our own Father’s requirements.
* Let us pray for them without ceasing.
* Let us saturate them with the word of God from the moment they are in the womb (the uterus is not sound proof).
* Let us involve them in happy ministry experiences and show them it is more blessed to give than to receive.
* Let them see us sing to the King.
* Let us teach them relentlessly the meaning of the gospel in the hope that God will open their eyes and make them alive. It happens through the gospel (1 Peter 1:22-25).
-- John Piper
HT: Mack T
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Afterwards You Will Understand - J. R. Miller
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"He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel He had around Him." John 13:4-5
"What I am doing, you do not understand now--but afterwards you will understand." John 13:7
At this time Peter did not know why the Messiah he really needed--was a Messiah with basin and towel. He was thinking of a Messiah with throne and crown and scepter and earthly pomp! He did not understand it--until after the blood of Calvary had been shed. Christ referred to these days by "afterwards."
This saying of Christ, however, may be used in a much wider sense. There are a great many things that He does, which at the time we cannot understand; yet in due time--all of them will become clear. As they appear to us, while we are passing through them, they are unfinished acts; when the work is completed--it will appear beautiful. This is especially true of many mysterious providences in our lives. One time Jacob thought and said, "All these things are against me!" But he lived to see that the very things which he thought were against him--were really all working together for his good.
So it is always, in the providences of God with His own people. "We know that all things work together for good, to those who love God."
The back side of a tapestry appears to be a mystery of tangle and confusion--but there is a beautiful picture on the other side. Just so--we are looking at our lives, largely on the back side. We cannot see the Master's plan--until 'afterwards'.
HT: Grace Gems
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Saturday, December 19, 2009
Sharing Christ Over Christmas
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From Chris Castaldo at Chris-tocentric:
Read the rest HERE.
HT: JT
I don’t know about you, but most of my gospel encounters don’t allow for a full-orbed sermon. In a crusade, the goal of the evangelist is to clearly present the entire message and urge someone to make a decision. (It’s probably not an accident that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s magazine is named Decision.) However, if you define all of evangelism in that way, what happens when you only have two minutes to talk to a colleague beside the water cooler during break? How do you witness to the checkout person in the supermarket, or to a family member who knows what you believe and is utterly disinterested in hearing any more sermons? The answer is—you don’t. You don’t say a thing. We can’t share in that kind of way without completely alienating ourselves; therefore, we don’t share at all. The outcome is the same as hiding our lamp beneath the proverbial table. What we need to learn is how to gradually plant seeds of gospel truth that help people incrementally move one step closer to Christ. Therefore, instead of defining evangelism strictly as a comprehensive presentation of the “full delmonte” (i.e., everything there is to say about salvation) culminating into a Billy-Graham-like invitation, we need to view the incremental efforts of seed planting, which we perform in the course of natural relationships, as not only a legitimate form of evangelism but also a critical method among our loved ones.
Read the rest HERE.
HT: JT
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Performance-Based Christianity
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From Terry Rayburn at Grace for Life:
The conclusion:
Read the whole thing HERE.
Performance-based Christianity is just a fancy way of describing a form of legalism. And it’s one of the most common forms of legalism in the Church, partly because it’s so subtle, and partly because we forget that everything we have is from God.
Performance-based Christianity is that form of legalism that tries to earn God’s love or favor by what we do, or how we perform.
The conclusion:
Let your performance be a fruit of walking with Jesus. Walking in the Spirit, in gratitude for what God has already done for you. Don’t ever try to EARN God’s love and favor. If you’re His child, you already have it.
We are "...servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Cor. 3:6)
And that New Covenant, of course, is in Jesus Christ, who became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.
What a Savior and Friend!
Read the whole thing HERE.
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Two From Ravenhill
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The Mystery and Majesty of the Incarnation
It seems to me that the offense of the Incarnation is that it defies analysis and therefore is thrown out by the wisdom of this present age. "The Word became Flesh"- there is no known answer to this in the scientist’s test tube and laboratory. So what science cannot explain is discounted and is even scorned.
But, bless the Lord, the Invisible became visible. The Ancient of Days has His beginning of human days, and of all places, in a Bethlehem manger.
But it was not the manger of the Christmas cards. Logically, if the inn was crowded, then the stable would have been crowded too, with all kinds of animals, so it would have been full of dung and offensive odor.
And it was there that the Lord of glory came for us and for our salvation. Here is mystery and majesty. Wise men came and worshipped Him. They still do today, for no one is wise who rejects Christ. The shepherds came to bow to the Great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. So must we.
A Channel to Bless the World
I have thought much this Christmas season about the Lord being born of Mary. He could have come down as Elijah went up, in a chariot of fire. The Jews would have received Him then. But God took Mary--her body, her emotions, her substance and all she had, and through her He gave us His Son. In the same way, He blesses the world, not merely by what we say, but by what we offer. He takes what we have and through it, makes a channel to bless others.
We are to be broken bread and poured out wine, that through us by the indwelling Spirit, others are reached. Channels only, blessed Master.
-Leonard Ravenhill
HT: Mack Tomlinson
-Leonard Ravenhill
HT: Mack Tomlinson
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Our Faithful Keeper - Mack Tomlinson
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Our Faithful Keeper
Psalm 121
What a great reality that it is God who keeps us or we would not be kept. What a thought and what a fact that it is He alone that keeps us in all our ways. Just think for a moment what God promises us in this regard. In Psalm 121, we are told no less than six times in six verses that God is keeping us.
He who keeps you will not slumber- vs. 3
Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep- vs. 4
The Lord is your keeper- vs. 5
The Lord will keep you from all evil- vs 7
He will keep your life- vs 7
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore- vs. 8
I am so glad, so thankful, and so comforted by the fact that it is Christ who keeps us. I can't even keep my desk straight and clean--how then could I keep my life and soul preserved for the future and for eternity? How could we keep ourselves from the enemy? How could we keep ourselves from being overcome by life? We could not and we cannot keep ourselves. We would not be kept unless One infinitely greater than ourselves was not keeping us every moment.
Kept by the power of God through faith- 1 Peter 1:5
Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee- Isaiah 26:3
Unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you blameless before His presence with great joy- Jude 24
Kept
I am so glad of this certainty
That my King ever keeps me;
Preserved to the end I shall be
Kept by grace full and free.
Kept by love that never fails
Goodness and mercy my life do trail;
Kept by wisdom never ending
Kept by grace He keeps sending.
Kept by Him through promises unfailing
Kept for Him by power ere flowing;
Kept by Him till this life shall end
Kept for Him till this race I win.
Kept by Him unto eternity
Kept for Him forever I'll be;
Kept by Him till my days are done
Kept for Him till my course is run.
- Mack Tomlinson
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Star Size Comparison
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I just love stuff like this:
Psalm 8
1O LORD, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
5Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
8The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9O LORD, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
HT: Challies
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
5Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
8The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9O LORD, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
HT: Challies
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Sunday, December 13, 2009
Today You Be the Minister at Church - Mack Tomlinson
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I hope you get this before you go to church today. If so, think about this plan for your preparing to go to the church meeting.
Do you think your pastor or the elder who is preaching today has probably prepared at all for the service? Do you think his heart and mind have done some preparation and that he is going to show up at the meeting, having a heart to minister to others, and will specifically offer the congregation something he has prepared? Will he consciously bring something that they he hopes, by God's grace, will be used by the Lord to edify the body?
I want to encourage you to do exactly that today. Don't just go to receive something, though God does want you to receive today. Don't just go to get, though we do need to get benefit. Do not go empty-handed or with an unprepared heart.
Why don't YOU be the minister today? How? Here's a free trial sample of how you can.
Being prepared means you are consciously choosing to do some or all of the following.
1. Go to your church meeting today determined to have a heart before God to be a blessing to others there.
2. Go to your church meeting today with a plan to greet with sincerity each person you come in contact with.
3. Consciously and purposely be a blessing to those you engage at the meeting.
4. Choose the 'least' or 'weakest' among you, and show them love, give them a hug, and say or share something appropriate with them that will show them you care for them today.
5. Work at going out of your way to be friendly and find out how others are doing and ask specifically how you can pray for them.
6. EXPRESS verbal appreciation and love for different ones; choose to go outside your comfort zone and go up to a few people and tell them, with words. Undoubtedly, there are a number of the brethren you worship with and are supposed to be committed to and your never or rarelyand it has been weeks, months, or even longer (perhaps never with some of them) that you have expressed that you are thankful for them and that they have been a blessing to you.
7. Make yourself go out of your way and get out of your little Sunday rut and seek out a number of people individually.
- if someone has been a blessing to you at any time, today tell them, even if you have told them before.
- if someone has been an encouragement to you, today tell them.
- If someone's love for Christ has been an example to you, tell them.
- If what someone has said or done has been a ministered to you, tell them.
- If you have appreciation for someone and have never told them, today's the day.
- If you want to do ministry (and if you don't want to, you're probably unconverted), THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT.
- And you start TODAY !
If you can't engage lovingly your own brethren at home, you couldn't and wouldn't if you were overseas. If you don't have a heart to do it here, you won't somewhere else. We can't love those in India, China, Romania, Mexico, or Somalia, if we are not doing it right in our own church. We won't ever really love sinners if we can't even practically love the brethren we are with in our own church.
Today, at least this one Sunday, just practice, by dependence on and obedience to the Holy Spirit, BEING the minister at church today.
By the way--today especially express love, thanks, support, prayers, and commitment to all your elders. That will minister more to them than their own sermon will. Probably very few will think of doing that today, so you be the one. Set a time during the holidays and take them out for coffee or a meal and show them you love them. You minister to your ministers and it will be true ministry.
And not just for one Sunday-- its a life style that will change your life and others. But it starts with today.
I wonder what would happen in our church life if we were all living this way at church meetings every week? The preacher might not even get to preach because the Spirit has come and is Himself preaching a living epistle through the whole church.
Ready, set, go . . . . . . . . you be the minister at church today. I think the Lord Jesus will like it very much.
- Mack Tomlinson
Today You Be the Minister at Church
or
How to Really do Church
or
How to Have Church Body Life
or
What Ministry Can I Have at Church?
or
How to Really do Church
or
How to Have Church Body Life
or
What Ministry Can I Have at Church?
I hope you get this before you go to church today. If so, think about this plan for your preparing to go to the church meeting.
Do you think your pastor or the elder who is preaching today has probably prepared at all for the service? Do you think his heart and mind have done some preparation and that he is going to show up at the meeting, having a heart to minister to others, and will specifically offer the congregation something he has prepared? Will he consciously bring something that they he hopes, by God's grace, will be used by the Lord to edify the body?
I want to encourage you to do exactly that today. Don't just go to receive something, though God does want you to receive today. Don't just go to get, though we do need to get benefit. Do not go empty-handed or with an unprepared heart.
Why don't YOU be the minister today? How? Here's a free trial sample of how you can.
Being prepared means you are consciously choosing to do some or all of the following.
1. Go to your church meeting today determined to have a heart before God to be a blessing to others there.
2. Go to your church meeting today with a plan to greet with sincerity each person you come in contact with.
3. Consciously and purposely be a blessing to those you engage at the meeting.
4. Choose the 'least' or 'weakest' among you, and show them love, give them a hug, and say or share something appropriate with them that will show them you care for them today.
5. Work at going out of your way to be friendly and find out how others are doing and ask specifically how you can pray for them.
6. EXPRESS verbal appreciation and love for different ones; choose to go outside your comfort zone and go up to a few people and tell them, with words. Undoubtedly, there are a number of the brethren you worship with and are supposed to be committed to and your never or rarelyand it has been weeks, months, or even longer (perhaps never with some of them) that you have expressed that you are thankful for them and that they have been a blessing to you.
7. Make yourself go out of your way and get out of your little Sunday rut and seek out a number of people individually.
- if someone has been a blessing to you at any time, today tell them, even if you have told them before.
- if someone has been an encouragement to you, today tell them.
- If someone's love for Christ has been an example to you, tell them.
- If what someone has said or done has been a ministered to you, tell them.
- If you have appreciation for someone and have never told them, today's the day.
- If you want to do ministry (and if you don't want to, you're probably unconverted), THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT.
- And you start TODAY !
If you can't engage lovingly your own brethren at home, you couldn't and wouldn't if you were overseas. If you don't have a heart to do it here, you won't somewhere else. We can't love those in India, China, Romania, Mexico, or Somalia, if we are not doing it right in our own church. We won't ever really love sinners if we can't even practically love the brethren we are with in our own church.
Today, at least this one Sunday, just practice, by dependence on and obedience to the Holy Spirit, BEING the minister at church today.
By the way--today especially express love, thanks, support, prayers, and commitment to all your elders. That will minister more to them than their own sermon will. Probably very few will think of doing that today, so you be the one. Set a time during the holidays and take them out for coffee or a meal and show them you love them. You minister to your ministers and it will be true ministry.
And not just for one Sunday-- its a life style that will change your life and others. But it starts with today.
I wonder what would happen in our church life if we were all living this way at church meetings every week? The preacher might not even get to preach because the Spirit has come and is Himself preaching a living epistle through the whole church.
Ready, set, go . . . . . . . . you be the minister at church today. I think the Lord Jesus will like it very much.
- Mack Tomlinson
-------
Friday, December 11, 2009
Apologetics
He said, "No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!" But he (Abraham) said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead." Luke 16:30-31
This verse contradicts whole movements in apologetic* circles. Facts aren't the problem. Unbelief is the problem. Getting into a fact-war with an unbeliever will only allow him/her to hide their unbelief. Facts are useful and glorious, but only in the context of certainty. We don't give up the certainty of God's existence and then try to prove Him with facts. On the contrary, we use facts to indict the thinly-veiled unbelief.
For more reading see Garrett's post here.
*Apologetics means defending the faith.
This verse contradicts whole movements in apologetic* circles. Facts aren't the problem. Unbelief is the problem. Getting into a fact-war with an unbeliever will only allow him/her to hide their unbelief. Facts are useful and glorious, but only in the context of certainty. We don't give up the certainty of God's existence and then try to prove Him with facts. On the contrary, we use facts to indict the thinly-veiled unbelief.
For more reading see Garrett's post here.
*Apologetics means defending the faith.
A Living Christ - J. R. Miller
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nothing less than a LIVING Christ will do for us!
(J. R. Miller, "Miller's Year Book--a Year's Daily Readings")
"He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:4
If your faith stops at the cross--it misses the blessing of the fullest revealing of Christ!
You need a Savior who not merely two thousand years ago went to death to redeem you--but one who also is alive to walk by your side in loving companionship.
You need a Savior who can hear your prayers, to whose feet you can creep in penitence when you have sinned, to whom you can call for help when the battle is going against you.
You need a Savior who is interested in all the affairs of your common life, and who can assist you in every time of need.
You need a Christ who can be a real friend--loving you, keeping close beside you, able to sympathize with your weaknesses.
You need a Savior who will come into your life, and will save you, not by one great act of centuries past--but by a life warm and throbbing with love today, and living again in you.
A DYING Christ alone, will not satisfy our heart. We must have the living One for our friend! Nothing less than a LIVING Christ will do for us! And that is the Christ the gospel brings to us: one who was dead--and is now alive for ever and ever!
"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God!" cried the psalmist, and cries every redeemed soul. It is only as we realize the truth of a living Christ--that our hearts are satisfied. We crave love--a bosom to lean upon, a hand to touch ours, a heart whose beatings we can feel, a personal friendship that will come into our life with its sympathy, its inspiration, its companionship, its shelter, its life, its comfort. All this, the living Christ is to us!
"I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!" Revelation 1:18
HT: Grace Gems
Seeing Resistance In Your Heart Against Truth - Mack Tomlinson
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Seeing Resistance in Your Heart Against Truth
This week I began reading again through the gospel of Matthew. Coming to Matthew 5, as I began the beatitudes, I was struck with a sense of personally needing more of the realities mentioned in the beatitudes. So I began to pray each one, wanting more poverty of spirit, needing and asking for more of a spirit of mourning over the things that ought be mourned over, asking for more meekness and spiritual hunger and thirst, desiring more mercy in my heart toward people and situations, and asking the Holy Spirit for continual increase of purity of heart in all areas, and to make me more and more of a peacemaker.
I was praying with confidence, because I know that whatever is in the Word is clearly God's will for me to have in my own life. I was drawn out by the Lord's grace to ask for more and more of these things, and then suddenly, I was stopped in my tracks as I came to verses 10-11. I found my heart hesitant and even resistant: I did not want to pray for myself about being 'Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake' . . . vs 11 'blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.'
I sensed my heart not wanting to ask for more persecution, or to be reviled or spoke evil about; I did not want to pray this; I immediately saw that I wanted some of the things Christ promised but not all; I wanted more spiritual desire, purity, meekness, etc, but I did not want persecution. I was faced with the fact that I wanted part of kingdom reality, but not this part of the beatitudes which would bring hardship.
I was enabled by the Holy Spirit to face the truth and, surrendering on the point, I bowed my heart, asking the Lord Jesus to make vss. 10-11 more real in my heart and life. I then felt freedom, peace, and grace to help me; I dozed off to sleep with, at least, a heart that was not resisting His truth.
- Mack Tomlinson
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Thursday, December 10, 2009
Some Thoughts on Evolution
"The knee menisci were once thought to be functionless remnants of a leg muscle and expendable components of the knee. Much has been learned through laboratory investigation, clinical experience, and radiologic imaging. The meniscus is now known to play an important role in the complex biomechanisms of the knee. For instance, it is involved in joint stability, load sharing and transmission, shock absorption, and nutrition and lubrication of the articular cartilage." - eMedicine
This sort of thing happens all of the time. Macro evolutionists try to prove their case by presenting parts of the body which seem to be flukes of the evolutionary process. At a later date the inevitable discovery is made - the part serves a vital function in the overall makeup of the human body. This same thing happened more recently concerning the appendix, which was long thought to be a "vestigial organ".
The bottom line: Before you let the latest scientific theist-turned-atheist destroy your faith simply give research 10 years to catch up to the Bible.
This sort of thing happens all of the time. Macro evolutionists try to prove their case by presenting parts of the body which seem to be flukes of the evolutionary process. At a later date the inevitable discovery is made - the part serves a vital function in the overall makeup of the human body. This same thing happened more recently concerning the appendix, which was long thought to be a "vestigial organ".
The bottom line: Before you let the latest scientific theist-turned-atheist destroy your faith simply give research 10 years to catch up to the Bible.
What the Church Needs Most Today - Paul Washer
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What The Church Needs Most Today
What the church needs most of all today is the Word of God to be preached in the power of the Holy Spirit. I don't chase revival because revival does not come by chasing it; Revival comes by chasing Christ and by being conformed to the image of Christ.
- Paul Washer
HT: Mack Tomlinson
HT: Mack Tomlinson
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Wednesday, December 09, 2009
"Keep Fervent in Your Love"
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8
If you find yourself easily annoyed, the certain cause is a lack of fervency in love. The majority of my mistakes in dealing with people is because of not adhering to this command.
Some helps:
1 - Pray for this person specifically and often. Ask God to bless them and to use you to do it (and mean it!)
2 - Look for ways to serve them. Find a way to lay down your life for them. If you can't find anything to do then make something up.
3 - The main help: Spend quality time with the great Lover of Souls - the Lord Jesus. I am ashamed and humbled every time I get a glimpse of how much He loves in comparison with how much I love. I have given Him every reason to be annoyed, but I have never found Him so. We must never get used to that.
1 Peter 4:8
If you find yourself easily annoyed, the certain cause is a lack of fervency in love. The majority of my mistakes in dealing with people is because of not adhering to this command.
Some helps:
1 - Pray for this person specifically and often. Ask God to bless them and to use you to do it (and mean it!)
2 - Look for ways to serve them. Find a way to lay down your life for them. If you can't find anything to do then make something up.
3 - The main help: Spend quality time with the great Lover of Souls - the Lord Jesus. I am ashamed and humbled every time I get a glimpse of how much He loves in comparison with how much I love. I have given Him every reason to be annoyed, but I have never found Him so. We must never get used to that.
The Manhattan Declaration
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By now, many of you have no doubt heard of The Manhattan Declaration. If not, I would encourage you to read THIS post from Justin Taylor's blog to familiarize yourself with what it is. Though there is an impressive list of "religious leaders" who signed it (Including: Randy Alcorn, Kay Arthur, Dr. Bryan Chapell, Chuck Colson, Dr. James Dobson, Dr. J. Ligon Duncan, Dr. Wayne Grudem, Rev. Tim Keller, Josh McDowell, Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Dr. J.I. Packer, Chuck Swindoll, Joni Eareckson Tada, and Ravi Zacharias) I consider it an act of compromise to be on the list. For an explanation of my reasoning, I would direct you to the following:
The Manhattan Declaration: Why didn’t you sign it, R.C.? by R.C. Sproul
The Manhattan Declaration by John MacArthur
Nineteen questions for signers of "The Manhattan Declaration" by Dan Phillips
Standing for truth, in any realm, must never come at the expense of the Gospel. It is the Gospel alone that is "of first importance" (see 1 Cor. 15:1-4). To compromise there, is to compromise everywhere. Unfortunately, that is exactly what The Manhattan Declaration, and those who have signed it, have done.
The Manhattan Declaration: Why didn’t you sign it, R.C.? by R.C. Sproul
The Manhattan Declaration by John MacArthur
Nineteen questions for signers of "The Manhattan Declaration" by Dan Phillips
Standing for truth, in any realm, must never come at the expense of the Gospel. It is the Gospel alone that is "of first importance" (see 1 Cor. 15:1-4). To compromise there, is to compromise everywhere. Unfortunately, that is exactly what The Manhattan Declaration, and those who have signed it, have done.
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Tuesday, December 08, 2009
"St. Paul" by Frederic Myers
This is currently my favorite section in all of verse. It is taken from St. Paul. The whole thing is worth reading. One help - "descried" means "to catch sight of."
God, who at sundry times in manners many
Spake to the fathers and is speaking still,
Eager to find if ever or if any
Souls will obey and hearken to His will;—Who that one moment has the least descried Him,
Dimly and faintly, hidden and afar,
Doth not despise all excellence beside Him,
Pleasures and powers that are not and that are,—
Ay amid all men bear himself thereafter
Smit with a solemn and a sweet surprise,
Dumb to their scorn and turning on their laughter
Only the dominance of earnest eyes—
Monday, December 07, 2009
First Priority - The Devotional Life
Ravi Zacharias did a Q&A with Edward Plowman. His answer to the following question is a needed reminder.
Q: What advice would you give fellow workers in the ministry?
A: First, maintain your devotional life. Nothing else can take its place. Nothing in your life will become meaningfully significant before God if you neglect it. It's the hardest discipline, but if that dies, the ministry is dying.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
The Sole Master of His Behavior
"What use is it to us to hear it said of a man that he has
thrown off the yoke, that he does not believe there is a God to
watch over his actions, that he reckons himself the sole master
of his behavior, and that he does not intend to give an account
of it to anyone but himself? Does he think that in that way he
will have straightway persuaded us to have complete confidence
in him, to look to him for consolation, for advice, and for
help, in the vicissitudes of life? Do such men think that they
have delighted us by telling us that they hold our souls to be
nothing but a little wind and smoke--and by saying it in
conceited and complacent tones? Is that a thing to say
blithely? Is it not rather a thing to say sadly--as if it were
the saddest thing in the world?"
- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
HT: John K.
thrown off the yoke, that he does not believe there is a God to
watch over his actions, that he reckons himself the sole master
of his behavior, and that he does not intend to give an account
of it to anyone but himself? Does he think that in that way he
will have straightway persuaded us to have complete confidence
in him, to look to him for consolation, for advice, and for
help, in the vicissitudes of life? Do such men think that they
have delighted us by telling us that they hold our souls to be
nothing but a little wind and smoke--and by saying it in
conceited and complacent tones? Is that a thing to say
blithely? Is it not rather a thing to say sadly--as if it were
the saddest thing in the world?"
- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
HT: John K.
Missouri Prison Ministry Report - Mack Tomlinson
-------
In mid-November, I had the special privilege of speaking in the Bowling Green State Prison at Bowling Green, Mo. This providentially was an immense blessing and an exceptional time of among the inmates there.
There are 1900 men in this medium security prison, with the inmates from such offenses as white collar crimes of embezzlement, forgery, finance fraud and theft, to murder, sex offenses, and all kinds of felony crimes. We were with murderers, gang leaders, as well as former stock brokers who are still wealthy, but were caught in illegal activities.
Every Wednesday evening two separate chapel services are held, as there are two different inmate blocks within the prison. The first service was at 7:00 pm, with inmates from Block A attending, then the second service was at 8:00 pm for Block B inmates.
Both services were fully attended, each time filled with men, standing room only. It was also interesting to find out that the men cannot freely come to the services anytime any of them desire to, but first have to sign up once for permission and then they are on the chapel list and can go anytime. So every inmate who attends has made a personal choice and effort to be given the opportunity to be in the services.
From the very first minutes of being there, as the men began to file in, my heart was moved and my emotions stirred. Black men, hispanics, whites, old, young, middle-age, all kinds, began to come by and speak to me and welcome me. It was obvious that many of them knew Christ. I saw quite a number of men who you would never want to meet up with them in any way in their former life. But when they approached me to welcome me, it is no exaggeration to say that 95% of them evidenced true humility, graciousness, joy, kindness, and thankfulness for us coming.
When we began to sing, from the first song, the Spirit of God settled upon the time and we sensed it was a special moment. I saw men with tears running down their cheeks, singing joyfully, "How great is our God--sing with me, how great is our God--how great, how great, is our God". We sang choruses and hymns, and almost every man in the service was singing fervently and with what appeared to be reality.
I had learned that God has been at work in this prison in recent years in a significant way, with a number of inmates having been converted. Former murderers and gang leaders are now real students of the Word and lead Bible studies in the prison. It was very moving to speak to brothers in Christ there who are in prison for life and yet are free men in Christ; they know He has set them free. Some of them are even looked to by other inmates as being real pastors, though the prison or the chapel does not recognize any such designation. But it is still happening anyway.
I found my heart very moved as we went through the time of singing, and felt the Lord's presence very near; I knew He was working and I sensed He wanted to really speak to these men. As I rose to speak in each service, I felt right from the beginning that God was going to give great help in opening the Word. And He did.
Both messages were on Ps. 107: 4 - 43 -- Grace for the Mess I'm In.
There are four groups in Psalm 107 who find themselves in a mess and have no hope unless they are delivered by God.
Four points
1. Wanderers - vss. 4-9
Many are wandering in life and cannot find their way at all; but these 'wanderers' finally in desperation cried out to the Lord and he delivered them; what do wanderers need? they need to be led out of their wanderings; that is what God did for them (see. vs. 7).
2. Those in darkness - vss. 5-16
Some are not wandering, but are sitting in darkness as prisoners in affliction; in their distress, they also cry out to God and he delivers them as well; what do those sitting in darkness need? They need to be brought out of darkness, and that is what God does for them (see. vs. 14).
3. Fools- vss. 17-22
Some are only described as fools, because that is the only thing that explains their life and condition; they are suffering affliction as a result of their foolish sinful ways; they also cry out to God in their distress and he delivers them also; what do they need? Healing and powerful deliverance. (see. vs. 20)
4. Businessmen in trouble- vss. 23-30
The fourth group are not wanderers, or in darkness, or fools, but are businessmen who are in real trouble through their business. They are doing business in ships on the sea and now storms are about to wipe them out; they also in their distress cry out to the Lord and he delivers them as well; what do these men need? They need the storm calmed and brought safely to land, and that is what God does for them. (see. vs. 29-30)
Everyone who sincerely cried out to God were helped and delivered; God also tailor-made his grace to fit the need for each one--the wanderer is led, those in darkness are led out of darkness, fools are delivered, and those businessmen in the storm in their work see their storm calmed and they are brought to their desired haven. Tailor-made grace for each situation.
Then vss. 33-42 show that it is all by the sovereign, free, and unaided power of God; God does it all.
David then closes the Psalm in vs. 43 by saying that anyone who is wise ought to pay close attention to all these things and should consider that it is all an evidence of the steadfast love of God.
Words can't convey at times what impact the preached word has on those who are hearing it. It was not an ordinary time, but God was working and speaking to many. All I can say is that it is clear that God is really at work at the Bowling Green state prison; please pray for the inmates there and pray for the good chaplain who leads the work and for the dear and faithful brothers who go weekly, especially Larry Hinds from Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Hannibal, as he is one of the main leaders who goes to the prison to preach every Wednesday night.
I hope the Lord gives me the blessed privilege of going back to Bowling Green. The kingdom of God is mightily at work in that prison among the prisoners who are coming to be the Lord's free men.
-- Mack Tomlinson
Missouri Prison Ministry Report
In mid-November, I had the special privilege of speaking in the Bowling Green State Prison at Bowling Green, Mo. This providentially was an immense blessing and an exceptional time of among the inmates there.
There are 1900 men in this medium security prison, with the inmates from such offenses as white collar crimes of embezzlement, forgery, finance fraud and theft, to murder, sex offenses, and all kinds of felony crimes. We were with murderers, gang leaders, as well as former stock brokers who are still wealthy, but were caught in illegal activities.
Every Wednesday evening two separate chapel services are held, as there are two different inmate blocks within the prison. The first service was at 7:00 pm, with inmates from Block A attending, then the second service was at 8:00 pm for Block B inmates.
Both services were fully attended, each time filled with men, standing room only. It was also interesting to find out that the men cannot freely come to the services anytime any of them desire to, but first have to sign up once for permission and then they are on the chapel list and can go anytime. So every inmate who attends has made a personal choice and effort to be given the opportunity to be in the services.
From the very first minutes of being there, as the men began to file in, my heart was moved and my emotions stirred. Black men, hispanics, whites, old, young, middle-age, all kinds, began to come by and speak to me and welcome me. It was obvious that many of them knew Christ. I saw quite a number of men who you would never want to meet up with them in any way in their former life. But when they approached me to welcome me, it is no exaggeration to say that 95% of them evidenced true humility, graciousness, joy, kindness, and thankfulness for us coming.
When we began to sing, from the first song, the Spirit of God settled upon the time and we sensed it was a special moment. I saw men with tears running down their cheeks, singing joyfully, "How great is our God--sing with me, how great is our God--how great, how great, is our God". We sang choruses and hymns, and almost every man in the service was singing fervently and with what appeared to be reality.
I had learned that God has been at work in this prison in recent years in a significant way, with a number of inmates having been converted. Former murderers and gang leaders are now real students of the Word and lead Bible studies in the prison. It was very moving to speak to brothers in Christ there who are in prison for life and yet are free men in Christ; they know He has set them free. Some of them are even looked to by other inmates as being real pastors, though the prison or the chapel does not recognize any such designation. But it is still happening anyway.
I found my heart very moved as we went through the time of singing, and felt the Lord's presence very near; I knew He was working and I sensed He wanted to really speak to these men. As I rose to speak in each service, I felt right from the beginning that God was going to give great help in opening the Word. And He did.
Both messages were on Ps. 107: 4 - 43 -- Grace for the Mess I'm In.
There are four groups in Psalm 107 who find themselves in a mess and have no hope unless they are delivered by God.
Four points
1. Wanderers - vss. 4-9
Many are wandering in life and cannot find their way at all; but these 'wanderers' finally in desperation cried out to the Lord and he delivered them; what do wanderers need? they need to be led out of their wanderings; that is what God did for them (see. vs. 7).
2. Those in darkness - vss. 5-16
Some are not wandering, but are sitting in darkness as prisoners in affliction; in their distress, they also cry out to God and he delivers them as well; what do those sitting in darkness need? They need to be brought out of darkness, and that is what God does for them (see. vs. 14).
3. Fools- vss. 17-22
Some are only described as fools, because that is the only thing that explains their life and condition; they are suffering affliction as a result of their foolish sinful ways; they also cry out to God in their distress and he delivers them also; what do they need? Healing and powerful deliverance. (see. vs. 20)
4. Businessmen in trouble- vss. 23-30
The fourth group are not wanderers, or in darkness, or fools, but are businessmen who are in real trouble through their business. They are doing business in ships on the sea and now storms are about to wipe them out; they also in their distress cry out to the Lord and he delivers them as well; what do these men need? They need the storm calmed and brought safely to land, and that is what God does for them. (see. vs. 29-30)
Everyone who sincerely cried out to God were helped and delivered; God also tailor-made his grace to fit the need for each one--the wanderer is led, those in darkness are led out of darkness, fools are delivered, and those businessmen in the storm in their work see their storm calmed and they are brought to their desired haven. Tailor-made grace for each situation.
Then vss. 33-42 show that it is all by the sovereign, free, and unaided power of God; God does it all.
David then closes the Psalm in vs. 43 by saying that anyone who is wise ought to pay close attention to all these things and should consider that it is all an evidence of the steadfast love of God.
Words can't convey at times what impact the preached word has on those who are hearing it. It was not an ordinary time, but God was working and speaking to many. All I can say is that it is clear that God is really at work at the Bowling Green state prison; please pray for the inmates there and pray for the good chaplain who leads the work and for the dear and faithful brothers who go weekly, especially Larry Hinds from Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Hannibal, as he is one of the main leaders who goes to the prison to preach every Wednesday night.
I hope the Lord gives me the blessed privilege of going back to Bowling Green. The kingdom of God is mightily at work in that prison among the prisoners who are coming to be the Lord's free men.
-- Mack Tomlinson
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Thursday, December 03, 2009
Christ's Glory in Passing Over Sins - J. C. Ryle
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“Let us take comfort in the thought that the Lord Jesus does not cast off His believing people because of failures and imperfections.
He knows what they are.
He takes them, as the husband takes the wife, with all their blemishes and defects, and, once joined to Him by faith, will never leave them. He is a merciful and compassionate High priest. It is His glory to pass over the transgressions of His people, and to cover their many sins.”
- J.C. Ryle, The Gospel of Mark, 1857
HT: Of First Importance
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The Forgotten Revival of 1921
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Douglas Brown, a Baptist minister in South London, saw conversions in his church every Sunday until he began to engage in itinerant evangelism in 1921. Within
eighteen months, he addressed over 1700 meetings, and saw revival under his evangelistic ministry. The Lord had convicted him about leaving his pastorate for mission work. Although reluctant, he finally surrendered. In his words: 'It was in February 1921, after four months of struggle, there came the crisis. Oh, how patient God is! On the Saturday night I wrote out my resignation to my church, and it was marked with my own tears' . . . .
'Then something happened. I found myself in the loving embrace of Christ for ever and ever; and all power, joy and blessedness rolled in like a deluge. How did it come? I cannot tell you. Perhaps I may when I get to heaven. All explanations are there, but the experience is here. That was two o'clock in the morning. God had waited four months for a man like me; and I said, "Lord Jesus, I know what you want; You want me to go into mission work. I love Thee more than I dislike that." I did not hear any rustling of angels' wings. I did not see any sudden light'.
Hugh Ferguson, the Baptist minister at London Road Baptist Church in Lowestoft on the East Anglia coast, had invited Douglas Brown to preach at a mission there in March. The preacher was ill when he arrived by train. However, he spoke Monday night and at meetings on Tuesday morning, afternoon and night. The power of the Holy Spirit moved among the people from the beginning.
On Wednesday night 'inquirers' packed the adjacent schoolroom for counselling and prayer. Sixty to seventy young people were converted that night, along with older people. Each night more packed the 'inquiry room' after the service. So the mission was extended indefinitely. Douglas Brown returned to his church for the weekend and continued with the mission the next Monday. By the end of March, the meetings were moved from the 700 seat Baptist Church and other nearby churches to the 1100 seat St John's Anglican Church. March saw the beginning of revival in the area.
Although Douglas Brown was the main speaker in many places, ministers of most denominations found they too were evangelizing. Revival meetings multiplied in the fishing centre of Yarmouth, as well in Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge and elsewhere. Scottish fishermen working out of Yarmouth in the winter were strongly impacted, and took revival fire to Scottish fishing towns and villages in the summer. Jock Troup, a Scottish evangelist, has visited East Anglia during the revival and ministered powerfully in Scotland.
At the same time, the spirit of God moved strongly in Ireland, especially in Ulster in 1921 through the work of W. P. Nicholson, a fiery Irish evangelist. This was at the time when Northern Ireland received parliamentary autonomy accompanied by and tension and bloodshed. J. Edwin Orr, the revival historian, was converted then, although not through W. P. Nicholson. Orr wrote:
'Nicholson's missions were the evangelistic focus of the movement: 12,409 people were counselled in the inquiry rooms; many churches gained additions, some a hundred and some doubled in membership; prayer meetings, Bible classes and missionary meetings all increased in strength and ministerial candidates doubled'.
In Great Britain the Welsh Revival of 1904-5 impacted the nation. Though not as widespread or as intense, the revivals of 1921-22 touched thousands following the devastation of World War I. Revival flamed again in 1948-49 after World War II, especially in the Scottish Hebrides.
HT: Mack Tomlinson
The Forgotten Revival of 1921
Douglas Brown, a Baptist minister in South London, saw conversions in his church every Sunday until he began to engage in itinerant evangelism in 1921. Within
eighteen months, he addressed over 1700 meetings, and saw revival under his evangelistic ministry. The Lord had convicted him about leaving his pastorate for mission work. Although reluctant, he finally surrendered. In his words: 'It was in February 1921, after four months of struggle, there came the crisis. Oh, how patient God is! On the Saturday night I wrote out my resignation to my church, and it was marked with my own tears' . . . .
'Then something happened. I found myself in the loving embrace of Christ for ever and ever; and all power, joy and blessedness rolled in like a deluge. How did it come? I cannot tell you. Perhaps I may when I get to heaven. All explanations are there, but the experience is here. That was two o'clock in the morning. God had waited four months for a man like me; and I said, "Lord Jesus, I know what you want; You want me to go into mission work. I love Thee more than I dislike that." I did not hear any rustling of angels' wings. I did not see any sudden light'.
Hugh Ferguson, the Baptist minister at London Road Baptist Church in Lowestoft on the East Anglia coast, had invited Douglas Brown to preach at a mission there in March. The preacher was ill when he arrived by train. However, he spoke Monday night and at meetings on Tuesday morning, afternoon and night. The power of the Holy Spirit moved among the people from the beginning.
On Wednesday night 'inquirers' packed the adjacent schoolroom for counselling and prayer. Sixty to seventy young people were converted that night, along with older people. Each night more packed the 'inquiry room' after the service. So the mission was extended indefinitely. Douglas Brown returned to his church for the weekend and continued with the mission the next Monday. By the end of March, the meetings were moved from the 700 seat Baptist Church and other nearby churches to the 1100 seat St John's Anglican Church. March saw the beginning of revival in the area.
Although Douglas Brown was the main speaker in many places, ministers of most denominations found they too were evangelizing. Revival meetings multiplied in the fishing centre of Yarmouth, as well in Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge and elsewhere. Scottish fishermen working out of Yarmouth in the winter were strongly impacted, and took revival fire to Scottish fishing towns and villages in the summer. Jock Troup, a Scottish evangelist, has visited East Anglia during the revival and ministered powerfully in Scotland.
At the same time, the spirit of God moved strongly in Ireland, especially in Ulster in 1921 through the work of W. P. Nicholson, a fiery Irish evangelist. This was at the time when Northern Ireland received parliamentary autonomy accompanied by and tension and bloodshed. J. Edwin Orr, the revival historian, was converted then, although not through W. P. Nicholson. Orr wrote:
'Nicholson's missions were the evangelistic focus of the movement: 12,409 people were counselled in the inquiry rooms; many churches gained additions, some a hundred and some doubled in membership; prayer meetings, Bible classes and missionary meetings all increased in strength and ministerial candidates doubled'.
In Great Britain the Welsh Revival of 1904-5 impacted the nation. Though not as widespread or as intense, the revivals of 1921-22 touched thousands following the devastation of World War I. Revival flamed again in 1948-49 after World War II, especially in the Scottish Hebrides.
HT: Mack Tomlinson
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A. T. Tozer - A Brief Introduction
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Hailing from a tiny farming community in western Pennsylvania, A. W. Tozer's conversion was as a teenager in Akron, Ohio. While on his way home from work at a tire company, he overheard an anonymous street preacher say: "If you don't know how to be saved... just call on God." Upon returning home, he climbed into the attic and heeded the preacher’s advice.
In 1919, five years after his conversion, and without formal theological training, Tozer accepted an offer to pastor his first church. This began 44 years of ministry, associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA), a Protestant evangelical denomination; 33 of those years were served as a pastor in a number of churches. His first pastorate was in a small storefront church in Nutter Fort, West Virginia. Tozer also served as pastor for 30 years at Southside Alliance Church, in Chicago (1928 to 1959), and the final years of his life were spent as pastor of Avenue Road Church, in Toronto, Canada. In observing contemporary Christian living, he felt that the church was on a dangerous course toward compromising with "worldly" concerns.
In 1950, Tozer received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Wheaton College. It was May 1950, when Tozer was elected editor of the Alliance Weekly magazine, now called, Alliance Life, the official publication of the CMA. From his first editorial, dated June 3, 1950, he wrote, "It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that." In 1952, he received an LL.D. degree from Houghton College.
Among the more than 40 books that he authored, at least two are regarded as Christian classics: The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. His books impress on the reader the possibility and necessity for a deeper relationship with God.
Living a simple and non-materialistic lifestyle, he and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, never owned a car, preferring bus and train travel. Even after becoming a well-known Christian author, Tozer signed away much of his royalties to those who were in need.
Tozer had seven children, six boys and one girl. He was buried in Ellet Cemetery, Akron, Ohio, with a simple epitaph marking his grave: "A. W. Tozer - A Man of God."
Prayer was of vital personal importance for Tozer. "His preaching as well as his writings were but extensions of his prayer life," comments his biographer, James L. Snyder, in the book, In Pursuit of God: The Life Of A.W. Tozer. "He had the ability to make his listeners face themselves in the light of what God was saying to them," writes Snyder.
HT: Mack Tomlinson
A.W. Tozer
Hailing from a tiny farming community in western Pennsylvania, A. W. Tozer's conversion was as a teenager in Akron, Ohio. While on his way home from work at a tire company, he overheard an anonymous street preacher say: "If you don't know how to be saved... just call on God." Upon returning home, he climbed into the attic and heeded the preacher’s advice.
In 1919, five years after his conversion, and without formal theological training, Tozer accepted an offer to pastor his first church. This began 44 years of ministry, associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA), a Protestant evangelical denomination; 33 of those years were served as a pastor in a number of churches. His first pastorate was in a small storefront church in Nutter Fort, West Virginia. Tozer also served as pastor for 30 years at Southside Alliance Church, in Chicago (1928 to 1959), and the final years of his life were spent as pastor of Avenue Road Church, in Toronto, Canada. In observing contemporary Christian living, he felt that the church was on a dangerous course toward compromising with "worldly" concerns.
In 1950, Tozer received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Wheaton College. It was May 1950, when Tozer was elected editor of the Alliance Weekly magazine, now called, Alliance Life, the official publication of the CMA. From his first editorial, dated June 3, 1950, he wrote, "It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that." In 1952, he received an LL.D. degree from Houghton College.
Among the more than 40 books that he authored, at least two are regarded as Christian classics: The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. His books impress on the reader the possibility and necessity for a deeper relationship with God.
Living a simple and non-materialistic lifestyle, he and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, never owned a car, preferring bus and train travel. Even after becoming a well-known Christian author, Tozer signed away much of his royalties to those who were in need.
Tozer had seven children, six boys and one girl. He was buried in Ellet Cemetery, Akron, Ohio, with a simple epitaph marking his grave: "A. W. Tozer - A Man of God."
Prayer was of vital personal importance for Tozer. "His preaching as well as his writings were but extensions of his prayer life," comments his biographer, James L. Snyder, in the book, In Pursuit of God: The Life Of A.W. Tozer. "He had the ability to make his listeners face themselves in the light of what God was saying to them," writes Snyder.
HT: Mack Tomlinson
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