Beholding the glory of the Lord

Honoring My Husband on His Birthday

2009-06-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, I have hijacked Aaron's blog to honor him for his birthday.

Today is the 31st birthday of my dear husband, Philip Aaron Levi Mayfield.

Aaron, I am so grateful that God created you and made me your wife. What a tremendous joy and privilege it is to be married to you and to have children with you. I know you better than anyone. I see you behind closed doors, which is when people really show their true colors. You are real and genuine. The godly, loving, generous, faithful man you appear to be is the man I see when no one else is looking. There are a million things I can list about your character that I love but I will narrow it down to three.

Your love for God: You want to really know God and grow in your relationship with him. You love to study his word. You want others to know Him as you do and to experience the joy you have from having a personal relationship with Him through His son, Jesus.

Your love others: You will sacrifice anything to show love, care, kindness, and compassion to others. You truly care for others more than yourself. You rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those that are weeping. People matter to you. You remember all the little details that are important to them. You show tough love too, challenging people on the tough issues to help them grow. Anyone can win friends with flattery, but true friends speak the truth.

Your love for your family: You love me like Christ loves the church, by laying your life down for me daily and giving and sacrificing of yourself. You adore your wife when I am not adorable. You constantly express your gratitude for all I do to care for our family. You never complain when the house is a mess and you don't have even one clean pair of socks. You love being a father to Judah and Judson. You love playing with them and always have time for them, not neglecting them to have time for yourself. But you don't just stop at the fun stuff. You take your roll as a father very seriously and realize that you are accountable to God for raising future men. You are faithful to God's word in discipline and teaching God's word to your children, even now when many would think a young child's comprehension is too minimal.

Aaron, I know you are not perfect and you need God's grace every day for your sin, weaknesses, and failures, but thank you for your love and faithfulness to God. Thank you for trusting in Jesus every day for his free gift of grace poured out to you by dying on the cross for your sins. I know you would be the first to say that it is only by his grace and strength that you are the man that I commend with these words.

And God thank you for saving Aaron and for your faithfulness to him.

In Christ,

Holly Ruth Mayfield

Sexual Roulette and intended consequences

2009-05-19T05:37:00.000-07:00

Anthony Esolen gives an interesting analogy to the language of "reducing unwanted pregnancies". He writes:

Let us suppose I have a fancy revolver with twenty chambers. Suppose that we put one bullet in the revolver, in one of the chambers. Suppose also that I and my pal enjoy the frisson of terror and risk that rushes up our spines when we spin the chambers and hold the revolver to our friend's head and pull the trigger. Of course, I do not want to kill my friend, and he does not want to kill me. But we are both willing to incur the risk of death to have that spasm of fright and glee. Now, it won't do to compare our actions to those of, say, a bridge-painter, who knows when he climbs up his ladder that there is a measurable chance that he will fall to his death (it is, I'm told, one of the most dangerous jobs in the country, and therefore fabulously well remunerated). That is because the purpose of a ladder is that it be climbed, not that it be fallen from, whereas the very purpose of a gun is to shoot a bullet.
Suppose that my friend and I play this game of American Roulette once a year, on one of our birthdays. Now suppose that my friend's number comes up, and I shoot him through the head. By law, and by the moral philosophy that undergirds the law, I do not get to plead that I did not intend his death. Perhaps I did not want him to die, but I certainly did intend the chance that he would die: I intentionally used a weapon against him, a weapon whose purpose it is to kill, and I used it in a way that would ensure his death, if the right chamber came up. It would be up to judge and jury to assess the correct punishment in my case, but as a matter of fact I am a murderer.

Except in the case of rape, there are no "unintended pregnancies," none. There are plenty of women who do not want to be pregnant, and plenty of men who do not want them to be pregnant, but in all those cases the pregnancies are the results of intentional actions of a sort that have pregnancy as their perfectly natural and perfectly predictable consequence. Contraception does not change the nature of the act itself; indeed, it makes the actors more keenly aware that what they are doing is the sort of thing that makes babies, since otherwise they would not go so far out of their way (donning or inserting into the body uncomfortable devices, or flooding the system with pregnancy-mimicking hormones) to thwart the body's natural functions. The "problem" in the case of Sexual Roulette is not that the body fails, but that it succeeds.
So the pregnancies are the result of intention. The problem is that the children are not wanted, and that is a very different thing. For the question we should immediately ask is not, "How do we dispose of this child we do not want?" but "What is wrong with us that we do not want this child?"

Read the whole thing.

(HT: James Grant, via Z)

No, Mr. President, killing is killing no matter what we call it

2009-05-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

It's a magnificent thing: The only newly-originating life in the universe that comes in the image of God is Man. The only newly-originating life in the universe that lasts forever is Man.

This is an awesome thing.

And, as everyone knows, that reverence is not shared by our new President, over whom we have rejoiced.

He is trapped and blind in a culture of deceit. On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, he released this statement,

We are reminded that this decision not only protects women's health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.

To which I say:

No, Mr. President, you are not protecting women; you are authorizing the destruction of 500,000 little women every year.
No, Mr. President, you are not protecting reproductive freedom; you are authorizing the destruction of freedom for one million little human beings every year.
No, Mr. President, killing our children is killing our children no matter how many times you call it a private family matter. You may say it is a private family matter over and over and over, and still they are dead. And we killed them. And you, would have it remain legal.

Mr. President, some of us wept for joy at your inauguration. And we pledge that we will pray for you.

We have hope in our sovereign God.

(From the sermon: "The Baby in My Arms Leaped for Joy.")

A Preacher and an Atheist walk into a bar...

2009-05-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

COLLISION - 13 min VIMEO Exclusive Sneak Peak from Collision Movie on Vimeo.

Neither poverty nor riches

2009-04-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

"Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, 'Who is the LORD?'
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God." - Proverbs 30:7-9

What a crazy prayer, right? Give me only what I need, no more, no less. Help me to stay dependent on you. This so goes against my ideas of, 'put enough away in case of emergencies', because surely there's wisdom there. How to balance this? God provided for the Israelites manna each day, only what they needed for the day, in order to show them each day that it was He who provides for them. I heard a pastor say that this is like telling God you want to live paycheck to paycheck.

God provides for me, it's not my employer, my customers, the government, but God. It is to him I will look in hard economic times, when business isn't going well, when I lose my job, when I feel compelled to give away the money I had saved to help someone else who doesn't have enough for today.

Am I willing to do hard things, to put myself, my family, in a place where God has to provide or else we're in trouble? I say willing, because maybe that is what God is calling me to and maybe it's not. But maybe, just maybe, he's not calling me to store away as much as I can (or go buy that new must have...whatever) while my brother wonders if, not what, but if he is going to eat today.

Everything we have belongs to the Lord. Everything we have must be "on the table" for God to use as he deems. He has given it to me, he can take it away. How can I best steward that which the Lord has given me? What has he called me to buy, to spend, to save, to give?

What's Easter about?

2009-04-09T07:11:00.001-07:00

From St Helen's Church

THAT'S EASTER Life to Death from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

On the historical reliability of the resurrection

THAT'S EASTER Death to Life from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

(HT: BTW)

Call His name

2009-04-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

Play the man and be an expert in the Gospel!

2009-04-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

Why Not?

2009-04-02T19:25:00.001-07:00

...another reason I don't twitter...

2009-04-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

A Plea for Heart Devotions and Head Study

2009-03-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

From John Piper:

"This is a plea that all of you would build into your lives both personal devotions and purposeful study of God’s word.

Both:

Daily prayerful meditation seeking personal application of God’s word to your own heart and life.

And:

Regular study in a class or with a book where the (living or dead) teacher has seen more than you have and can give you insight in 30 minutes that might otherwise take you ten years to see.

The reason I plead for both is that without a book or a class about what some part of the Bible means and a teacher who is ahead of you, your devotions will probably flatten out at a low level of insight.

Year after year you will go over the same biblical ground and find it as perplexing as before. There will be little advance in understanding. This will tend to take the heart out of devotional reading, because the lack of growth cannot sustain the joy.

Seek out preaching, books, and classes which take you further in grasping what various books and texts in the Bible mean."

Idolatry in Christian Ministry

2009-03-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

From Matt Harmon:

"...in the context of Philippians 1:12-26 Paul provides the necessary corrective: to have as our highest aim the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So the question for each of us involved in ministry is this: do you care who gets the credit? Are you fine with others being recognized for their faithful gospel ministry while your own proclaiming of Christ remains under appreciated or recognized? What happens in your heart when someone else receives credit for something YOU did? Can you be content with rejoicing in the progress of the gospel rather than nursing resentment that you did not receive the recognition."

Beatbox Chef

2009-03-23T05:26:00.000-07:00

(Hat Tip: Josh Harris)

With Calvin in the Theater of God

2009-03-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

Registration for the next Desiring God National Conference--"With Calvin in the Theater of God"--is now open. Here's the lineup:

Julius Kim, “At Work and Worship in the Theater of God: Calvin the Man, and Why I Care”

Douglas Wilson, “The Sacred Script in the Theater of God: Calvin, the Bible, and the Western World”

Marvin Olasky, “The Secular Script in the Theater of God: Calvin on the Christian Meaning of Public Life”

Mark Talbot, “The Broken Stage in the Theater of God: Sin and Suffering in Calvin’s World”

Sam Storms, “The Final Act in the Theater of God: Calvin on the Joy of the Last Resurrection”

John Piper, “Jesus Christ as Dénouement in the Theater of God: Calvin and the Supremacy of Christ in All Things”

(HT: BTW)

The most beautiful noise

2009-03-19T05:23:00.000-07:00

On page 116 (in my copy) of C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew, Aslan begins to sing Narnia into creation out of a black void. One of the characters, Digory, describes it as, "...the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it."

This is the explanation given for the name of a great new band "Page CXVI". Page CXVI has a project they are currently releasing reworking several great hymns of the Christian faith.

They further explain:
"As the hymns project began to form, our hope was to wrap the strong lyrical content of the hymns, with music that portrayed our personal reactions to the life that God has brought to our "black void." The most personal song on the album is by far "Joy" with the counterpart, "It is Well" was written by Horatio Spafford after losing his son to scarlet fever, all of his real estate investments to the Great Chicago Fire, and his 4 remaining children to the sinking of a boat. The contemplative turn from "Joy" into the lines from "It is Well" comes out of our own personal tragedy this past year and combines a Psalm like lamentation with hope. Our intention with all of these songs is to be a source of comfort and encouragement to all who hear them."

If you haven't already heard their music, you can download several songs for free for the next week by going here, but you should hurry if you want it for free, it's good through next week (March 25th).

"Faith speaks in an entirely different manner..."

2009-02-11T05:26:00.000-08:00

(From Of First Importance)

“The man who has faith is the man who is no longer looking at himself, and no longer looking to himself. He no longer looks at anything he once was. He does not look at what he is now. He does not [even] look at what he hopes to be as the result of his own efforts. He looks entirely to the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work, and he rests on that alone. He has ceased to say, ‘Ah yes, I have committed terrible sins but I have done this and that…’ He stops saying that. If he goes on saying that, he has not got faith… Faith speaks in an entirely different manner and makes a man say, ‘Yes, I have sinned grievously, I have lived a life of sin… yet I know that I am a child of God because I am not resting on any righteousness of my own; my righteousness is in Jesus Christ, and God has put that to my account.’”

- D. M. Lloyd-Jones, quoted by Timothy Keller in The Message of Romans (Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2003), 59.

Finally Alive

2009-02-09T06:05:00.000-08:00

So I had this idea that I would get my blog breathing by posting my reading notes as I make my way through a new book called Finally Alive. However, a man much smarter than me (and who apparently reads at incredible speed) has already done this. Oh well, now I'll just have to start with another book...

Check out Justin Childers' blog if you are interested in the full summary posts he wrote, they're really great and helpful summaries, I have copied his last one here below:

"I must say that the last chapter of Finally Alive is the most helpful to me. After explaining the nature of the new birth for 14 chapters, Piper asks, "How can we help others be born again?" It is basically a chapter on personal evangelism.

His short answer is: "Tell them the good news of Christ from a heart of love and life of service."

After making clear that only God can open blind eyes, Piper writes (pp. 180-181):

"Don't stop because you can't do this. Of course you can't. Only God can open the eyes of the blind (2 Cor. 4:6). But the fact that you can't make electricity or create light never stops you from flipping light switches. The fact that you can't create fire in cylinders never stops you from turning the car key. The fact that you can't create cell tissue never stops you from eating your meals. So don't let the fact that you can't cause the new bith stop you from telling the gospel. That is how people are born again--through the living and abiding word, the good news of Jesus Christ."

He then gives 10 encouragements for speaking the gospel:

1. Know this: God uses clay pots.
2. Get resources to share.
3. Know that God may use many influences.
4. Be a lavish giver.
5. Find people interesting.
6. Invite people to church.
7. Fill the city with gospel teaching.
8. Use your giftings.
9. Read books on evangelism (see the particular books he recommends here).
10. Pray for boldness.

"If you feel average or below average in your fitness to share the gospel treasure, you are closer to the truth than someone who feels powerful and wise and self-sufficient."

Be the example

2009-02-04T05:49:00.000-08:00

An excerpt from Matt Chandler's message given at the Desiring God Pastor's Conference this week:

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)

I learned this one the hard way. Two years ago, this was probably one of the most heartbreaking things in my years of ministry. I was at lunch with some people that had just gotten back from a missions trip in India.

I was listening to different people and was hearing a story. There were two buses that took our crew and another crew to get out to a place. Our crew decided to tell the best joke they’ve ever heard. When they pull up, the other group gets out and there’s tears running down their face.

It disturbed me. I couldn’t let it go. I didn’t know what to do with it. Why, on the way out to do missions, are people who are covenant members of The Village doing knock-knock jokes when the people in the other van are calling out for mercy to God?

One morning I was reading the Bible and journaling my thoughts. I had a surly professor in college who I loved and hated. He had an extreme, high expectation of you. He said, “Five years in, what’s wrong with your church is wrong with you.” I don’t know if he’s right, but the Holy Spirit said, “Remember?” I laid on the floor and sobbed because my witty, sarcastic humor had been embedded into The Village so much that on the way out to such a dark, spiritual destination, we’re doing knock-knock jokes. It devastated me. I constantly pray that God would protect the people of The Village from me.

Be the example in word, in deed, in purity, in love, in prayer. Be the example.

(HT: Fighter)

Finally Alive

2009-02-03T06:40:00.000-08:00

Practical advice for evangelism from John Piper's forthcoming book, Finally Alive:

"Be encouraged that simply finding people interesting and caring about them is a beautiful pathway into their heart. Evangelism gets a bad reputation when we are not really interested in people and don't seem to care about them. People really are interesting. Every person you talk to is an amazing creation of God with a thousand interesting experiences.... Very few people are interested in others. If you really find their story interesting, and care about them, they may open up to you and want to hear your story—Christ's story. (p. 185)"

Be Courageous, Mr. President!

2009-01-28T11:11:00.000-08:00

From the Desiring God Blog:

Mayfield boys!

2008-12-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

Just got back from the doctors office and found out we are having another little boy!! I'm looking to build some cool bunk beds, so now all we have to do is agree on a name...

Fun in Norway

2008-12-16T06:42:00.000-08:00

wingsuit base jumping from doubleA on Vimeo.

Pork and Beans

2008-12-11T21:00:00.000-08:00

Very cool music video from one of my favorite bands from high school.

Weezer - Pork And Beans
by rockenseine

Charlie Brown and the meaning of Christmas

2008-12-11T20:34:00.000-08:00

Enjoy!

Halloween and little cowboys

2008-10-31T22:10:00.000-07:00

Judah's grandmama bought him a pretty sweet cowboy outfit for Halloween this year, so I thought I would share a few pictures from tonight.

I love it, every time we ask him to smile, this is what we get!

2008-10-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

This was posted by my friend Martin, and I decided to duplicate his efforts here, as this is a powerful video and song that I think acts as a great reminder for us all, whatever your temptation.

"Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns.

Watch and listen. Pay close attention to the lyrics ('Slow Fade' by Casting Crowns)

This song is all about the subtlety of satan in his attacks against us. The 'slow fade' away from Christ and into darkness.

Be careful little eyes what you see......it is the second glance that ties your hands......as darkness pulls the strings....

Be careful little feet where you go.......for it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow......

Be careful little ears what you hear.......when flattery leads to compromise......the end is always near....

Be careful little lips what you say.......for empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It's a slow fade......when you give yourself away......(to satan).....

Be careful if you think you stand firm........you just might be sinking [1 Cor 10:12]

And do not give the devil a foothold [Eph 4:27]

Piper on fighting lust

2008-10-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

"Suppose I am tempted to lust. Some sexual image comes into my mind and beckons me to pursue it. The way this temptation gets its power is by persuading me to believe that I will be happier if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier. No one sins out of a sense of duty, when what they really want is to do what’s right.

"So what should I do? Some people would say, “Remember God’s command to be holy (1 Peter 1:16), and exercise your will to obey because he is God!” But something crucial is missing from this advice, namely, faith in future grace . . .

How then do you fight lust by faith in future grace? When the temptation to lust comes, Romans 8:13 says, in effect, “If you kill it by the Spirit, you will live.” By the Spirit! What does that mean? Out of all the armor God gives us to fight Satan, only one piece is used for killing—the sword. It is called the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) . . . The Word of God cuts through the fog of Satan’s lies and shows me where true and lasting happiness is to be found. And so the Word helps me stop trusting in the potential of sin to make me happy. Instead the Word entices me to trust in God’s promises.

When faith has the upper hand in my heart I am satisfied with Christ and his promises. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “He who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). When my thirst for joy and meaning and passion are satisfied by the presence and promises of Christ, the power of sin is broken. We do not yield to the offer of sandwich meat when we can smell the steak sizzling on the grill."

John Piper, Future Grace (Sisters OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1995), 334.

(HT: Adrian Warnock)

One Point Calvinism

2008-10-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

"According to J. I. Packer, Calvinism's five points really boil down to one significant claim that underlies all the others. Scott Thomas shared this on the Acts 29 blog:

"God saves sinners—and the force of this confession may not be weakened by disrupting the unity of the work of the Trinity, or by dividing the achievement of salvation between God and man and making the decisive part man’s own, or by soft-pedaling the sinner’s inability so as to allow him to share the praise of his salvation with his Saviour. This is the one point of Calvinistic soteriology which the “five points” are concerned to establish and Arminianism in all its forms to deny: namely, that sinners do not save themselves in any sense at all, but that salvation, first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is of the Lord, to whom be glory for ever; amen."

J. I. Packer, “Introductory Essay” to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (London: Banner of Truth, 1959), 4-5."

(HT: Adrian Warnock)

Prophetic song for those who have lost a child

2008-10-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

Jon Payne is the son of my pastor, Pete Payne, and he is the worship pastor at Sovereign Grace Church in Gilbert, Arizona. While leading worship at a recent conference, Jon sang a spontaneous and prophetic song directed at those who have lost children. I have not lost a child, though I have close friends who have. It is an unbearable agony and no matter how much it hurt me to walk with my friends and family who have experienced this, it doesn't compare to the pain and anguish that they have themselves experienced and continue to experience. I care deeply for these friends and loved ones, but my level of care doesn't compare with that of the Lord for them. The Lord's compassion is displayed in many different ways, and I am immensely grateful for the way that he uses his instruments such as Jon to minister to his people.

(HT: Worship Matters)

Friday frivolity

2008-10-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

James 3: A Story

2008-10-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

(HT: Desiring God Ministries)

Judah pictures!

2008-10-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have sent out pictures of Judah, and with another kiddo on the way, I figure I need to get on it. So here's a very small photo run of our son's first 16 months...

Here he is at five days

3 months...

6 months...and one of his first experiences with solid food...

10 months, "look daddy, I broke the lock and found the cabinets!"

11 months, just kickin' it in my la-z-boy

It's my 1st birthday!

Chillin' at the splash park...(14 months old)

Swimming with daddy (15 months)

Cruising the back yard...

After the Cowboys lost...

Playing my "drum" in the front yard...(16 months)

And today, playing around in daddy's car...

Of course, the woman who makes this boy as fun and good looking as he is...

I am so very thankful for my wonderful wife and our wonderful kids. Judah is more fun every day and we can't wait to meet his little brother or sister on the way!!

We're also thankful for all the support we get from family, friends, and our church!

All our love,

the Mayfields

Don't Waste Your Life

2008-10-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

"God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion."
--John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life

"You are not your own, for you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"Every Person's life will end with a flat line. The beats of your heart are precious and few...and every one of them is a blood-bought gift of God. Don't waste them on petty pursuits and fleeting pleasures, where moth and rust destroy. Take part in the greatest cause in the world and the grandest story that will ever be: the exaltation of Christ in all things for the joy of all peoples."

"Only one life, 'twill soon be past;
Only what's done for Christ will last."

Gospel Coalition

2008-10-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

There are always way more conferences each year than I could afford to go to, or even have the time, really. And this is no exception, the Gospel Coalition will be holding their second conference next April, and from some of the video previews, it looks to be very helpful. Now if I can just find that sponsor who will start sending me to conferences...

The soul winner

2008-10-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

I have often thought about what distinguishes a preacher from a teacher, and I think Spurgeon was getting at the heart of it in his book, The Soul Winner:

"... to win a soul, it is necessary, not only to instruct our hearer, and make him know the truth, but to impress him so that he may feel it. A purely didactic ministry, which should always appeal to the understanding, and should leave the emotions untouched, would certainly be a limping ministry. "The legs of the lame are not equal," says Solomon; and the unequal legs of some ministries cripple them. We have seen such an one limping about with a long doctrinal leg, but a very short emotional leg. It is a horrible thing for a man to be so doctrinal that he can speak coolly of the doom of the wicked, so that, if he does not actually praise God for it, it costs him no anguish of heart to think of the ruin of millions of our race. This is horrible!

Charles SpurgeonI hate to hear the terrors of the Lord proclaimed by men whose hard visages, harsh tones, and unfeeling spirit betray a sort of doctrinal desiccation: all the milk of human kindness is dried out of them. Having no feeling himself, such a preacher creates none, and the people sit and listen while he keeps to dry, lifeless statements, until they come to value him for being "sound", and they themselves come to be sound, too; and I need not add, sound asleep also, or what life they have is spent in sniffing out heresy, and making earnest men offenders for a word. Into this spirit may we never be baptized!

Whatever I believe, or do not believe, the command to love my neighbour as myself still retains its claim upon me, and God forbid that any views or opinions should so contract my soul, and harden my heart as to make me forget this law of love! The love of God is first, but this by no means lessens the obligation of love to man; in fact, the first command includes the second.

We are to seek our neighbour's conversion because we love him, and we are to speak to him in loving terms God's loving gospel, because our heart desires his eternal good.

A sinner has a heart as well as a head; a sinner has emotions as well as thoughts; and we must appeal to both. A sinner will never be converted until his emotions are stirred. Unless he feels sorrow for sin, and unless he has some measure of joy in the reception of the Word, you cannot have much hope of him. The Truth must soak into the soul, and dye it with its own colour. The Word must be like a strong wind sweeping through the whole heart, and swaying the whole man, even as a field of ripening corn waves in the summer breeze. Religion without emotion is religion without life."

— C. H. Spurgeon

(HT: Adrian Warnock)

When to let the balls drop

2008-09-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

This is solid advice from two seasoned pastors on how to balance work and family (though it's geared towards pastors, it's totally applicable regardless of vocation). I need to listen to these again and again...

Unbelievable...Obama's top ten reasons for voting against the born alive infants protection act

2008-09-22T05:40:00.001-07:00

Some have sought to defend Senator Obama's votes against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act by explaining the reason/argument he advanced against it. But actually, Obama has offered 10 different reasons for his opposition. Jill Stanek--the nurse who started the national discussion about this act--has an article with quotes explaining the various reasons. Here they are in outline form--but for more detail and documentation, read the whole thing.

10. Babies who survive abortions are not protected by the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

9. A ban to stop aborted babies from being shelved to die would be burdensome to mothers.

8. Aborting babies alive and letting them die is a doctor's prerogative.

7. Anyway, doctors don't do that.

6. Obama apparently read medical charts and saw no proof.

5. Aborting babies alive and letting them die is a religious issue.

4. Aborting babies alive and letting them die violates no universal principle.

3. Introducing legislation to stop live aborted babies from being shelved to die was a political maneuver.

2. Sinking Born Alive was about outmaneuvering that political maneuver.

1. Introducing Born Alive was a ploy to overturn Roe v. Wade.

(HT: JT)

The blessing of Christ's kingly office for us

2008-09-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

In a few weeks I will start reading through John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion with a friend of mine. A daunting task, to be sure, but I get excited about it when I read quotes like this:

“The happiness promised us in Christ does not consist in outward advantages—such as leading a joyous and peaceful life, having rich possessions, being safe from all harm, and abounding with delights such as the flesh commonly longs after. No, our happiness belongs to the heavenly life.

Christ enriches his people with all things necessary for the eternal salvation of souls and fortifies them with courage to stand unconquerable against all the assaults of spiritual enemies. From this we infer that he rules—inwardly and outwardly—more for our own sake than his.

Thus it is that we may patiently pass through this life with its misery, hunger, cold, contempt, reproaches, and other troubles—content with this one thing: that our King will never leave us destitute, but will provide for our needs until, our warfare ended, we are called to triumph.”

—John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2.15.4

(HT: OFI)

The glory of Christ and the stale bread of the world

2008-09-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

"The weakness of our hunger for Jesus is not because He is unsavory, but because we are so stuffed with the stale bread of the world. We have so nibbled at the table of the world that we are no longer hungry for the only food that satisfies."

John Piper, Hunger for God

(HT: Cross-eyed)

Dead, no, not yet anyway...

2008-09-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, this blog has been dormant now for awhile. Not as long as Tony, not as long as Rob, not even as long as Josh's blog...but it's not dead yet, I promise. Stay tuned...

No more dancing in church...

2008-09-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

(HT: JT)

Just in case...

2008-07-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

I stole this from my friend Chris' blog (which I highly commend to you, much better than this one), because it is good and timely (and hey, he posted it just for me!). Lots of mountain lions running around England, you know?

Race cars and fish 'n chips!

2008-07-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

Poor Georgia is sick today, so Jane stayed home with her tonight while Antony, Philippa, and Freya took me out for my first dose of Fish 'n Chips, proper English style!

First, we stopped at Jane's parents house, where the girls took their granddad's race car (80's model Lotus) out for a spin...not only do they drive on the wrong side of the road (just kidding all my English friends!), but apparently they also start driving very early as well!!

Then it was on for the Fish 'n Chips. We went in to Great Eckleston to pick it up and bring it back home for Jane. So here is what I ate this evening...and check it out, my hosts were so very thoughtful and kind that they went and bought Dr. Pepper special, just for this spoiled Texan, cause what meal is complete without Dr. Pepper?!

Churches in Inskip

2008-07-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of a few of the churches I have been to while here, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

The above are from Inskip Baptist Chapel

These are from a Methodist church in Chipping.

These are from the Church of England here in Inskip.

Born to be a farmer??

2008-07-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

Antony has been showing me the basics of dairy farming, at least the side of it that has to do with milking cows. I don't know, it's actually a bit enjoyable. We get started on the farm at about 5:00am, and herding the cows in while watching the sunrise is really very peaceful. Anyway, hope you enjoy the pictures!

First days at Inskip

2008-07-21T09:57:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures of my first days at Inskip, England.

This is from the annual church bbq.

This is a rear shot of the house I am staying in with one of the most wonderful, godly families I have met, the Marsh family. They have been extremely kind and hospitable, very humble and such amazing examples of our Lord and Savior!

All I can see is green for miles!

These are the beautiful three little girls of the family I am staying with. From left to right, Georgia, Philippa, Freya.

Life is War - God is Sovereign

2008-07-08T18:20:00.001-07:00

Justin Childers reminded me of one of my favorite sermons I have heard preached.

Listen to it, be challenged, be blessed.

Don't you want something better?

2008-07-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

Michael Kelley:

Turning is different than stopping. It’s bigger than stopping. You can stop and still be facing the same direction, sitting motionless. But repenting isn’t just about stopping. It’s not enough to stop. Repentance is about turning, choosing something better than the action you’re doing. It’s about choosing life with Christ over life with anything else. So repentance isn’t about stopping what you’re doing; it’s about valuing Jesus more than what you’re doing. That’s why we turn; not just because old ways are self-destructive, wrong, or immoral; repentance is about how much we value Christ. And how much we believe He’s better than anything else.

In fact, I guess in the right context, any sort of repentance should be Christ-focused; we turn from something to something. That’s why it’s not anger in the voice of God that says “Repent.” It’s love. It’s a voice that says, “You are settling. Don’t you want something better?”

(HT: Vitamin Z)

How do you relate to others when they sin?

2008-06-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

"Here is what I have learned. How I relate to others in their sin reveals my true grasp of the Gospel. How I relate to others in their sin really reveals whether I understand what it means that God is Father, that God is merciful, that God has sent his Son"

- Dave Harvey, from the message "God's Mercy and My Marriage"

(HT: Vitamin Z)

Timothy Keller on Gospel-centrality

2008-06-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

“The gospel shows us that our spiritual problem lies not only in failing to obey God, but also in relying on our obedience to make us fully acceptable to God, ourselves and others.

Every kind of character flaw comes from this natural impulse to be our own savior through our performance and achievement. On the one hand, proud and disdainful personalities come from basing your identity on your performance and thinking you are succeeding. But on the other hand, discouraged and self-loathing personalities also come from basing your identity on your performance and thinking you are failing.

Belief in the gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom of God; it is the way to address every obstacle and grow in every aspect. The gospel is not just the “ABCs” but the “A-to-Z” of the Christian life.

The gospel is the way that anything is renewed and transformed by Christ — whether a heart, a relationship, a church, or a community. All our problems come from a lack of orientation to the gospel. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts, our thinking and our approach to absolutely everything.”

- Timothy Keller, Paul’s Letter to the Galatians: Living in Line with the Truth of the Gospel (Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2003), 2.

(HT: Of First Importance)

Physical Horrors, Moral Evil, and the Hope We Have in Christ

2008-06-25T05:33:00.000-07:00

In his message on Monday evening (at the Resolved Conference)—The Triumph of the Gospel in the New Heavens and the New Earth—Dr. Piper said the following:

Every human has died. Animals suffer. Rivers overflow an inundate hundreds of city bocks in Cedar Rapids. Avalanches bury skiers. Tornados suck the life out of little Boy Scouts. Tsunamis kill 250,000 in a night. Philippine ferries capsize killing 800 people in a moment. AIDs, malaria, cancer, and heart disease kill millions. A monster tornado rip through cities. Droughts and famines bring people to the brink, and over the brink, of starvation. Freak accidents happen in ways you would not want to describe. Little babies are born with no eyes, six legs, horrible deformities. That is because of ONE SIN! The universe was subjected to futility and corruption in hope (Romans 8:20).

This is very important for you to answer: Why did God subject the natural order to such horrific realities when nature did nothing wrong? Souls did something wrong. Adam and Eve’s volition did something wrong. The earth didn’t do anything wrong. Why is the earth bursting with volcanoes and earthquakes? Animals didn’t do anything wrong. What’s the deal with this universal subjection to corruption, when one man and one woman sinned one time, and the whole natural order goes wrong? Disorder everywhere in the most horrible ways, a kaleidoscope of suffering in this world, century after century.

Here is my answer—and I don’t know any other possible answer biblically—God put the natural world under a curse so that physical horrors would become vivid pictures of the horror of moral evil.

Cancer, tuberculosis, malformations, floods, and car accidents happen so that we would get some dim idea of the outrage of moral evil flowing from our hearts. Why did he do it that way? Ask yourself an honest question: How intensely outraged are you over your belittling of God compared to the engagement of your emotion when your child is hurt, or your leg is cut off, or you lose your job, or some physical thing happens? Everything in you rises to say, “No!”

How often does your heart say “No!” with the same emotional engagement at your own sin? Not very often. Therefore, what God says, “Alright, I know that about fallen man, therefore I will display the horror of his sin in a way that he can feel.” That’s why Jesus, when the tower fell on the 18, said simply “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” The point of the falling of the tower and killing of 18 people was your moral evil (Luke 13:4). That was the point.

All physical evil has one point—sin is like that morally, we don’t have the wherewithal to feel it appropriately, therefore were going to get some help from the physical order. That’s the point of the world we live in, it’s pointing to the horror of moral evil. O, that we would see and feel how repugnant and offensive and abominable it is to prefer anything to God—and we do it everyday.

Adam and Eve brought the universe into this present horrific condition by preferring their own way and fruit to God. All the physical evil the universe is not as bad as that one act of treason. …

The ultimate reason that there is a new heavens and a new earth is not that there might be new bodies for saints. That’s true. That’s just one of the reasons. The reason there is a new heaven and a new earth is because when God conceived of a universe of material things he conceived of everything: It will be created perfect. It will, by my decree, fall. I will labor patiently for thousands of years with a people recalcitrant showing the depth of human sin and I will at the center and apex of my purpose, send my Son to bear my wrath on my people. And then I will gather a people who believe in him for myself. And then I will return and I will cast all of the unbelievers into hell, which will demonstrate the infinite worth of my glory and the infinite value of my Son’s sacrifice, which they have rejected. And I will renew the earth and I will make my people so beautiful and then tailor this universe for them with this purpose—that when my Son is lifted up with his wounds, they will sing the song of the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world in the mind of God who planned it all.

Therefore, be it resolved: We will endure any suffering. We will endure any assault, any slander, any reviling, any disease, precisely because we have a great reward in heaven, namely, Jesus Christ crucified.

-John Piper, sermon transcript, “The Triumph of the Gospel in the New Heavens and the New Earth” taken from the 11:20-19:20 and 44:09-47:00 markers. You can listen to the entire message delivered at the Resolved conference here ( June 16, 2008 ) and you can listen to an earlier version of this message delivered at the Gospel Coalition here ( May 24, 2007 ).

(HT: Shepherd's Scrapbook)

Jesus and Buddha on Happiness

2008-06-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

(From Jon Bloom)

Greatly disturbed by the suffering he saw in the world, 29-year-old Prince Guatama Siddhartha (563-483 BC), who was later called the Buddha (enlightened one), left his wife and young child and set out on a search for the meaning of life.

What struck him was the impermanence of the world—nothing lasted. In spite of this, people were attached to impermanent things. They desired to hold on to life, health, possessions, and each other. But life, health, possessions and people pass away. This, he reasoned, was the cause of human suffering. Therefore, he concluded that if he could kill desire his suffering would cease and he would be happy.

But the Buddha did desire something: lasting happiness. Ironically, it was this great desire that fueled his philosophy of killing desire.

There is a vacuous absence of God in the Buddha's pursuit of desire-less joy. He didn't say much about God's existence. To him, God was irrelevant to human happiness. Rather, happiness was being free from desire-induced suffering and reincarnation. It was the blissful end of individual existence—the sweet annihilation that is Nirvana.

How different are Jesus' answers from the Buddha's. When a rich young man, not so different from the rich young Guatama, sought out Jesus' direction for eternal happiness, Jesus replied,

You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. (Mark 10:21).

Note that Jesus did instruct the man to become detached from his possessions, but he did not mean a Buddhist detachment. The Buddha taught that nothing lasts, so be attached to nothing. Jesus taught that One Thing lasts, so at all cost, be attached to that!

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:45)

Jesus knows that our desire for happiness is designed by God and so is our desire for permanence. They are not evil. Here is what is evil:

Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:12-13)

We are designed to be satisfied with the one eternal, permanent God. Evil is when we believe that God will not satisfy us and therefore pursue happiness in transient things. That's the essence of sin.

Jesus and the Buddha agree that pursuing happiness in transient things is futile, but they direct us to opposite solutions. The Buddha says satisfaction is treasuring nothing. Jesus says it is treasuring God. In treasuring God we end up receiving all things. In treasuring no thing we end up with, well, nothing.

Which, of course, is why we are not Desiring Nothing Ministries.

David Wells on Preaching

2008-06-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

From David Wells' most recent book, The Courage to be Protestant: Truth-lovers, Marketers and Emergents in the Postmodern World, page 230...

"Preaching is not a conversation, a chat about some interesting ideas. It is not the moment in which postmoderns hear their own private messages in the biblical words, one unique to each one who hears, and then go their own way. No! This is God speaking! He speaks through the stammering lips of the preacher where that preacher's mind is on the text of Scripture and his heart is in the presence of God. God, as Luther put it, lives in the preacher's mouth.

This is the kind of preaching that issues a summons, which nourishes the soul, which draws the congregation into the very presence of God so that no matter what aspect of his character, his truth, his working in this world is in focus, we leave with awe, gratitude, encouragement, and sometimes a rebuke. We have been in the very presence of God! That is what great preaching always does."

(HT: Matt Harmon)

Take less, give more; for the sake of the gospel

2008-05-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

Challenging and thoughtful post from Shaun Groves

Why live simply?
# 1. To free up resources which should be spent on those presently in need. Less time, thought, and money spent on ourselves means - in theory - more time, thought and money that can be spent on others. Example: Getting rid of cable frees up enough money to meet the needs of two children every month and enough time (about four hours a day) to play a game with the kids, go on a date with my wife, exercise, take a real Sabbath, and get to know the neighbors.

# 2. To prevent need. The less energy, natural resources and store-bought stuff we use, the less negative impact on the environment, health and economics of others. Example: There is said to be a link between my consumption of stuff, the deforestation of South and Central America, and drought in Sub-Saharan Africa.

# 3. To invest in personal health - mental, spiritual, relational and physical. Living with less stuff, fewer chemicals, and more time increases the odds that we’ll also enjoy more spiritual dependence and focus, less stress, more and stronger relationships, greater freedom in decision making, and improved overall health. Example: Not having a text plan or a phone that allows me to text easily keeps me fully present in conversations, making those I’m with feel listened to and important.

# How do we live simply then? 1. Subtract most/all of what’s not needed from our lives. Step one: Take stock of where our time, money, and resources are currently spent and how much stuff, time and money we presently have. Step two: Determine what “need” is. It helps to see people living on the bare essentials firsthand. Step three: Commit to subtract excess from our lives incrementally and tally up the savings of time, money and environmental impact as we go. Example: This month, get rid of cable and count up the hours and cash saved. Next month, nix caffeine and count the savings. In the winter, plant a garden and notice how much better it feels to eat more chemical-free food. Take baby steps and measure the difference they make.

# 2. Add most/all of what we have to the lives of others. Simplifying saves money and time. Put money aside for the needs of others: The friend who can’t afford counseling, the neighbor who can’t afford medical care, the crisis pregnancy center that needs a sonogram machine. Put aside time to invest in people. Choose not to use all the time once wasted watching TV on getting more work done now. Spent that time with family, friends and neighbors, alone relaxing, on a hobby or serving somewhere. Interestingly, if I don’t have the time to be with people I won’t be aware of the needs of people.

Even more simply put: Take less. Give more.

One thing I'm not hearing Shaun say here, but I think he would affirm is that we should live simply, but not as an end in itself. We should live simply for the sake of the Gospel. John Piper writes very well on this in my favorite chapter in Desiring God, the money chapter.

(HT: Vitamin Z)

Magnifying God &Money

2008-05-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

From Nicki at Titus2Talk

Yesterday I asked how I might instill in my son a healthy understanding of money and spending and bring him up in such a way that he finds it more rewarding to give than to receive. Here are my thoughts on how we might magnify God when teaching our children about money.

1. Teach your children to love Christ more than anything else by loving Christ more than anything else.

2. Teach your children that every good thing comes from God and not because Daddy has a job.

3. Teach your children that Daddy has a job because God has given him a job.

4. Teach your children to be thankful for all that they have by being thankful for all that you have.

5. Continually thank God with your children for all that you have.

6. Continually thank God with your children for all that you do not have because Christ is better by far.

7. Pray with your children for those who do not have.

8. Give to those who do not have.

9. Teach your children to be good stewards by looking after property, clothes and toys.

10. Teach them not to worry about what they will eat or wear by trusting God for all that you need.

11. Don't spend what you do not have.

12. Share what you do have.

Anymore???

John Piper has a helpful sermon on Luke 12: 32-34, Magnifying God with Money.

32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Here are his main points from the sermon:

1. Do not fear when it comes to money & things

2. Have an impulse toward simplicity rather than accumulation

3. Maximise your treasure in Heaven, not on earth

4. Your heart moves toward what you cherish

Thinking about retirement? Dream Big! And Don't become a shammy!

2008-05-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

(HT:Titus2Talk)

6 Ways to React to the Cyclone

2008-05-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

From the Desiring God blog:

As the carnage from Cyclone Nargis moves toward 50,000 dead and beyond, there is a way to pray and act:

1. Be softened to the pain nearby.

The Good Samaritan knew nothing of the calamities in first century Burma, but was commended by the Lord for mercies at hand (Luke 10:25-37).

2. Pray for the followers of Christ in Myanmar:

* That they would be still and know that God is God (Psalm 46:10; 100:3).
* That they would be awakened from the illusion that this life is long or sure or the main point of eternal existence (James 4:14).
* That they would be given a new vision of the supreme value of Christ who promises his followers that famine, nakedness, and death will not separate them from his love (Romans 8:35).
* That God would meet their needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus, so that they might have to give to those in need (Philippians 4:19; Ephesians 4:28).

3. Pray for the millions of unbelievers near the calamity and far from it:

* That they would see the helplessness of man before the Power that rules the world and fly to Christ who alone delivers from the final cyclone of God’s wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
* That they would not respond like the people in Revelation (9:20; 16:9, 11) who did not repent at the devastation but cursed God.
* That they would hear the best news in all the world—not the news of health, wealth, and prosperity in this world, but the news that Christ became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) so that in him we can be more than conquerors in every calamity of life (Romans 8:37).

4. Pray for those of us who live in the seeming security and prosperity of America:

* That we would see what is about to break over us in due time—either collectively as God removes the hand of his providential restraint, or individually as one by one we are whisked to the hospital, then wheeled to the nursing home, and then carried to the funeral home (Hebrews 9:27).
* That millions would be made to see this and repent from the adultery of treasuring anything more than Christ (James 4:4).

5. Give money to replenish the coffers of compassion “since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3).

6. Muster a team from your church, and when the doors are open, be ready to go.

This kind of going always has the promise of a special, “I will be with you to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

~John Piper

Serious pleasure, serious treasure.

2008-05-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

From the Don't Waste Your Life website:

"The greatest cause in the world is joyfully rescuing people from hell, meeting their earthly needs, making them glad in God, and doing it with a kind, serious pleasure that makes Christ look like the Treasure he is."

Transfer of punishment is our foundation

2008-04-29T19:38:00.000-07:00

“So it was necessary, since God had purposed to save his church, to transfer the punishment from them who deserved it but could not bear it, to one who had not deserved it but could bear it.

This transfer of punishment by divine dispensation is the foundation of the Christian faith, indeed of all the supernatural revelation contained in Scripture.”

- John Owen, The Glory of Christ (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1994), 74.

(HT: Of First Importance)

"Getting A’s, obeying curfew, and wearing Polos doesn’t save anybody."

2008-04-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

From Abraham Piper:

"Understanding teenage rebellion only as sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll implies that the goal is celibacy, sobriety, and employment. It’s not.

It’s Jesus."

Boasting only in Christ

2008-03-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

No man can bear witness to Christ and to himself at the same time. No man can give the impression that he himself is clever and that Christ is mighty to save. (Quoted in John Stott, Between Two Worlds, 325)

Tim Keller at Google and Berkeley

2008-03-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

"Should people be pushed to act like they believe what they don’t?"

2008-03-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

Check out this post by Abraham Piper, who writes on his blog, www.twentytwowords.com. (Abraham is working out a fun concept of posting only in 22 words, not counting titles.)

"Living righteously flows from loving Jesus.

When Christians require righteousness from non-lovers-of-Jesus, the result will be hypocrisy.

Is this hypocrisy worth it?"

And more quotes...

2008-03-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

Evangelism of the humorous type [we might say, church growth of the marketing type] may attract multitudes, but it lays the soul in ashes and destroys the very germs of religion. Mr. Spurgeon is often thought by those who do not know his sermons to have been a humorous preacher. As a matter of fact there was no preacher whose tone was more uniformly earnest, reverent and solemn. (Quoted by Iain Murray in The Forgotten Spurgeon, p. 38).

Pride is without doubt the chief occupational hazard of the preacher. It I has ruined many, and deprived their ministry of power.... In some it is blatantly obvious. They are exhibitionists by temperament and use the pulpit as a stage on which they show off.... Other preachers are not like Nebuchadnezzars, however, for their pride does not take the form of blatant boastfulness. It is more subtle, more insidious, and even more perverse. For it is possible to adopt an outward demeanor of great meekness, while inside our appetite for applause is insatiable. At the very moment when in the pulpit we are extolling the glories of Christ, we can in reality be seeking our own glory, and when we are exhorting the congregation to praise God, and are even ostensibly leading them in praise, we can be secretly hoping that they will spare a bit of praise for us. We need to cry out with Baxter, "O what a constant companion, what a tyrannical commander, what a sly, subtle and insinuating enemy is this sin of pride!” (John Stott, Between Two Worlds, 320-321)

And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he sang to them…until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness. (The Return of the King, 933)

Quote city

2008-03-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

"His reward as a gift giver is in the gladness of heart that we experience in receiving his gift as a gift. . . . Anything we do with a motive of adding to the work of Christ so as to win the forgiveness of God becomes the ground of self-satisfaction in our own goodness, rather than trust in God's grace."
John Esnor, The Great Work of the Gospel

The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalm 34:22)
"Faith is the mark of the ransomed, and wherever it is seen, though in the least and meanest of the saints, it ensures salvation. Believer, thou shalt never be deserted, forsaken, given up to ruin. God, even thy God, is thy guardian and friend, and bliss is thine."
Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David

"So completely was Jesus bent upon saving sinners by the sacrifice of Himself, He created the tree upon which He was to die, and nurtured from infancy the men who were to nail Him to the accursed wood."
Octavius Winslow, The Foot of the Cross

"Man's Maker was made man that the Bread might be hungry, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired from the journey; that Strength might be made weak, that Life might die."
St. Augustine

"Look more at justification than sanctification. In the highest commands consider Christ, not as an exacter to require, but as a debtor, an undertaker, to work in you and for you. If you have looked at your resolutions, endeavors, workings, duties, qualifications, etc., more than at the merits of Christ, it will cost you dear."
Thomas Wilcox, Honey out of the Rock

"All trouble comes from not right sorting and comparing things: seeking that on earth which is only to be had in heaven, and seeking that in the creature which is only to be had in God, and looking for that from self which is only to be found in Christ, and seeking that in the law which is only to be had in the gospel."
Thomas Manton, The Life of Faith

"Faith therefore must be purely taught: namely, that thou art so entirely joined unto Christ, that He and thou art made as it were one person: so that thou mayest boldly say, I am now one with Christ, that is to say, Christ's righteousness, victory, and life are mine. And again, Christ may say, I am that sinner, that is, his sins and his death are Mine, because he is united and joined unto Me, and I unto him."
Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians

"Make up your mind that to behold the glory of God by beholding the glory of Christ is the greatest privilege which is given to believers in this life. This is the dawning of heaven."
John Owen, The Glory of Christ

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
"The paradox is amazing. The Creator assumed the human frailty of his creatures. The Eternal One entered time. The all-powerful made himself vulnerable. The all-holy exposed himself to temptation. And in the end the immortal died."
John Stott, The Incomparable Christ

"It cannot be over-emphasized that we have not seen the full meaning of the cross till we have seen it as the center of the gospel, flanked on the one hand by total inability and unconditional surrender and on the other by irresistible grace and final preservation. Christ died to save a certain company of helpless sinners upon whom God had set his free saving love. Christ's death ensured the calling and keeping - the present and final salvation - of all whose sins he bore. That is what Calvary meant, and means. The cross saved; the cross saves."
J.I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness

"Jesus Christ has completely done the work of our redemption. He does not redeem us from some of our sins, and leave us to grapple with the rest. Oh, no! Christ makes a most complete work of it. He redeems us from all our iniquities. He delivers us out of the hands of all our enemies. He pays all debts, He delivers from all wrath, He takes off the whole curse, He saves to the uttermost, and will settle us in a state of full and perfect bliss—when grace shall be turned into glory."
Thomas Brooks, Paradise Opened

"If I am a new creature in Christ, then I stand before God, not in myself—but in Christ. He sees no longer me—but only him in whom I am—him who represents me, Christ Jesus, my substitute and surety. In believing, I have become so identified with the Son of his love, that the favor with which he regards him passes over to me, and rests, like the sunshine of the new heavens, upon me. In Christ, and through Christ, I have acquired a new standing before the Father. I am 'accepted in the beloved.' My old standing, that is, that of distance, and disfavor, and condemnation, is wholly removed, and I am brought into one of nearness, and acceptance, and pardon—I am made to occupy a new footing, just as if my old one had never been. Old guilt, heavy as the mountain, vanishes; old dread, gloomy as midnight, passes off; old fear, dark as hell, gives place to the joyful confidence arising from forgiveness and reconciliation, and the complete blotting out of sin. All things are made new. I have changed my standing before God; and that simply in consequence of that oneness between me and Christ, which has been established, through my believing the record given concerning him. I come to him on a new footing, for I am "in Christ," and in me there has been a new creation."
Horatius Bonar, Christ and the New Creation

"When we shall come home and enter to the possession of our Brother's fair kingdom, and when our heads shall find the weight of the eternal crown of glory, and when we shall look back to pains and sufferings; then shall we see life and sorrow to be less than one step or stride from a prison to glory; and that our little inch of time - suffering is not worthy of our first night's welcome home to heaven."
Samuel Rutherford, The Loveliness of Christ

"There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us."
Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed

"The very fact that Christ suffered for us, and through His suffering became a propitiation for us, proves that we are (by nature) unrighteous, and that we for whom He became a propitiation, must obtain our righteousness solely from God, now that forgiveness for our sins has been secured by Christ's atonement. By the fact that God forgives our sins (only) through Christ's propitiation and so justifieth us by faith, He shows how necessary is His righteousness (for all). There is no one whose sins are not forgiven (in Christ)."
Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans

"I am His by purchase and I am His by conquest; I am His by donation and I am His by election; I am His by covenant and I am His by marriage; I am wholly His; I am peculiarly His; I am universally His; I am eternally His. Once I was a slave but now I am a son; once I was dead but now I am alive; once I was darkness but now I am light in the Lord; once I was a child of wrath, an heir of hell, but now I am an heir of heaven; once I was Satan's bond-servant but now I am God's freeman; once I was under the spirit of bondage but now I am under the Spirit of adoption that seals up to me the remission of my sins, the justification of my person and the salvation of my soul."
Thomas Brooks, Heaven on Earth

"There are differences in the ways the New Testament writers present the facts, but there can be no doubt that for the New Testament writers as a whole it was the cross that was at the heart of the faith. In the literal sense of the term it was 'crucial'. We are saved, not by some fine theory and not by some blinding revelation and certainly not by our own best effort, but by Christ's atoning death. Therefore, any really serious attempt to understand the Christian way must begin with the cross. Unless we come to see what the cross means we do not understand Christianity."
Leon Morris, The Atonement

"To those to whom Christ is the hope of future glory, he is also the life of present grace."
John Owen, The Glory of Christ

"The Son of God came to dwell in human flesh for us in order that He might come to dwell in us by His Spirit."
Sinclair Ferguson, In Christ Alone

"The good news of the kingdom is not freedom from hardship, suffering, and loss. It is the news of a Redeemer who has come to rescue me from myself. His rescue produces change that fundamentally alters my response to these inescapable realities. The Redeemer turns rebels into disciples, fools into humble listeners. He makes cripples walk again. In him we can face life and respond with faith, love, and hope. And as he changes us, he allows us to be a part of what he is doing in the lives of others. As you respond to the Redeemer's work in your life, you can learn to be an instrument in his hands."
Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands

"When the clouds are blackest, even then look towards Christ the standing pillar of the Father's love and grace, set up in heaven for all sinners to gaze upon continually."
Thomas Wilcox, Honey Out of the Rock

"If there's anything in life that we should be passionate about, it's the gospel. And I don't mean passionate about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the gospel ought to be."
C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life

"What matters supremely is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it–the fact that he knows me. I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind. . . . This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort - the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates - in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me."
J.I. Packer, Knowing God

"There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ's sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be trust as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing; nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His 'blood and righteousness' alone that we can rest."
B.B. Warfield, Works Vol. 7

"He who comes to God in prayer, comes not in a spirit of self-assertion, but in a spirit of trustful dependence. No one ever addressed God in prayer thus: 'O God, thou knowest that I am the architect of my own fortunes and the determiner of my own destiny. Thou mayest indeed do something to help me in the securing of my purposes after I have determined upon them. But my heart is my own, and Thou canst not intrude into it; my will is my own, and Thou canst not bend it. When I wish Thy aid, I will call on Thee for it. Meanwhile, Thou must await my pleasure.' Men may reason somewhat like this; but that is not the way they pray."
B.B. Warfield

"To that righteousness is the eye of the believer ever to be directed; on that righteousness must he rest; on that righteousness must he live; on that righteousness must he die; in that righteousness must he appear before the judgment-seat; in that righteousness must he stand for ever in the presence of a righteous God."
Richard Haldane, quoted by Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace

"There is nothing wanting in my Lord; Christ hath done it all. On the cross he said, 'It is finished!' and if it be finished, then am I complete in him, and can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, 'Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.'"
Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Jan 31

"Remember this - all the sighing, mourning, sobbing, and complaining in the world, does not so undeniably evidence a man to be humble, as his overlooking his own righteousness, and living really and purely upon the righteousness of Christ."
Thomas Brooks, The Unsearchable Riches of Christ

"Faith does not certainly promise itself either length of years or honor or riches in this life, since the Lord willed that none of these things be appointed for us. But it is content with this certainty: that, however many things fail us that have to do with the maintenance of this life, God will never fail. ... Yet whatever earthly miseries and calamities await those whom God has embraced in his love, these cannot hinder his benevolence from being their full happiness."
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

"As we watch Jesus pray in agony in Gethsemane, He has every right to turn His tearful eyes toward you and me and shout, 'This is your cup. You're responsible for this. It's your sin! You drink it.' This cup should rightfully be thrust into my hand and yours. ... Instead, Jesus freely takes it Himself … so that from the cross He can look down at you and me, whisper our names, and say, "I drain this cup for you - for you who have lived in defiance of Me, who have hated Me, who have opposed Me. I drink it all … for you."
C.J. Mahaney, Christ Our Mediator

Sovereignty and salvation

2008-03-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

This is from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon titled, "Sovereignty and Salvation". It is based on Isaiah 45:22 "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else".

"...to whom does God tell us to look for salvation? O, does it not lower the pride of man, when we hear the Lord say, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth?" It is not, "Look to your priest, and be ye saved:" if you did, there would be another god, and beside him there would be someone else. It is not "Look to yourself;" if so, then there would be a being who might arrogate some of the praise of salvation. But it is "Look unto me." How frequently you who are coming to Christ look to yourselves. "O!" you say, "I do not repent enough." That is looking to yourself. "I do not believe enough."That is looking to yourself. "I am too unworthy." That is looking to yourself. "I cannot discover," says another, "that I have any righteousness." It is quite right to say that you have not any righteousness; but it is quite wrong to look for any. It is, "Look unto me." God will have you turn your eye off yourself and look unto him. The hardest thing in the world is to turn a mans eye off himself; as long as he lives, he always has a predilection to turn his eyes inside, and look at himself; whereas God says, "Look unto me." From the cross of Calvary, where the bleeding hands of Jesus drop mercy; from the garden of Gethsemane, where the bleeding pores of the Saviour sweat pardons, the cry comes, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." From Calvary's summit, where Jesus cries, "It is finished," I hear a shout, "Look, and be saved." But there comes a vile cry from our soul, "Nay, look to yourself! look to yourself!" Ah, my hearer, look to yourself, and you will be damned. That certainly will come of it. As long as you look to yourself there is no hope for you. It is not a consideration of what you are, but a consideration of what God is, and what Christ is, that can save you. It is looking from yourself to Jesus."

Assurance

2008-03-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

The following is a powerful (extended) quote from Richard Sibbes that is helpful for those who struggle with assurance.

"We must judge ourselves by faith and not by feeling, looking to the promises in the word of God and not to our present sense and apprehension... Even the best actions of the believer need Christ to perfume them...It is always a danger for us to rely too much on our own works...Men, by a natural kind of popery, seek too much for their sanctification as comfort, neglecting justification, relying too much on their own performances...When corruption is so strong that the believer cant see sanctification at all in ones own life, the believer should remember that ones salvation did not come from assurance, and that God could see somewhat of his own spirit in that confusion, but the spirit of the believer itself could not. Then go to the blood of Christ, there is always comfort. Go to the blood of Christ, that is, if we find sin upon our consciences, if we find not peace in our consciences, nor sanctification in our hearts, go to the blood of Christ which is shed for all those who trust in him, though we find no grace before we go to Christ, it is sufficient that we find nothing in ourselves, no qualifications, for the grace is of the Spirit, they are not the condition for coming to Christ, but the promise for those that receive Christ after. Therefore go to Christ when thou feelest not joy of the Spirit, nor sanctification of the Spirit. Go to the blood of Christ and that will purge thee and wash thee from all thy sins. Though the evidence indeed to prove our faith to be a real faith is from works, the title we have is only from Christ, only by grace. This is the only basis for comfort and assurance. We are more safe in his comprehending and holding of us than our clasping upon Him. As a mother and child- both hold, but the safety of the child is that the mother holds him."

John Piper and single issue voting

2008-03-08T14:23:00.000-08:00

Josh Harris, in an excellent post on Barak Obama and single issue voting, draws our attention to this provocative (and persuasive, in my view) article by John Piper on why he is a single issue voter (and why you are too).

Here's a snippet:
"there are numerous single issues that disqualify a person from public office. For example . . . a person who said that no black people could hold office-on that single issue alone he would be unfit for office. Or a person who said that rape is only a misdemeanor-that single issue would end his political career. These examples could go on and on. Everybody knows a single issue that for them would disqualify a candidate for office. . . . I believe that the endorsement of the right to kill unborn children disqualifies a person from any position of public office. It's simply the same as saying that the endorsement of racism, fraud, or bribery would disqualify him-except that child-killing is more serious than those."

John Piper on the "prosperity gospel"

2008-03-07T08:17:00.000-08:00

Groothuis: "Evangelicals, for God's Sake, Please Wake Up"

2008-03-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

Douglas Groothuis:

It appears that millions of evangelicals, especially younger ones, are experiencing fetus fatigue. They are tired of the abortion issue taking center stage; it is time to move on to newer, hipper things--the sort of issues that excite Bono: aid to Africa, the environment, and cool tattoos. Abortion has been legal since they were born; it is the old guard that gets exercised about millions of abortions over the years. So, let's not worry that Barak Obama and Hillary are pro-choice. That is a secondary issue. After all, neither could do that much damage regarding this issue.

Evangelicals (if that word has any meaning), for God's sake, please wake up and remember the acres of tiny corpses you cannot see. Yes, the Christian social vision is holistic. We should endeavor to restore shalom to this beleaguered planet. That includes helping Africa, preserving the environment, and much more. However, the leading domestic moral issue remains the value of helpless human life. Since Roe v. Wade, approximately 50 million unborn humans have been killed through abortion. Stalin said, "One death is a tragedy. A million dead is a statistic." Too many are now Stalinists on abortion. The numbers mean nothing, apparently. The vast majority of these abortions were not done to save the life of the mother, a provision I take to be justified. Things have reached the point where bumper stickers say, "Don't like abortion, don't have one." It is simply a matter of private, subjective taste. But how about this: "Don't like slavery, don't own slaves"? Two human beings are involved in this matter, inescapably. . . .

Evangelicals, for God's sake, please wake up. Remember the least, the last, and the lost: the millions of unborn human beings who hang in the balance (Matthew 25:31-46). No, this is not the only issue, but it is a titanic issue that cannot be ignored. Rouse yourself to recover from fetus fatigue. God is watching.

(HT: JT)

Adoption is the greatest thing in the universe

2008-03-06T05:49:00.000-08:00

An open letter to Barack Obama

2008-03-06T05:42:00.000-08:00

March 04, 2008, 4:00 a.m.

The Audacity of Hope
A second-generational query.

By Sherif Girgis

Dear Senator Obama:

As an immigrant from Kenya, your father found new hope in America's noble principles and vast opportunities. The same promise brought my parents here from Egypt when I was still too young to thank them. Now you have inspired my generation with your vision of a country united around the same ideals of liberty and justice, "filled with hope and possibility for all Americans."

But do you mean it?

As a legislator, you have opposed every effort to protect unborn human life. Shockingly, you even opposed a bill to protect the lives of babies who, having survived an attempted abortion, are born alive. Despite your party's broad support for legal abortion and its public funding, most Democrats (including Senator Clinton) did not oppose the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. You, however, opposed it. Your vision of America seems to eliminate "hope and possibility" for a whole class of Americans: the youngest and most vulnerable. You would deny them the most basic protection of justice, the most elementary equality of opportunity: the right to be born.

As a prerequisite for any other right, the right to life is the great civil-rights issue of our time. It is what slavery and segregation were to generations past. Our response to this issue is the measure of our fidelity to a defining American principle: "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life."

You have asked me to vote for you. In turn, may I ask you three simple questions? They are straightforward questions of fact about abortion. They are at the heart of the debate. In fairness, I believe that you owe the people you would lead a good-faith answer to each:

1. The heart whose beating is stilled in every abortion — is it a human heart?

2. The tiny limbs torn by the abortionist's scalpel — are they human limbs?

3. The blood that flows from the fetus's veins — is it human blood?

If the stopped heart is a human heart, if the torn limbs are human limbs, if the spilled blood is human blood, can there be any denying that what is killed in an abortion is a human being? In your vision for America, the license to kill that human being is a right. You have worked to protect that "right" at every turn. But can there be a right to deny some human beings life or the equal protection of the law?

Of course, some do deny that every human being has a right to life. They say that size or degree of development or dependence can make a difference. But the same was once said of color. Some say that abortion is a "necessary evil." But the same was once said of slavery. Some say that prohibiting abortion would only harm women by driving it underground. But to assume so is truly to play the politics of fear. A compassionate society would never accept these false alternatives. A compassionate society would protect both mother and child, coming to the aid of women in need rather than calling violence against their children the answer to their problems.

Can we become a society that does not sacrifice some people to help others? Or is that hope too audacious? You have said that abortion is necessary to protect women's equality. But surely we can do better. Surely we can build an America where the equality of some is not purchased with the blood of others. Or would that mean too much change from politics as usual?

Can we provide every member of the human family equal protection under the law? Your record as a legislator gives a resounding answer: No, we can't. That is the answer the Confederacy gave the Union, the answer segregationists gave young children, the answer a complacent bus driver once gave a defiant Rosa Parks. But a different answer brought your father from Kenya so many years ago; a different answer brought my family from Egypt some years later. Now is your chance, Senator Obama, to make good on the spontaneous slogan of your campaign, to adopt the more American and more humane answer to the question of whether we can secure liberty and justice for all: Yes, we can.

— Sherif Girgis of Dover, Del., is a senior philosophy major at Princeton University and a 2008 Rhodes Scholar.

(HT: JT)