A Prayer of Encouragement

I ran across this prayer by a pastor who recently lost his dad.  It is an encouragement to me to see not just a Christian perspective toward death, but also toward Alzheimer's and broken relationships between believers. Please take a look and bring a Kleenex.  SDG

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith/2010/11/29/a-prayer-about-burying-my-dad/

A Reminder

It has been several years since 2 Pt 1:12-15 struck me, but today these verses hit me again.  How much of what we do, especially in regard to spiritual things, is simply a reminder of things we have known and embraced for a long time?  Sure, we gain new insights and grow in our knowledge of Jesus, but there seems to be this spiritual forgetfulness that robs us of truths that we need as anchors for our souls.

Because of this, I thank God for 2 Pt 1:12-15.  First, it shows us that God understands our propensity to forget and that He wants us to remember.  He doesn't want us to drift downstream, away from our knowledge of Christ, but instead He graciously provides for us men who are committed to God's Word who can serve, by the power of the Spirit, to give us reminders of the grace and mercy of Christ.  Secondly, these verses  are a personal challenge to me.  Not just that I need the reminders (which I do!), but rather that part of the call of anyone who teaches God's Word is that we must remind people. We must remind them of God's love and grace. We must remind them of our inability to please Him apart from Christ. We must remind them to proclaim the gospel.  We must remind them to hold on to their faith to the very end. We must remind them that what is seen is transient, but what is unseen is eternal.  And, we must remind them to remind others of all of this and so much more.

As I write this, I appreciate Peter's perspective.  He knows his time is short, but he isn't worried about how to spend his last days.  He knows!  He wants to so pour into his friends and loved ones so that after his departure they may be able to recall these things at any time.  Oh, to have a love and a passion like that!  SDG

What's in a translation?

Here's a link to a blog post regarding the 2011 edition of the NIV.  The blog is concerned about 1 Tim 2:12 and states "One can’t judge a translation based on a single verse. Nevertheless, the mistranslation of this text is noteworthy."  Because of this and the wide spread use of the NIV among my friends, I thought folks ought to know what they might be getting if they buy a new Bible for Christmas.

http://www.dennyburk.com/the-niv-on-1-timothy-212/

SDG

Why Do We Overlook the Gospel?

The following is an excerpt from What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert. I highly recommend the book and this concluding challenge says it all.  SDG

How long has it been since you looked up from the earthly details of life and came face to face with the Grand Canyon of what God has done for us in the gospel--his unfathomable grace in forgiving people who have rebelled against him, his breathtaking plan to send his Son to suffer and die their place, to establish the throne of the resurrected Jesus over a kingdom of perfect righteousness, and to bring those who are saved and redeemed by his blood into a new heavens and new earth where sin and evil will be forever conquered!

How is it that I let the beauty and power and vastness of that gospel be crowded out of my mind so often and for so long? Why is it that my thoughts and emotions are often dominated by silly things like whether my car is clean, or what's happening on CNN right now, or whether I was happy with my lunch today, rather than by these glorious truths? Why do I so often organize and think about my life as if I were wearing  blinders, rather than in light of eternity? Why does this gospel not permeate, all the time and all the way to the bottom, my relationships with my wife and children, my coworkers and friends and fellow church members?

I know exactly why. It's because I'm a sinner, and worldliness will continue to linger in my heart and war against me until the day Jesus comes back. But until then, I want to fight against that. I want to fight against spiritual laziness--against the drugged stupor this world constantly threatens to put me in--and I want to embrace this gospel hard and let it affect everything--my actions, my affections, my emotions, desires, thoughts, and will.

God's Greatest Adversary

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but the endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary to the love of God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable and almost incurable.  --  John Piper

Prayer Answered by Crosses

By John Newton

I asked the Lord that I might grow 

In faith and love and every grace, 

Might more of his salvation know, 

And seek more earnestly his face.

‘Twas he who taught me thus to pray; 

And he, I trust, has answered prayer; 

But it has been in such a way 

As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that, in some favoured hour, 

At once he’d answer my request, 

And by his love’s constraining power 

Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, he made me feel 

The hidden evils of my heart, 

And let the angry powers of hell 

Assault my soul in every part.

Yea, more, with his own had he seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe, 

Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, 

Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this? I trembling cried; 

Wilt thou pursue this worm to death? 

This is the way, the Lord replied
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I now employ 

From self and pride to set thee free,
And break they schemes of earthly joy, 

That thou may’st seek thy all in me.

The Cross: Evil, Lordship, and Goodness

In the light of the cross, how could there be any doubt about the three propositions at the heart of the Christian position?

The sheer and utter evilness of evil is demonstrated there: as hatred in the mockery of the criminals who also hung there; as hateful in the weight of guilt which could be removed only by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God . . .

The complete sovereignty of God is demonstrated there: all this happened ‘by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge’ (Acts 2:23), for it was necessary that the Scriptures be fulfilled, those which bore witness to the destiny that the Lord had assigned to his Servant . . .

The unadulterated goodness of God is demonstrated there. At the cross, who would dare entertain the blasphemy of imagining that God would, even to the slightest degree, comply with evil? It brought him death, in the person of his Son. Holiness stands revealed. Love stands revealed, a pure love; there is no love greater. Because of the cross we shall praise his goodness, the goodness of his justice, the goodness of his grace, through all eternity.

--  Henri Blocher