Faithful Father

I would like to share an awesome passage that a friend of mine shared with me last night.

Isaiah 49:14-16 says, 14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.



God is faithful even when family is not. Indeed He is always and forever faithful! Verse 16 is amazing. I cannot help but think of the hand that my sin helped nail to the cross, yet my name is engraved in His hand forever! He will not forget those whom He has saved.

He hath said

This week has been a struggle for me. It seems that temptation is waiting for me around every corner. Sometimes I feel that I am just too easy a target. I need to tighten up this armor that Ephesians 6 talks about! Sometimes those flaming arrows of the evil one seem to have little trouble finding a weak spot. I know that my God is sufficient. I have been studying words like sovereignty and hope. Beautiful, encouraging, awesome, humbling words. My sovereign God is my Hope! My hope is in Lord. My God is bigger then my foe. Why do I fall? I hate that I am a sinner. I am frail and weak. I am weighted down by my sinful flesh that I can not wait to doff!

I have been using Spurgeons Morning and Evening as a part of my quiet time for the past couple of weeks and this mornings was more of what I need to hear. More about hope. Spurgeon used just a small part of Hebrews 13:5, "He has said''.

Spurgeon goes on to say, ''if only we could grasp these words of faith, we have an all-conquering weapon in our hand. What doubt will not be slain by this two-edged sword? What fear is there which shall not fall smitten with a deadly wound before this arrow from the bow of God's covenant? Will not the pangs of death; will not the corruptions within, and the snares without; will not the trials from above, and the temptations from beneath, all seem but light afflictions, when we can hide ourselves beneath the bulwark of ''He hath said''.''

This is beautiful truth that was encouraging to me this morning. All that ''He has said'' will come to pass. My hope is in the Lord. I place my trust in nothing less.

Reformed Rap

I have become something of a fan of Christian rap music, sometimes refered to as Reformed Rap. There are a few artists that are very solid and their lyrics contain great theology. The following is one of my favorites! Good review! Enjoy!

Atonement Q and A
written by shai linne

Verse 1
Who is God? God is the universe’s Creator
And Sustainer plus the only Savior, there is no one greater
He triune, holy, omnipotent, omniscient, absolute
Loving, sovereign and righteous are a few of His attributes
How do we know this? Well, we know this from the Bible
Where God has revealed Himself- anything else is just an idol
What’s the Bible about? Man’s complete ruin in sin
And what God has done in Christ to bring us to Him again
What is sin? Sin is the breaking of God’s law
Plus our condition, which means from birth we all got flaws
What’s the result? The result is by nature we’re God’s enemies
And must pay the penalty unless God provides the remedy
What the remedy? The remedy is the cross of Christ
Where He suffered all the strikes for the lawless type
I’ve been rescued by the Lamb, I’m convinced that He’s risen
And blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven!

Chorus
Just fall back, and with the eyes of faith
Behold the beauty of surprising grace
Because the Lamb has died, third day He had to rise
He’s magnified- God’s wrath is satisfied
Just fall back- there’s an atonement now
The cross of Christ is holy ground
Because the Lamb has died, third day He had to rise
He’s magnified- God’s wrath is satisfied

Verse 2
Regeneration- the Holy Spirit’s true work in His love
To the elect, who receive new birth from above
Expiation- expiation means God’s removed my filthiness
The old testament type was the goat into the wilderness
Redemption- we’ve been freed from slavery to sin
And His very own blood is the price He paid, my friend
Propitiation- Propitiation means since the Lamb has died
His work is finished- God’s wrath is satisfied
Adoption- adoption means God is now my Father
I got the hottest Poppa and by the Spirit holler Abba
Reconciliation means there’s no more enmity
God is now a friend to me, we’re no longer enemies
Justification- God declares us righteous
Sanctification- we’re being made into His likeness
Glorification- that’s what happens at the finish
When God conforms believers perfectly to Christ’s image!

Chorus

Verse 3
God’s grace is magnificent, He slayed His innocent
Son- through faith and repentance we get the benefits
What is faith? Faith is a gift from God- when we receive this
We trust and treasure the person and finished work of Jesus
Repentance? Repentance is turning from your sin
And trusting Christ as the Spirit cleanses you within
What is grace? Oh, grace is unmerited favor
Our inheritance major ‘cause we cherish the Savior
Right, and if I may quote again, we were doomed with Satan
But believers get Jesus’ righteousness through imputation
Imputation? God takes Jesus’ righteousness amount
Through faith He credits it into the Christian’s account
Anything else? Well, I guess this overview must suffice
But none of this is possible apart from union with Christ
And finally, once you know the ways of the Lord than the
only thing that you can say is Soli Deo Gloria!
Chorus

Camo Christian

I heard it said not too long ago that never in all of history has the church been so well blended into society. Never has the Christian been so hard to pick out. We have churches that look like coffee shops and lounges. We have parties just like the world does and call them fellowship. We have seeker friendly churches because we don't want to offend anyone with a Gospel that is of itself offensive. We have churches teaching universalism and ignoring parts of scripture because they believe that it's just not relevant anymore. We have softened the true Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ so much that there is no power because truth be told it's not the Gospel. We have stopped calling sin sin and there is no need to repent because if sin is not sin then we are not guilty of sinning! If only the persecuted church would take some lessons from us over here in America maybe they would not be persecuted anymore because they would blend in just like us!! There is no need to talk about Jesus, that is too offensive, let's just say god (lower case g intended) we can even call him Allah because that is the same thing right?



It saddens me that ''the church'' has fallen so far. It saddens me that evangelism is something that seems to be rarely practiced anymore. We are more afraid of hurting someones feelings then we are of hurting the One who we are evangelizing for. We are too comfortable with who we are. We are too comfortable with who we perceive God to be. Without Christ, God is terrible because He is all that is good and just and holy. A sinner without Christ has no hope! Let us spread the Good News!!!


Many Churches and ''Christians'' in America today are in trouble. We need to get back to the basics. The Gospel. We are not of this world. We are aliens here. We are told in scripture to not conform to this world but to be transformed! (Rom 12:2). What is it that we are to be transformed by? The renewing of our minds! Let us renew our minds with Gods word, not just parts of it but in its entirety. Let us rest in the Gospel. The truth!! Let us trust in the Sovereign. Let us work in His love to bring His word to those He created in His image.

Lessons from a 12 year old

"Kinda"- I believe this "word'' is short for "kind of"'. Often heard leaving my son's lips after a question is asked of him that requires answer of some sort. The hoped for answer is either "good", ''bad'', ''yes'', ''no'', or something that is actually a proper response. I will give you some examples-

Me: ''Did you have a good day today son?''
Tyler: ''Kinda..."


Or-

Me: ''Did you sleep well my son?''
Tyler: ''Kinda...''

Or my favorite-

Dad: "Did you do good on your math test today son?"
Tyler: ''Kinda...''

That word drives me nuts. I think he says it now just to get me going. He says it with the kind of smirk on his face that says, ''I'm just doing this to get you going Dad.'' The more I understand his meaning of this particular ''word'' the more I realize that it tends to have a negative slant, more of a ''Not really'' feel to it.

Ahhhhh the pre-teen.

My past is scarred with ''kinda'' Christian behavior. Yeah, I'm a Christian but that won't stop me from drinking booze till I can't stand, or yeah, I'm a Christian but it's OK for me to watch this movie, or maybe, yeah, I'm a Christian but I love her so we don't have to be married, yeah, I'm a Christian but ...excuses, excuses, excuses. How many people have I hurt or mislead or angered because of this kind of behavior? I'm convinced that there is no such thing as a ''kinda'' Christian. The "kinda'' Christian cares much more for himself then for Jesus and others. The genuine Christian is a servant who strives by Gods grace to put sin to death. The ''kinda'' Christian glory's in his sin, the true child of God has power over sin through the power of the Gospel. A ''kinda'' Christian has his fist in the air screaming "ME ME ME ME! the true Christian has his head humbly bowed before the cross crying out, ''Jesus Jesus Jesus...take this wretched life and make it yours.



1 Cor 10:31 says, ''So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.''

Just good stuff!

Excerpt from Camp on This http://www.stevenjcamp.blogspot.com/

Believer! look to Him–lean upon Him–cleave to Him–labor for Him–suffer for Him–and, if need be, die for Him. Thus loving and trusting, living and dying, for "Jesus only."
Octavious Winslow 1808-1878

Mark Dever

Mark Dever, head pastor of Capital Hill Baptist Church and author of several books was one of the speakers at the Desiring God Pastors Conference last week. It was a privilege to sit under the teachings of this man who God has gifted as an evangelist and teacher. He is fearless when it comes to sharing his faith with others. A true encouragement to those aspire to be soul winners. I picked up a few of his books while at the conference and I want to share with you a thought from "Twelve Challenges Churches Face". It is a walk through of his study and sermons on 1 Corinthians. In this book Dever calls evangelicals to love the church as much as they love Jesus. That is quite a bold statement. I want to know what you all think of it. Are we to love the bride of Christ as much as we love Christ himself? I have to wrestle through this and I want you to wrestle with this with me!

Reflections of evangelism

If you follow my blog you know that I was able to attend the Desiring God Pastors Conference this year. What a blessing it was to be surrounded by so many godly men! What a blessing to sit under the teachings of Michael Oh, Matt Chandler, Mark Dever, and John Piper. What a blessing to sing and worship with 1500 men! If you have never been in an auditorium full of men singing to their Savior you are really missing out on something special and unique. While at this conference I was brought to tears on more then one occasion. Faced with my own sinfulness, or the thought that there are so many out there who have not heard about the Gospel! I was brought face to face with my own selfishness. I thought I was gaining in that particular area. On the outside it may be true. But inside I long for my Jesus to return! Above all else! I do not fear for those who have rejected His truth or have not heard the Gospel! I need to love them, have a desire for them to come to know Jesus! I am doing my best, with the Lords assistance to have a proper world view. A sort of sorrowful rejoicing if you will. I shed tears for Nancy on more then one occasion too. She has been so heavy on my heart. Please pray for her.

Two of the speakers at this conference were under 40 years old. The majority of folks who attended were under 50. This was very encouraging to me! It contrasts sharply with the trends in my industry. If I were to go to a conference in the water and waste water industry 80 percent of the folks are within 10 years of retirement. Who will take over? God's church on the other hand is growing! So many young faces filling pulpits or doing missions work. God is working! God is raising up His people to do His work!

One of the biggest lessons that I learned on this trip is that I need to spend more time getting to know my God and His Word. I need be more familiar with Jesus and His earthly ministry. I was talking to a woman in the Minneapolis airport about the Gospel and we had very different ideas about who Jesus was and is and I was not able to take her to the scriptures I needed. I praise God for his sovereignty in these areas of our failures!! It is indeed much harder to talk to a "churched" person about Jesus then it is to talk to someone who has not been "churched"! I need to learn! I need to be prepared!

Wonderful smelly feet

It is so easy for Christians to live a life of leisure here in America. We tend to be obedient to Gods word...to a point. We seem to have a mindset that says "I'm doing good enough", or maybe "God is sovereign, he can take care of it with or without me." Better yet, "someone else can do it." A friend of mine once said to me, "If not me who, if not now when?'' I think that saying is profound and something to keep in mind the next time the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart about sharing Christ with somebody. Why do you suppose it is that we are so afraid to leave our comfort zone and share Christ with another? That other person could very well be on their way to hell for eternity. Do you care enough for that person? I am humbled to say that there are many times that I don't. I tend to think that, "I know I'm going to heaven and I don't even know that person, whats it matter?'' What matters is obedience. What matters is that Jesus died for that person. What matters is that that person is made in God's image. We should love that person! Love that person as Christ loves them. I had a conversation with someone not too long ago about Jesus and who he was and is. We disagreed. This person had some ideas about Jesus that were not scriptural. I knew that what she was saying was not true but I did not know scripture well enough to show her. Talk about convicting! I assure you that the next time I am presented with questions like that I will be ready! (2 Tim 4:2).

It is my desire to have wonderful feet (Rom. 10:15). To bring the good news. I hate that I fear man. I so long for the return of my king. No more sin! I am also terrified for those who are perishing. I have family and friends who are going to hell and here I sit. It was mentioned at the DG pastors conference that if we as Christians want to have more of a heart for the lost that we should meditate on all that scripture has to say about hell. I'm going to give it a try. I really hope that it works. I want to be living proof that smelly feet can be wonderful feet!