DeYoung, Duncan, Mohler: What's New About the New Calvinism from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Gospel that Spurgeon Embraced
Today I was listening to a biography of Spurgeon that really encouraged me. Below is an excerpt from the "Prince of Preacher's" personal testimony that brought me to tears today. O how I never ever get sick of hearing about what Christ did in on my behalf! I pray that it too will break your spirit.
Simply by looking to Jesus, I had been delivered from despair, and I was brought into such a joyous state of mind that, when they saw me at home, they said to me, ''Something wonderful has happened to you;'' and I was eager to tell them all about it….I have always considered, with Luther and Calvin, that the sum and substance of the gospel lies in that word Substitution, --Christ standing in the stead of man. If I understand the gospel, it is this: I deserve to be lost for ever; the only reason why I should not be damned is, that Christ was punished in my stead, and there is no need to execute a sentence twice for sin. On the other hand, I know I cannot enter Heaven unless I have a perfect righteousness; I am absolutely certain I shall never have one of my own, for I find I sin every day; but then Christ had a perfect righteousness, and He said, ''There, poor sinner, take My garment, and put it on; you shall stand before God as if you were Christ, and I will stand before God as if I had been the sinner; I will suffer in the sinner's stead, and you shall be rewarded for works which you did not do, but which I did for you.'' I find it very convenient every day to come to Christ as a sinner, as I came as the first. ''You are no saint,'' says the devil. Well, if I am not, I am a sinner, and Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Sink or swim, I go to Him; other hope I have none. By looking to Him, I received all the faith which inspired me with confidence in His grace; and the word that first drew my soul--''Look unto Me,''--still rings its clarion note in my ears. There I once found conversion, and there I shall ever find refreshing and renewal.
-Charles H. Spurgeon
-Charles H. Spurgeon
Thursday, October 7, 2010
What breaks my heart...
Beloved,
Do you want to know what truly breaks my heart? The thing that hurts the most is to know that the people I love are being influenced and deceived in so many ways.
Have mercy O Lord...
Do you want to know what truly breaks my heart? The thing that hurts the most is to know that the people I love are being influenced and deceived in so many ways.
Have mercy O Lord...
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Balikbayan (Part 3)
(Day 7) Friday, June 4, 2009
It was a little sad to say farewell to our brothers from MCC. They were men whom we had seen everyday since we arrived at the Philippines; you could only imagine how difficult it was to part ways. After we had said our goodbyes, we hopped onto the "Transporter's" jeep and were finally Cavite bound.
CAVITE
It was a long drive to Cavite but we made the most of it. Each car ride was a highlight in itself due to the passengers that filled the Pajero. Bong usually sat shotgun, three of us sat in the middle, and one would be stuck in the back. But there was one problem. The person who was sitting in the back had to always slouch due to the seats being raised too high. We had one instance where Jeremy just put the seats away and, straight up, slept on the floor (I took a picture). Aside from those hilarious occurrences, the ride would mainly consist of eating, sleeping, joking, and laughing. We would occasionally listen to the radio too even though Fred, Jeremy, and I couldn't understand anything (I actually could understand a bit... much much more than them). And of course, we would get into our typical theological discussions which would always end with someone saying "Pastor Felix, what do you think?" Just kidding.
Okay, enough of the car rides. We finally arrived at Fred's relative's place in Cavite City for lunch. There we met Fred's lolo and lola who were very hospitable, very nice, and very catholic. Though we differed in our beliefs, I still praised the Lord for them because they were very accepting to us and were even open to listening to Pastor Felix.
It was at this house where I finally got to see my uncle whom I had not seen in about 12 years. He was my mother's oldest brother (who use to babysit me by the way) came to see me. I didn't even think I would even see him, but when he came through the door, I was really glad I did. Here is where it gets funny. The last time I saw my uncle, he was much taller than me. So to his amazement, the kid he use to feed cereal to was now a Filipino skyscraper.
After the greeting, we would sit down and catch on old times and talk about family. Eventually, the team would be gracious enough to allow me to go visit my family for a bit in a different part of Cavite. We agreed that we would meet up again the following morning.
I was really to finally meet/see family who I heard so much about. We did a lot of eating and talking and it was great to know I had relatives who were so kind. Oh yah, I was able to see Amy too! Funny thing, when we saw each other, it had only been a week since we last saw one another but we acted as if we hadn't seen each other in forever. We both agreed that seeing each other in that part of the world was just very different. It was very encouraging to have her there as we got to reminisce about family with family.
Going around and meeting relatives was a really something. It was bitter-sweet to finally meet my lola's sister who was younger than my lola but still very sick. Coming home from the PI, I would hear the news that she had passed away during my flight home. My only prayer is that she held to Christ as her greatest treasure.
Family was refreshing, but I failed to share the Gospel. It was easy to get caught up in the hype of seeing new faces yet so quickly forget the reason why I came to the PI which was to share the good news of Christ. Yes, my family will claim Christianity, but what I want is for them to worship Christ not out of compulsion or culture but out of genuine love. Time with family was great, but why did I have to separate my mission time and my family time? Why couldn't my family be the mission field? Guys, don't do what I did. Utilize every opportunity for the Gospel. Because when you are doing that, you are loving them.
Father, forgive me for not loving my family enough to give them the truth of your Son Jesus Christ. If given the opportunity, I pray that you give me the boldness to share the next time. I can only ask that my testimony, conduct, and character reflected Christ in every way.
Until next time loved ones..
-Micah
The chiefest of sinners...
It was a little sad to say farewell to our brothers from MCC. They were men whom we had seen everyday since we arrived at the Philippines; you could only imagine how difficult it was to part ways. After we had said our goodbyes, we hopped onto the "Transporter's" jeep and were finally Cavite bound.
CAVITE
It was a long drive to Cavite but we made the most of it. Each car ride was a highlight in itself due to the passengers that filled the Pajero. Bong usually sat shotgun, three of us sat in the middle, and one would be stuck in the back. But there was one problem. The person who was sitting in the back had to always slouch due to the seats being raised too high. We had one instance where Jeremy just put the seats away and, straight up, slept on the floor (I took a picture). Aside from those hilarious occurrences, the ride would mainly consist of eating, sleeping, joking, and laughing. We would occasionally listen to the radio too even though Fred, Jeremy, and I couldn't understand anything (I actually could understand a bit... much much more than them). And of course, we would get into our typical theological discussions which would always end with someone saying "Pastor Felix, what do you think?" Just kidding.
Okay, enough of the car rides. We finally arrived at Fred's relative's place in Cavite City for lunch. There we met Fred's lolo and lola who were very hospitable, very nice, and very catholic. Though we differed in our beliefs, I still praised the Lord for them because they were very accepting to us and were even open to listening to Pastor Felix.
It was at this house where I finally got to see my uncle whom I had not seen in about 12 years. He was my mother's oldest brother (who use to babysit me by the way) came to see me. I didn't even think I would even see him, but when he came through the door, I was really glad I did. Here is where it gets funny. The last time I saw my uncle, he was much taller than me. So to his amazement, the kid he use to feed cereal to was now a Filipino skyscraper.
After the greeting, we would sit down and catch on old times and talk about family. Eventually, the team would be gracious enough to allow me to go visit my family for a bit in a different part of Cavite. We agreed that we would meet up again the following morning.
I was really to finally meet/see family who I heard so much about. We did a lot of eating and talking and it was great to know I had relatives who were so kind. Oh yah, I was able to see Amy too! Funny thing, when we saw each other, it had only been a week since we last saw one another but we acted as if we hadn't seen each other in forever. We both agreed that seeing each other in that part of the world was just very different. It was very encouraging to have her there as we got to reminisce about family with family.
Going around and meeting relatives was a really something. It was bitter-sweet to finally meet my lola's sister who was younger than my lola but still very sick. Coming home from the PI, I would hear the news that she had passed away during my flight home. My only prayer is that she held to Christ as her greatest treasure.
Family was refreshing, but I failed to share the Gospel. It was easy to get caught up in the hype of seeing new faces yet so quickly forget the reason why I came to the PI which was to share the good news of Christ. Yes, my family will claim Christianity, but what I want is for them to worship Christ not out of compulsion or culture but out of genuine love. Time with family was great, but why did I have to separate my mission time and my family time? Why couldn't my family be the mission field? Guys, don't do what I did. Utilize every opportunity for the Gospel. Because when you are doing that, you are loving them.
Father, forgive me for not loving my family enough to give them the truth of your Son Jesus Christ. If given the opportunity, I pray that you give me the boldness to share the next time. I can only ask that my testimony, conduct, and character reflected Christ in every way.
Until next time loved ones..
-Micah
The chiefest of sinners...
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