Tuesday, November 30, 2010

"Theres a Voice of Sovereign Grace..."



Been looking for some sound music. These guys redo old hymns but they drastically change the melody. I really enjoy keeping as close to the old melody as possible (probably because I grew up with them), but their catchy notes aren't too shabby. Apparently, my sister gave me some of their songs and I just never knew who they were. Now I do! Go check 'em out!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

"Lord, Send 'em to Glory"

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Phil. 1:21)

It is not wrong to ask the Lord if it is His will to heal our infirmities. But when sickness strikes, we quickly focus on the temporal fixes and we just want to get "better." When you put it back into the true perspective, what is "better" in the eyes of the believer? During the courses of our lifetimes, we see that tribulation can cloud our judgment and we forget to realize that eternal glory is much more satisfying than life here on earth. Don't get me wrong. This place has many good things and great people, but when you compare it to the immensity that is heaven, it does not even come close.

What you gain when you die is immeasurable. You gain the God of this universe. The Savior that loved you. The Savior that died for you. The Savior that took the wrath in your stead. This God paid the price in full by charging it all to His account. Our enemies have no ground for accusations because our advocate is the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, dying is gain. No more sin, no more sorrow, only eternal jubilation.

Beloved, let us not fear death as the Gentiles who do not know God. But let us embrace the fact that death is dead. Sin has lost its sting. Hell is no longer our end. Instead, we are safe in the arms of our Lord forever for He has conquered death once and for all through the blood of His Son. Beloved, do you not realize that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever? Do you not know that we shall worship and serve Almighty God for eternity? O how we must be people who wake up every-single-day longing for heaven. Time is short, the days are evil. May this longing to be with Christ cause us to live our lives with a great urgency to expand the kingdom through the sanctification of His church and through the proclamation of the Gospel. Lord, we CANNOT wait for heaven! We cannot wait because it is where unceasing, unfathomable pleasure awaits us. And this everlasting enjoyment comes to us through the presence of God Himself. Lord, we just want to be with You.

So, with this realization, I ask one last question:


Now, with your very soul, do you believe that "to die is gain?"


We should.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Explain Yourself Luther!

The Reformation had changed everything. Everyone wanted to know how this change came about. So when asked to explain the movement that shook the world, the Reformer Martin Luther said this,

"I simply taught, preached, wrote God's Word: otherwise I did nothing. And then, while I slept ... the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor did such damage to it. I did nothing: the Word did it all. Had I wanted to start trouble.... I could have started such a little game at Worms that even the emperor wouldn't have been safe. But what would it have been? A mug's game. I did nothing: I left it to the Word."

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

That's Offensive, Stop that!

"If one desires to not have a controversial ministry then don't preach the Bible." (Steve Lawson)

You know... our tendency is to skip over the topics and issues that make us uncomfortable. Here is the funny thing, you will be offended by what I have to say and the content is about "controversy." Haha! No one likes confrontation because it doesn't make people "feel good" or it "hurts their feelings." Now I agree, we must use sanctified discretion and discernment at all times and there is a time and place for everything. And we should not seek controversy just because we get a kick out of stirring the hornets nest. But if you call yourself a believer, understand that you will eventually upset the world with what you proclaim. Unless you have befriended the world, then you should analyze how you are living your life (James 4:4). It is one thing to "enjoy" making people upset, but it is another thing to stir up controversy with the truth.

The Gospel of Christ is controversial in itself. No one wants to hear they are sinners headed straight for eternal damnation. But you cannot be ignorant to the fact that your closest friend could be lost for eternity or that your brother/sister in Christ could be in sin. The doors of mercy are open to those who will repent and believe. That is the truth that we proclaim but it this the truth that the world (even the so-called "church") doesn't want to hear.

Isn't the life of someone you love worth more than a few moments of awkwardness? Think about it. Loving someone is telling them that their wrong (then showing them how to live rightly). Of course, there are extremes and dangers you must look out for. You do this without any hypocrisy (Matt. 7:1-5) and with the utmost humility and respect (2 Tim. 2:4-6). But I think, we as believers, have gone to the extreme of complacency and not caring about others enough to get involved with their lives. And we have to, if we love them. Ask yourself this, if you have embraced the Gospel/scriptures as the truth of God, why would you shy away from telling them that truth? As the Lord said, will not the truth "set us free?" Then why?

Why shy away? Are we afraid? Are we too self conscious? Are we idolizing our self-image? Loved ones, that type of selfishness is a something that the Lord does not want us to have. To correct others and to proclaim the truth of God is to love them as the Lord calls you to love. J.K Edwards got it right when he said, "God doesn't care about the reputation of His preacher any more than the sensitivities of the congregation. All God cares about is the effective communication of His message." It is about changing lives and making disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. The great commission isn't "Go and make socially and politically correct disciples of all nations, baptize them if it is okay with everyone else, and teach them only to observe the things that I have taught you which don't hurt people's feelings."

Beloved, if you proclaim the truth, you will offend the masses. In fact, you will "upset the world" (Acts 17:6).
The Lord cares about getting His message to the people and not about who He offends in the process.

We must proclaim all of it! The Lord does not care about human perception or being politically correct, He cares about holiness. Do we sometimes sacrifice liberties to win others to Christ? Yes, this is true. But understand that culture never ever supersedes the authority of the Word of God. Never! We teach nonbelievers that they must believe in Christ and we teach Christians that they must be holy. Not as a way to salvation, but as a response to GRACE. The Lord wants people to be saved and He wants His people to be sanctified.

So beloved, before you think of folding, bending, or even compromising, remember that the words of the Apostle Paul and how he did not stop from declaring the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).

As you walk through work, school, church, and life in general, always think about this: God wants us to declare all of the truth, even if it means offending the person next to you.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Lord, Just Take it Away

Today I started a tiny book that contains some of Spurgeon's prayers. For those of you who know me, you know that I cannot read without a pencil. I just love to annotate and underline (because I have the retention capacity of a 2-year-old). But the weight and power of the first prayer I read almost made me underline the entire prayer. Such conviction could only come from the wonderful Charles H. Spurgeon that God had blessed tremendously. Here is an excerpt from the first prayer entitled "Help from on High."

Lord Jesus, take from us now everything that would hinder the closest communion with God. Any wish or desire that might hamper us in prayer remove, we pray thee. Any memory of either sorrow or care that might hinder the fixing of our affection wholly on our God, take it away now. What have we to do with idols any more? Thou hast seen and observed us. Thou knowest where the difficulty lies. Help us against it, and may we now come boldly, not into the holy place alone, but into the holiest of all, where we should not dare come if our great Lord had not rent the veil, sprinkled the mercy seat with his own blood, and bidden us enter (emphasis mine).

Man... this helps put our lives back into perspective. We, along with Spurgeon, pray "Lord, take away everything that takes me away from you." I think that later in this prayer Spurgeon realizes that his own flesh even gets in the way of his communion with the Lord. He says, "We confess that sometimes in prayer when we are nearest to thee at that very time some evil thought comes in, some wicked desire. Oh! what poor simpletons we are. Lord, help us..." There is a realization of the sinfulness of man especially in the presence of God the righteous. Every member of our body is corrupted by sin and it is disgusting. I think of how often I sin and it makes me yearn for heaven where glorious eternal worship will take place without this corrupted mortal flesh. Anyway, I don't want to ramble on so I'll just end it with a final quote from this prayer. May this be our anthem for the rest of our lives:

"Lord, sanctify us. Oh! that thy Spirit might come and saturate every faculty, subdue every passion, and use every power of our nature for obedience to God."

Father, I'm sorry that I am such a failure. I know that you will judge me perfectly and You are righteous to give me all that I deserve. Yet, O Lord, do not not forget what Christ has done for me, the poor sinner. He has pleaded on my behalf, he has cleansed me from all unrighteousness, and He has saved me forever when my foolish mind thought that I could save myself.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Remember, You're a Sinner too

I don't know if this guy is genuine in his profession but I can't help but think about how the Lord has saved me, a terrible sinner like Gardner.

http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2010/11/reflections-on-gospel-repentance-and.html

The Gospel saves even the "chiefest" of sinners. The degree of sin is not what matters but it is the heart of repentance. God's grace can extend to homosexuals, rapists, and murderers and the blood of Christ can wash them clean of their transgressions.

Going back to what I said earlier, if you are so quick to say that this would be an "injustice" if God were to save Him yet not save "morally" good people who have not committed crimes like these, then you have a skewed view of what really saves a person. You have also, in your mind, diminished the power of the Gospel and have created a "god" that suits your presupposition. God, if He so pleases, is very much capable of regenerating a heart that dwells in the deepest and most vile of sinners that walk the face of this earth.

So remember, if you think that people like John Gardner are beyond saving and that they've sinned beyond repair, then you do not understand the saving power of Christ and His Gospel. People like Gardner can be saved from the hell that they deserve if they genuinely put their hope and trust in the Savior.

But people, you so quickly forget that you too are no better than Mr. Gardner. Yes, sin is sin, it does not matter how much or how "little" you think you have sinned. The truth is, you have wronged a holy God who is righteous and just to condemn you forever in the fiery furnaces of hell. Yet, for whatever reason, God was gracious to save a worthless sinner like yourself.

So don't ever forget that. I never will.


"
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!"