Husband and Wife

I thought this meditation by Ray Ortlund was too helpful not to post.

“Let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Ephesians 5:33

God made Adam first and put him in the Garden with a job to do, a mission to fulfill. In the heart of every fallen man is the self-doubt that wonders, “Am I man enough to climb this mountain God has called me to? Can I fulfill my destiny?” A wise wife will understand that question at the center of her husband’s heart. And she will spend her life answering it, communicating to him in various ways, “Honey, I believe in your call. I know you can do this, by God’s power. Go for it.” In this way, she will breathe life into her man.

God made Eve from Adam, for Adam, to help him follow the call. In the heart of every fallen woman is the self-doubt that wonders, “Do I please you? Am I what you wanted?” A wise husband will understand that question at the center of his wife’s heart. And he will spend his life answering it, communicating to her in various ways, “Darling, you are the one I need. I cherish you. Let me hold you close.” In this way, he will breathe life into his wife.

Meditations on the Gospel (Part 2)

I know it has been some time, but I plan to be consistent this time...no seriously!

Meditating in the Gospel is not optional...do we get that?

Enjoy!

The Object & Cause of Faith

“The cross which is the object of faith, is also, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the cause of it. Sit down and watch the dying Saviour till faith springs up spontaneously in your heart. There is no place like Calvary for creating confidence. The air of that sacred hill brings health to trembling faith.”

- C. H. Spurgeon, All of Grace (Chicago, Il.: Moody Press, n.d.), 75.

Did sin ever appear so hateful to God as here?

“He was the eternal and only begotten Son of God, the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person. Yet he must descend from the throne of majesty, divest himself of his robes of insupportable light, take upon him the form of a servant, become a curse, and bleed to death for sin. Did ever sin appear so hateful to God as here? To demonstrate God’s infinite holiness, and hatred of sin, he would have the most glorious and most excellent person in heaven and earth to suffer for it. He would have his own Son to die on a disgraceful cross, and be exposed to the terrible flames of Divine wrath, rather than sin should live, and his holiness remain for ever disparaged by the violations of his law.”

- Thomas Boston, The Beauties of Boston (Inverness, UK; Christian Focus Publications, 1979), 91.

The Costly Suffering of Forgiveness

“The Cross is not simply a lovely example of sacrificial love. Throwing your life away needlessly is not admirable — it is wrong. Jesus’ death was only a good example if it was more than an example, if it was something absolutely necessary to rescue us. And it was. Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive us? There was a debt to be paid — God himself paid it. There was a penalty to be born — God himself bore it. Forgiveness is always a form of costly suffering.”

- Timothy Keller, The Reason for God (New York, NY; Dutton, 2007), 193.

Waiting for Christ’s return

“The true Scriptural source of consolation, in the face of all that troubles us, is to keep steadily before our eyes the second coming of Christ.

We must grasp and realize the blessed fact that the rightful King of the world is returning soon, and shall have His own again; that He shall put down that old usurper, the devil, and take away the curse from off the earth.

Let us cultivate the habit of daily looking forward to the resurrection of the dead, the gathering together of the saints, the restitution of all things, the banishment of sorrow and sin, and the re-establishment of a new kingdom, of which the rule shall be righteousness.”

- J.C. Ryle, “Looking Unto Jesus”

Audio Book Review: Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung

This audio book review was made possible by the gracious generosity of the christianaudio.com reviewers program which supplied me with the copy for the review. Thanks guys!

This book is the key to knowing God's will for your life! Actually, the Bible is the key for knowing God's will for your life, but Kevin DeYoung displays the truth of this in this book quite well.

Apparently, there are many volumes published on the same subject, but as far as I'm concerned there doesn't need to be another. Seriously. How many times does it have to be demonstrated from God's word what God's straightforward desire for your life is? I mean, really? It seems quite clear that Pastor DeYoung has noticed the clarity with which God has addressed this topic, and I would recommend this book to anyone who has any doubts that it could be so simple.

From the outset, the narrator didn't seem to have enough variance in his voice to do DeYoung's writing style justice, but whether his voice grew on me or if the material itself was just compelling enough to shine through I ended up not in the least bit bothered by it. I think maybe the narrator was enjoying his job, and that may be why it progressively got better. Either way, I believe he did a good enough job to encourage me to listen to this again sometime in the future.

I also HIGHLY recommend this book to non-Calvinists and those who would call themselves Calvinists who don't take enough initiative on their own because of their persuasion that God is so sovereign that they don't really need to get involved in anything. Again, Kevin DeYoung does a superb job of dispelling the misconceptions held by both of these groups. I would be more clear as to how that is done, but that may discourage you from investing in this book and benefiting by it.

So, what are you waiting for? Don't just DO something--click the link and get listening:

CLICK ME!

An Important Read

Well, I'm sitting at home now, waiting to hear from my supervisor to let me know if we'll be doing any work today. While I'm waiting, I decided to read the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. I really can't tell you what caused me to decide to look this up and read it (besides the Holy Spirit); but I've heard many people tell me how important it is, and I now agree with them.

The unfortunate thing is that many Christians will never read this or ever consider what they actually believe (positive and negatively) about the Bible and how we got it and why it's important to consider these things. Fortunately for you, the reader of this post, you have the opportunity to read it by following this link:

http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/creeds/chicago.htm

Isn't it great that you have me looking out for your spiritual well being?

Well, my supervisor just gave me that call, so I gotta get off to work. Enjoy the edifying read!

Ponder this (rejoicing in sufferings):

"...in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:16b)

Every one of them "were written" by God.

They were specifically formed "for you."

Do you love the Lord you God? Does He love you? Perhaps you were foreknown, predestined, called, justified and glorified by God Himself (Romans 8:29-30--notice how they all necessarily flow from the previous?).

By the way, I'm asking if you're saved...

If so, then stop worrying and complaining about anything you might be worrying or complaining about. It has been put there by God Himself in order to burn off the impurities in your faith and make you more like Jesus. So, as I'm telling myself this I hope you can also see the wisdom in rejoicing in your sufferings (Rom. 5:3-5) and the foolishness of you complaints.

May you not have too many slap your forehead moments...

Audio Book Review: A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper

As God’s word teaches us all things necessary for life and godliness (II Tim. 3:16-17) and for forming a proper Christian worldview, it is fitting for John Piper (by means of the voice of Grover Gardner, who has such a clear and pleasant reading voice) to walk us through the book of Ruth in order to teach us about the all-important doctrine of God’s sovereignty. I was quite delighted to be shown the fullness of God’s sovereignty in such specific aspects as shown in Ruth ; though, I was expecting the doctrine of the sovereignty of God to be shown by means of various citations. This could have easily been done as Dr. Piper points out (there are hundreds of texts that show this), but I appreciate the demonstration of the practicality of God’s word for our daily lives from the narratives of the Old Testament. I actually believe this to be the more practical method, as it encourages thoughtful and attentive study of the Bible’s biographies.

The practicality of the life of Ruth (and Naomi) for our lives is what I see as the most important focus of Piper’s book. Characteristically of John Piper, he applies the whole message of the book of Ruth (God’s sovereignty, the significance of interracial relations and equality and our sex lives) to the most practical aspects of our lives and calls us to form a proper Christian worldview by applying these truths. How ought we to live in light of these truths? That is the real question we should be asking, and it is for God’s glory and our joy that we must think about it. I invite you all to take and read (or in this case listen).

And you can order this audio book from christianaudio.com by simply clicking HERE.

John's got me SO pumped!

I'm so excited to see a post from John! YES! haha And the substance of the post is great! Just what I expected. Well, I've been inspired...

I've been walking around with a song running through my head for well over a week now, and I'd like to share it with you. I'm teaching it to my kids, and my oldest daughter was singing it the grandparents earlier. I love it! And I just found an amazing version of the song on the internet that actually includes yours truly. As a matter of fact, it includes the whole cast of this blog here, and I think you'll be blessed as you listen. First, here's the lyrics:

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!


Great lyrics, huh? Now go listen to this powerful presentation of it:

BE BLESSED!