Friday, November 27, 2009
Fanatics
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Great things!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Life
Whats the point?
Friday, October 30, 2009
I've been listening to a lot of Paul Washer and reading a bunch of Michael Horton, and this is what happens....
"Lord I thank you that I walked the aisle and made my decision for Christ. I thank you that I wrote the date of my decision in my Bible so that I can be assured that I am saved"
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Just occured to me...
So many Christians suffer from the same sickness. Love Christ, but fill our spare time with every diversion available because the world says we need to guard our recreation time. Now there's nothing wrong with the occasional hunting trip, but my brain that's so easily distracted could probably use more time with God in His Word than time blasting ducks.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Church.
Got baptized today in the river - totally freezing but definitely one of the top experiences of my life. The whole thing was great, sharing my story with the church, obeying Christ in baptism and then just feeling the love from these people of God, so many of whom I've known for such a short time. What a blessing.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Romans 6
Reading Romans 6 right now...
Now that we are justified, we should no longer let sin reign in our bodies, but should strive to kill it. As Christians, our world view changes, making us concerned with the heavenly things and not with the things that occupied our time before. We are no longer bound to the law, and therefore we are not ‘tied up in legalistic knots’* to try and maintain righteousness. We are free to live under the reign of God and not to be continually enslaved by sin. We should not give sin the opportunity to reign, nor should we give any ground to it because we are children of God and have been justified, and the rule of sin over us has been broken. We do not have to fumble around in the dark, we have Christ, we have peace with God, and we are made capable of killing sin by his work on the cross. We are no longer children of the devil who must play the world’s game and live in the flesh, we are children of God and must act like it, and can act like it. We are to present ourselves as slaves to God. Slaves are not autonomous; slaves do the will of their master. God will discipline us and keep us when we stray, but our responsibility is to seek his will in the word and live as though nothing matters but the glory of God. We are to be obedient from the heart to the teaching of God, which is given to us in His word. Before we are saved we strive and endeavour to satisfy our fleshly desires and to make ourselves happy. Now that we are justified and saved, the correct response is to strive for the things of God, and to present ourselves as ‘slaves to righteousness’. Slaves work for their masters. Work for God, because this results in sanctification. We cannot expect God to make us more holy when we are still presenting ourselves to the laziness and dissipation of the world. God will sanctify us when we follow the commands of scripture, which we are enabled to do by the great work of Christ on the cross. The benefits we received from our sin in the past were not lasting benefits and resulted ultimately in death and punishment. But the benefits we receive now from slaving for righteousness have eternal benefit and result in salvation.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 NASB
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" Matthew 11:28-30 NASB
Let us not forget that although His yoke is most certainly an easy one, it is a yoke nonetheless. We are slaves to Christ - slaves, not associates, not coworkers, not buddies. God is for us, but we should not lose sight of the fact that our proper response to the love and mercy of God is work. We show the world what we truly believe by our lives. To often I myself am lazy and halfhearted in my slavery. What a pitiful and worthless slave I am! May God help me to be a slave who strives for righteousness.
* - From Voddie Baucham's sermon entitled "What is adultery?"
Sunday, September 13, 2009
All things...
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Called.
The Lord calls us from a mode of life to that same mode of life in godliness. We have such a tendency to always strive for things that don't matter, to 'make something of ourselves'. Or it's easy for us to sit and stress about what God's plan for our lives is and whether or not we are following it. The Bible's view of this kind of thinking seems to be that we should strive for holiness, love our neighbours, and put to death the deeds of the flesh in the condition or station in which we are called. Live as a Christian where you work now, where you live now, among the people you know now. We don't need to go chasing fame or status so that God may be glorified. God is glorified in us when we seek to honor Him in the every day stuff. It's easy to think of the pastors and missionaries around us as serving God 'better' or doing more for God. The Christian who seeks to honor God in his life now - where he works and lives - honor's God just as much. We are not all called to be a Piper or MacArthur. We are not all called to be a Carey or Müller. We are called out of our sin into a life filled with gratitude to the One who saves us from the judgement and punishment that we so deserve.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Runnin'
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Hiding...
"Well you see God, I just figured you're so darn big that there's no way to understand or find you so I lived as if you didn't exist. But we're cool right?"
"Lord! I went to church every Sunday (except for sometimes in the summer and when I went snowboarding) and I even read my Bible here and there. Plus I prayed! Well... mostly just when I wanted something but still."
Friday, August 14, 2009
Jeremiah
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Unbelief
Friday, July 31, 2009
Hope
Monday, July 27, 2009
Christless Christianity?
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Paul Washer...
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Missing the point...
Matthew 19:16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The primary point of this it seems to me now, is NOT that you must sell everything and get rid of all your possessions etc. (Not that I'm trying to discourage that kind of behaviour if correctly motivated.) But that we can't do anything to be saved. The rich guy asks Jesus what good deed he must do to be saved. It's impossible. We can't do it. Camel through the eye of a needle. The disciples get it - “Who then can be saved?” - they see the futility in the whole thing. Unless God does something, we haven't got a shot. No hope. Nothing. I'm sure the rest of you that've read this probably didn't have this problem. I'm an idiot, thanks be to God that he straightens me out.
My favorite chunk of scripture for today:
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Its so obvious...
Monday, July 13, 2009
Reading...
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Inability.
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isa 64:6 KJV)
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."
(Gal 2:20-21 KJV)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The worst of sinners...
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
(Heb 10:23-25 ESV)
He is faithful. I know this for a fact. It's real guys. It's really, really real.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Happiness
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
(Col 3:16-17 ESV)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
...
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Unstained??
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (Jam 1:27 ESV)
That is why I don't have cable. That is why I don't listen to the radio. Not that there's anything inherently sinful with cable or radio. But 98% of the stuff on both is put there by Godhating children of wrath. The devil prowls, and even the seemingly innocuous becomes sinister when seen in this light. They want to drag us down with them, they want us to be like them. They want us to be of the world, not just in it. And we cave to their desire in the name of 'not offending' and being 'loving'. What love is this that sits idly by and even plays along as the world spirals faster and faster to hell? What does it say about us when we're willing to go along with everything that sinful man adores? We need God's power, we need it to fight. We are in a war, and most of us don't even realize it. God help us all.
“Of two evils, choose neither” - Charles H. Spurgeon