My sister is getting a Biblical Counseling major at TMC. It is great to have a sister and a wife trained in the Scriptures. :)
A while back my sister wrote the following note. May we look to God at all times!
Psalm 27:13-14, I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen Your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!
"Trust is not a passive state of mind, but a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold of the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity which at times seeks to overwhelm us." --Jerry Bridges
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The Purpose of Pain
One of my favorite John MacArthur sermons is from 2 Cor 12 (Paul's thorn in the flesh). The sermon is called "The Purpose of Pain."
In this sermon MacArthur notes, In the deepest pains we learn life's greatest lessons; And the deepest pains in life normally come from those we're closest too. The closer we get to someone the more we typically open up to them and thus the more we arm them with the arsenal to unleash the deepest pains.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10, So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
In this sermon MacArthur notes, In the deepest pains we learn life's greatest lessons; And the deepest pains in life normally come from those we're closest too. The closer we get to someone the more we typically open up to them and thus the more we arm them with the arsenal to unleash the deepest pains.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10, So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
The Proof of Faith
Dr. Don Whitney from SBTS was at our church this past Sunday. During the PM service he preached a sermon on "The Proof of Faith." This was a topical sermon that was very well done.
Whitney said that the Proof of Faith is how you and I respond to God when He doesn't answer our prayers (atleast not in the way we expected he would).
Whitney asked:
Can you trust God when doesn't answer?
Can you love God when he doesn't answer?
Will you worship God for who He is even if He doesn't give you ___?
He noted that the faithful Christian must trust in a "withdrawing God." We must worship God and not simply the gifts of God. You can hear the entire sermon at www.fbccarmel.com
My wife and I also were able to have Dr. Whitney and a SBTS student over lunch following the AM service. It was alot of fun being able to do this.
Whitney said that the Proof of Faith is how you and I respond to God when He doesn't answer our prayers (atleast not in the way we expected he would).
Whitney asked:
Can you trust God when doesn't answer?
Can you love God when he doesn't answer?
Will you worship God for who He is even if He doesn't give you ___?
He noted that the faithful Christian must trust in a "withdrawing God." We must worship God and not simply the gifts of God. You can hear the entire sermon at www.fbccarmel.com
My wife and I also were able to have Dr. Whitney and a SBTS student over lunch following the AM service. It was alot of fun being able to do this.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Word based worship
“Worship begins with the response to divine revelation. But if little time or attention is given to the revealed Word of God, read, proclaimed, or taught, then to what do people respond? The result is that worship becomes superficial or sentimental. If the church is truly interested in recapturing the spirit and nature of the prophetic and apostolic ministry of the Word in worship, then there will have to be a greater emphasis placed on reading, teaching, and preaching the Word of God, but it has to be with clarity, accuracy, power, and authority” (Allen P. Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory, 429).
Friday, February 08, 2008
Commentaries and Bible Study
Check out Pyro's recent post on this very topic...
Dan writes, "No regular reader will expect this to be an attack on commentaries, or a plea for the lonely quicksand of solipsistic interpretation. Nor is it. I'm not sure which is the greater fool: the man who blindly depends on commentaries rather than looking directly to the Word (pace Matthew 15:1-9), or he who sniffs at learning from his olders, wisers, and betters (pace Proverbs 1:5; 5:13; 12:15; 18:2; 19:20; 26:12). Regardless, they're both fools."
Dan writes, "No regular reader will expect this to be an attack on commentaries, or a plea for the lonely quicksand of solipsistic interpretation. Nor is it. I'm not sure which is the greater fool: the man who blindly depends on commentaries rather than looking directly to the Word (pace Matthew 15:1-9), or he who sniffs at learning from his olders, wisers, and betters (pace Proverbs 1:5; 5:13; 12:15; 18:2; 19:20; 26:12). Regardless, they're both fools."
Monday, February 04, 2008
Super Bowl thoughts
Alot could be said about Sunday's Super Bowl...I want to focus this post on what happened at the end of the game. It was a strange ending because all the coaches and players thought the game was over after Brady's last second Hail Mary was incomplete. The referees said "not so fast everyone" because their was one second on the game clock that had to be played out (lame, i know).
One sportswriter wrote, "As much as I like Belichick, his actions in the final seconds of the game were boorish at best and arrogant at worse. With two seconds left on the clock Belichick headed to the field for his handshake ... and then bolted. He didn't have the sportsmanship and decency to wait until the clock hit zero. It was yet a further display of arrogance by a franchise that has long been one of the models in sports." The Patriots of course had just gone from the greatest team of all time (or one of the greatest) to the greatest team to NOT win the Super Bowl!
When the Colt's choked again in this year's playoffs no one was more classy than coach Tony Dungy. He went to midfield and spent a lot of time congratulating coach Norv Turner. Dungy lost the game with class and humility.
How do you explain the difference between Dungy and say coach Belichick's reactions? Let's not make this more difficult than it needs to be...It's Jesus Christ!
Coach Dungy knows that LIFE is alot bigger then football. It was a really hard loss for him, just like it was for Belichick...But i have the impression that to many unbelievers the NFL is a major idol. Winning and losing becomes everything. The game meant alot more to Bill then it did to Tony; and you know that is no knock on Dungy.
Plus coach Dungy lives his life for Jesus Christ and thus deals with trials in a way i would not expect unbelivers to match. The whole world saw this when Dungy lost his son last season.
Coach Belichick is perhaps the best coach in the NFL. That doesn't mean however that he knows how to lose with class or that he will ever be the NFL sportsman of the year. If you ask Coach Dungy to explain the differences between he and Bill I wouldn't be surprised if he told you the same thing: it's Jesus Christ!
One sportswriter wrote, "As much as I like Belichick, his actions in the final seconds of the game were boorish at best and arrogant at worse. With two seconds left on the clock Belichick headed to the field for his handshake ... and then bolted. He didn't have the sportsmanship and decency to wait until the clock hit zero. It was yet a further display of arrogance by a franchise that has long been one of the models in sports." The Patriots of course had just gone from the greatest team of all time (or one of the greatest) to the greatest team to NOT win the Super Bowl!
When the Colt's choked again in this year's playoffs no one was more classy than coach Tony Dungy. He went to midfield and spent a lot of time congratulating coach Norv Turner. Dungy lost the game with class and humility.
How do you explain the difference between Dungy and say coach Belichick's reactions? Let's not make this more difficult than it needs to be...It's Jesus Christ!
Coach Dungy knows that LIFE is alot bigger then football. It was a really hard loss for him, just like it was for Belichick...But i have the impression that to many unbelievers the NFL is a major idol. Winning and losing becomes everything. The game meant alot more to Bill then it did to Tony; and you know that is no knock on Dungy.
Plus coach Dungy lives his life for Jesus Christ and thus deals with trials in a way i would not expect unbelivers to match. The whole world saw this when Dungy lost his son last season.
Coach Belichick is perhaps the best coach in the NFL. That doesn't mean however that he knows how to lose with class or that he will ever be the NFL sportsman of the year. If you ask Coach Dungy to explain the differences between he and Bill I wouldn't be surprised if he told you the same thing: it's Jesus Christ!
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