Heal us, Emmanuel, Hear our prayer; we wait to feel your touch;
deep wounded souls to you repair, and Savior, we are such.
Our faith is feeble, we confess we faintly trust your word;
but will you pity us the less? Be that far from you, Lord!
Remember him who once applied with trembling for relief;
"Lord, I believe," with tears he cried; "O help my unbelief!"
She, too who touched you in the press and healing virtue stole,
was answered, "Daughter, go in peace: your faith has made you whole."
Like her, with hopes and fears we come to touch you if we may;
O send us not despairing home; send none unhealed away.
—William Cowper
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
John Piper on How to Kill Sin
Following is a sermon series by John Piper that I highly recommend. You can read or listen.
How to Kill Sin, Part I
How to Kill Sin, Part II
How to Kill Sin, Part I
How to Kill Sin, Part II
Monday, June 13, 2011
Thoughts on Prayer
The brethren asked Abba Agathon: "Amongst all our different activities, father, which is the virtue that requires the greatest effort?" He answered: "Forgive me, but I think there is no labor greater than praying to God. For every time a man wants to pray, his enemies the demons try to prevent him; for they know that nothing obstructs them so much as prayer to God. In everything else that a man undertakes, if he perseveres, he will attain rest, but in order to pray, a man must struggle to his last breath."
— Sayings of the Desert Fathers
Now, if it was part of the sacred discipline of the Incarnate Son that he should observe frequent seasons of retirement [for prayer], how much more is it incumbent on us, broken as we are and disabled by manifold sin, to be diligent in the exercise of private prayer! ...
In the morning we should look forward to the duties of the day, anticipating those situations in which temptation may lurk, and preparing ourselves to embrace such opportunities of usefulness as may be presented to us. In the evening we ought to remark upon the providences which have befallen us, consider our attainment in holiness, and endeavor to profit by the lessons which God would have us learn. And, always, we must acknowledge and forsake sin. Then there are the numberless themes of prayer which our desires for the good estate of the Church of God, for the conversion and sanctification of our friends and acquaintances, for the furtherance of missionary effort, and for the coming of the kingdom of Christ may suggest. All this cannot be pressed into a few crowded moments. We must be at leisure when we enter the secret place.
—David McIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer: The Life-blood of the Christian
— Sayings of the Desert Fathers
Now, if it was part of the sacred discipline of the Incarnate Son that he should observe frequent seasons of retirement [for prayer], how much more is it incumbent on us, broken as we are and disabled by manifold sin, to be diligent in the exercise of private prayer! ...
In the morning we should look forward to the duties of the day, anticipating those situations in which temptation may lurk, and preparing ourselves to embrace such opportunities of usefulness as may be presented to us. In the evening we ought to remark upon the providences which have befallen us, consider our attainment in holiness, and endeavor to profit by the lessons which God would have us learn. And, always, we must acknowledge and forsake sin. Then there are the numberless themes of prayer which our desires for the good estate of the Church of God, for the conversion and sanctification of our friends and acquaintances, for the furtherance of missionary effort, and for the coming of the kingdom of Christ may suggest. All this cannot be pressed into a few crowded moments. We must be at leisure when we enter the secret place.
—David McIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer: The Life-blood of the Christian
The Pitfall Of Perfectionism
I shared this post last week via email, but many of you weren't on my distribution list then, so I wanted to be sure and link to it here. Please read this!
The Pitfall Of Perfectionism, Christian News
The Pitfall Of Perfectionism, Christian News
Friday, April 1, 2011
Lent and the Momentum of Compromise
I was convicted today... No, I am being convicted because even now as I write, God continues to reveal the truth to me.
I had decided, prior to Lent, that I would give up sweets for 40 days. No desserts. No candy. However, just prior to Ash Wednesday, during a middle-of-the-night prayer vigil, God spoke clearly to my heart that He wanted me not to buy anything during Lent. Nothing. Since He was the one who had awakened me for prayer, I concluded that this is what He had awakened me to tell me, so I took Him at His word...briefly. I got off to a shaky start, and it has only gone downhill from there.With the spending, that is. I haven't had the first bite of anything sweet.
On Ash Wednesday, I was in Barnes and Noble (So much for fleeing temptation.), and there was a book I just HAD to have, and it was a SPIRITUAL book, so I asked Brent to buy it for me. The machinations of a whitewashed tomb! That lead to a book order, which I justified because it was a book of readings specifically for Lent. This compromise led to further compromises as as I rationalized several more purchases of substantive books that would contribute to my spiritual growth. This slippery slope led to my ordering some new clothing that would mostly be paid for from my earnings from teaching crochet. And today, I ordered some stationery because I NEEDED it. Oh, I just remembered! I went and bought some new shoes and a shirt to wear to my grandmother's funeral.
Not long after ordering the stationery, as I was leaving work this afternoon, it came to me...what I had done. Not just the buying in and of itself, but the bigger picture. The momentum of compromise began as I justified purchases that I saw as contributing to my spiritual growth, but in doing this, I was defining spiritual growth in my own terms. God had a better way to grow me spiritually, and that was for me not to buy anything for forty days. I needed that discipline far more than I needed to read another book—or to avoid another cookie, for that matter. Thinking of all of this now is even more painful in light of the fact that I taught Romans 6 last week! I am the slave of the one I obey. And I had allowed myself to obey my flesh rather than to obey the Spirit.
Days ago, I had already begun to see that I didn't really need or care that much about the things I had purchased. I knew in my heart that the only book I really needed was my Bible, and I have so many unread books that I could read for the rest of the year and not exhaust my supply. The book I asked Brent to buy for me is going to the library because it is too liberal for me. I've only read a few pages of the book for Lent. The shoes and shirt I purchased for the funeral turned out to be unnecessary as it turned cold again that day. You see how it is. All of my purchases have proven to be unnecessary and unsatisfying. Now I wonder, what did I forfeit by thinking I knew better for myself than God knows for me? What blessings did I miss out on?
I no longer want to seek any kind of satisfaction in THINGS, even those I perceive to be good things such as prayer and theology books. I want to walk in the Spirit and not gratify the desires of my flesh (Galatians 5:16). I no longer wanted to be fooled or ruled by my deceitful heart (Jeremiah 17:9). I want to glorify God in everything, even in how—no—especially in how I spend money (I Corinthians 10:31).
Of course, I have herein demonstrated the whole purpose of Lent. It is to remind me of my sin and weakness and my need for the cross and my absolute inability to do one thing about my sin outside of Christ. Thankfully, because He died and has been raised from the dead, I can consider myself dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:11), and because of this, it is possible for me not to buy anything during the second half of Lent.
I had decided, prior to Lent, that I would give up sweets for 40 days. No desserts. No candy. However, just prior to Ash Wednesday, during a middle-of-the-night prayer vigil, God spoke clearly to my heart that He wanted me not to buy anything during Lent. Nothing. Since He was the one who had awakened me for prayer, I concluded that this is what He had awakened me to tell me, so I took Him at His word...briefly. I got off to a shaky start, and it has only gone downhill from there.With the spending, that is. I haven't had the first bite of anything sweet.
On Ash Wednesday, I was in Barnes and Noble (So much for fleeing temptation.), and there was a book I just HAD to have, and it was a SPIRITUAL book, so I asked Brent to buy it for me. The machinations of a whitewashed tomb! That lead to a book order, which I justified because it was a book of readings specifically for Lent. This compromise led to further compromises as as I rationalized several more purchases of substantive books that would contribute to my spiritual growth. This slippery slope led to my ordering some new clothing that would mostly be paid for from my earnings from teaching crochet. And today, I ordered some stationery because I NEEDED it. Oh, I just remembered! I went and bought some new shoes and a shirt to wear to my grandmother's funeral.
Not long after ordering the stationery, as I was leaving work this afternoon, it came to me...what I had done. Not just the buying in and of itself, but the bigger picture. The momentum of compromise began as I justified purchases that I saw as contributing to my spiritual growth, but in doing this, I was defining spiritual growth in my own terms. God had a better way to grow me spiritually, and that was for me not to buy anything for forty days. I needed that discipline far more than I needed to read another book—or to avoid another cookie, for that matter. Thinking of all of this now is even more painful in light of the fact that I taught Romans 6 last week! I am the slave of the one I obey. And I had allowed myself to obey my flesh rather than to obey the Spirit.
Days ago, I had already begun to see that I didn't really need or care that much about the things I had purchased. I knew in my heart that the only book I really needed was my Bible, and I have so many unread books that I could read for the rest of the year and not exhaust my supply. The book I asked Brent to buy for me is going to the library because it is too liberal for me. I've only read a few pages of the book for Lent. The shoes and shirt I purchased for the funeral turned out to be unnecessary as it turned cold again that day. You see how it is. All of my purchases have proven to be unnecessary and unsatisfying. Now I wonder, what did I forfeit by thinking I knew better for myself than God knows for me? What blessings did I miss out on?
I no longer want to seek any kind of satisfaction in THINGS, even those I perceive to be good things such as prayer and theology books. I want to walk in the Spirit and not gratify the desires of my flesh (Galatians 5:16). I no longer wanted to be fooled or ruled by my deceitful heart (Jeremiah 17:9). I want to glorify God in everything, even in how—no—especially in how I spend money (I Corinthians 10:31).
Of course, I have herein demonstrated the whole purpose of Lent. It is to remind me of my sin and weakness and my need for the cross and my absolute inability to do one thing about my sin outside of Christ. Thankfully, because He died and has been raised from the dead, I can consider myself dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:11), and because of this, it is possible for me not to buy anything during the second half of Lent.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Pray for the Nations
You will notice in the sidebar that I have added an "Unreached People of the Day" feature. I encourage you to lift up these people groups that they would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
And they sang a new song, saying.
"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth."
—Revelation 5:9-10 (ESV)
"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth."
—Revelation 5:9-10 (ESV)
Redirect 3-28-11
Glorious Freedom: Sinclair Ferguson beautifully reiterates yesterday's class discussion.
How to Get God's Attention: Here's a great short post on how to direct your prayers.
No Ordinary Suffering: Insight into suffering in the Christian life.
R.C. Sproul, Jr. explains a proper mindset to have while reading the Bible.
How to Get God's Attention: Here's a great short post on how to direct your prayers.
No Ordinary Suffering: Insight into suffering in the Christian life.
R.C. Sproul, Jr. explains a proper mindset to have while reading the Bible.
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