Forever Changed VT by The Season

My sister passed on this link. They are a group of Virginia Tech alumni who wrote a song about the 4-16-07 tragedy. I’m not familiar with this group but enjoyed the song…

Forever Changed VT by The Season

Paul Sheppard: What’s Love got to do with it?

Picked this up when flipping through radio stations coming home Friday evening. It is the conclusion of a 2 part message by Paul Sheppard. Here is the link if you care to listen. It is a teaching on Agape love from 1 Corinthians 13. It is wonderful to hear that this is still preached from the pulpit. Of course the title is very reminiscent of the song by that title done by Tina Turner.

This message really struck me since the devotion in Our Daily Bread for 4/20 was on 1 Corinthians 13….

Paul Sheppard’s radio ministry link is EnduringTruth.org. He is the pastor at Abundant Life Christian Fellowship

Jesus came Among Wolves

The upcoming National Geographic special “Man Among Wolves” has reminded me of one of our dogs who definitely qualifies as the alfa male. Years ago he was so bad that we seriously thought of putting him down. My wife who dearly loves the dog admitted that she thought he was a mistake. He would chew up anybody or anything that got near his stuff. Most of the time we try to make dogs a human, so as a last resort I thought I’d become a dog and maybe he would get it… So I employed some of the methods this guy uses. Getting down on all fours, I chewed on the side of his face, back of his neck and he would chew on the back of my arms and the back of my neck. Years later he has mellowed to the behavior and demeanor of a normal doggy. It is picture I use as the avatar here at WordPress.

Not wanting to lose His creation Jesus became a man among Wolves. He was fully God, fully man and came in an act of love to save us, the Wolves who in the end put Him on a cross and crucified Him. But this was the plan and death could not contain Him. If you find you are in the alfa male mode then fall on the one who is able to save us from ourselves. Never believe the lie you are a mistake or beyond the reach of the Father’s hand.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 1:3-4

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father! Galatians 4:4-6

John Wesley- Chapel Linebacker Videos

I came across these videos posted @ danroth.org’s blog . If you know some of the basic tenets of Wesleyan theology, then you’ll get the hilarious nature of these Youtube videos. The Wesleyan Quadrilateral (a major deciding factor in our leaving the Methodist Church) and Wesley’s model of sanctification are topics in these goofy presentations.

1. John Wesley- Chapel Linebacker

2. John Wesley- Chapel Linebacker the sequel

Repentance is a Work of God, Not a work we can Claim

(Picture by orb@www.Morguefile.com)

I am discovering that repentance is a work of God. This has been nagging at me quite a bit since this past Easter Sunday. It started with a devotion that morning that had me asking lots of questions and thinking how many put the book of Galatians and the book of James at odds with each other. But I do not see them in opposition.

I believe the Lord uses His Holy Law in a manner which convicts us, moves us to repentance and then to faith in Christ. But repentance is His work in us. It is not us putting faith or efficacious value in an act to force His hand.

I did a short, but not exhaustive study in repentance this morning. Here are some of the places in scripture I studied:

Acts 2:14-40; Acts 3:11-26; Acts 5:31; Acts 11:18; Acts 20:21; Acts 26:21 and 2 Cor 7:9-10.

In these passages we hear that God has granted repentance to Israel and Gentiles, a repentance for the forgiveness of sins, repentance for the times of refreshing that comes from the presence of the Lord, a repentance that leads to life and a sorrow to the point of repentance according to the will of God to mention a few.

Check’em out if you like and post any comments if you wish.

I did find another source the supports part of what I am saying here and seems to express what I believe is occurring or not occurring in our church body today.

Be intolerant: Reject the lies of Satan

“Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.” Jesus, Matthew 24:12

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable,…” Paul, 2 Timothy 3:1-3

When looking at our world today it would pretty hard to deny that we are in the last days of which our Lord and Paul spoke of 2000 years ago. Many are obsessed with self with an enduring self love. A quick look at the churches today will tell us many are “marketing” their church by playing on people’s selfish wants. These fleshly pursuits are masked as spiritual.

When a person walks into a church, the biggest need a non-believer has is to hear the dire state of their sin situation and hear the gospel. Of course this sin talk just doesn’t bring in the crowds these days. The body has believed the lie that talking about sin is hateful and intolerant. Was Jesus being hateful, intolerant and judgmental in Matthew 5 when He tells His hearers that when you look at a woman to lust after her you have committed adultery? Was He beating them with a bible (Torah) as evangelists have been accused?

Or is this love? Jesus ticked off many by telling the truth. It got John the Baptist beheaded. It put Jesus on the cross to die a terrible death.

Instead, we hear things like sow a seed and you will reap an increase [ give us money and you will get a bunch more money and you'll be healthy too], buy our book to discover your purpose so you will be happy [follow our rules and Laws to get to heaven].

Mere counterfeits and lies of Satan.

In Jesus’ day people who promoted this kind of stuff were called the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. They rejected Jesus and sought righteousness by their own hand [by obeying the Law].

It is time to be intolerant and reject these lies. Look to scriptures which always points us to a living faith in our Lord.

Forgiveness

Mark 11:25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.

I found myself in the position of having let down my guard recently and quite stupidly stepped into sin. Of course all sin is stupid if you ask me. What disturbed me so much was those little bells didn’t go off. Worse yet I got others in my family involved in that sin.

Last night I went to my bookshelf and pulled out a book I reference from time to time called The Bondage Breaker by Neil T. Anderson. I asked the Lord to reveal any other sins that I may have conveniently glossed over or ignored. Then as I proceeded to ask for His forgiveness for this sin, the Spirit began revealing people whom I have not forgiven.

And it just kept coming.

Anderson makes an astute observation of forgiveness: “Forgiveness is agreeing to live with the consequences of another person’s sin. Forgiveness is costly; we pay the price of the evil we forgive.”

As we approach Resurrection Day, remember that our Lord paid the price for our evil. Likewise He asks that we “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Eph 4:32

Your Grace still amazes me

Here is a wonderful and timely piece from Igniter Media. Truly, I am not worthy of His grace which is still amazes this man. Stumbled into Mike Macon’s Mikescape blog in which he has a spoof video posted on the Church of Me .

Jonathan Edwards’ delight in God

Sometime ago I purchased a small devotional book called His Promises published by Integrity which contains thoughts and meditations from the giants of the Christian faith. Day 80 titled as “Delighting in God” contains an excerpt from The Works of Jonathan Edwards Volume One and is as follows:

“The first instance, that I remember, of that sort of inward, sweet delight in God and divine things, that I have lived much in since, was on reading those words, 1 Tim.i.17. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. As I read the words, there came into my soul, and was as it were diffused through it, a sense of the glory of the Divine Being; a new sense, quite different from any thing I ever experienced before. Never any words of Scripture seemed to me as these words did. I thought with myself, how excellent a Being that was, and how happy I should be, if I might enjoy that God, and be rapt up to him in heaven; and be as it were swallowed up in him for ever! I kept saying, and as it were singing, over these words of Scripture to myself; and went to pray to God that I might enjoy him; and prayed in a manner quite different from what I used to do, with a new sort of affection. But it never came into my thought, that there was any thing spiritual, or of a saving nature, in this.

“From about that time I began to have a new kind of apprehensions and ideas of Christ, and the work of redemption, and the glorious way of salvation by him. An inward, sweet sense of these things, at times, came into my heart; and my soul was led away in pleasant views and contemplations of them. And my mind was greatly engaged to spend my time in reading and meditating on Christ, on the beauty and excellency of his person, and the lovely way of salvation by free grace in him.”

Now Jonathan Edwards is the guy who preached the fire and brimstone sermon “Sinners in the the Hands of an Angry God” at the beginning of the Great Awakening. Of course, “Sinners in the hands of An Angry God” would never make the top best selling list or deserve a marketing plan by a big hitting publisher of today. It is frightening that market driven forces now dictate what we hear and don’t hear inside many of the walls of our churches, giving us only one side of the truth. But these things must wait for another day and another post.

But, I was totally taken aback by these words because they are not what I would expect coming from him. Mr. Edwards love of the Lord shines forth in this reading. So I encourage you to delight in the King.

 

Mark Driscoll on White Horse Inn

To my surprise White Horse Inn had Mark Driscoll as a guest on their broadcast this past week. White Horse Inn is a group of guys who are traditional Reformed pastors and teachers. So I listened with interest since Mark Driscoll is a name attached to the emergent church which is NOT traditional in any sense. I learned that Driscoll has backed away from full fledged emergent movement and when his church, Mars Hill in Seattle gathers, they get Christ centered teaching directly from scripture and they partake of communion each week. As commented by Mike Horton in this broadcast we are being told that this is NOT the way to attract young folks or anyone else depending on who you listen. After personally experiencing an attempt to force myself and others in a United Methodist Church into contemplative meditation (of which my wife and I walked out) by guided imagery to a “being dressed in white” and mangled teaching of scripture, I am leery of anything emergent at this point.

But I am willing to listen to any man who teaches verse by verse, chapter by chapter and book by book out of scripture. I believe, as Mr. Driscoll, that scripture dispels false teaching and doctrine. As time provides, I will see if there are some audios of Mark Driscoll’s teaching to see if indeed it is scripture based. I tend to think there are those like myself who are “scripture starved” and honestly want a good diet of scripture every week….

Anyone out there have any thoughts on this??

By His knowledge the deeps were broken up And the skies drip with dew. Proverbs 3:20

Picture by RollingRoscoe (morguefile.com)