CHS

C.H. Spurgeon Quotes

"The man who is deeply discontented with himself is probably growing fast into the
full likeness of Christ." CHS

"Nearness to God brings likeness to God. The more you see God the more of God will
be seen in you." CHS

"He cannot be a disciple who does not learn, but invents." CHS

"Christ is the cause of the greatest division, but he is also the medium of the greatest
union." CHS

"We little know what we owe to our Saviour’s prayers" CHS

"What Jesus loves, we love; what Jesus hates, we hate; what Jesus seeks, we seek;
what Jesus shuns, we shun. This is true friendship when there is but one heart in
two bodies, and when one heart in the twain produces with undivided strength one
object." CHS

You never saw a child startled when it was told for the first time that God made it,
for within that little mind there dwells an instinct which accepts the statement." CHS

"When we preach Christ crucified, we have no reason to stammer, or stutter, or hesitate, or apologize; there is nothing in the gospel of which we have any cause to be ashamed." CHS

"The heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ." CHS

"Do not forget that, although the Lord graciously changes man’s will, and he has
absolute power over the human will, and makes men willing in the day of his power,
yet he never saves anybody against his will, and, while the will stands out against
God, and is unrenewed and unchanged, the man is still unsaved." CHS

"Let this be to you the mark of true gospel preaching - where Christ is everything, and the creature is nothing; where it is salvation all of grace, through the work of the Holy Spirit applying to the soul the precious blood of Jesus." CHS

"Avoid a sugared gospel as you would shun sugar of lead. Seek the gospel which rips up and tears and cuts and wounds and hacks and even kills, for that is the gospel that makes alive again. And when you have found it, give good heed to it. Let it enter into your inmost being. As the rain soaks into the ground, so pray the Lord to let his gospel soak into your soul." CHS

Man of sorrows... what a name!

Man of Sorrows! What a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement! Can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in heaven exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

all truth is relative? false.

Some folks say, "all truth is relative--it just depends on what you believe"

"ya know, any man ain't really know for sure who God is or whats really true"

...but that means you believe your own statement.
that "there is no way to really know what is true"
you're sayin that that statement is true
you're killin yourself!

If what's true for you is true for you,
And what's true for me is true for me,
WHAT IF MY TRUTH SAYS YOURS IS A LIE?

...is it still true?
c'mon.

{Truth by Lecrae}

Statistically... I am a rebel?

Statistically, an average 20 year old woman in America is expected to be a part of the following:

• Nearly 50% of 15-19 year olds in the US have had sex at least once
• By age nineteen, 7 in 10 teens have engaged in sexual intercourse
• Past month alcohol use was reported by 62.0 percent of full-time college students compared to 50.8 percent of their counterparts who were not currently enrolled full-time
• About 9.7 million persons aged 12 to 20 reported drinking alcohol in the month prior to the survey interview in 2000
• Among youths who were heavy drinkers in 2000, 65.5 percent were also current illicit drug users.
• Approximately 2.1 million youths aged 12 to 17 had used inhalants at some time in their lives as of 2000

Statistically I would be considered a "conformist" to participate in underage drinking, illegal drug use, sexual activity...

but... I haven't conformed, so what am I?

a non-conformist? a rebel?
doesn't the word "rebel" have a negative connotation?

sure.

yet here it applies.

• I haven't had sex
• I don't get drunk... I don't even drink
• I don't smoke anything illegal
• I don't inject myself with any kind of illegal substance

Therefore, I am considered a REBEL {(n): one who resists or rises against some authority, control, or tradition} by definition.

"Pat me on the back. I beat the odds. Good for me! I am a good person! A sheltered, non-adventurous, safe girl! Way to be Sara--have a cookie."

False.

What is it that drives my rebellion? Restate that: Who is it that drives my rebellion?

Jesus Christ.

Apart from Him I am a hopeless case. He is more valuable to me than what mainstream American culture pitches as "valuable." He is more satisfying to me than sex, drugs, or getting wasted after a soccer game.

I long for consistency--He never changes.
I long for enjoyment--He is the source of joy.
I long to be in awe over something greater than myself--He is Creator.

Why settle for temporary pleasures when I can enjoy an eternal all-satisfying relationship with the Creator of the universe?

How can this be?

Jesus Christ died on the cross so that anyone who believes in Him, will not perish but have eternal life. In our sinfulness, we are separated from God--Jesus is our ONLY remedy--who makes it possible for us to know God.

"Rebel" by Lecrae
"Man they swear they so gangsta but everyone's the same
everybody do the same stuff: tattoos, piercings
smokin' up and drinking; money and sex--
plus them extravagant weekends,
if that's the high life, I'll puff puff pass that--
you leave evaporated like you missing a gas cap,
I guess I'm passed that, cause I am in rebellion--
I'd rather have a dollar in my pocket than a mill-ion.
I'm scared to worship money, and my wants over Elyon,
I'll remain a rebel while the rest of them just carry on.
this is what I live fo, this the hill I'm buried on--
if Jesus is the truth
that means one of us is VERY wrong
think about it."


That is the ONLY reason I am a "rebel"--because of God's grace in Christ towards me and Him working in me.

Not anything I had to do with.

So join the rebellion---not without a cause.

But go to the root--recognize that the Bible is true, and it says, "all have sinned and fall short of God's glory" (Romans 3:23).

So many Americans consider themselves "Christian" yet we look at the statistical information of "most" of these same Americans... it doesn't add up. The Bible says "faith without works is dead." Therefore, if your actions don't align with your words... think about this and ask yourself if you truly treasure Christ above everything else in your life.

Then, we are invited to turn from evil, and trust in Christ who has taken your punishment on the cross--then His righteousness can be counted as yours.

And enjoy God forever. it's that simple.

Christ is the focus. God gets the glory.

Romans 3: 21 - 26
21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

SGS

joy in sadness

i'm pissed. i'm frustrated. i'm sad about soccer... the weekend was rough.

YET... God remains good. God remains faithful. and through sadness... i see the importance of moving on and recognizing that Joy is deeper than an emotion... it is underneath... not affected by circumstances... based solely on the fact that Christ is for me---so who can be against me?

there is no greater joy than knowing and treasuring Jesus Christ, who died to pay for my sin. He is more valuable than soccer. he is more valuable than outcomes or performance. He is good.

His mercy is new every morning, what a good God!

Keep me.

"If believers are lost, God loses more than they do, for he loses his honour, he loses his
character for truthfulness, and the glory of his name is tarnished". 1429.468

"If anybody said he had eternal life and lost it, he would be flatly contradicting
himself. It could not be eternal, or else he must still have it". 2120.691
"Further, if Christ had intended to cast us away because of our sins, why did he ever
take us on?" 2720.147

"True, we are unworthy, but we always were, and if thou didst want a reason for
leaving us thou hast had ten thousand reasons long ago". 2923.87

C.H. Spurgeon.

50 minutes of words that changed my life.

October 9th, 2005. Minneapolis, MN. Sunday morning. Convention center.

A few months after my eyes had been opened to recognize my sinfulness, and desire Jesus as my savior... I listened to these words... which caused me to recognize the "goal of creation"...or why we, or anything else exists.

VIDEO: The Suffering of Christ and the Sovereignty of God

From eternity past God had a plan. That Jesus Christ, the Lamb, would be slaughtered to ransom the Church: His "bride"...to display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God.

After asking myself, "what is my purpose"?

I heard a resounding answer coming from the Bible...

"Even as he chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved...so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory." (See first Chapter of Ephesians)

So why do we exist? "We exist to glorify God by enjoying Him forever."

Welcome back music library...

Hello, iTunes music library...nice to hear you again. Specifically, Tenth Avenue North. It's been a few weeks...

Never have I encountered a whole CD that has captured my attention for so long. I am a sporadic song listener--usually cannot listen to a whole song without changing it. Yet when it comes to "Over and Underneath" by Tenth Avenue North... I can't get enough. For 3 reasons.

1. Truth. 10th Ave's lyrics are first and foremost Bible-saturated and Christ-centered. There is nothing better.

"Look at these hands and my side//They swallowed the grave on that night//When I drank the world's sin//So I could carry you in//And give you life//I want to give you life"
(By Your Side)

2. Spirit. The Bible tells us to worship in Spirit and in Truth. So not only in truth...but also in spirit... with emotion, with passion, with delight, with joy. The lyrics are so honest... expressing fears, failures, and dependence on Jesus Christ. Not with stiff, emotionless law or words...but sincere emotion-packed charismatic spirit...

"One tear in the dropping rain//One voice in the sea of pain//Could the maker of the stars//Hear the sound of my breakin' heart? //One light, that's all I am//Right now I can barely stand//If You're everything You say You are//Won't You come close and hold my heart"
(Hold My Heart)

3. Good music. These guys are actually talented... and their songs are enjoyable to listen to. Again, and again, and again!

We have a mind that comprehends words so that we might know the Truth. We have emotions so that we might delight in things--and the ultimate, all-satisfying delight is knowing God through Jesus Christ. This CD is breaking me down, building me up, and spurring me to know...to really know my Lord...and encouraging me to take delight in seeing others come to see and savour Christ for the first time as He ought to be valued.

"Well you've been a mistress, my wife//Chasing lovers it won't satisfy//Won't you let me make you my bride//You will drink of my lips //And you'll taste new life
"Cause you're my beloved//Lover I'm yours//Death shall not part us//It's you I died for
For better or worse//Forever we'll be//Our Love it unites us//and it binds you to me"
(Beloved)

God keeps his covenants. He made a covenant through His son's blood...and no power is able to divorce Christ from His bride--the Church. Not because of our power, but His power...that Christ may receive all the glory because He, who was without sin, became Sin for His sheep. God is good!

Moral of the post, enjoy 10th Ave because through their music...we can worship God in spirit and in Truth...for His glory because of the Lamb who was slain.

Gaming at Parkside

"Let's get a bear hug," my captain says to the team at the end of practice. We've spent two weeks training hard, practicing, competing amongst ourselves, working on formation, and sprinting...lots and lots of sprinting.

Today we come together as a team to win a game. No longer competing in a practice against each other, but we come together to compete as a whole against the other team. We are confident in each other's strengths. Ignorant of our weaknesses. Fearless of our opponent's strengths.

"We're not the team that can just show up and win games," my coach says. "We have to out work every team--that is how we will win." Patience with the ball, always looking for opportunities to get a goal.

So how is this like life? Can a sport translate to somehow relate to my relationship with an all-powerful, supreme, sovereign God--who ultimately has control over even this, soccer?

In 1 Corinthians 9:24-26, Paul says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air."

The opponent is real. The competition is tough. Yet with Christ, victory over sin is sure--and the prize, Paul says...is imperishable.

So in competing on the soccer field it is a joy to remember that to win is great. To win is good. To win is exciting. But even this, a victory and its praises are perishable. Yet I know a man, Jesus Christ who purchased a sinful people with His blood on the cross--conquering sin and death...and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

This is the imperishable victory. Looking to Jesus Christ for a righteousness we can never obtain. He is our mediator that makes it possible to actually know God, by the Holy Spirit revealing things to us in the Bible.

Today I step onto a field to compete to win a game against Parkside, to the praise of God's glorious grace. Recognizing that competition points me to Jesus...above all else. Because He conquered the greatest battle of all, the sin of the nations.

May Christ be made much of in and through this soccer game with this mindset. To know that it is good to receive the perishable wreath, but far better and satisfying to receive the imperishable prize in Christ Jesus.

I'm getting dunked...what does that mean?

There are several hours before I go to a lake and am baptized by a Pastor from my church with 14 other friends. Before setting out to do this, I've been looking for two answers: what is baptism? and how important is it?

In short, baptism is a symbol of union with Christ in his death, and resurrection. This video helps to explain (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g08kQvQ5-8k)



Christ conquered my sin at the cross, and purchased my very willingness to believe. The cross is where my testimony starts and ends. Jesus Christ is my righteousness!

God revealed that to me in high school.

I was a 3 sport athlete my freshman year, with a lot of potential. Success produced attention, and I love that. Praise was my idol, treasure, identity.
The following year I was injured, unable to play any of "my sports". I was angry at God because I thought he existed to give me anything I wanted.
Pride surfaced.
The following summer at a Campus Crusade conference, I heard the Gospel again and understood it for the first time. I recognized that I am an idolater, loving created things over the creator; therefore this offense is against none other than the God of the universe, deserving infinite punishment in hell.

God replaced my heart of stone with a heart of flesh, and the cross of Jesus was no longer foolishness to me, but irresistible! Immediately I embraced Romans 3:24-25, "We are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."

This summer I have come to see the importance of baptism. Baptism symbolizes Christ's death and resurrection that conquered my sin "through faith".
Colossians 2:11-12 says, "In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead."
Here circumcision of the heart is a symbol of the New Birth. This symbol is being paralleled with what happens in baptism: therefore also a symbol of being buried with Christ and then raised with him through faith. (So if this symbol represents the New Covenant, should it be given to babies like the symbol of circumcision was given on the 8th day to members of the Old Covenant? No, because the "Church" by definition is no longer a physical nation, but a spiritual nation. Not by physical birth, but only by Spiritual birth.)

"Paul shows the same way of thinking about baptism and faith in Galatians 3:26-27: “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” We become sons of God through faith and no other way. Then he says, “for”—connecting this way of becoming sons of God with baptism—“for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
That explanation with the word for only makes sense if baptism is understood as an acting out of faith. “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Or to turn it around: Since you were baptized into Christ, therefore we know that in Christ you are all sons of God through faith. Why? Because that is what baptism means: You were baptized into Christ by faith. Baptism without faith was inconceivable to Paul. (http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2008/3037_What_Is_Baptism_and_How_Important_Is_It/)

So why is this important to do?

-Jesus commands it.
-In every instance of Baptism in the Bible it was given to Christians, not non-Christians (it is not a means to make anyone a Christian, as if the Holy Spirit is bound to a sacrament. Jesus says in John 7,8 "You must be BORN AGAIN. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.")
-"It was uniquely connected to conversion as an unrepeatable expression of saving faith." (Someone should only be baptized once because Christ only died and was raised once.)

God willing, my baptism tonight will glorify and make much of Christ, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To proclaim to all at the lake, and all friends and family attending, that indeed Christ has risen!

"We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God" the Bible says. Punishment for sin is death and eternal separation from God in hell, the Bible says. But let it be known that whoever believes in Christ Jesus will be saved by His grace through faith!

May the cross become irresistibly beautiful to you,
Sara

Theology to Doxology

"Make every effort, to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love" (2 Peter 1: 5-8).

Truth is not an opinion. The Word of God is Truth. I'm realizing more and more that what I think it says makes no difference, what I want it to say makes no difference--but that what it does say, in fact, makes all the difference. God commands that no one "add to it or take from it".

Understanding and loving the truth in the Bible is not merely a privelage or a job for a Pastor or Theologian. We are each called to personally know God! And knowing comes from hearing His Word...the Bible.

So that, by the power of the Holy Spirit we "may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph 3: 18,19).

Christian, keep watch, because there are false gospels: (video--see original post)


There is absolute truth, and it is objective, not subjective. Let us fight for this, the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We are to "contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3)



We are all called as Christians to be students of the word, lovers of Truth.
We are all called as Christians to contend for this Truth.

And above all, this knowledge of the truth, "theology"... is meant to lead us into a "doxology".

That our joy is not in the knowledge itself, or its pursuit.
That our joy is not in the contending itself, or its pursuit.

But that our joy of the knowledge of God brings us down to our knees in awe and in wonder of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The covenant-keeping King. Because through Christ, by grace, we know the Sovereign God! Yahweh. "I am". The one true God, the God of the Bible.

Doxology means to "ascribe glory to God". Our theology should serve no other purpose than to glorify GOD through it!



The only reason anyone exists is to the praise of God's glorious grace.
The only reason anyone is saved from hell is to the praise of God's glorious grace.

"He chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of HIS WILL, to the PRAISE OF HIS GLORIOUS GRACE" (Ephesians 1:4-6).

Therefore we must KNOW the supremacy of Christ!



For through trusting in Christ by grace through faith, God gets the Glory!



So then, let our "seeing dimly" be ever focused on worship, and "ascribing glory" to God, who indeed is worthy of praise because He sent his Son Jesus to appease the wrath of the Father, so that "whoever believes will not perish but have eternal life"!

"Theology to Doxology", Paul does this well:

Romans 11:33-36, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."

So let this video be our doxology:




Glory To God through Christ, by the Spirit,
Sara Grace

Prayer, and God's plan...

Hot topic: "So If you believe God has elected people before the foundation of the world those who will be saved and those who will not--why not just sit in your basement and eat cupcakes and not tell anyone about Jesus"?

My first two responses are this...

1: Jesus has commanded us to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matt 28:19). This command is something I not only strive to obey, but delight to obey because God has replaced my heart of stone with a heart of flesh through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and given me new desires.

2: How is anyone going to believe if they haven't heard about Jesus? "But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?...So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:14,15,17).

Bottom line...the Gospel needs to be preached in order for people to even hear about Christ. Not only doing nice things for people with church friends. That's not the gospel. God created language...he wrote Truth with words...we must articulate the Gospel with the Word... not only in deed, that is not the whole gospel.

So here's the long answer: God is sovereign; He uses means like prayer and preaching.

"the preaching of the gospel is just as predestined as is the believing of the gospel: Paul was set apart for his preaching ministry before he was born (Galatians 1:15), as was Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5)" (Piper).

Saying "why evangelize if God has already chosen?" is like saying "why pray about anything if God's will is to be done?"

God command's it. Also, He sovereignly uses prayer---because His Spirit is the one who guides us in prayer.

"Prayer is like preaching in that it is a human act also. It is a human act that God has ordained and which he delights in because it reflects the dependence of his creatures upon Him. He has promised to respond to prayer, and his response is just as contingent upon our prayer as our prayer is in accordance with his will. "And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (I John 5:14). When we don't know how to pray according to God's will but desire it earnestly, "the Spirit of God intercedes for us according to the will of God" (Romans 8:27)" (John Piper, The Sovereignty of God and Prayer).


God uses means to accomplish His purposes. He uses prayer, so we should pray all the more...in accordance with His will. He uses preaching, so we should speak the Gospel all the more.


Holding tightly onto truths of God's supreme Sovereignty and Predestination do not create laziness. On the contrary, these are the very truths that spur me to action...to prayer, to speaking. These truths have caused me to fully recognize man's inability to freely "choose" salvation (John 6:44). These truths are beautiful because they give God ALL OF THE GLORY because salvation is all of God, and God alone--The Father, Son, and Spirit.

"The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever"

"For your joy,"
Sara Grace

"Aslan is on the move"

Most level-headed people today enjoy a good "Chronic-what-cles of Narnia" story. Personally, I struggle to get through a whole book (particularly The Horse and His Boy)... but nonetheless, I do love the series. C.S. Lewis is a personal hero of mine... and in his writings there is an unbreakable thread running through each one: Christ--in whom Lewis finds all joy

A prime example of this theme would be this quote by Lewis from his book, The Weight of Glory:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased."

This is true. After one year at school I have seen the desire for satisfaction played out in these very same ways. I see two traps, two cultural trends. One...the very obvious party scene. Get drunk. Get high. Have some sex. Get drunk again. Two...the not so obvious-not-party scene. Ace the courses, ace the field or gym, ace the dating scene, ace "ministry", ace the fashion trends, ace the "Office" quotes ace "uniqueness", ace having a political opinion, or whatever else you wanna ace.

In any case--these things do not have the capacity to satisfy a soul.

C.S. Lewis said, "You do not have a soul. You are a soul, you have a body" (thank you Kate Drahosh). So why then, all this effort to satisfy a temporary thing? Because people are blind to the issue. People are born dead--spiritually. Do not try to tell a drunk friend, "you're not having fun--this isn't actually fun." Do not try to tell your roommate making out with her boyfriend, "your body is a temple--treat it like it." Because sin is powerful for these reasons: it is what we naturally desire and tends to give us pleasure, or we think it will...therefore we actively choose to do it. And if someone is dead and blind, that person is not alive (obviously) and unable to see.

I myself chose to be a number in the #2 group last year at times. "i'll be happy when i get more playing time" or "i'll be happy when a boy pursues me" or "ill be happy when i get this 'ministry' stuff checked off" or "ill be happy when i ace these classes". I battled with my flesh. Desiring what the world enjoys...and tasting some... and then God in his mercy and kindness led me to repentance.

These pursuits are passionate, by anyone and everyone for satisfaction apart from Christ. The means to reach satisfaction differ, but the end is the same--despair.

The Bible says in Psalm 107: 9, "For he satisfies the longing soul". God alone has capacity to satisfy a soul because we are relational beings, created in His image. God alone has no beginning nor end--therefore he satisfies our desire for longevity (?). God alone does not change, so he satisfies our desire for consistency. God alone is the being that it will take an eternity to know--in other words, we will never completely know him--yet know him more every moment throughout eternity. Mind boggling.

So this presents a dilemma. Blindness. Deadness. We need eyes to see. We need life. Without which we cannot even begin to know God because of our sin. This is where and why the Gospel is central to all history--therefore should be central in your life.

Jesus Christ bore God's wrath on the cross, so that anyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are able to know the one true God. This is the good news!

So if this is life which it is...we need to make it known. We need to speak it. We need to write about it. We need to sing about it. We need to be saturated in our speech with the words about Jesus, who is our only hope. Therein lies satisfaction beyond measure.

So who is Aslan? And why is he moving?

Jesus Christ is depicted in some ways by the character of Aslan in the books by Lewis. (He gave up his life for Edmund, that Edmund might live--even though he was a filthy traitor and deserved death!... Aslan took his place...and he rose...conquered death. no big deal). Mr. Beaver told the kids at the beginning of the story, "Aslan is on the move". Something huge was about to happen. The brink of war--battles to be fought and won.

In parallel...God is on the move at my campus, Concordia University in St. Paul. He will set out to conquer hearts there--to remove blindness. To call people from death to life. That they will see Christ as no longer foolishness, but treasure. And that their desires for satisfaction will completely shift from temporary things to a relationship with the unchanging God of the Bible. It is my prayer and hope and work that I might be a means to God's movement.

"According to 2 Corinthians 4, people are spiritually blind until God gives them eyes to see, that is, until God causes them to be born again. But here Jesus says in verse 18, “I am sending you to open their eyes.” The point is not hard to see. God opens the eyes of the blind to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ. But he does by sending people to tell the good news from hearts of love and lives of service. " (from Desiring God ministries)

God willing, one year from now, I will be able to see what He has done, and say with new believers, "My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26). God is sovereign. He will accomplish his purposes. He declares the end from the beginning. All praise be to His glorious grace in Jesus.

"For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it" (Isaiah 46:9-11).

Grace abounds... all around...
sather

William Cowper...

William Cowper (1731–1800) was a brilliant poet. He battled depression for most of his life. He tried to commit suicide 3 different times, and was put into an asylum. There, Dr. Nathaniel Cotton tended to William. Cotton knew and loved the God of the Bible, and the gospel--he spoke of grace to Cowper frequently.

Then Cowper read this, Romans 3:25: "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God."

Here was his reaction: "Immediately I received the strength to believe it, and the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shone upon me. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement He had made, my pardon sealed in His blood, and all the fullness and completeness of His justification. In a moment I believed, and received the gospel ... Whatever my friend Madan had said to me, long before, revived in all its clearness, with demonstration of the spirit and power. Unless the Almighty arm had been under me, I think I should have died with gratitude and joy. My eyes filled with tears, and my voice choked with transport; I could only look up to heaven in silent fear, overwhelmed with love and wonder".

Depression did not disappear from Cowper's life after his conversion. John Newton, author of "Amazing Grace" soon entered Cowper's life by God's plan. "I found those comforts in your [Newton] visit, which have formerly sweetened all our interviews, in part restored. I knew you; knew you for the same shepherd who was sent to lead me out of the wilderness into the pasture where the Chief Shepherd feed His flock, and felt my sentiments of affectionate friendship for you the same as ever. But one thing was still wanting, and that the crown of all. I shall find it in God's time, if it be not lost for ever".

Newton spent himself for the cause of the Gospel and ministering to those like Cowper (and William Wilberforce). Newton did not "despair of the despairing" --read more about Cowper's life and John Newton's influence on him at Desiring God.

Cowper displayed a brutal honesty. Cotton persisted in sharing the Gospel. Newton shared the burdens of desparing people--pointing them to the cross. God uses means to accomplish his purposes and his will. He works sovereignly over all things--to the praise of His glory. May we not despair in the despairing, but hold fast to the joy found in knowing Christ--and make every effort to help others "see and savour" Jesus.

"God Moves in a Mysterious Way"
by William Cowper

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

Hip-Hop...minus sex, drugs, 'n thugs...?

I have somethin wired in me that needs a break from Coldplay, John Mayer, or Gavin DeGraw, Colbie Caillat... or Rascall Flatts. I have this love for Hip-Hop music; it ignites a passion in me. I dance to it. I sing with it. I enjoy it.

"Serve the Lord with gladness" (Psalm 100:2) and "Delight yourself in the Lord" (Psalm 37:4); and who prayed, "Satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may . . . be glad all our days" (Psalm 90:14); and who promised that complete and lasting pleasure is found in God alone: "In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever" (Psalm 16:11).

God not only desires our joy in Him, he commands it. And that which he commands he works within us. Philippians 2:12,13, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

So is it right and good to delight in something that usually reps sin? Popular hip-hop like Akon, Usher, Young Jeezy... our culture loves their words because they represent where they seek their satisfaction: sex. drugs. and thugs. People relate to these desires because they share them--it's our nature. They rhyme about their rims and escalades and cribs that could probably pay to feed thousands of starving children.

So here's my predicament...how can I glorify God and yet still enjoy this music? The answer: listen to someone else. Someone rhyming about God's glory. Someone saturating their lyrics with Bible... someone centering their music on Jesus Christ. Something simple yet profound. But not music that is a poor excuse for it's genre. So here's what has come up on my radar...

Click on the link to hear their stuff on Myspace music...
Json.
Flame.
Trip Lee.
Lecrae.
116 Clique.

These guys do just what I was craving... Glorify God because their satisfaction is found in Him alone. This music ignites a passion in me for the Cross, and for truth--not money, sex, drugs, or thugs.

My pastor was talking about them at church. He said something like, "It's amazing how much theology and truth you can pack into this music...with the way rap works...its just amazing!"

It's true. It's relevant. and, it's just good music. Check it out...

Calvinism, it is simply the Gospel.

It's been three years. Three years since God gave me new life, and granted me faith and repentance. Three years of battle...with my flesh, with my mind, with my pride. And time and time again God conquers, His Truth prevails upon me and His grace endures.

God himself and his External Word are becoming more dear to me than relationships, school, soccer, even my family. I'm only begining to taste what Paul meant when he wrote, "I count ALL THINGS loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord."

Salvation, I had thought, was my choice. "When I chose to believe in Jesus, His death on the cross became effective for my case. " This is wrong thinking. 1 Peter 1:3 says, "According to His great mercy, he has caused us to be born again..."

Ephesians says we were "dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked" (2:1). A dead person doesn't ask for someone to save him.

"God...made us alive together with Christ" (2:4,5).

John chapter 6 continually shatters my pride. Jesus is talking. Listen to what he says:
"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out" (v37). "...that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day" (v44).
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail" (v63).
"No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father" (v65).

and John chapter 10 encourages me more deeply than almost any other passage. Listen to what Jesus says:
"The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out" (v3).
"I have other sheep that are not of this fold, I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice" (v 16).
"You do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand, I and the Father are one" (v26-30).

God alone is the author and perfector of my faith, or anyone's faith (Eph 2:8-10). Because in eternity past, he chose in Christ---before the foundation of the world--individuals that he would redeem (Eph 1:4-6), whose names were written in "the Book of Life of the Lamb that was slain" before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8, 17:8). Jesus died for His sheep...Jesus himself said that those who do not believe do so because they are not His sheep. He KNOWS His sheep, and He calls them by name...and NO ONE, not even that sheep himself, can pluck them from the Father's hand. God will bring His good work to completion (Phil 1:6). Those whom he knew, personally, he predestined---and those same ones he WILL glorify.

Romans 8:29-30, "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."

Praise be to God's glorious grace that He accomplishes His purposes... and that not one soul falls from this chain of redemption, but are upheld moment by moment by God's grace in Christ. Jesus is my only hope!

God has appointed this summer to be a brain-wracking, pride-shattering, joy-producing time in the depths of the Bible for me...learning from the Creator of the universe...sitting at His feet and having my man-centered, self-exalting mind humbled, and shaped, and conformed to Truth instead of opinion or what I "feel" God is like.

God is all Sovereign. He declares the end from the begining. His purposes stand. He is never changing. He is glorious. Do you know Him?

He sent His Son Jesus to be crushed. We have sinned and fallen short of his glory, none are righteous the Bible says! But Christ, lived the perfect life--without sin, and yet became sin for us...bearing the Father's wrath and fury...and then conquered death! That WHOEVER trusts in Him will have eternal life--because when God looks at those who trust in Jesus, he sees not our sin, but the righteousness of Christ.

Do you know Him? You can.

Below are exerpts from something C.H. Spurgeon wrote... these words resonate with my soul so deeply that I would dare say I may even die for these truths--or pray that if the opportunity came about, that in that moment I would choose to. Calvinism is merely a nickname for the Gospel, Sprugeon says. It is nothing else. This is what I would give up my life for, The Gospel. Because the Gospel did not change my life, it gave birth to my life--all because of Jesus Christ.

A DEFENSE OF CALVINISM (C.H. Spurgeon)
"I cannot understand the reason why I am saved except upon the ground that God would have it so. I cannot, if I look ever so earnestly, discover any kind of reason in myself why I should be a partaker of Divine Grace. If I am at this moment with Christ, it is only because Christ Jesus would have His will with me and that will was that I should be with Him where He is and should share His glory. I can put the crown nowhere but upon the head of Him whose mighty Grace has saved me from going down into the pit...

"I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this...

"I believe the doctrine of election because I am quite certain that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen Him...I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism. Calvinism is the Gospel and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the Gospel if we do not preach justification by faith, without works—nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of Grace—nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah. Nor do I think we can preach the Gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the Cross. Nor can I comprehend a Gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a Gospel I abhor—

"I do not know how some people who believe that a Christian can fall from Grace manage to be happy. It must be a very commendable thing in them to be able to get through a day without despair...

"Some persons love the doctrine of universal atonement because they say, “It is so beautiful. It is a lovely idea that Christ should have died for all men. It commends itself,” they say, “to the instincts of humanity. There is something in it full of joy and beauty.” I admit there is, but beauty may be often associated with falsehood. There is much which I might admire in the theory of universal redemption but I will just show what the supposition necessarily involves. If Christ on His Cross intended to save every man, then He intended to save those who were lost before He died. If the doctrine istrue—that He died for all men—then He died for some who were in Hell before He came into this world—for doubtless there were even then myriads there who had been cast away because of their sins. Once again—if it were Christ’s intention to save all men, how deplorably has He been disappointed,for we have His own testimony that there is a lake which burns with fire and brimstone and into that pit of woe have been cast some of the very persons who, according to the theory of universal redemption, were bought with His blood. That seems to me a conception a thousand times more repulsive than any of those consequences which are said to be associated with the Calvinistic and Christian doctrine of special and particular redemption...

"There is no soul living who holds more firmly to the doctrines of Grace than I do and if any man asks me whether I am ashamed to be called a Calvinist, I answer—I wish to be called nothing but a Christian. But if you ask me, do I hold the doctrinal views which were held by John Calvin? I reply I do in the main hold them and rejoice to avow it...

"That God predestines and yet that man is responsible are two facts that few can see clearly. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory to each other. If, then, I find taught in one part of the Bible that everything is foreordained—that is true. And if I find, in another Scripture, that man is responsible for all his actions—that is true. It is only my folly that leads me to imagine that these two truths can ever contradict each other. I do not believe they can ever be welded into one upon any earthly anvil—but they certainly shall be one in eternity. They are two lines that are so nearly parallel that the human mind which pursues them farthest will never discover that they converge—but they do converge and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the Throne of God, where all of His Truths spring...

"We believe that God has predestinated all things from the beginning, but there is a difference between the predestination of an intelligent, All-wise, All-bounteous God and that blind fatalism which simply says, “It is because it is to be.” Between the predestination of Scripture and the fate of the Koran every sensible man must perceive a difference of the most essential character...

"But we are next met by some who tell us that we preach the wicked and horrible doctrine of sovereign and unmerited reprobation. “Oh,” say they, “you teach that men are damned because God made them to be damned and that they go to Hell, not because of sin, not because of unbelief—but because of some dark decree with which God has stamped their destiny.” Brethren, this is an another unfair charge. Election does not involve reprobation. There may be some who hold unconditional reprobation. I stand not here as their defender—let them defend themselves as best they can. I hold God’s election, but I testify just as clearly that if any man is lost he is lost for sin. This has been the uniform statement of Calvinistic ministers.

"If he is lost, damnation is all of men. But, if he is saved, still salvation is all of God.

"A yet further charge against us is that we dare not preach the Gospel to the unregenerate! That, in fact, our theology is so narrow and cramped that we cannot preach to sinners! Gentlemen, if you dare to say this, I would take you to any library in the world where the old Puritan fathers are stored up and I would let you take down any one volume and tell me if you ever read more telling exhortations and addresses to sinners in any of your own books. Did not Bunyan plead with sinners and whoever classed him with any but the Calvinists? Did not Charnock, Goodwin and Howe agonize for souls and what were they but Calvinists? Did not Jonathan Edwards preach to sinners and who more clear and explicit on these doctrinal matters?

"It is an indisputable fact that we have labored more than they all for the winning of souls. Was George Whitefield any the less seraphic? Did his eyes weep the fewer tears or his heart move with less compassion because he believed in God’s electing love and preached the sovereignty of the Most High? It is an unfounded calumny.

"Our souls are not stony.

"Our hearts are not withdrawn from the compassion which we ought to feel for our fellow men. We can hold all our views and yet can weep as Christ did over a Jerusalem which was certainly to be destroyed. Again I must say I am not defending certain Brethren who have exaggerated Calvinism. I speak of Calvinism proper—not that which has run to seed and outgrown its beauty and verdure. I speak of it as I find it in Calvin’s Institutes and especially in his Expositions. I have read them carefully. I take not my views of Calvinism from common repute but from his books. Nor do I, in thus speaking, even vindicate Calvinism as if I cared for the name, but I mean that glorious system which teaches that salvation is of Grace from first to last. And again, then, I say it is an utterly unfounded charge that we dare not preach to sinners.

"What was the Reformation itself but the waking up of men’s minds to those old truths? However far modern Lutherans may have turned aside from their ancient doctrines—and I must confess some of them would not agree with what I now say, yet, at any rate—Luther and Calvin had no dispute about Predestination. Their views were identical and Luther’s “On the Bondage of the Will” is as strong a book upon the free Grace of God as Calvin himself could have written. Hear that great thunder while he cries in that book, 'Let the Christian reader know, then, that God foresees nothing in a contingent manner—but that He foresees, proposes and acts from His eternal and unchangeable will. This is the thunder- stroke which breaks and overturns Free Will.'

"And then it has another virtue. I take it that the last is no mean one, but it has another—that when it is preached there is a something in it which excites thought. A man may hear sermons upon the other theory which shall glance over him as the swallow’s wing gently sweeps the brook—but these old doctrines either make a man so angry that he goes home and cannot sleep for very hatred—or else they bring him down into lowliness of thought feeling the immensity of the things which he has heard. Either way, it excites and stirs him up not temporarily, but in a most lasting manner. These doctrines haunt him. He kicks against the pricks and full often the Word forces a way into his soul. And I think this is no small thing for any doctrine to do—in an age given to slumber and with human hearts so indifferent to the Truth of God. I know that many men have gained more good by being made angry under a sermon than by being pleased by it—for being angry they have turned the Truth of God over and over again and at last that Truth has burned its way right into their hearts.

"Some by putting the strain upon their judgments may manage to hold two or three points and not the rest. But sound logic, I take it, requires a man to hold the whole or reject the whole. The doctrines stand like soldiers in a square, presenting on every side a line of defense which is hazardous to attack, but easy to maintain. And mark you—in these times when error is so rife and neology strives to be so rampant, it is no little thing to put into the hands of a young man a weapon which can slay his foe. A weapon he can easily learn to handle—which he may grasp tenaciously, wield readily and carry without fatigue. A weapon, I may add, which no rust can corrode and no blows can break—trenchant and well annealed—a true Jerusalem blade of a temper fit for deeds of renown. The coherency of the parts, though it is, of course, but a trifle in comparison with other things, is not unimportant.

"...be more prayerful, more watchful, more holy, more active than we have ever been before and by so doing, we shall put to silence the gainsaying of foolish men. A living argument is an argument which tells upon every man. We cannot deny what we see and feel. Be it ours, if aspersed and calumniated, to disprove it by a blameless life and it shall yet come to pass that our Church and its sentiments, too, shall come forth, “Fair as the moon, clear as the sun and terrible as an army with banners.”

So here is my weak prayer...that I might know Christ, and do so in such a way as to make Him look like the TREASURE that He actually is. He is not a name to be thrown around. He is the Lamb that was slain, the centerpiece of worship for all eternity. Do you know him?

Grace Abounds,
Sara Grace

Hedonism

he·do·nism (noun):
1 : the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life
2 : a way of life based on or suggesting the principles of hedonism

"say imma hedonist>>i seek my pleasure>>hey man look around>>cats seekin their pleasure>>seeking joy>>seekin satisfaction.>>well, us too.>>but the difference is>>we seekin to be satisfied in the Lord alone,>>cuz not only is He far greater,>>but He's glorified in that."
--Trip Lee

"What Is Christian Hedonism?
My shortest summary of Christian Hedonism is: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
We all make a god out of what we take the most pleasure in. Christian Hedonists want to make God their God by seeking after the greatest pleasure—pleasure in him.
By Christian Hedonism, we do not mean that our happiness is the highest good. We mean that pursuing the highest good will always result in our greatest happiness in the end. We should pursue this happiness, and pursue it with all our might. The desire to be happy is a proper motive for every good deed, and if you abandon the pursuit of your own joy you cannot love man or please God. " --Pastor John Piper

Trip Lee


Lecrae




Don't Waste Your Life.

Sara Grace

heaven?

"The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever say, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?" (God Is the Gospel, Dr. John Piper)

The answer is: no.

Beautiful Grace

"Beautiful Grace"
written by Sara Sather
June 26, 2008

What Beautiful grace now I see,
That He electeth me!
Before the world began,
Before the fall of man!

Yet sinners all are we,
by nature and by choice!
Not one man's lowly voice
Will's to praise the King.

No pow'r to choose my Lord,
Only His call did afford,
To bring me from death to life--
All praise be to His might!

The cross, though foolish once,
Now beautiful to me!
For there Christ did absorb
God's wrath that b'longed to me!

Making his grace so free
To whoever may believe!
From every tribe and tounge,
A people ransomed by God's own Son!

Died Jesus for His Sheep
And they He'll always keep!
For it is grace that holds me still--
According to His will!

So look ye to the cross,
And endure the wave's strong toss.
For God it is who wills
And works within you still!

The elect He will not loose,
For we have not the pow'r to choose!
So all praise be to God's grace,
That I will behold His face!

“His grace shall triumph o'er us!”

canoeing...bad idea.

Today Dad and I tried to canoe down the Minnehaha Creek. Put it this way, it was a bad idea.

Good conditons for braving the creek usually range from 75--150 cubic feet per second. Anything 150+ is deemed "very dangerous."

After the battle we found out that the creek's discharge ws 250 cfs. As you can imagine, this presented some problems for us.

Not two minutes into the three hour trip we capsized, drenching ourselves and learning for the first time how to get all the water out of the canoe...and get back into it without tipping over again. That was interesting. The first two tips were definately my fault--I guess you're not supposed to lean in the direction that you want to go...you're just supposed to keep paddling (live and learn)?

We went under a bunch of interesting bridges, saw a man who lived under a bridge, and one bridge almost claimed our life. Bridges...tell you what, passing under them is a lot more thrilling than crossing them.

We stopped at a portage right before we reached that dam. Which was a good idea, considering if we had kept going we probably would have died (maps are helpful). After lunch...the adventure only became more life threatening. We had to put in right by that dam, so the water was going real fast (prob a lot more than 250 cfs). And a few minutes later I guess we passes a sign that said "Portage Required." I guess dad mentioned it to me, and I guess I didn't hear him.

So we were heading for this bridge... this low, arched stone bridge. We were going to clear it easily. Until I noticed that it had this thing (I don't know what else to call it, if I were to call it something else it would probably be "death" or "hate for canoers"). This thing was under the arch of the bridge, spanning from wall to wall. It cut the clearance into basically nothing. We were heading to our decapitation. The current was incredibly fast on the other side of the dam. We tried to paddle to the left side of the creek to grab a tree, or rock, or something! I steered directly into the side of the bridge, hitting some other rocks, and my dad and I both tipped out of the canoe--crashing our knees on the stones and turning the canoe upside down--which was ready to keep heading down the stream with or without us. My dad yelled something like, "oh no! my ring! Chris' ring!" And when I looked back his wedding ring had fallen off...and we were being swept into the bridge that still looked like it really wanted to clothesline us. We grabbed the canoe and ducked under the metal thing in the bridge and got to the other side.

At that point, dad was bleeding from the knees, had lost his wedding ring, and definately seemed eager to take my cell phone, call mom, and say "come pick us up!" But we got back in the canoe and kept going. For a while we rode smoothly, through old Edina...very beautiful expensive homes and gardens... pretty much the only scenic part of the trip lasted about 15 minutes of the 3 hours.

We encountered some more rocks. Head on. Tipped in deep waters, with no place really to get back in. We drifted a bit with everything and found some footing on some rocks. After we got back in we were by this point, quite determined to go home. Finally we were in Minneapolis, ready to head for Lake Nokomis...but were headed towards a large tree branch that covered the whole width of the creek. Dang. We had to turn around and paddle up stream...to somewhere and pull out. We found out that were we at W Minnehaha and Harriet on the north side... we dug out my cell phone and called mom to come pick us up.

Overall it was a really frustrating, freaky day. But I enjoyed it so much because I got to sit in, or swim next to, or fall out of the conoe with my dad. He lost his wedding ring, and in all honesty we were foolish enough to be on the creek after Gray's Dam opened earlier this week, we could have been seriously injured. But I guess the risk made it all the more exciting.

I'd do it again, but...probably not tomorrow. I have a feeling my arms won't be working...

That being said, I am thankful for a dad who not only enjoys and desires and pursues to spend time with me, but he also encourages me to know God, to seek truth, to do hard things, and to have a passion for God's glory. He has a willingness to walk through difficult times with me, whether in a creek with a discharge of 250cfs, or in the pursuit of Truth "so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the Truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love" (Ephesians 4:14-16).

Grace Abounds,
Sara

Lillian

Tonight I sat listening to God's word, absolutely numbed by its relevance. Relevant not in the sense of "felt needs," but relevant to my actual needs. Feelings do not always tell us what it true, so what does? Truth does--the Bible. How obviously the Bible states that I do not have "free will." We are all (and by all I mean, every human born of Adam) "slaves to sin." And only by grace, God intercedes and calls people from any and all nations from death to life--from blindness to sight!

Jesus died on a cross, became a curse for us and was RAISED, conquering death--so that whomever believes in him will have eternal life--to the praise of His glorious grace. Jesus said, "the only way to the Father is through me." We all have sinned, fall short of God's glory and are captive to sin--bound for destruction. Yet there is hope! Jesus says, "repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).

And this repentance, this faith is sparked by the New Birth. Just like we had no choice in our physical birth--we have no choice in our Regeneration--and how sweet that is!!! We do not cause it--God does. 1 Peter 1:3 says, "he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

And how are we born again? John 3:3-8 tells us that it is by the Spirit of God--who is like the wind: "the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit is not bound to a sacrament created by a tradition in a church--the Holy Spirit IS God and moves as he pleases and as he wills, not as a human commands or institutes.

The New Birth, that only the God of the Bible causes, sparks CONSCIOUS faith and repentance. John 1:11-13 says, "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

A.W. Tozer's words are so helpful: "This intercourse between God and the soul is
known to us in conscious personal awareness. It is personal: it does not
come through the body of believers, as such, but it is known to the individual,
and to the body through the individuals which compose it. It is conscious:
it does not stay below the threshold of consciousness and work there unknown to
the soul (as, for instance, infant baptism is thought by some to do), but comes
within the field of awareness where the man can know it as he knows any
other fact of experience... Being made in His image we have within us the
capacity to know Him. In our sins we lack only the power. The moment
the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses
kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. That is the heavenly
birth without which we cannot see the kingdom of God...That is where we begin,
I say, but where we stop no man has yet discovered, for there is in the awful
and mysterious depths of the Triune God neither limit nor end."

1 John 5:1 says, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him." God regenerated my heart, which awakened immediate faith in Jesus Christ for the propitiation of my willful disobedience towards my Creator. Yet faith, is also a gift! It has been granted--Phil. 1:29, Acts 11:18, 2 Tim. 2:24-26.

God has removed my will of resistance, which was not "free will" at all--it was enslaved, and my master was Sin---but praise be God through Jesus who removed my heart of stone, replacing it with a heart of flesh, making me a slave to righteousness---not by my doing in any sense--but totally God. HE "has done what the law weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

And so now that my will is enslaved to a Master of righteousness is it my doing that I choose to pursue holiness by the faith God deposited in me? NO! Philippians 2:12-13 says, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." So also, the answer is YES! Because God HAS exchanged my will, that I now DESIRE to do what is right--for he has written his law on my heart, and has called me his child! Yet it is fully GOD that works in me to "both will and to do."

Jeremiah 32:39-41:
"I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul."

Wow.

While reading through these Scriptures earlier tonight, I took a break. And a kind lady named Lillian introduced herself to me. She has kind eyes that were so sincere--as though she has lived through much suffering, yet much grace. And through her story...she finally said, carefully: "It's good to wait on the Lord," and she paused as if she understood it is not an easy task. And then she said, "and not run ahead..." How valuable are the words of those that have gone before us! What sincere fear of the Lord Lillian depicted to me tonight, after years and years of journeying she recognized that the more she knows, the more questions she has. The more she understands the Bible, the more IN AWE and in trembling fear of her creator she stands. Psalm 111:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!"

May I follow in Lillian's example, fearing God above all else--that I might treasure Christ as he ought to be, and by doing so glorify God...not by any power I have--but by God's work, to "will and to do."

Grace abounds!
Sara

the calmer of the seas

"The Calmer of the sea Here in this room with me So gently welcoming The weakest things in me You are the blood over The door of my heart What pain You spared me from How could I know it all? Oh Jesus, You became what was my deepest shame That at Your very name My calloused heart would change How could You, oh perfect One Love me, when I have done nothing that's worthy of My freedom You have won?" --Bethany Dillon, "Let your light shine down"

The God of the Bible, the one True God, here--with me? The depths of my heart have been so aching over divisions on doctrines. And how graciously, yet firmly God has revealed to me the importance of standing on the Word alone... and the necessity of division.

"God gives good press to doctrine... In God’s book, knowing his Son and believing true things about him is liberty. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). God’s self-revelation in the Bible is not a wax nose. Paul calls it “the standard of teaching to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17). It’s a standard, a yardstick, a pattern. You measure truth by it. Elsewhere he calls it “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), and the “pattern of the soundwords” and “the good deposit entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:13-14). It does not change. Our everlasting salvation is determined by whether we believe it: “Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9). Depart from the doctrine, and you depart from Christ. Or, better, keep watch over your doctrine and “you will save . . . yourself” (1 Timothy 4:16). " --Desiring God Ministries

It is therefore much needed that we pursue the Truth, and right-thinking in the Word relentlessly--so that as ideas of man or even doctrines of a church or school of thought arise that declare to be of the Bible...we measure it by the Truth...holding it up to the entire Word, and examining it by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The quest for joy is found so fundamentally in the truths of Scripture--and that is why we must have right thinking about all the Bible teaches. And what could be better or of more value than this? That by doing so, God is most glorified in us because of Jesus Christ--who is the centerpiece of the Bible--because of his death for sinners, and his ressurection--which is "history's only essential message (CJ Mahaney)."

Ephesians 4:25-27 "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil." along with Ephesians 4:1-16 has continually led me to stand firm, striving to speak truth in love--yet how slow of a student I am!

He can calm the seas--he can surely calm my heart. God says, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). What stillness and peace comes even in the midst of struggle, loneliness, or longing when the Absolute Sovereignty of God is so clearly evident in all of Scripture.

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" (John Piper). May Paul's heart be my prayer: "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. NOT THAT I HAVE ALREADY OBTAINED THIS OR AM ALREADY PERFECT, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:8-14).

Grace Abounds,
Sara

captive to truth

The Absolute Sovereignty of God

By grace, as my pastor John Piper would say, may I always start as a Bible-believing Christian that desires to put the Bible above all sytems of thought... not start with a doctrine in order to defend a system.

So here I am, at the tail end of about 8 hours a day of study for the past three days, absolutely enjoying, being encouraged by, challenged by, and in awe of the Scriptures. And so helped by Martin Luther, John Calvin, Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, Pastor Piper, J.I. Packer, and C.S. Lewis (The Weight of Glory).

God's sovereignty over all things has brought me down to me knees literally and humbled my heart more times in these past few days in the Word than ever before. Reading the Word is not only a command, but what a delight!

Isaiah 46:8-10
"Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'”

Daniel 4: 34-35
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?"

Psalm 115:3
"Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases."

Romans 9: 18-23
"So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, 'Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?' But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vesseld of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory."

Job 42:2
"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted."

Psalm 33:8-10
"Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the word stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples."

Ephesians 1:11-12
"In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory."

Psalm 135:6-7
"Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses."

Romans 13:1
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."

Proverbs 19:21
"Many are the plans of man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand."

Proverbs 16:33
"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD."

Proverbs 21:1
"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will."

Amos 3:6
"Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?"

Isaiah 45:7
"I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things."

2 Thessalonians 2:11-12
"Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

Matthew 10:29
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father."

Three stroies of God's sovereignty:
Job 1:1--2:10: the Sabeans killed his servants and stole his possesions, The fire of God burned the sheep and servants, The Chaldeans took the camels and killed his servants, a great wind knocked down the house killing his family, and Satan struck Job with sores--yet the Bible says "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord," "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" God has power of Satan.

Joseph in Genesis "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." (Gen 50: 20a)

Luke 23:1-46 The most evil act ever commited, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Acts 4:24-30: "And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'—for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

Isaiah 53:10
"Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand."

Romans 8:32
"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"

"God wills in one sense what he disapproves of in another sense."
God is fully good, with absolute sovereignty.

Grace abounds,
Sara