Soli Deo Gloria

Thou Great Three-One,
Author of all blessings I enjoy, of all I hope for, Thou hast taught me that neither the experience of present evils, nor the remembrances of former sins, nor the remonstrances of friends, will or can affect a sinner’s heart, except thou vouchsafe to reveal thy grace and quicken the dead in sin by the effectual working of thy Spirit’s power.

Thou hast shown me that the sensible effusions of divine love in the soul are superior to and distinct from bodily health, and that oft-times spiritual comforts are at their highest when physical well-being is at its lowest.

Thou hast given me the ordinance of song as a means of grace; fit me to bear my part in that music ever new, which elect angels and saints made perfect now sing before thy throne and before the Lamb.  I bless thee for tempering every distress with joy; too much of the former might weigh me down, too much of the latter might puff me up; Thou art wise to give me a tast of both.

I love thee for giving me clusters of grapes in the wilderness, and drops of heavenly wine that set me longing to have my fill.  Apart from thee I quickly die, bereft of thee I starve, far from thee I thirst and droop; but thou art all I need.  Let me continually grasp the promise, ‘I will never leave thee or forsake thee.’

From Valley of Vision - A Collection of Puritan Prayers

Daily Walk, Devotional Grace, Prayer, Promise, Puritan, Sickness, Valley of Vision

Daily Walk Creation, Giglio, Laminin

From “The Valley of Vision” - a collection of Puritan prayers.  (If you don’t own this little book I encourage you to get it…  it is amazing!)

Holy LORD,
I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find thy mind in Thy Word, of neglect to seek Thee in daily life.

My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless Thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ; Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them.

Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do Thou rule over me in liberty and power.

I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused - I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness.

Go on with Thy patient work, answering ‘no’ to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it.

Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule.

I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.

No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin.  If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt awat with trial, give me sanctified affliction.

Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee.  Then I shall bless The, God of Jeshurun, for heloing me to be upright.

Amen.

Daily Walk Confession, Puritan Prayer, Sin

True Discernment has an excellent post on the importance of overcoming distractions in the life of the Christian.  As they put it, “Among the enemies to devotion none is so harmful as distractions.”  I could not agree more.  Our lives are plagued with cellphones, meetings, the internet, emails, errands - all of which are a huge distraction for me.  I see this in my life constantly and cry to Christ for help in staying focused.

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. –Matthew 6:6

Read the article over at True Discernment …

Daily Walk Discernment, Distractions, Meditation, Prayer

Ok, I admit - the wife and I love to watch American Idol.  I was in my home office tonight studying for class tomorrow and as tonight’s American Idol episode was ending I heard the contestants singing “Shout to the Lord”.   I had to get up and go in the den to watch this one! But….

Read more…

Daily Walk, Fun Stuff American Idol, Dolly Parton, Music, Shout to the Lord

Thought I would take a moment to share a few books I am reading right now that I find excellent and a recommended read.  I’m the type that has to be reading 5-6 books at one time - which for me works well to pull elements from the different books.  So here are the ones I am reading or have recently finished that I very much recommend…

The Holiness of God by RC Sproul
I cannot say enough about this book.  It’s well written - typical Sproul material!  The focus is on the meaning of God’s holiness and the fact that so many in the church today do not and frankly cannot fully understand just what God’s holiness truly means.  A must read!  (On a side note - pretty much anything written by Sproul is a must read.  Sproul, coming from a reformed position, has a way to discuss even the most theological topics in an easy to understand manner.  He truly has the gift of teaching.)

Finding the Will of God by Bruce Waltke
I have Waltke’s Old Testament Theology book and for those of you who have worked through his books you know he’s deep.  However, this book is written for both the layperson and they theologian.  I hear all the time people wondering if what they are doing or about to do is the “will of God” or “God’s will”.  Frankly, many today do not realize that what they are doing is tantamount to pagan divination.  Waltke gives an excellent discource on the true meaning and application of God’s will Biblically.  (A much needed angle compared to today’s new age and mystical movement within some churches.)

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies
If you frequently the blogosphere much - especially the Christian blogosphere, the name Tim Challies should ring a bell.  He writes for one of the most popular Christian blogs on the internet.  In his first book, he writes well on the true meaning, application and reason for spiritual discernment.  In today’s landscape of heresy, this is a must read for anyone wanting to gain a deeper and Biblical insight into what all Christians are charged to cultivate.

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As a Sunday School teacher I get asked quite often what are good books to read.  My response is always the same - if you have not read the Bible at least twice all the way through then that Book to read is the Bible.  Like Tim Challie’s book, one must be able to Biblically discern what they are reading and a Spirit filled knowledge of Scripture is essential.  “Your Word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you.”  (Psalm 119:11)

Daily Walk

A meditation on the prayer of Jesus in the garden in preparation of Holy Week.

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” Matthew 26:36-38

Gethsemane was a garden located somewhere on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives, in which there were olive trees and olive presses. It was one of Jesus’ favorite spots, no doubt often used by Him and His disciples as a place to be alone.

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Daily Walk

Jerry Bridges has written an excellent article in Modern Reformation concerning the proper view of the Gospel in the life of the believer and definitive vs. progressive sanctification. Bridges correctly proclaims that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just for unbelievers - believers should preach the Gospel to themselves daily!  Amen!

I highly recommend reading this article as it debunks the myth of the ‘performance based’ Christian in today’s evangelical churches as a result of poor doctrine or bad preaching. (Both of which seem to be ever-increasing in the American Church.)

Here’s an excerpt:

“As I see it, the Christian community is largely a performance-based culture today. And the more deeply committed we are to following Jesus, the more deeply ingrained the performance mindset is. We think we earn God’s blessing or forfeit it by how well we live the Christian life.

Most Christians have a baseline of acceptable performance by which they gauge their acceptance by God. For many, this baseline is no more than regular church attendance and the avoidance of major sins. Such Christians are often characterized by some degree of self-righteousness. After all, they don’t indulge in the major sins we see happening around us. Such Christians would not think they need the gospel anymore. They would say the gospel is only for sinners.”

Head on over to Modern Reformation to read the entire article >>

Daily Walk, Theology

[ from the Christian Post ]

Prominent theologian Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. encouraged more than 3,000 pastors at the 2008 Shepherds’ Conference Thursday night to uphold the tradition of expository preaching despite the growing movement among younger churches to reject this type of preaching style.

“We are living in strange times. There is a crisis in preaching. Most of us do not have an expectation that we will hear expositional preaching when we visit an evangelical church,” Mohler said, as reported by Pulpit magazine, the official online magazine of Shepherds’ Fellowship.

“Look at so much of what is going on in the church and see how little exposition is happening in the world. Why is there such a crisis in the church in regards to preaching?” the theologian asked.

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Daily Walk, Theology

“Whom have I in heaven but You?  And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.”  Psalm 73:25-26

Daily Walk, Rants

The more I watch American churches the more I am convinced that we are losing the essential focus - the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe this is a two-fold problem and one that is creating false converts who are saturating American churches. We should be concerned about this and our passion as Christians should be to proclaim with boldness the full Gospel of Christ, not some watered down version!

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Daily Walk, Rants

John Owens, in probably one of the most influential puritan classics “The Mortification of Sin”, states what many Christians today don’t understand, completely overlook or downright push aside in the American church - the mortification of sin.  Mortification (or the progressive killing of sin in the life of a Christian) can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit but must also be an active duty and action of the true believer.

Why is holiness not spoken of in today’s churches?   Do we not realize that if we do not have a holy hatred for sin it may very well be an indicator of the state of our soul?  Can you say that the sin you once loved as a pagan you now abhor as a regenerated believer?  No Christian before the second coming of our Savior will experience sinlessness but all Christians (according to Scripture) will ever increase in their awareness of sin and hatred for sin in their lives as they grow and are conformed more into the image of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit through the process of sanctification.  Test yourself to see if this is true of your life.

I end with a magnificent quote from Owens’ book…

“the choicest believers, who are assuredly free from the condemning power of  sin, ought yet to make it their business, all their days, to mortify the indwelling power of sin.“

Amen.

Daily Walk, Theology