"Spiritual growth is no less real simply because it comes slowly and is difficult to measure. God is at work" - Tim Challies
Interesting items from the Interwebs, from all over the world.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Total Depravity
"Without a knowledge of our unfaithfulness and rebellion we will never come to know God as the God of truth and grace. Without a knowledge of our pride we will never know Him in His greatness. Nor will we come to Him for the healing we need. When we are sick physically and know that we are sick, we seek out a doctor and follow his prescription for a cure. But if we did not know we were sick, we would not seek help and might well perish from the illness. It is the same spiritually. If we think we are well, we will never accept God's cure; we think we do not need it. Instead, if by God's grace we become aware of our sickness—actually, of something worse than sickness, of spiritual death so far as any meaningful response to God is concerned—then we have a basis for understanding the meaning of Christ's work on our behalf, and can embrace Him as Savior and be transformed by Him."
– James Montgomery Boice –
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Direction of Your Life
"It is not the perfection of one's life but the direction of a life that provides evidence of regeneration." (John MacArthur)
Trusting in God
Do we really know what it means to trust in God? I mean when it really matters. It's very easy to trust God for all of our needs when the bills are all up to date, your marriage is great, and the kids are all angels.
But what about when you are behind in your bills, your marriage is on the rocks, and your children are far from God? Can we trust in the sovereignty of God then? Do we really believe He holds the future in His hands?
The promise of Philippians 4:13 holds true in any situation. In context, it calls us to be content whatever the circumstances. Our contentment and satisfaction comes from our identity in Christ, not from our circumstances in this world. "I can do all things through Christ" how? through His strength. Not through any way of me trying harder, or working harder, or leaning in my own understanding. Many times in the Bible we are told to trust. Abraham, Moses, and David are just a few of the people in the Bible that are told to trust. Are we any better than these giants if the faith? We also need to trust in the same God that rescued the Israelites, and raised David up to be king. The same God who sent His son to die on the cross for all of our sins, past, present and future.
Regardless of our own feelings of anxiety, we need to trust in the sovereignty of God, and know that He is still on the throne. If He is indeed Lord of our life, then we have nothing to fear, and everything to look forward to. - T. Meiers
Music Good or Evil?
"God created and designed our brains, our ears, and our spirits. He created all of us in such a way that "vibrations" could enter our physical ears and have an impact on our spirit. Wow! What an awesome God we serve. So, music has a spiritual dimension and power to it. Beyond that, I truly believe that the spirit of the artist creating the music has a great impact on the overall affect it carries. This is a very subjective thing, and it is really difficult to put into words, but generally speaking; dark hearts produce dark music and vise versa. Hearts that are filled with God's grace and love produce music that reflects God's goodness. It is amazing to me, especially in the Metal genre that I'm most familiar with, how there are only a handful of chords and scales that most artists use. Whether they love Jesus or not, Metal artists use the same power chords, and scales to produce their music. Vocalists also use the vocal chords they have, that are neither secular or sacred, to belt out their vocal parts. There is nothing inherently good or evil about any of that. What makes the significant difference is the faith, the spirit, and the attitude out of which the music is produced. The lyrics will then reflect those things as well. So music is a powerful tool and an awesome gift of God, one that without question possesses spiritual power. My hope and prayer is that every note I play and sing will bless those who listen, and bring glory, honor, and praise to our great God"
- Pastor Brad, interview from www.xtrememusic.com
Monday, July 6, 2015
"God is minutely and acutely aware of every
"God is minutely and acutely aware of every skeleton in every closet, and He loves us."
From Depraved Wretch on Facebook
He is intimately aware of every skeleton in every closet, and yet He loves us anyway. Every secret, every thought, every unspoken and spoken word. And yet, even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. For all of our sins, past, present, and future. He knows about every action or non-action we have taken, every dark road we have gone down, every trial and every temptation we have faced, and yet, He still loves us. What an incredible perfect, Agape love, beyond comprehension. Thank you Lord, for your unfailing love.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Packer
"If we do not preach about sin and God's judgment on it, we cannot present Christ as Saviour from sin and the wrath of God. And if we are silent about these things, and preach a Christ who saves only from self and the sorrows of this world, we are not preaching the Christ of the Bible . . . Such preaching may soothe some, but it will help nobody; for a Christ who is not seen and sought as a Saviour from sin will not be found to save from self or from anything else."
J. I. Packer
Fallen Man
"Fallen man is free to choose what he desires, but because his desires are only wicked he lacks the moral ability to come to Christ. As long as he remains in the flesh, unregenerate, he will never choose Christ. He cannot choose Christ precisely because he cannot act against his own will. His fall is so great that only the effectual grace of God working in his heart can bring him to faith." - R.C. Sproul.
Saturday, July 4, 2015
4th of July
: "Whatever form your patriotism takes today, let it be with a deep sense that we are more closely bound to brothers and sisters in Christ in other countries and other cultures than we are to our closest unbelieving compatriot in the fatherland. God is our King and his kingdom is our final allegiance. But under that banner, it is right to be thankful that God gave us our land freely, and thankful that people paid a high price to preserve it."
- John Piper
Friday, July 3, 2015
Arminian vs. Calvinism
The Arminian believes that God knocks on the door to man's heart and man decides to answer or not. The Calvinist believes that anyone whom the Holy Spirit regenerates is saved. This is because God's grace works effectually only on the elect. He never wastes His effort or is frustrated in His design. If you are one of God's elect, He will bring you to Himself sometime in your life. His desire for you will never be quenched until you are one of His.
~ Craig R. Brown, The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Total Depravity
"Sin is really a rejection of the rights of the Creator. Its language is, 'I am. I am my own, and therefore have I the right to live unto myself." ~ Arthur Pink, "The Doctrine of Human Depravity"
Martin Luther
"all our experience with history should teach us, when we look back, how badly human wisdom is betrayed when it relies on itself."
–– martin luther
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