Forced into a Howling Wilderness

Writing from England, John Owen thinking of the pilgrims coming to the New World....

"I doubt not but that the great controversy God has had with this nation for so many years, and which He has pursued with so much anger and indignation, was upon this account: that, contrary to that glorious light of the gospel that shone among us, the wills and fancies of men, under the name of order, decency, and the authority of the church (a chimera that none knew what it was, nor wherein the power of it did consist, nor in whom reside), were imposed on men in the ways and worship of God. Neither was all that pretense of glory, beauty, comeliness, and conformity that then was pleaded anything more or less than what God does so describe in the church of Israel in Ezekiel 16:252 and forward. Hence was the Spirit of God in prayer derided; hence was the powerful preaching of the gospel despised; hence was the Sabbath decried; hence was holiness stigmatized and persecuted—to what end? That Jesus Christ might be deposed from the sole privilege and power of lawmaking in His church; that the true husband might be thrust aside, and adulterers of His spouse embraced; that taskmasters might be appointed in and over His house, which He never gave to His church (Eph. 4:11); that a ceremonious, pompous, outward show of worship, drawn from pagan, Judaical, and anti-Christian observations might be introduced—of all which there is not one word, tittle, or iota in the whole book of God. This, then, they who hold communion with Christ are careful of: they will admit of nothing, practice nothing, in the worship of God, private or public, but what they have His warrant for; unless it comes in His name with “Thus saith the Lord Jesus,” they will not hear an angel from heaven. They know the apostles themselves were to teach the saints only what Christ commanded them (Matt. 28:20). You know how many in this very nation, in the days not long since past, how many thousands left their native soil and went into a vast and howling wilderness in the utmost parts of the world to keep their souls undefiled and chaste to their dear Lord Jesus, as to this of His worship and institutions."

John Owen from Communion with God, in Works, 2:151.

My Thoughts Address your Throne

Monday morning brings its own unique challenges. Sometimes just getting started in the work week can be a tad discouraging. What a difference starting the day at the throne of grace makes. I've been thinking a lot about thinking lately and how easily the mind can be taken hither and yon, so to speak, worried about a great many things. But God will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Him: because he trusts in God. When the mind takes hold on God and we meditate on Him and HIs persona and works, then He will give us peace. Hopefully your thoughts will address the throne, before they address the deary work week. Perhaps Issac Watts will help....

My thoughts address your throne
when morning brings the light;
I seek your blessing every noon,
and pay my vows at night,

for I, with all life's cares,
will lean upon you, Lord;
I'll cast my burdens on your arm,
and rest upon your word.

Your arm shall well sustain
all peoples with your love;
the base, on which our safety stands,
will never be removed.

Citrus Missionary Baptist Church 2015 Bible Conference Retrospective

This past weekend I had the privilege of being able to attend the annual Bible conference hosted by the Citrus Missionary Baptist Church in Inverness, FL. I always enjoy meeting with the saints of God there and had a great time. Troy Sheppard is the pastor there and during the meeting he announced to us that this year marks his 20th year as their pastor. That is a tremendous statement of God’s faithfulness, Troy’s faithfulness, and the churches faithfulness.

There was no stated theme of the meeting, but I rejoiced in how the messages fit together. On Friday night, brother John Pruitt, pastor of the Buffalo Valley Baptist Church in Clay, WV kicked things off by preaching on the “Love of God”.  In the message, we were reminded that God’s love is an everlasting love, a love that is longsuffering, a love that is sacrificial, and unconditional.

Tom Horn, pastor of the Ella Grove Baptist Church in Glennville, GA preached on the Possible Impossibility from Hebrews 10. He was the first of a few preachers who announced that they were preaching messages at the conference from the book they were currently preaching through at their home church. That was encouraging to hear. Preaching on the first 19 verses of Hebrews 10, he brought out that in verses 1-4 we see the impossibility of perfection; verses 5-14 shows us the person of perfection; verses 15-18 as the proof of perfection; and verse 19 is the pathway to perfection. How tempting it is to fall into the trappings of religion, that can not save and forsake Christ, who can. A good way to end a Friday.

The cold wintry chill Saturday morning was a stark contrast to the warmth of the hospitality and hot  breakfast prepared by the dear ladies of the church. Well rested and well fed, we entered into the building for day two, which was packed with good preaching as well as attendees. Folding chairs filled the aisles between the pews making their way all the way back into the foyer of the building. It was encouraging to see so many people who had come to hear the Word of God preached. It was difficult to estimate the number that had gathered on Saturday morning, but if we had not reached standing room only, it could not have been far off.

Brother Al Lyons who is the pastor of the Grace Baptist Church in Fairmount, GA, preached to us from Genesis 32:1-2. His message brought out God’s grace in protecting and guarding his people. It is precious to hear such faith and encouraging Words from man of whom both he and his wife are facing health issues. Brother Lyons reminded us that we would be amazed if we could but see the angels of God among us and should be encouraged to remember that God cares for His own. He mentioned something as an aside, but it hit a chord with me; God will accomplish His will. No matter what happens in our life, God’s plan is being carried out, and being in Christ, we can rejoice in that truth.

Paul Sandelin traveled the furthest, making his way from Naples Idaho. He is the pastor of the Bible Believers Baptist Church. His message was on God’s Word and how it must be held up in a prominent place in the lives of the believers. Illustrating the point with the rod of God that Moses held in Exodus 17, that we too must hold the Word of the Lord in high esteem. The Word of God will bring correction, and must be used in combat, and held for comfort. He mentioned something that stuck with me, that if we have a heavy intake of media and a low intake of Bible, what will be doing the instruction and correction in our lives?

Sam Wilson, pastor of the Grace Baptist Church in Gladwin, MI finished up the morning session with message from Ephesians 2:8-9 on salvation by grace. Grace is the sinner’s confidence, and the Sovereign God’s cure, and spurs the a commitment to service of our great Savior. Pastor Wilson also informed us that the Grace Baptist Church is now is over the Landmark Baptist, a quarterly paper edited by Bob Belanger. I was unaware of the church taking oversight of the paper and I believe it will be a good fit.

After another delicious meal prepared by the church, and a time of fellowship on the grounds, we entered round two for the afternoon session. Andy Wilson preached to us from John 1 on the greatness, grace, and glory of Christ. A great subject and a great message.

Justin Meier, traveling from Mount Vernon, Ohio,  finished the session off preaching on More than Conquerors in Christ, taking his text from Romans 8:37. Ultimately, we will overcome the world, because Christ has overcome the world. By faith, we must remember that Christ will set all things right in the end and we have the assurance in Christ, that we have everlasting life and nothing can separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus.

This was the final session of the day, and following the preaching some stayed for some 'pickin and grinnin'. A few of us gathered together playing music and singing hymns. An eclectic mix of piano, mandolin, guitars, and yours truly on the resonator made for a good mix of musical styles. We were blessed throughout the meeting with special songs by the saints of God worshiping their King. The congregational singing was outstanding, hearing the many voices uplifting God's name in praise.   

Sunday, the temperature had warmed and the nice weather of a Florida winter was enjoyed for both an outdoor breakfast and lunch. One delightful blessings at these conferences is seeing the children play out in the church yard. It is good to see so many young children in the house of God. Parents running after little ones who are enjoying the thrill of being set free from sitting still in church, friendships being forged and made; a delightful sight to behold. As a preacher’s kid myself, who attended more than my fair share of meetings as a youth, I wonder what God has in store for these young ones?

Pastor Sheppard told us that we would be having three preachers and two speakers. The third speaker was a baptismal service. Believers baptism does indeed preach a powerful message and we were privileged to witness this ordinance Sunday morning. We only have two visible pictures in the New Covenant, that of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper and it is always a joy to witness a believer following their Lord in the water.

Leroy Pack opened the morning service by preaching on The Church Militant, taking his text from Nehemiah 4:1-12. The Lord’s people must be ready to serve with a mind to work. It is always good to hear Brother Pack preach.

Next was the baptismal service and the candidate was the pastors daughter. Witnessing the ancient practice of believers baptism, a saved sinner following their Lord’s example and command by going into the water, picturing His death, burial, and resurrection is always a wonderful sight. To see a soul who has been saved by God’s grace, rise up out of the water to walk in newness of life is a powerful message. Added to the glories of the truth put on display, we also were witness to a joyful moment as a father had opportunity to administer this ordinance to his very own child. It was a tender and touching moment to see Pastor Sheppard hug his daughter in the baptismal pool.

The event had me overwhelmed. I was thankful that there were several songs sang after the baptism to allow me to gain my composure, because I was the last preacher of the day. I closed the meeting out on a message from Ephesians 3:8 on The Unsearchable Riches of Christ. I mentioned a book in the course of my preaching that I had used in my preparation, but I am almost certain I butchered then name of the book. It was Life in Christ by Jeremy Walker.

We dismissed the service having been fed spiritually, we were fed once more by the hard workers of the church and departed on our separate ways. It is always good to meet up with old friends and make new ones. I hate goodbyes. Makes me long for the day when there will be no more.

Holy Hands

Tuesday with Timothy #15

1 Timothy 2:8 I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Paul wills that men pray everywhere and when Paul wills, it isn’t his personal preference, but apostolic authority. The male members of the church are to lead the church in prayer, which ruffles the feathers of those who rebel against the created order. The men of the Lord’s church ought to be thankful to have such a wonderful task such as leading in prayer and it should be looked upon as a privilege to serve the church in such a manner. If we go back for a moment and consider the “all men” argument and that “all” means every person without exception, what does “every where” mean? If we are consistent, it means that Paul wants men to go to every square inch of planet earth and pray. But I digress, the point is that men are to be men of prayer and the worship of God is to be done in prayer.

Men are to lead in the public prayer and it needs to be holy men to lead the people in prayer. Saved men, serving the Lord in His righteousness, are to lead God’s people to the throne of grace. Don't get sidetracked into putting the emphasis on the wrong word. Lifting up holy hands isn’t the point of the passage. The point is that holy men should lead in prayer. In the Old Testament, men prayed and as  they did, they stood and lifted their hands (Isa 1:15; 2 Chronicles 6:12; 1 Kings 8:22; Ex. 9:33), which I believe is a sign of intercessory prayer.They were praying for the congregation. Remember, that chapter two began with the command for the church to pray for others.

The prayer should be in light of the gospel truths that God saves all sorts of men. We should pray that God would save our enemies, not calling down fire from Heaven in wrath. Our prayers for our leaders (1 Tim 2:2)  shouldn’t be imprecatory prayers but that God would save them. These prayers should be done without doubting that possibility. With faith we should pray everywhere, for all men, that God would save them. We should pray everywhere with a gracious heart and not doubt that God hears our prayers. We should pray everywhere with a tender heart, not doubting that God will answer our prayers.

"THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (The watchword of the Reformers.)

by Robert Murray M'Chyene

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,
I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

I oft read with pleasure, to sooth or engage,
Isaiah's wild measure and John's simple page;
But e'en when they pictured the blood-sprinkled tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu seem'd nothing to me.

Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll,
I wept when the waters went over His soul;
Yet thought not that my sins had nail'd to the tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu - 'twas nothing to me.

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see, -
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Saviour must be.

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life-giving and free, -
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and boast,
Jehovah Tsidkenu! I ne'er can be lost;
In thee I shall conquer by flood and by field,
My cable, my anchor, my breast-plate and shield!

Even treading the valley, the shadow of death,
This "watchword" shall rally my faltering breath;
For while from life's fever my God sets me free,
Jehovah Tsidkenu, my death song shall be.


November 18, 1834.

The Wood-Pile by Robert Frost

Out walking in the frozen swamp one gray day,
I paused and said, 'I will turn back from here.
No, I will go on farther—and we shall see.'
The hard snow held me, save where now and then
One foot went through. The view was all in lines
Straight up and down of tall slim trees
Too much alike to mark or name a place by
So as to say for certain I was here
Or somewhere else: I was just far from home.
A small bird flew before me. He was careful
To put a tree between us when he lighted,
And say no word to tell me who he was
Who was so foolish as to think what he thought.
He thought that I was after him for a feather—
The white one in his tail; like one who takes
Everything said as personal to himself.
One flight out sideways would have undeceived him.
And then there was a pile of wood for which
I forgot him and let his little fear
Carry him off the way I might have gone,
Without so much as wishing him good-night.
He went behind it to make his last stand.
It was a cord of maple, cut and split
And piled—and measured, four by four by eight.
And not another like it could I see.
No runner tracks in this year's snow looped near it.
And it was older sure than this year's cutting,
Or even last year's or the year's before.
The wood was gray and the bark warping off it
And the pile somewhat sunken. Clematis
Had wound strings round and round it like a bundle.
What held it though on one side was a tree
Still growing, and on one a stake and prop,
These latter about to fall. I thought that only
Someone who lived in turning to fresh tasks
Could so forget his handiwork on which
He spent himself, the labor of his ax,
And leave it there far from a useful fireplace
To warm the frozen swamp as best it could
With the slow smokeless burning of decay.



"Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." James 4:13-15

"O Christian, hast thou put thy confidence in the man Christ Jesus? Hast thou placed thy reliance solely on him? And art thou united with him? Then believe that thou art united unto the God of heaven; since to the man Christ Jesus thou art brother and holdest closest fellowship, thou art linked thereby with God the Eternal, and "the Ancient of days" is thy Father and thy friend. "He shall come forth unto me". Did you never see the depth of love there was in the heart of Jehovah, when God the Father equipped his Son for the great enterprise of mercy? There had been a sad day in Heaven once before, when Satan fell, and dragged with him a third of the stars of heaven, and when the Son of God launching from his great right hand the Omnipotent thunders, dashed the rebellious crew to the pit of perdition; but if we could conceive a grief in heaven, that must have been a sadder day, when the Son of the Most High left his Father's bosom, where he had lain from before all worlds. "Go," saith the Father, "and thy Father's blessing on thy head!" Then comes the unrobing. How do angels crowd around to see the Son of God take off his robes He laid aside his crown; he said, "My father, I am Lord over all, blessed for ever, but I will lay my crown aside, and be as mortal men are." He strips himself of his bright vest of glory; "Father," he says, "I will wear a robe of clay, just such as men wear." Then he takes off all those jewels wherewith he was glorified; he lays aside his starry mantles and robes of light, to dress himself in the simple garments of the peasant of Galilee. What a solemn disrobing that must have been! And next, can you picture the dismissal! The angels attend the Saviour through the streets, until they approach the doors: when an angel cries, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, and let the king of glory through!" Oh! methinks the angels must have wept when they lost the company of Jesus—when the Sun of Heaven bereaved them of all its light. But they went after him. They descended with him; and when his spirit entered into flesh and he became a babe, he was attended by that mighty host of angels, who after they had been with him to Bethlehem's manger, and seen him safely, laid on his mother's breast, in their journey upwards appeared to the shepherds and told them that he was born king of the Jews. The Father sent him! Contemplate that subject. Let your soul get hold of it, and in every period of his life think that he suffered what the Father willed; that every step of his life was marked with the approval of the great I AM. Let every thought that you have of Jesus be also connected with the eternal, ever-blessed God; for "he," saith Jehovah, "shall come forth unto me."

Charles Spurgeon - The Incarnation and Birth of Christ

Review of Discovering God's Will by Sinclair Ferguson

This book is a gem. Yogi Berra once quipped, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." I think that some Christians view their decision making processes much in the same way. They make the choice and then think about their decision making process latter when the consequences come. What is a Christian to do when we come to a fork in the road of our life and multiple choices seem to be before us? Which way do we go? What path to we choose? Many people, when they want guidance just want someone to tell them exactly what to do. They want a sign, they want specific directions.

Sinclair Ferguson deals with the issue of guidance Biblically and gives the reader the foundation and principles needed to make wise decisions. The foundation of knowing what to do is God's Word. Will the Bible tell you which girl to marry? No, but it will tell you what you should be looking for in a wife. God wants us to think and that is not an unnatural exercise. This is the kind of book that I think should be required reading for young Christians. This would be a great tool for Christian teenagers to read and digest while still at home prior to making many choices that will set the course for the rest of their lives. It is better to know and have the principles before a big decision has to be made.

What I appreciate is the fact that the book is founded on the principles of the sufficiency of scripture, but does not deny the spiritual aspects of the Word. This book may be extremely helpful for those who tend to bend towards the Charismatic side in their idea of what the will of God is and what guidance actually entails. 

Good book.

Paul said to shut it...

Romans 3:19 ‭Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.‭

"How do you know whether a man is a Christian? The answer is that his mouth is ‘shut’. I like this forthrightness of the Gospel. People need to have their mouths shut, ‘stopped’. They are for ever talking about God, and criticizing God, and pontificating about what God should or should not do, and asking ‘Why does God allow this and that?’ You do not begin to be a Christian until your mouth is shut, is stopped, and you are speechless and have nothing to say."

Romans: Atonement and Justification, D.M. Lloyd Jones

When I consider thy heavens

Psalm 8 (To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David.) O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

We are really, really small. Our God is really, really awesome. To Him be honor and glory forever.

Check out the article and the zoom feature HERE.

Pray for All

Tuesdays With Timothy  # 14

1 Timothy 1:1-8 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

One evening a grabbed a novel and sat with my boys and  I opened to a random page in the middle of the book and read the second half of a long sentence. I asked them “what does the character mean by that phrase?” They laughed at me because the request was absurd. “Daddy, how can we know what the person meant by half a sentence? We don’t even know what the book is about and who is talking!” It was a silly thing for me to request. It is also a silly thing for a person to build a theology that way. No, it isn’t silly it is dangerous. I Timothy 2:4 is the second half of a sentence that is part of a larger thought. To rip half a sentence out of its immediate context and then use it as a proof text for universal atonement is dangerous proposition.

In verse one, Paul exhorts Timothy and the church to prayer. In verse eight, Paul exhorts men to pray. Wonder what Paul has in mind? In verse two, Paul tells us who to pray for and why. In verse three, he tells us why prayer is a good thing, and verses 4-6 tell us why we can have confidence in our prayers for the salvation of men, and verse seven tells us that Paul is a missionary to the very people that he request prayer for. So, verse eight is men, pray. The overall message is for people to pray for others, not a discourse in soteriology. That is the context.

Why should we pray for all men? If we back up a little further to the end of chapter one, Paul told us how that God saved the chief of sinners. He was an example to the saving grace of God, that God is gracious and can save even the worst sinners. If God can save Paul, he can save anyone. So, pray for all men.

Verse three immediately takes the focus to different types of people groups. Paul tells Timothy to pray for everyone, including those in authority so that they would lead a peaceable life. The only way this makes sense is if we are talking about all types of men. It is not possible to pray for every single person. It isn't even possible to pray for every single leader and person in authority. Paul specifies that the prayer for all types of people include those in authority so that THEY would be able to live in peace. Praying for a king in Egypt or a tribal chieftain in Europe where the gospel had not yet been proclaimed, would not provide peaceful living for Paul and Timothy. The "all in authority" cannot mean pray for every single person in authority in the world, but for those in authority over them, that they might live in peace.

It is good to do so because "God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." Who are the "all men"? The fact that Paul is speaking in general terms to all men being in groups of people in prayer, Paul is speaking that God wills that all types or all sorts of people will be saved. Paul was ordained a preacher and apostle to the Gentiles. Another class of people. Is Paul the preacher to every single Gentile on Earth? Or is his ministry to the people of group? He has the idea in mind of groups of people, not every single person on earth.

My Arminian friends may be up in arms at this point say “ALL MEANS ALL!” But only the Universalist believes that all men means all men. Is the rich man in Luke 16 a man? He lifted up his eyes in Hell, did he not? Does this verse apply to him? Will this man also come to the knowledge of the truth and should we pray for souls in Hell to be saved? No, of course not, unless, you are a Universalist. So the Arminian also restricts the usage of the word all to all LIVING men and himself doesn’t believe “all means all.”

 We see from other passages of scripture that Christ did not give his life a ransom for all people, but for many (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). But Paul’s point was we pray for all people because there is not group of people excluded from the gospel of salvation. Salvation is no longer predominantly to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but the gospel is to be proclaimed high and low throughout the world. Think about it this way, you may hear regularly people pray for our leaders in prayer meetings. We ask the Lord to give our leaders wisdom, or for God to protect us from our leaders. But how often do we pray that God would save them? How often do we pray that God would bring repentance to the halls of Congress? Maybe because we don’t think God will save them. Maybe because we think that group of people are beyond salvation because they are in power. Maybe we don’t pray for them because we don’t like their politics or their attitudes towards the gospel and towards Christianity. This goes to the heart of what Paul was saying. Pray for them, God wills that all people groups be saved, and that is why he goes and preaches to the Gentiles. This passage is about our Christian service, about Timothy as the man of God directing God’s people. Timothy, you pray for all men because God saves all sorts of men, the chief of sinners and the chiefs of nations. Pray for all men because Christ is the Saviour of the world.

Run John Run

Run, John, run. The law commands
But gives neither feet nor hands.
Better news the gospel brings;
It bids us fly and gives us wings.

John Bunyan

“God strengthens me,” and “God is my strength" a Vital Difference

Elijah the Tishbite by Friedrich W Krummacher 

"If God strengthen me, then, through his grace, I experience within me a Divine power, by which I can accomplish something, and feel myself arrayed and armed with a courageous and joyful spirit; I smile at partition-walls that would confine me, and at barricades that would exclude me, and I fear nothing.

But if, finding nothing but weakness in my soul, and trembling at the sight of the danger that surrounds me, and at the immense mountains of difficulties which lie before me – yet, with all the shrinking of nature, I advance with holy boldness to meet them, hoping on against reason and feeling, in simple faith on Him who is eternally near, who will go with me, and to whom it is an easy thing to rebuke, with a word, the ocean’s waves, and to thrash the mountains so that they shall become a plain; and if I walk by faith on the waves of nature’s terrors, destitute of courage and yet a hero, out of weakness made strong, and out of despondency valiant – then I can exult and say, “God is my strength;” and my feet are placed upon a rock. What a wonderful thing is faith, which lays hold of a power to do all things, through Christ strengthening us; which brings man, who is a worm, into fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, and is the means whereby strength is ordained, and praise perfected out of the mouth of babes and sucklings!"

The Children's Hour

Psalm 127:3-4 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.


The Children's Hour
By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Between the dark and the daylight,
      When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
      That is known as the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
      The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
      And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
      Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
      And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
      Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
      To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
      A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
      They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
      O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
      They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
      Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
      In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
      Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
      Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
      And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
      In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
      Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
      And moulder in dust away!

A Powerful Introduction to Elijah

Winston Churchill once said "opening amenities are opening inanities." He never wasted the good opportunity the opening minutes provided him. A good introduction can draw the listener in and capture his attention. For example, notice how Friedrich Krummacher in his book Elijah the Tishbite sets the scene through word pictures. Not only has he given an apt description of the spiritual times in which Elijah burst into the pages of Scripture, but how he gives us a feel for the darkness of a land given over to idolatry.

“And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” (1 Kings 17:1)
Thus commences the brief record of the prophet Elijah, abruptly setting us at once in the midst of his life. At this very first mention of him we see the whole man living and moving, in spirit and in conduct. This manner of his introduction to our notice is itself remarkable. In the preceding chapters, the inspired historian had, as it were, dug through the wall, and discovered to us the horrible abominations in which Israel, during those melancholy times, was so deeply immersed. Clouds and thick darkness cover the whole land; the images of Baalim and Ashtaroth fearfully gleam on every side; idolatrous temples and heathen altars occupy the sacred soil; every hill smokes with their sacrifices, every vale resounds with the blasphemous yells of a cruel priesthood. The people drink in iniquity like water, and sport in shameless rites around their idols. Alas! alas! how is the glory of Israel departed! how is Abraham’s seed no longer discernible! their light is become darkness, the salt has lost its savour, the fine gold has become dim! And now, while darkness reigns throughout the land; while no cheering star gleams through the universal blackness, on a sudden the history changes, with the words, “And Elijah said.” – The man seems as if dropped from heaven into the midst of this awful night-piece, without father, without mother, without descent, as is written of Melchisedec. Lo, he stands forth in the midst of the desolation, but not without his God. Almost the only grain of salt in the general corruption, the only leaven that is to leaven the whole mass – and that we may learn at once who he is, he commences his career with an unheard-of act of faith, by closing, in the name of his Lord, the heavens over Israel, and changing the firmament into iron and brass. Thanks be to God! the night is no longer so horrible, for a man of God now appears, like the rising moon, in the midst of it."

This was a powerful introduction because it not only gave us the information, but draws us in to make us want the rest of the story.

It is Good to Pray

Tuesdays With Timothy  # 13

1 Timothy 2: 1-6 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Why should we pray for all men and why should we desire to live quiet and peaceable lives in godliness and honesty? Because this is good and acceptable in the sight of God Saviour. If for no other reason than because God says it is good for us to do so. God says it is both good and acceptable that we pray for others. I believe much is lost by the imbalance of some to say that God is indifferent towards our service because of justification, or that somehow God looks at our service to Him as Christians and says “imperfect, I don’t accept.” While at most, we are unprofitable servants, this doesn’t mean that our service is not pleasing to God or that we are unable to do anything, as Christians, that please our Father. In Christ, we are able to please the Father, and though our service will never be anything but imperfect, through and in His dear Son, we can please God through our following Him by faith. We cannot please God to earn salvation, but as His children, washed in the blood and in Christ we can please God by faithful obedience. It is good and acceptable in God’s sight when we bow the knee to Him and plead for the souls of our fellow man. Our God declares this a good thing for us to do. Our Saviour says that prayer for others is an acceptable act.

We are to pray for all types of men because Christ will save all types of men and bring all types of men to the knowledge of the truth. We are to pray for our fellow man, that God would save them. We are to intercede on their behalf unto our God and Saviour who is the only one who can intercede between man and God. As men we pray unto the man Christ Jesus, as He, the Godman, mediates our prayers as our great high priest.

We pray to the only true God, through the only mediator between man and God, who is the only Saviour of men and the only ransom that can redeem sinners, making Christ Jesus the only hope for man in life and death. God would have His people to pray for our fellow man for their good, for our good, and for God’s glory. We must pray for others who are also made in the image of God that the man Christ Jesus, would save and bring to the truth our fellow man, through His sacrifice on Calvary.

If this gets your Arminian blood boiling or you think I haven’t given these passages justice, stay tuned and I'll answer the objections and consider the great doctrines laid out in these passages. However, I do believe that the previous paragraph relates the overall point that Paul was getting at here - and it is not the death knell to Calvinism. It is a blow to the hyper-Calvinist hardshell's, but not to the doctrines of grace.

Monday Verse - To Any Reader

To Any Reader
Robert Louis Stevenson

As from the house your mother sees

You playing round the garden trees,

So you may see, if you will look

Through the windows of this book,

Another child, far, far away,

And in another garden, play.

But do not think you can at all,

By knocking on the window, call

That child to hear you. He intent

Is all on his play-business bent.

He does not hear; he will not look,

Nor yet be lured out of this book.

For, long ago, the truth to say,

He has grown up and gone away,

And it is but a child of air

That lingers in the garden there.

An Expositor, Not a Corrector

Kevin DeYoung, in his book Taking God at His Word says

"Our Messiah sees himself as an expositor of Scripture, but never a corrector of Scripture. He fulfills it, but never falsifies it. He turns away wrong interpretations of Scripture, but insists there is nothing wrong with Scripture, down to the crossing of t’s and dotting of i’s."

A very good point and one we should imitate.

Praying for Peace

Tuesdays With Timothy  # 12 

1 Timothy 2:1-2 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Paul entreats and exhorts Timothy, as he fights a good fight to pray. The man of God must be a man of prayer. If we look to the example of our Lord, we see what a great priority that He Himself placed upon prayer in His earthly ministry. Later, looking at the apostles, we see that they were given to the word and prayer (Acts 6:4) as the primary focus of their ministries. So must the man of God today devote himself to prayer. But this is not merely for pastors, but Timothy is to both apply this to himself and teach those he ministers to do likewise. All of God’s people need to be people of prayer.

Paul uses several words to describe prayer in this verse and each could have a shade of difference, but I believe the point is not so much to get bogged down on the differences but to realize that we are to pray for the good and betterment of others. I once spoke with a man who was railing against a particular politician in a very hateful manner and I reminded him that we are to pray for our leaders. His was response was that he did, and his prayers were more of the imprecatory sort. So Paul clears this up for us - the overarching thought here is we pray for the betterment of our neighbors. We pray for their needs, on their behalf, and being thankful for them or being thankful that God has providentially placed us together.

And the command is that we are to pray for all men. Not just the neighbors we like, or our church family, but our prayers should be for both saved and lost, sick and healthy, good and evil. Those that bless and those that curse. We should pray for all types of people without distinction. It is not possible to pray for all men without exception, which we will see soon enough, is important to note.

I find the next verse fascinating to consider. Paul was instructing Timothy to pray for the king and all in authority. Do we pray for every person who is in every type of official capacity all over the Earth? I don’t think that is possible to do either. I do believe we pray for those who have authority over us, and where ever you are when you read this, you should pray for those how have authority over you.

 How are we to pray for our rulers? The prayer was that the church would be able to live quiet, peaceable, godly, honest lives without persecution and government intrusion. God’s people are not to be rebels against authority. Jude characterizes the ungodly as those who dissident against authority. The line, of course, is drawn when we are compelled by authorities to go against God.  

We need to pray that the government would just leave us alone and allow us to live Christian lives. This doesn’t sell books and won’t get a lot of attention on the web. This won’t get the evangelical elite to hold conferences on this kind of life of peace and quiet. No, there has to be calls for boycotts or calls to extreme living, calls to build your platform and be heard. Paul tells us to pray so that we can live our lives as Christians. To work, and as a Christian, proclaim the glory of Christ. Raise your children, as Christians, and teach your kids about Christ. To be good neighbors, in the name of Christ for the glory of Christ, bless those that curse us and bless those we know and love.  To be able to quietly and peaceably, and honestly, live sacrificially for the good of others and glory of God. To be sure, that kind of living will draw enough attention of itself, and living that kind of life will draw persecution, but our hope is that God would turn the hearts of those in authority to see the benefit of having Christian citizens and allow us to do our work for Christ in peace.

The flip side to this is not that if the government is persecuting, all bets are off. Our living quiet peaceable lives do not hinge upon how the government treats us as any given point in history. We are to live as Christians no matter how bad it gets. The prayer is that God would turn the hearts of those in authority to allow God’s people to live as God’s people because those in authority over us don’t like that Christ is over all, which also includes them. 

Monday Verse - My goal is God Himself

Some of you may have seen that I tweeted out the Banner of Truth Black Friday e-book sale where you could pick up their titles for a mere $2 a piece. I picked up a couple, one of which was Sinclair Ferguson's book Discovering God's Will. I thought it could be an interesting title and his book In Christ Alone is awesome, so i pulled the trigger. In the book, I found this hymn, which is now today's Monday Verse.

My goal is God Himself
F. Brook

My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace,
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God;
’Tis His to lead me there—not mine, but His—
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

So faith bounds forward to its goal in God,
And love can trust her Lord to lead her there;
Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard
Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer.

No matter if the way be sometimes dark,
No matter though the cost be oft-times great,
He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark,
The way that leads to Him must needs be strait.

One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay;
One thing I do, I press towards my Lord;
My God my glory here, from day to day,
And in the glory there my great Reward.

Monday Verse: Trust in God (“Courage, brother!”)

Faith is tested in the trial and the struggle. Samuel Rutherford said that "The Devil is but God's master fencer, to teach us to handle our weapons." No one likes the fight while it is going on, no one likes to see the evil day approach, but we live in an evil world. I first read this in a book written by JR Graves and he (as per usual) was embroiled in a controversy and he was encouraging Christian men to stand strong and fight the fight of faith.  Trust in God, and do the right. That is really all we can do and all we really should want to do. We have an eternity of peace and rest and only a short time in the battlefield. Let us go on, play the man, and do the right for the  glory of God. As John Knox once said,"a man with God is always in the majority." This is our battle cry brethren, and this, is your Monday Verse.



Trust in God (“Courage, brother!”)
By Norman Macleod (1812–1872)

COURAGE, brother! do not stumble,
  Though thy path is dark as night;
There’s a star to guide the humble:
  “Trust in God, and do the right.”

Let the road be long and dreary,      
  And its ending out of sight;
Foot it bravely, strong or weary;
  “Trust in God, and do the right.”

Perish “policy” and cunning,
  Perish all that fears the light!      
Whether losing, whether winning,
  “Trust in God, and do the right.”

Trust no forms of guilty passion,
  Fiends can look like angels bright;
Trust no custom, school, or fashion,      
  “Trust in God, and do the right.”

Trust no party, Church, or faction;
  Trust no leaders in the fight;
But, in every word and action,
  “Trust in God, and do the right.”      

Some will hate thee, some will love thee,
  Some will flatter, some will slight;
Cease from man, and look above thee;
  “Trust in God, and do the right.”

Simple rule, and safest guiding;      
  Inward peace, and inward light;
Star upon our path abiding:
  “Trust in God, and do the right.”