Tried With Fire

During the service tomorrow, I will be playing an arrangement of this hymn. This is a good personal reminder. I have proved Him o'er and o'er but how quickly I forget. May I be quick to remember His past faithfulness and trust Him who is the same - yesterday, today, and forever. 1.’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, And to take Him at His Word; Just to rest upon His promise, And to know, “Thus says the Lord!” Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more! 2. O how sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to trust His cleansing blood; And in simple faith to plunge me ’Neath the healing, cleansing flood! 3. Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus, Just from sin and self to cease; Just from Jesus simply taking Life and rest, and joy and peace. 4. I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend; And I know that Thou art with me, Wilt be with me to the end.

I found Perfectionism by B.B. Warfield through Alibris.com, as it is now out of print. I'm looking forward to reading this. It looks like fairly heavy reading but I'm hoping it will give some clarity on true Biblical sanctifcation.

Lizzy does a good job camouflaging herself on that rug. I am thankful for the bunnies. They always give me something to smile about.

This is from the Banner of Truth Trust edition, pages 50-51. We must hate all sin, as sin, and not just that which troubles us. Love for Christ, because He went to the cross, and hate for sin that sent Him there, is the solid foundation for true spiritual mortification. To seek mortification only because a sin troubles us proceeds from self-love. Why do you with all diligence and earnestness seek to mortify this sin? Because it troubles you because you do not have rest through it? Yes, but, friend, you have neglected prayer and reading! You have been vain and loose in your conversation with other things. These are just as sinful as the one that troubles you. Jesus Christ bled for them also. Why do you not set yourself against them? If you hate sin as sin, and very evil way, you would be watchful against everything that grieves and disquiets the Spirit of God. You would not be concerned only about the sin that upsets your own soul! I think, too often, that I hate sin because...

This is from the section Thinking Biblically in Chapter IV God, page 99-100 ( emphasis mine ). The biblical answer about why we have lost our center is rather straightforward. The center has not been lost. What has been lost is our ability to see it, to recognize it, to bow before it, to reorder our lives in the light of it, to do what we should do as people who live in the presence of this center, this Other, this triune, holy-loving God of the Bible. And so we create our own center, we create our own rules, and we make our own meaning. All of this springs from an alternative center in the universe. It is ourselves. Paul's statement is that, since the fall, we have "worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Rom. 1:25). We will not reckon with our internal sense that God does exist. We also try to ignore our own sense of the moral fabric of life (Rom. 1:18-20, 2:14-15). And we have also made some substitutions. We have replaced the actual cent...

My DD just said to me "Mommy, my bathroom cup is like a pharisee." I was surprised by that so I asked her why. She replied, "Because it's dirtier on the inside than the outside." (She did wash the inside of the cup afterwards.)

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, "In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as ha...

This morning in Sunday school, Pastor Ryan shared about the life of Ann Judson, wife of Adoniram Judson. He used her life as an example of a life that was poured out for the sake of the gospel and the establishment of the church. She and her husband were willing to give their all, even the loss of their children and eventually her own life, on the mission field. Here is a quote from her memoirs regarding her salvation. ' After spending two or three weeks in this manner, without obtaining the least comfort, my heart began to rise in rebellion against God. I thought it unjust in him, not to notice my prayers and my repentance. I could not endure the thought, that he was a sovereign God, and had a right to call one and leave another to perish. So far from being merciful in calling some, I thought it cruel in him to send any of his creatures to hell for their disobedience. But my chief distress was occasioned by a view of his perfect purity and holiness. My heart was filled with av...

Big Bun lounging in the classic "bunny baguette" position.

I first heard about LibriVox from a post at the Desiring God blog by Noel Piper. LibriVox has public domain audio books available for free download. They have some sermons by Spurgeon , a few books by John Bunyan , and Augustine . I downloaded the Spurgeon and Bunyan works. All the readers are volunteers but I found these pleasant to listen to. I used to need to listen to something constantly, even while doing chores or gardening. My mind would not stop worrying about things so it helped me to hear something that was edifying and turn my thoughts to God rather than my troubles. Lately, my mind seems to have calmed down where I can actually have silence. This is a practical application of the sovereignty of God. If He truly is sovereign and ordaining everything that happens, then my mind does not need to churn in fear or worry. By His grace, He has graciously helped me not to worry like I used to. I still do at times but I want to be reminded to put off my sin of unbelief and ...

He tha t wishes to attain right views about Christian holiness must begin by examining the vast and solemn subject of sin . He must dig down very low if he would build high. A mistake here is most mischievous. Wrong views about holiness are generally traceable to wrong views about human corruption. The plain truth is that a right knowledge of sin lies at the root of all saving Christianity. Without is such doctrines as justification, conversion, sanctification, are "words and names" which convey no meaning to the mind. Dim or distinct views of sin are the origin of most of the errors, heresies, and false doctrines of the present day. If a man does not realize the dangerous nature of his soul's disease, you cannot wonder if he is content with false or imperfect remedies. I believe that one of the chief wants of the church in the nineteenth century has been, and is, clearer, fuller, teaching about sin. from Chapter 1 "Sin" I think this is a timely need in the 21...

The following ditty was inspired by this contest. (To be sung to 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' from Mary Poppins) Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay Spurgeon, Calvin, Flavel, Luther, Edwards, Alleine, Owen! Watson, Boston, Brooks, and Warfield, Bonar, Burroughs, Bunyan! Even though they're all dead guys Their books are all worth owning! Spurgeon, Calvin, Flavel, Luther, Edwards, Alleine, Owen!

Here is a list of books that I finished last year: The Gospel According to Jesus - John MacArthur The Truth War - John MacArthur The Mystery of Providence - John Flavel Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ - John Bunyan The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan Advice to Sufferers - John Bunyan Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners - John Bunyan The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment - Jeremiah Burroughs The Godly Man's Picture - Thomas Watson The Mortification of Sin - John Owen Warnings to the Churches - J.C. Ryle Joy Unspeakable - Martin Lloyd-Jones Christless Christianity - Michael Horton On the list for this year to finish as well as to start: No Place for Truth - David Wells The Courage to be Protestant - David Wells Knowing God - J.I. Packer Gospel Fear - Jeremiah Burroughs The Evil of Evils - Jeremiah Burroughs A Treatise of Earthly Mindedness - Jeremiah Burroughs Holiness - J.C. Ryle I would also like to finish the books that I did not read during the 200...