Tried With Fire

When the Apostle says to the Philippians, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,” (Phil. 1:6), there cannot be a doubt, that by the good work thus begun, he means the very commencement of conversion in the will. God, therefore, begins the good work in us by exciting in our hearts a desire, a love, and a study of righteousness, or (to speak more correctly) by turning, training, and guiding our hearts unto righteousness; and he completes this good work by confirming us unto perseverance. But lest any one should cavil that the good work thus begun by the Lord consists in aiding the will, which is in itself weak, the Spirit elsewhere declares what the will, when left to itself, is able to do. His words are, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit w...

Thanks to Diane via FB.

I'm thankful for: ~A brief respite from the summer heat earlier this week. ~ Sound sleep last night. ~ Lunch with friends today, one whom I haven't seen in a several years. I'm looking forward to the fellowship. ~ Discussion on Sunday's sermon  in our small group  - how do we take up our cross and deny ourselves daily?  Not as a means of earning our salvation, but because we have been saved. ~ This quote from Thomas Chalmers: We know of no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of our heart, than to keep in our hearts the love of God - and no other way by which to keep our hearts in the love of God, than building ourselves up on our most holy faith. That denial of the world which is not possible to him that dissents from the Gospel testimony, is possible even as all things are possible, to him that believeth. To try this without faith, is to work without the right tool of the right instrument. But faith worketh ...

Grace is not unconditional acceptance, but it is undeserved . That is a very difficult balance to strike! God's grace comes to us without prerequisites, finding us as we are . God's grace does not  come to the "deserving" (there is no such person), and it does not discriminate. Rather, initially it comes to us freely. But once it enters into our lives, God's grace demands changes; it holds us accountable. Why? Grace demands our holiness and growth for our sake as well as for God's glory .  Grace intercepts destructive behavior, protects us from the ravages of sin, sanctifies us so we can be "holy" and "happy", two inseparable qualities. Ministries of Mercy ,  Timothy J. Keller, P&R Publishing, 1997, pp. 226-227.

When folks talk about reliving their youth, I have no desire to go back, especially to my teen years. I was part of the out-crowd, so even if I tried to fit in, it was a lost cause. However, it was eye-opening to see the change in my friends when we made the jump to high school. In class, they seemed the same, but I later learned about the drinking, smoking, and who knows what else. But I don't think it was the booze or tobacco alone that was the draw. By living on the edge, they were admitted to a new circle of friends. They were suddenly noticed by older boys. These things were means to a desired end - acceptance and attention. If we're honest, we've all done this to a certain degree. "I want abc , and xyz will give it to me or help in me in my pursuit so I'll do  xyz  . " For teen girls it could look like: Dress like this and guys will give you a second look, which may lead to a date, which may lead to a relationship because true happiness is found whe...

We recently attended a fundraiser for NightLight International , a Christian organization that provides relief, rescue, and shelter for women trapped in prostitution and human trafficking in Thailand. There was a brief video explaining the group's mission with glimpses of the bar scene in Bangkok. The film was probably sanitized, but it was still sickening to see young girls dressed provocatively for the sole purpose of attracting male clientele. We learned that in these bars the women have name tags, but there's no name, just a number, reducing them to an item to be bartered and sold. On the drive home, my daughter commented how these Thai women would give anything to be free from marketing themselves sexually, but  in our warped American culture, it seems that women want to be seen this way. In Thailand, they know only to well the ugliness and degradation of being exploited. Whereas in America, women blindly believe they are adding to their personal worth when they...

69. Q. How does baptism remind you and assure you that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross is for you personally? A. In this way: Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that as surely as water washes away dirt from the body so certainly His blood and His Spirit wash away my soul's impurity, in other words, all my sin. 70. Q. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and Spirit? A. To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ's blood poured out for us in His sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ's Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life. 71. Q.  Where does Christ promise that we are washed with His blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed with the water of baptism? A. In the institution of baptism where He says:...