Joy

"There is only one thing that can give true joy and that is the contemplation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He satisfies my mind; He satisfies my emotions; He satisfies my every desire. He and His great salvation include the whole personality and nothing less, and in Him I am complete. Joy, in other words, is the response and reaction of the soul to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, 30)

Life is so full of troubles that seek to rob us of our joy. Some days can just suck the life right out of you. But even during the darkest hours of the darkest days I have joy. Life is hard, period. "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

"When I think about the Lord, how He saved me, how He raised me, how He filled me with the Holy Ghost, how He healed me to the uttermost", I have joy.

Love in the Truth.

A Story of Grace

Would you adopt a child that you knew would be dead in less than a year? Here is one couple that said "yes we will".

Love in the Truth,
HT / JT

Pure Church: Have You Lost the Joy of the Election?

Thabiti Anyabwile has a great post on the doctrine of election. Here is just a sample of his thoughts:

"If you're a pastor that believes the Bible teaches both (1) the responsibility of man to repent and believe and (2) the sovereignty of God in choosing people unto salvation, you probably spend a lot of time explaining at least one-half of that belief to a number of your congregants. It is a joyful privilege to explain the whole counsel of God, to encourage people in new areas of biblical truth that they might not have seen or understood before.

It's also sometimes disconcerting for people as they learn things they hadn't understood before, things that really alter their understanding of the Scriptures and of God in a major way. The fancy-smancy psychological term for this is cognitive dissonance. Well, in a number of such conversations, it's not cognitive but emotional dissonance. People sometimes see the truth, have an emotional reaction to the truth (not necessarily denying the truth), and decide they don't like it. Patience is required in such cases, as well as helping people understand that an emotional impulse to deny the truth does not come from the Lord. The truth should shape our emotional responses, rather than our emotional responses shaping our acceptance of the truth.

All that to say: it's really helpful to underscore reasons why a particular truth should be cause for rejoicing. Truth is for our joy. And that's true of every truth in Scripture, including God's sovereign choosing of His people."

He goes on to list several biblical reasons to rejoice in election. Encourage your heart and read them for yourself!

Pure Church: Have You Lost the Joy of the Election?

Love in the Truth.

You've Got a Bigger Problem than Death!

Love in the Truth.

Jesus Wants the Rose!

Love in the Truth.

T.H.I.N.K.

I came across this great little post over at Todd Wilson's blog. It goes very nicely with my recent post and with what I've been teaching the youth here.

“God . . . help me to T.H.I.N.K. before I speak. My words must be . . .

T - True (Psalm 34:13)
H - Helpful (Eph. 4:29)
I - Inspiring (1 Thess. 5:11)
N - Necessary (Eph. 5:4)
K - Kind (Prov. 15:1)

Colossians 4:6 “Let you conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Thanks for this simple, solid challenge to T.H.I.N.K. before we speak!

Love in the Truth.

Free Book Giveaway!

A really "swell" guy is giving away a copy of Gordon H. Clark's "Good and Evil: The Problem Solved" Here's what Monergism says about the book:

"Highly Recommended! Probably the best work available on the subject at hand and required reading for long time visitors to monergism.com. Standing on the foundation of the Word of God, Clark has given us an answer to the theodicy issue. This little book is also an excellent refutation of all forms of Arminianism: deeply and convincingly tackles the issue of free will., exposing false systems of understanding."

Love in the Truth.

Too Far!!

This is just too funny! It is quite the celebration for one point in ping-pong. The emphasis being on "one" point. Check the score at the end...too far!

Love in the Truth.

Clayton's Story

Love in the Truth.

Taming the Tongue

Call me a glutton for punishment, but I really enjoy reading through James. Actually, I know alot of people that say as well - the reading James part, not the glutton for punishment part. The book is really a spiritual kick in the pants that more often than not is needed in my life. What about you?

Have you ever said something you wish you hadn't? You know, the old wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong way? If not stop reading and got to Revelation 21:8 and read (focus on the part about liars!). We all have at some point and James tells us as much.

In James 3:1-12 we get a warning to watch our words - to tame our tongues. Now it is first given to teachers, but it applies to us all. He warns us in a unique way. James doesn't just come out say "watch what you say". He takes the time to tell us how sinful, powerful, evil, uncontrollable, and inconsistent our tongues are in the hope that we will take this truth seriously. Is this an important message for us? Look at your own life; have all your words even today brought glory to God?

So what does James tell us in order that we might "watch our words":

1. We all sin (3:2)
2. The Tongue is powerful (3:3-5)
3. The Tongue is dangerous (3:5-6)
4. The Tongue is untamable (3:7-8)
5. The Tongue is inconsistent (3:9-12)

No matter how you want to break that text down, it draws a pretty discouraging picture. As my theology professor would always say, "that is not complimentary language"! So what should our response be?

1. In light of this fact, I need to be slow to speak.
2. In light of this fact, I need to put my hope in Christ.

When I read James 3:1-12, I am reminded that my sinful mouth put Christ on a cross, and I need Him to save me. And thannks be to God, I am reminded that my hope is not built on my ability to be perfect, but "my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness".

What is your hope built on?

For another great little post on the tongue, my friend Julian Freeman has some good thoughts.

Love in the Truth.

The Public Rebuke of False Teachers

James MacDonald has an excellent post on this topic over at Staight Up. In peticular, he defends his critique of Brian McLaren. Here is a little taste of the post:

"I do not view Brian as an ‘erring weaker brother,’ worthy of sympathy or olive branches, but rather as a dangerous false teacher who repackages mainline liberal theology. (Have the past 50 years not been adequate to see how liberal theology empties churches and damns souls?)

More dangerous still is that McLaren packages his false teaching and denials of Scripture as solutions to some of the excesses currently plaguing evangelicalism—the danger being his winning over of young people who have legitimate complaints about the current church, but who lack the discernment to see that his solutions are often unbiblical even when his critiques are fair."

What is encouraging is that MacDonald points to the example of Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John - the scriptures themselves - as the authority we are all bound too. Check out the rest!

Love in the Truth.

John Gill's Collected Writings - Up For Grabs!

For the Cause of God and Truth is giving away a copy of John Gill's collected writings on CD-rom. To enter just follow the link back!!

Love in the Truth.

How Children Come to Faith in Christ

There is a great resource available on a topic that is so vital to the Church today. As parents our greatest responsibility is to take the lead in the evangelism and discipleship of our children. Family Life Today has some radio interviews with Jim Elliff that are excellent. The entire series can be purchased, but there are six sessions available online. They are:

1. Genuine Salvation: More Than a Prayer
2. How Children Come to Faith in Christ
3. Taking Our Children to Church: Is That Enough?
4. How to Deal With Doubt
5. Observing Salvation in Your Child: Wha Does it Look Like?
6. The Family: No Better Place to Come to Know Christ!

There are transcripts available at the bottom of each page for each session. As a parent and a pastor, I cannot overstate the importance of this series of messages. There is nothing more important for us as parents to do; we will stand before the Lord and give an account of the stewardship of our children. Find us faithful, Lord.

Love in the Truth.

HT/ JT & Z