A King's Life

To live on Christ's love is a king's life.

-Samuel Rutherford, The Loveliness of Christ

For the Conservation of Natural Resources

Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us fellow workers in your creation: Give us wisdom and reverence so to use the resources of nature, that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-A Prayer for the Conservation of Natural Resources, the Book of Common Prayer (1549)

To Untie the Knot

From the very early morning, let us make everything a matter of prayer, and let it be so throughout the day, and throughout our whole life. A Christian lady said lately, that thirty-five years ago she heard me speak on the subject in Devonshire; and that then I referred to praying about little things. I had said, that suppose a parcel came to us, and it should prove difficult to untie the knot, and you cannot cut it; then you should ask God to help you, even to untie the knot. I myself had forgotten the words, but she has remembered them, and the remembrance of them, she said, had been a great help to her again and again. so I would say to you, my beloved friends, there is nothing too little to pray about. In the simplest things connected with our daily life and walk, we should give ourselves to prayer; and we shall have the loving Lord Jesus to help us.

-George Muller, Yours Affectionately George Muller

Call Me a Luddite

We are technologically superior to previous generations. But are we losing too much in the process? First we walked, then galloped, then rode on rails together. Now we drive, largely with windows up, and go home to hermetically sealed homes, coming out only to take out the trash or grab the newspaper. Once we entertained ourselves at home by reading books aloud. In the 1920s families gathered around the radio. In the 1950s, they gathered around the television. Now there is a television in each room. Computers only make it worse... Again my question is, Is this progress? When does life slow down enough so that we can talk? When do we enjoy our neighborhoods? Where do we experience community? In the last hundred years we have gone from life on a porch with family and neighbors to life in isolation in front of a cathode tube. Is the quality of life improving? Is ours a richer experience? Frankly, I do not believe it anymore. Call it romanticism. Call it naivete. Call me a Luddite.

Terry Johnson "A Call to Family Worship" from Give Praise to God

Spoiling the Coat of Mail

Man's heart is fenced, it is grown gross; there is a skin that, like a coat of mail, has wrapped it up, and inclosed it in on every side. This skin, this coat of mail, unless it be cut off and taken away, the heart remains untouched, whole; and so as unconcerned, whatever judgments or afflictions light upon the body (Matt 13:15; Acts 28:27). This which I call the coat of mail, the fence of the heart, has two great names in Scripture. It is called, 'the foreskin of the heart, ' and the armour in which the devil trusteth (Deut 10:16; Luke 11:22). Because these shield and fence the heart from all gospel doctrine, and from all legal punishments, nothing can come at it till these are removed. Therefore, in order unto conversion, the heart is said to be circumcised; that is, this foreskin is taken away, and this coat of mail is spoiled. 'I will circumcise thy heart, ' saith he, 'to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart', and then the devil's goods are spoiled, 'that thou mayst live' (Deut 30:6; Luke 11:22). And now the heart lies open, now the Word will prick, cut, and pierce it; and it being cut, pricked, and pierced, it bleeds, it faints, it falls, and dies at the foot of God, unless it is supported by the grace and love of God in Jesus Christ.

John Bunyan "The Acceptable Sacrifice"

new pics.... summer.

Fixing our Eyes....

Arturo Azurdia exhorts us in "Fixing our Eyes on the Cross" from Hebrews 12:1-3.
click here to download mp3.

the Ubiquity of the Divine Essence

"Everywhere in the Old and in the New Testament, God is represented as a spiritual Being, without form, invisible, whom no man hath seen or can see; dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, and full of glory; as not only the creator, and preserver, but as the governor of all things; as everywhere present, and everywhere imparting life, and securing order; present in every blade of grass, yet guiding Arcturus in his course, marshalling the stars as a host, calling them by their names; present also in every human soul, giving it understanding, endowing it with gifts, working in it both to will and to do. The human heart is in his hands and He turneth it even as the rivers of water are turned. Wherever, throughout the universe, there is evidence of mind in material causes, there, according to the Scriptures, is God, controlling and guiding those causes to the accomplishment of his wise designs. He is in all, and over all things; yet essentially different from all, being over all, independent, and infinitely exalted. This immensity and omnipresence of God, therefore, is the ubiquity of the divine essence, and consequently of the divine power, wisdom, and goodness. As the birds in the air and the fish in the sea, so also are we always surrounded and sustained by God. It is thus that He is infinite in his being, without absorbing all created beings into his own essence, but sustaining all in their individual subsistence, and in the exercise of their own powers." Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology

To Lift a Soul.... Spurgeon

Psa 86:4 “Rejoice the soul of thy servant.” Make my heart glad, O my Master, for I count it my honour to call myself again and again thy servant, and I reckon thy favour to be all the wages I could desire. I look for all my happiness in thee only, and therefore “unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.” As the heliotrope looks to the sun for its smile, so turn I my heart to thee. Thou art as the brazen serpent to my sick nature, and I lift up my soul's eye to thee that I may live. I know that the nearer I am to thee the greater is my joy, therefore be pleased to draw me nearer while I am labouring to draw near. It is not easy to lift a soul at all; it needs a strong shoulder at the wheel when a heart sticks in the miry clay of despondency: it is less easy to lift a soul up to the Lord, for the height is great as well as the weight oppressive; but the Lord will take the will for the deed, and come in with a hand of almighty grace to raise his poor servant out of the earth and up to heaven.
C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David

God Served by Supplications

The worship that God requires of us is not so focused on the glory of God that it is oblivious to our need, because our need is for him, and God having created us for himself is glorified in our turning to him in time of need. He is glorified when he is praised as our help and saviour. The glory of God is open to human need. God is served by our supplications because God is philanthropos (philanthropic), to use that favorite phrase of the Greek liturgy. God is served by our supplications for his blessing because it is his will to bless us.
Hughes Oliphant Old "Calvin's Theology of Worship" (from 'Give Praise to God')

Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God

Calling all husbands!!!
C. J. Mahaney has helpful advice for us...

"Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God: What Every Christian Husband Needs to Know"
http://www.desiringgod.org/media/mp3/conferences/national2004/05_20040925_mahaney.mp3

Environmentalism ??? What does the Bible say?

I found this lecture fascinating and particularly helpful...
Douglas Moo on "Nature in the New Creation: New Testament Eschatology and the Environment"

http://www.wheaton.edu/CACE/audiodownloads/07SCONMoo.mp3

Potty Time!!!

The Great Work of the Only Wise God

John Piper on Romans 16:25-27...

"The Great Work of the Only Wise God"

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/MediaPlayer/1910/Audio/

Klein Furniture Restoration

I started my Furniture Restoration business finally. Check out the site...

http://kleinrestoration.com/

Grace and Peace,

Joshua

Christ’s Strength is Yours

“Indeed, our afflictions may be heavy, and we cry out, Oh, we cannot bear them, we cannot bear such an affliction. Though you cannot tell how to bear it with your own strength, yet how can you tell what you will do with the strength of Jesus Christ? You say you cannot bear it? So you think that Christ could not bear it? But if Christ could bear it why may you not come to bear it? You will say, Can I have the strength of Christ? Yes, it is made over to you by faith: the Scripture says that the Lord is our strength, God himself is our strength, and Christ is our strength. There are many Scriptures to that effect, that Christ’s strength is yours, made over to you so that you may be able to bear whatever lies upon you, and therefore we find such a strange expression in the epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians, praying for the saints: ‘That they might be strengthened with all might according to his glorious power’, unto what? ‘Unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness’… You must not therefore be content with a little strength, so that you are able to bear what a man might bear by the strength of reason and nature, but you should be strengthened with all might, according to the glorious power of God, unto all patience, and to all longsuffering.” –J. Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

Devotional Treasures of the Ages

"Church history does not supply a normative authority for Christian worship, but it does supply a didactic authority that we would be foolish to ignore...Both the accomplishments and the mistakes of the past bring didactic and diagnostic help to us as we attempt to faithfully worship according to the Scripture in our own time and cultural situation...Not that our worship can ever be a mere photocopy of the past; but an appreciation of the devotional treasures of the ages bequeathed to us in the legacy of the historic worship of the church helps us resist the rampant chronological snobbery of our own age."
J. Ligon Duncan III, Give Praise to God pp. 60, 61

When Faith Embraces

Faith embraces Christ for righteousness and salvation as He is held out to us in the promises of the Gospel. When faith rests in God and in Christ with delight, desire and satisfaction, it is called love.

-J. Owen "Communion with God"

Eden's First Birthday!

Weak Faith Commended.

Weak faith commended. Hear more from Russell Hamilton, Pilgrim OPC...
Sermon from Lord's Day Feb 21, 2010

Bunyan on Suffering

Suffering? Sovereignty? John Piper tells of Bunyan's insights into this mystery of mysteries. Click link below for Mp3.
Suffering and Service in the Life of John Bunyan by John Piper

New Photos!

NEW PHOTO SETS @ Flickr!

Check out Winter 2010 uploads and Eden's First Birthday!

Watson on God's Diocese

Conscience is God's diocese, where none has right to visit, but He who is the Bishop of our souls (1 Peter 2:25). We must not be like hot iron, which may be beaten into any form. A brave spirited Christian will rather suffer, than let his conscience be violated.
Thomas Watson, All Things For Good 8:3

Putting a Period to Alienation

The best way to produce peace between alienated minds is to bring them to the same Saviour. That will do more to silence contentions, and to heal alienations, than any or all other means. Bring people around the same cross; fill them with love to the same Redeemer, and give them the same hope of heaven, and you put a period to alienation and strife. The love of Christ is so absorbing, and the dependence in his blood so entire, that they will lay aside these alienations, and cease their contentions.
Albert Barnes on Eph 2:14

An Evening on Eschatology

On September 27, 2009, Desiring God and Bethlehem College & Seminary hosted “An Evening on Eschatology” at the Downtown Campus of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. It was attended by about 800 people who sat in the darkened sanctuary while six cameras were trained on the brightly lit roundtable where the four participants sat in a circle.

For two hours (John Piper) moderated, more or less, a discussion among Jim Hamilton for PRE-MIL (professor of New Testament at Southern Seminary in Louisville), Sam Storms for A-MIL (pastor of Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City), and Doug Wilson for POST-MIL (pastor of Christ Church, Moscow, Idaho).

Check out the audio and video HERE!

Beeke: Enduring Satan's Sifting

Joel Beeke preaches on Enduring Satan's Sifting Through Christ.

Listen here.

RADIO FLYER BLISS!!!

Word for the Day: "Magnanimity"

MAGNANIM'ITY, n. [L. magnanimitas; magnus, great, and animus, mind.] Greatness of mind; that elevation or dignity of soul, which encounters danger and trouble with tranquillity and firmness, which raises the possessor above revenge, and makes him delight in acts of benevolence, which makes him disdain injustice and meanness, and prompts him to sacrifice personal ease, interest and safety for the accomplishment of useful and noble objects.
Webster's Dictionary of 1828

My Family Visited this Christmas!

My brother Sam made this video of the trip! Enjoy!

Believing Divine Absurdity

Commenting on Sarah's laughter in Genesis 21:5-7

"Dear friends, everyone of us, every day is tempted and pushed to be an unbeliever. Don't kid yourself. You know it well. We're tempted to give up on faith. We're tempted to say, "It's too good to be true." Nobody can say it's not good but it's easy to say it's too good to be true. And it's easy to be tempted about the issues in our own lives to say, "It's too late. It's gone on too long. It's not gonna happen." about things that we care most about. But see, you don't quit believing. You don't settle for Ishmael. You catch the laughter of God's joy and His grace. It's absurd, our salvation. But it's marvellously, royally, supernaturally, Divinely absurd. And all the Lord asks of us, as Dan told you this morning, is simply believe."
Edmund Clowney 'Christ in the Old Testament #3'

Seeing Begets Being

The duty of “meditating” much on the glory of the gospel, 2Co_3:18. It is by that we are purified. It is by keeping it constantly before the mind; dwelling on its splendor; thinking of its glorious truths, that we become transformed into the same image, and made like God. If the character is formed by the objects which we contemplate, and with which we are familiar; if we are insensibly moulded in our feelings and principles by that with which we constantly associate, then we should “think” much of the truths of the gospel. We should pray much - for thus we come in contact with God and his truth. We should read the Scripture much. We should commune with the good and the pure. We should make our companions of those who most love the Lord Jesus, and most decidedly bear his image. We should think much of a pure heaven. Thus shall we be moulded, insensibly it may be, but certainly, into the image of a holy God and Saviour, and be prepared for a pure and truly heaven.
Albert Barnes on 2 Cor 3:18

A Million Trillion!!! No Way!

In case you weren't aware...
The Gospel Coalition has like a million trillion free sermons on it.
RYKEN! FERGUSEN! CARSON! BEALE! FESKO! KELLER! LLOYD-JONES! and much more!

Do Something for Thy God

"Let none of my friends", [George Whitefield] writes on December 27, 1753, "cry to such a sluggish, lukewarm, unprofitable worm, Spare thyself. Rather spur me on, I pray you, with an Awake, thou sleeper, and begin to do something for thy God."
-quoted from J. C. Ryle's Estimation of Whitefield's Ministry

Higher and Mightier

And though [all the world's] evils are so many and so great, and have prevailed to such a degree, and have risen to such a height, and have been, as it were, all combined together; yet wherein they have exalted themselves, Christ, in the work of redemption, appears above them. He has gloriously prevailed against them all, and brings them under his feet, and rides forth, in the chariots of salvation, over their heads, or leading them in triumph at his chariot wheels. He appears in this work infinitely higher and mightier than they, and sufficient to carry his people above them, and utterly to destroy them all.
J. Edwards "Christ Exalted"