John Newton:
I trust I have a remembrance in your prayers. I need them much: my service is great. It is, indeed, no small thing to stand between God and the people, to divide the word of truth aright, to give every one portion, to withstand the counter tides of opposition and popularity, and to press those truths upon others, the power of which, I, at times, feel so little of in my own soul. A cold, corrupt heart is uncomfortable company in the pulpit. Yet, in the midst of all my fears and unworthiness, I am enabled to cleave to the promise, and to rely on the power of the great Redeemer.

The new year brings about a new bible reading plan for me. I had been toying with the idea of reading Dr. Paul House’s Old Testament Theology along with my daily reading. So, I decided to give it a trial run today and see how it would go. As I was reading, there came to mind a current problem I’ve been dealing with: memory loss. I was tempted to just stop and put the book back on the shelf…I mean what’s the use I’m going to forget it. Well I decided not to do that. I am going to keep reading and get what I can. I then decided to write a tweet about it. Of course, the limited space persuaded me to write this blog post instead. And then, while I’m writing this post, I remember the sermon from yesterday morning. Our pastor made the point that God’s word has creating power. So, He has the power to create in me memory . Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, fight the fight of faith. Read God’s word. Study God’s word. It has power to create in you those things which do not exist and things you hope will exist.

“Take courage church, our God fights for us!!!” This was my plea to the church last Sunday as we mused over Exodus 14. This was not the entire story because God is the One who led Israel to the place of needing God to fight for them.

Moses writes,

Exodus 13:17-18; 13:20 – 14:3 17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle…20 And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. 14:1 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’

We can take courage, for our God leads His people. Therefore, I concluded that the LORD actively leads His people into impossible situations. Not only that, He displays His power in the impossible situations. And while we are there, He fights for us. There is so much more here in this text, but these are a few of the glorious truths we encountered. Finally, the LORD did this for His glory!!! As we see Israel praising His name in Exodus 15, so we too as we hear of these wonders of God.
One might say, “But we were not there to see the miracles.” I would submit to you that Jethro was not there either. But here is the result of Jethro hearing about these things:

Exodus 18:8-12 8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 ¶ Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God

Take courage church, the LORD leads!!!

O God of Perfect Contentment,

We declare You are in need of nothing,
but we need You!
We declare that Your will is perfect,
but our will is selfish and rebellious.
We declare that You are sovereign,
but we only act or pretend that You are sovereign.
We needfully lift the cup of salvation,
to forgive us our sins,
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Yet our salvation depends not upon our righteousness–
it lies only in the righteousness of Christ.
And now, upon faith in the person and work of Your Son, we are positionally righteous;
blameless according to the law,
in fact, perfect law keepers.
You have treated Your Son the way we should have been treated
And,
You have treated us the way Your Son should have been treated.
In Your justice the fullness of your wrath was poured on Your Son;
In Your mercy the fullness of your grace was poured on us.
Now may we respond with heartfelt worship–
worship that is true
worship that is spirit
And to this end may Your Great Name
Your Ways
Your Character

BE PRAISED!

While looking deeply into the issue of church discipline at our church, I discovered my lack of seriousness with those who preach a different gospel. We should seek to find out (especially within our local congregations) what everyone believes about the gospel. If we have family members of differing beliefs, we should discuss the gospel with them to see if we are at least in agreement on the gospel.
Now, once we discover those who believe and teach a false gospel how should we respond? We cannot go on in the relationship like nothing is wrong. We had better begin taking some serious measures. Things like prayer, not having fellowship with them, pointing out what Paul says of those who preach a false gospel, and preach the true gospel to them. When I mention breaking fellowship with them, it does not mean void of contact. In fact, the intention of getting together will drastically change. You will long for the sweet fellowship to be restored. Moreover, the broken fellowship will be a fuel for our gospel preaching.
So, have you taken seriously those who preach a false gospel. Do not continue on with them as if nothing is wrong. Preach the gospel!

I quickly noticed from my recent little post that it has been a long time since I posted anything…not to mention I have not even looked at the blog page in months. Blogging has been swallowed up by many other things. Even now I am not sure why I have a sudden urge to write again. Maybe it will be more help to me than anyone who reads the posts (especially this one).
I think writing is good for pastors because it causes one to think through and anticipate what others need to know surrounding the topic he is discussing. Not to mention making sure the context is set in place before writing on a particular subject.
Nevertheless, I will occasionally be posting things as I learn from our Great God! Praise be to God! Bless his holy Name!

“How great is the blessing which the soul obtains by trusting in God, and by waiting patiently.”
-George Mueller
p. 60 Answers to Prayer

Recently in my reading, Jerry Bridges pointed out in his book The Practice of Godliness a very convicting problem. He began by giving a description of how to have a God-centered pursuit of holiness in our lives. He points out that many times we are much more angry with OURSELVES when we sin than we are broken over our disobedience to God.
Bridges says,

“Often when we sin we are vexed at the lowering of our self-esteem than we are grieved at God’s dishonor. We are irritated at our lack of self-control in subjecting ourselves to some unworthy habit. We are unable to stand the disappointment of seeing ourselves fail.”

God give us the God-centered pursuit of holiness in our lives.