I have a couple of verses that have been a part of my daily scripture meditation now for a good while. One of which is one of my all time favorites:
"HE made HIM who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf,
thate we might become the righteousness of God in HIM." 2cor. 5:21
Imagine this........everything, and I mean everything that God requires for a person to be accepted by HIM is ours in Jesus Christ. All of our acceptance is in Him. By faith in HIM, we become all that God requires us to be.....perfectly righteous.........in Chirst.
I have great need to tell that to myself..........everyday.........
Now I must go and obey such a Savior.............
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The Power of Words
Sticks and Stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. What a lie!!
Our God is a God of "words".......in fact our God, the Lord Jesus Christ is THE WORD made flesh.
Words are powerful. They can wound the spirit or build up and encourage greatly. In Eph. ch.4 Paul says to "let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth but only such a word as is good for edification, as fits the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear."
WOW...........what a challenge.
On the positive side of this the words of great Hymns and Christian songs can be a powerful tool to derive encouragement from. One of my all time favorites I call "Ruler of the Skies". When faced with the frustrations of this life these words can be a great source of encouragement.
**"Ruler of the Skies"
Sovereign Ruler of the skies,
ever gracious ever wise,
all my times are in thy hands,
all events at thy command.
His decree who formed the earth,
fixed my first, and second birth,
parents, native place and time,
all appointed were by him.
Times of sickness, times of health,
times of penury and wealth,
He that formed me in the womb,
He shall guide me to the tomb.
(All my times shall ever be,
ordered by His wise decree.)
Plagues and death around me fly,
but till God bids, I cannot die,
not a single shaft can hit,
till the God of love sees fit...!!!
**taken from William Gadsby's hymnal
Our God is a God of "words".......in fact our God, the Lord Jesus Christ is THE WORD made flesh.
Words are powerful. They can wound the spirit or build up and encourage greatly. In Eph. ch.4 Paul says to "let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth but only such a word as is good for edification, as fits the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear."
WOW...........what a challenge.
On the positive side of this the words of great Hymns and Christian songs can be a powerful tool to derive encouragement from. One of my all time favorites I call "Ruler of the Skies". When faced with the frustrations of this life these words can be a great source of encouragement.
**"Ruler of the Skies"
Sovereign Ruler of the skies,
ever gracious ever wise,
all my times are in thy hands,
all events at thy command.
His decree who formed the earth,
fixed my first, and second birth,
parents, native place and time,
all appointed were by him.
Times of sickness, times of health,
times of penury and wealth,
He that formed me in the womb,
He shall guide me to the tomb.
(All my times shall ever be,
ordered by His wise decree.)
Plagues and death around me fly,
but till God bids, I cannot die,
not a single shaft can hit,
till the God of love sees fit...!!!
**taken from William Gadsby's hymnal
Thursday, June 19, 2008
1984.......memories of Reformation
Was reading a post by my friend Rod Carroll (http://rodcarroll.wordpress.com) and it triggered memories of some 24 years ago when our little baptist church in south Louisiana underwent enormous changes........really a reformation of sorts.
I was 19 years old and the Lord was really dealing with me when our church called a new pastor. He was a young man in his early to mid 30's with a consuming zeal for the glory of God unlike anything I had experienced in a person up to that point in my life. Our church was a typical southern baptist church at the time in that we had probably 2X the amount of people or more on the rolls compared with those who actually attended on a regular basis.
Pastor Bill Ascol came in and with loving boldness began to proclaim what those of us in reformed baptist circles know as "The Doctrines of Grace".........an outworking of which places a solid biblical emphasis on the Holiness of God and the personal sanctification of the individual believer Justified by faith in Christ...............all of which leads to the biblical doctrine of a Regenerate Church Membership..........something that has fallen on hard times (see Rod's post on his site).
.......well, Bro. Bill sure got himself in hot water (humanly speaking) by simply preaching the bible.........................in fact, more people were probably upset over his seeking to lovingly restore/purge members who were no longer attending (long before he became pastor) and advocating biblical personal holiness than over his preaching of the sovereignty of God.
By the grace of our Lord Jesus, I was born again sometime before or during all of this. Bro. Bill will always hold a very special place in my heart for his willingness to preach Jesus Christ, the whole council of God, no matter the cost. May God Bless him and his younger brother Tom as well as my current pastor Fred Malone in all they do to promote biblical Christianity in our southern baptist churches.
Decisional Regeneration..........i think alot of the blame falls here.
I was 19 years old and the Lord was really dealing with me when our church called a new pastor. He was a young man in his early to mid 30's with a consuming zeal for the glory of God unlike anything I had experienced in a person up to that point in my life. Our church was a typical southern baptist church at the time in that we had probably 2X the amount of people or more on the rolls compared with those who actually attended on a regular basis.
Pastor Bill Ascol came in and with loving boldness began to proclaim what those of us in reformed baptist circles know as "The Doctrines of Grace".........an outworking of which places a solid biblical emphasis on the Holiness of God and the personal sanctification of the individual believer Justified by faith in Christ...............all of which leads to the biblical doctrine of a Regenerate Church Membership..........something that has fallen on hard times (see Rod's post on his site).
.......well, Bro. Bill sure got himself in hot water (humanly speaking) by simply preaching the bible.........................in fact, more people were probably upset over his seeking to lovingly restore/purge members who were no longer attending (long before he became pastor) and advocating biblical personal holiness than over his preaching of the sovereignty of God.
By the grace of our Lord Jesus, I was born again sometime before or during all of this. Bro. Bill will always hold a very special place in my heart for his willingness to preach Jesus Christ, the whole council of God, no matter the cost. May God Bless him and his younger brother Tom as well as my current pastor Fred Malone in all they do to promote biblical Christianity in our southern baptist churches.
Decisional Regeneration..........i think alot of the blame falls here.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
JOHN BUNYAN
John Bunyan (1628-1688)
.....what an amazing person.
He wrote perhaps the most widely known and read book apart from the bible in "The Pilgrim's Progess". But did you know he wrote numberous other books?? Mount Zion Bible Church in Pensacola, Fla. has a great web site with a section dedicated to the works of John Bunyan. You can download and read (and possibly even print?) practically everything he published.
I highly recommend reading anything written by this saint of years gone by. You will not regret it....!!! I used his book "Justification by an Imputed Righteousness" as a sunday school lesson book several years ago and was greatly blessed. This little book is a must read today at a time when I fear little is really understood and appreciated regarding Christ's perfectly lived life and wrath satisfying death for believers. Give it a Read.....!!!
p.s. "Bunyan"........might be a good name for a Christian band....?....you heard it here first.
http://www.mountzion.org/bunyan.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)