Chris Sligh: Empty Me

Check out this awesome worship song by Chris Sligh, one of the American Idol finalists.



Lyrics:

I've had just enough of the spotlight when it burns bright
To see how it gets in the blood.
And I've tasted my share of the sweet life and the wild ride
And found a little is not quite enough.
I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change.

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.

I've had just enough of the quick buys of the best lies
To know how prodigals can be drawn away.
I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change.

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.

Cause everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you, compared to you.
Cause everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you. So, I surrender all!

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.
Oh, filled with you.
Empty me.

Driscoll on Nightline

Check out the video here.

HT: JT

Sufferings & Glory

Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

In November of 2008 I had an opportunity to share a message on the magnificent text of Romans 8:18 at FPBC.

When Paul speaks of suffering, he doesn't speak as one who has merely studied this theologically in some books. He speaks as an expert who experienced significant suffering. He speaks as an authority on the topic as he has endured suffering more intense than anybody I know.

His glory will be revealed to us:

His glory then will be unfaded, unveiled, unhindered, unsheathed, unleashed, before His people for all eternity. This will be heaven! This will be heaven: God's people glorifying God by enjoying His revelation of His magnificent and infinite glory for eternity. John Piper's great saying is true, "God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him." God is most glorified in His people when His people are most satisfied in Him, and this will be the case for all eternity. God will be glorified as His people will be marvelously satisfied to delight in His magnificence for eternity without end.

Two Great Posts From the Blogosphere:

Gotta Be Careful

The President, the Passengers, and the Patience of God

Trust: The Antidote for Fear

Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

A canopy of grace envelops those who find the Lord to be their light, their salvation, and their stronghold. This is a firm foundation for those in the midst of storms. The author of this Psalm, David, was very familiar with intense storms. Few situations in this world are as intense and fearful as that which David endured. Consider his predicament, running and hiding from an entire army bent only on finding and killing him.

Psalm 27:3
Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

Psalm 27:5
For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.

Three reasons David would not fear:
1) He will hide me in His shelter
2) He will conceal me under His tent
3) He will lift me high upon a rock

The Lord is a solid rock foundation upon which we may stand resolutely in the face of the storms of this life. The Lord is our hiding place.

David preaches to himself and to us in verse 14.

Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

Paul Colman: The One Thing

Sovereignty

"Sovereignty characterises the whole Being of God. He is sovereign in all His attributes. He is sovereign in the exercise of His power. His power is exercised as He wills, when He wills, where He wills. This fact is evidenced on every page of Scripture."

"Many other instances might be adduced illustrating the sovereign exercise of God's power. Take one other example. God put forth His power and David was delivered from Goliath, the giant; the moths of the lions were closed and Daniel escaped unhurt; the three Hebrew children were cast into the burning fiery furnace and came for the unharmed and unscorched. But God's power did not always interpose for the deliverance of His people, for we read: "And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented: (Heb. 11:36, 37). But why? Why were not these men of faith delivered like the others? Or why were not the others suffered to be killed like these? Why should God's power interpose and rescue some and not others? Why allow Stephen to be stoned to death and then deliver Peter from prison?"

- A. W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God

Prayer and Pleas for Mercy

I sit here sickened by the news headlines of our own country. Nauseated by local news highlighting dreadful story after dreadful story. God's people ought tremble at these God-less times, and ought to bend their knees beneath the weight of a heavy burden for intercession and repentance for the sins of our country, for the sins of our people. Scripture records the account of one God fearing man, Daniel, who felt this weight and allowed it to bend his knees in prayer.

I'm torn between whether or not to list a smattering of recent headlines which cause me to shutter in outrage at the torrential down poor of God-lessness and of blatant disregard for His words and His ways. A basic knowledge of Scripture grants one to see the historic examples of what happens when God's people turn away from Him. And this is precisely what is occurring. The drift away from God and His ways has accelerated into a mad rush.

Fellow servant of God our knees ought to bend beneath this weight. Our mouths ought not be silent before this overwhelming flood. Ours is the God who hears prayer and who acts on our behalf. May we not sin against God and against His people by failing to pray in this dark hour.

Daniel's Prayer of Intercession
(Dan. 9:3-19)

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you.

To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

"O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name."

The Sovereign God

"The sovereignty of the God of Scripture is absolute, irresistible, infinite. When we say that God is sovereign we affirm His right to govern the universe, which He has made for His own glory, just as He pleases. We affirm that His right is the right of the Potter over the clay, i.e., that He may mould that clay into whatsoever form He chooses, fashioning out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. We affirm that He is under no rule or law outside of His own will and nature, that God is a law unto Himself, and that He is under no obligation to give an account of His matters to any."

- A. W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God

A Piper Poem

The Christian Hedonist Takes A Wife

Our God has made another way
To put his glory on display.
His goodness shines with brightest rays
when we delight in all his ways.
His glory overflows its rim
When we are satisfied in him.
His radiance will fill the earth
When people revel in his worth.
The beauty of God's holy fire
Burns brightest in the heart's desire.

I am a Christian Hedonist
Because I know that if I kissed
My wife simply because it's right,
And not because it's my delight,
It would not honor her so well.
With pleasures I will praise Noel,
And I will magnify my wife
By making her my joy in life.

So may this blazing, God-like flame
Ignite in us for his great name
A holy passion, zeal and fire
That magnify him with desire.
I hail him as my joy in life,
And take from his pure hand my wife.


- John Piper, Velvet Steel

Paul's Power-Packed Preaching

Check out this excerpt from one of Paul's powerful messages and consider what he is doing with these words. The verses below fall in the middle of the sermon (of which the notes range from verse 22-31). Note the subject and substance of this message.

Acts 17:24-25
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

In these two brief verses Paul packs in (at least) 10 things about God that I can see on the surface of the text:

1) The God (not a god, or some god, or any god, but "The God")
2)___who made the world
3)___and everything in it,
4)_____being Lord of heaven and earth,
5)_________does not live in temples made by man,

6) nor is he served by human hands,
7)___as though he needed anything,
8)______since he himself gives to all mankind life
9)_________and breath
10)________and everything.


The rest of the sermon reveals additional things about God as well as the responsibility of mankind to seek Him and to repent. It is interesting to consider the God-centeredness of Paul's message and the not-so-God-centeredness of so many messages / sudo-sermons which permeate our culture.

An Excellent Post

Check out this excellent post from the Desiring God blog entitled, "Swords Are for Killing."

The Spectacular Grace of Having a Father

My family recently celebrated my dad's birthday and as I considered him I wrote this:

To my father, Robert Seal, on his 51st birthday,

“If ever there was an act of grace, it is to be born in a Christian home.”
- John Piper

I see abundant grace from the hands of God in allowing me to be born into the house of Robert and MaryBeth Seal.

The heart of my dad for his God was always evident as he worshiped with all his soul while playing his guitar. I regularly saw him worship with tears in his eyes. I remember being greatly moved while standing near him as a teenager during church services as he would be singing with all his might with hands lifted high. It was a regular occurrence for me to be moved to tears as he played his guitar and sang the songs that he wrote and the older hymns and poems that he rearranged and put to his own music. Though I love his music, more than once I’ve told him you must stop playing because I was crying, and I hate to cry.

My dad’s passionate fire for God spread to the heart of his son through the spark of his music. I not only knew that my dad loved the Lord, I felt it. This stood in stark contrast to many I saw that gathered at various church services – those who had appearances of loving God, but noticeably lacked in appropriate feelings and emotions.

While growing up it was a regular occurrence for me to see my dad with his open Bible and a notebook with pen in hand. He taught me much about the love of God by his example of unconditional and powerful love for me. What a wonderful way for a child to learn of the love of God – as he witnessed his father's love he could easily make the appropriate comparison, “If my dad loves me unconditionally...”

Dads are there for life. Unfortunately, in our day this is not often the case. As a child I often saw my friends with a noticeably missing father. Even my own wife had a dad who left her home when she was 6 years old, not to be even seen again until she was 18. This is all too often the case. I feel the tangible grace of having a dad who has always been there for me, both when I was going through hard times and when he was. This is another divinely designed example of our Heavenly Father who said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

The hope of Christ filled my dad’s heart as he often felt the heavy burden of his own imperfections. My dad knew he did not deserve God, and none of us do. For, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” But my dad also knew of the majestic grace of Christ Jesus. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.”

Dad, I have grown to love this same God that you love. I have greatly enjoyed worshipping side by side with you here. Certainly it will be a magnificent treasure that we will both enjoy in heaven as we will together worship the Lamb of God for eternity without end.

Movie Giveaway

Congratulations Amanda you're the winner of the movie giveaway for December: Amazing Grace. I'll bring it on Sunday.