Saturday, January 30, 2010

Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Priority of Prayer

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Prayer does not fit us 
for greater works;
prayer is the greater work

- Oswald Chambers
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Saturday, January 23, 2010

abort73.com



HT:DG

God of Stars and Flowers

O God of stars and flowers, forgive our blindness;
No dream of night had dared what Thou has wrought!
New every morning is Thy loving kindness,
Far, far above what we had asked or thought.

So, under every sky, our "Alleluia,"
With flowers of morning and with stars of night,
Shall praise Thee, O Lord Jesus - Alleluia -
Till Thou shalt fold all shadows up in light.

- Amy Carmichael, Mountain Breezes

Friday, January 22, 2010

The Origin of Prayer

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Real prayer comes not from
gritting our teeth,
but from falling in love

- Richard Foster
____________

Breaking Hearts


On a day not unlike today
did our high court rule and say
that the life of the unborn
was not a life and could be torn
away as if the child was a blob
of flesh, though his heart did throb

Tears of pain and guilt
rack the minds which were built
upon the premise of
choices now known as self-love

The alter here is very high
where the children often come to die
Who will speak in their defense
and who will pray to forgive the offense
before our just and righteous God
who gave these little ones, who now lay in sod

His is the heart that breaks each time
a child is thought not to mirror the divine
when eyes are formed and hearts do beat
with fingers on hands and with toes on feet
when little people living in small wombs
would lay uncovered in chilling rooms

Oh merciful and gracious Lord
would you forgive, would you afford
us this request before your throne
for this sin too would your blood atone
please forgive us Lord we plead
may you grant us Lord the grace to heed
your words of truth and life
and save us from more sacrifice
of unborn children Lord we pray
would you deliver us from this tragic way


- A. B. Seal



Thursday, January 21, 2010

A Sweet & Bitter Providence

Breakfast With Lewis

"Nature is mortal; we shall outlive her. When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive. Nature is only the image, the symbol; but it is the symbol Scripture invites me to use. We are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendour which she fitfully reflects."

"What would it be to taste at the fountainhead that stream of which even these lower reaches prove so intoxicating? Yet that, I believe, is what lies before us. The whole man is to drink joy from the fountain of joy."

- C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

I read recently of a man doing his doctoral work on John Owen. He and his wife had been praying that the Lord would grant him a mentor to instruct him in Christ and to be used to mold him into the image of Christ. A short while thereafter this man was sharing with his wife of his learnings from Owen. She quickly pointed out the answer to their prayers; the Lord has arranged that John Owen is your mentor. That said, C.S. Lewis is currently mentoring me. What a wonder it is to have such abundant access to such incredible mentors via their preserved writings. I woke up this morning and had breakfast with Lewis. He spoke with me powerfully regarding The Weight of Glory.

Monday, January 18, 2010

The Book of Eli



I recently saw The Book of Eli. It is an excellent story which delivers a powerful message. Its interesting to see this unique message portrayed in such a modern way. No doubt many religious people will refuse to see it, or scoff at it's violence and profanity. Yet it is clear to me that the creators of this movie have done a very unique thing in telling such a powerful story in a way in which it could be heard in our day, a way which may cause many to consider weighty matters which they may not have considered otherwise.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

"Incomparable in Infinite Excellency"



"O, pity for evermore that there should be such an one as Christ Jesus, so boundless, so bottomless, and so incomparable in infinite excellency, and sweetness, and so few to take Him!"

- Samuel Rutherford, The Loveliness of Christ

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Prayer: Duty vs. Delight

"If we were perfected, prayer would not be a duty, it would be a delight.  Some day, please God, it will be.  The same is true of many other behaviours which now appear as duties."

- C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm

Friday, January 15, 2010

Could it be...

Could it be that Thy great grace
Would fall heavy upon us here
Could it be that light from Your dear face
Would burn bright in this dark sphere

Could it be that Thy majesty, to us unseen
Would be unfolded before our eyes
Could it be that we might be clean
And be transformed by visions of Your glory

Could it be that though this world is shrouded in
An ever present darkness, blackened and grim
Could it be that Your hands would part the clouded sky
Granting us to see that pure light streaming down from Him
From Him who sits upon the throne
Full of majesty and grace
From Him who illuminates the heavens
With the glories of His face

- A.B. Seal

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Sermons by Jim Elliot

Justin Taylor recently highlighted two sermons preached by Jim Elliot:

Feeding of the five thousands
Resurrection

How excellent it is to be able to hear sermons from such a hero of the faith.  I remember the first time I heard Elliot's famous quote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."  I was about 14 years old at the time.  I think it is fair to say that I have rarely, if ever, been more impacted by a single sentence. 

Monday, January 11, 2010

"that you might follow in His steps"

"Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps:

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly."

- 1st Peter 2:17-23


Painful Lessons in Taming the Tongue

I am painfully in need of learning how to tame my unruly tongue.  How quick my tongue will strike back. How inept I am at keeping that monster bridled and under control.  Truly "it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."  How many times must I hear this message of taming the tongue, and see the devastation an uncontrolled tongue can cause until I will master that beast and beat him into submission? 

Oh for the grace to keep my mouth shut...

.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

"In that cloud thou shalt behold My face"

The Cloud

I thought the way upon the mountainside
Would lead to certain clearness; but my Guide,
Whose thought was otherwise,
Led to a cloud which blotted out the skies.

I feared to enter into that great cloud,
And fearing, cried aloud,
"O patient Guide, I fear;
Be not far from me now, with trouble near."

"Let not thy heart be troubled. Could I cease
To care for thee?
Can vapors cancel peace, My gift of peace?
O rest in Me.
I wait to meet the in that cloudy place,
And in that cloud thou shalt behold My face."

- Amy Carmichael, Mountain Breezes

Sunday, January 3, 2010

"For it will be pleasant"

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Incline your ear,
and hear the words of the wise,
and apply your heart 
to my knowledge

- Proverbs 22:17
____________________


Put your ears to work. Engage your ears in careful listening. Do no neglect or ignore the words of the wise. Rather hear them and then heed them. Set your affections upon His knowledge. Employ your heart in knowing Him.

____________________

FOR it will be pleasant
if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips

- Proverbs 22:18
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Saturday, January 2, 2010

Following Jesus

Can there be any other Christianity?
Can there be any other way?
To live and to die serving the lost among humanity
Or to simply exist for one more day

Can there be another way to follow Him?
Or is giving it all the only way?
You could choose temporal peace and security in which to wallow
But He has said, It is good that the servant, his master would follow

He has said, "Go"
And yet we still remain
He has said take up your cross
Disobeying His voice will prove quite insane

Would you, who say you follow Him
Rather ignore His command and stay
Exchanging His magnificent light for pleasures that at best are dim
Or would you give your everything for an opportunity to obey?

- A. B. Seal


Friday, January 1, 2010

The End of Injustice

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Whoever sows injustice
will reap calamity,
and the rod of his fury will fail

- Proverbs 22:8
____________________

Sowing seeds of injustice results in reaping the fruit of calamity. Such an injust one will find his wrath and judgment to become impotent.

Those who practice injustice foolishly forget about the God-Judge who is perfectly just, and who will one day unleash His perfect justice upon 100% of all the injustices ever done upon the earth. They are ignorantly digging themselves into a massive debt which they themselves will never be able to repay.

Injustice meets its end in the justice of God.