A real life video depicting the outright lying regarding the information given to prospective moms considering abortion.
Jul
24
Somewhat of a departure from what I usually post on this blog, the following video is rather shocking, but unfortunately repeated many times daily in our nation. I do not post it for shock value, but to alert the public to the wickedness going on in the U.S. and to engage Christians to pray to our Sovereign GOD against this national infamy called abortion.
WARNING: The video depicts an actual abortion procedure. The images are as is and will definitely change your perception of abortion. May GOD change your heart accordingly for His glory.
Click here: Here’s The Blood
Jul
22
I will silence my pen on this one and will let a man who deserves no introduction do the talking. His writings and preaching have been prolific in the past. I happen to ‘stumble’ upon one of his works available on the Internet. I am referring to an e-book by A.W. Tozer, a modern-day prophet of his own, who spoke clearly ahead of his time about many of the spiritual dangers and drifts so common today. The book is called Man, the Dwelling Place of God.
May it bless your soul the way it did mine.
Click here: Man, the Dwelling Place of God
Jul
17
This is a great encouragement from Pastor John Piper. May you enjoy it and apply it’s truths in your life, to God be the glory.
“How do you avoid forgetting Scripture you’ve memorized?”
(Author: Tyler Kenney)
John Piper answers this question in today’s Ask Pastor John. Scroll down to read a transcript.
The following is an edited transcript of the audio.
How do you keep from forgetting Scripture after you’ve memorized it?
I don’t. But practically, what can you do to keep it as long as you can? There is only one word. Review.
Review, review, review. There is no way to memorize Scripture that keeps you from losing it. Some people don’t lose anything. Some people have traps in their head that just hang on to it. But only 1 in 10,000 people can do that. Average folks like me have to work real hard to memorize the first time, and then recurrently review to keep it. So I memorize verses every day, and I forget them every day.
This morning I re-memorized a verse. I finished Deuteronomy and ran across a verse that I memorized years ago. Maybe I memorize it once a year, because I read the whole Bible once every year.
The verse is Deuteronomy 33:26. “There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, and through the skies in his majesty.” So, I’ve got it memorized. I probably will forget it in a week. That verse is hard for me to remember.
I’ve memorized that verse probably five times in five years. I forget it because I don’t use it as often as some verses. So, I jot it down on a little piece of paper and carry it in my pocket, pulling it out during the day once or twice. If I try to nail it so that it is useful for me over the long haul, I keep it and review it.
A practical thing I would suggest for people to do, is decide what cluster of text they want to always be at their disposal. For me I could name Psalm 46, Psalm 23, Psalm 1, Romans 8, 2 Corinthians 5:21, a cluster of texts surrounding justification, 1 Peter 4:11—”let him who serves serve in the strength that God supplies, that in everything God may get the glory through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the dominion forever.” This is the most quoted verse as we move into worship at Bethlehem.
So for my soul, for the warfare of my life, and for ministry in hospitals and counseling sessions, I want a cluster of texts at my disposal. Decide what those are, put them on a piece of paper, and review them until you have them down. I’ll give you a little story.
My first or second year of pastoring I was called to the hospital—quickly. I went without my Bible. Rollin Erickson’s wife just had a heart attack. I walk into a room of probably 20 family members that didn’t know if she was alive or dead—as she is in surgery. Rollin gave me a big hug and said, “John, give us a Word from the Lord.” Now, if I had my Bible I would have opened it to a Psalm or something. I didn’t have my Bible, and for whatever reason at age 35 my mind went blank.
I felt so humiliated. It was horrible. Here are 20 people, and the husband of a dying woman says, “Give us a Word from the Lord.” I can’t even remember what I said. I probably said, “Let’s pray,” and tried to paraphrase some Scripture. I went home and got on my knees that afternoon. I said, “Lord Jesus, that will never happen again.” I opened to Psalm 46—”God is our refuge and strength.” I have been able to quote Psalm 46 verbatim for the last 28 years. I decided that Psalm 46 is going to be in my head because it is so useful all the time.
The answer is, review. But don’t try to do that with every verse you learn. You should be learning hundreds of Bible verses by heart, and forgetting 90% of them. But then you get to them again and relearn them, and they are still with you because you learned them once. Somehow they will function to get out into your life.
But really nail down a cluster of soul strengthening words.
Jul
12
Impacting video that I am compelled to share with you. May God transform you from the inside out, to be more Christlike in all you think, say or do! To Him be the sole glory!
Jul
11
Join VOM’s Be-A-Voice Network
Become an advocate voice for the persecuted church in your local church and community by becoming a member of VOM’s Be-A-Voice Network. The Be-A-Voice Network is an online volunteer opportunity created by The Voice of the Martyrs. This ministry allows friends like you to help our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world in a real and immediate way. If you are willing to PRAY, WRITE or SHARE with others, then the Be-A-Voice Network is the tool for you.
Jul
11
As I linger at the feet of Jesus on this Sunday afternoon, with nothing on my agenda, but to listen to instrumental hymnal music and walk with Him and follow His leading into whatever green pastures He has in mind, I came across this article titled “Seven Ways To Cultivate Joy” by Pastor Chuck Swindoll at Insight For Living.
My prayer is that, no matter where this finds you, in the valley of spiritual darkness or on the mountaintop of luminous blessing, that you may be growing in sheer grace through the sweet practice of cultivating joy in the inner man and spreading it around those touching your life.
Click here: “Seven Ways To Cultivate Joy”
Also, since listening to music adds to your joy, and upon recommendation by a dear friend of mine, I listened to Everlasting God by Lincoln Brewster. May your joy be sweet and increase immeasurably for His glory.
Jul
11
“You will cleanse no sin from your life that you have not first recognized as being pardoned through the cross. This is because holiness starts in the heart. The essence of holiness is not new behavior, activity, or disciplines. Holiness is new affections, new desires, and new motives that then lead to new behavior. If you don’t see your sin as completely pardoned, then your affections, desires, and motives will be wrong. You will aim to prove yourself. Your focus will be the consequences of your sin rather than hating the sin and desiring God in its place.”
– Tim Chester, You Can Change (Wheaton, Ill.; Crossway, 2010), 28.
Jul
11
The following is an adaptation from a post by the Institute for Creation Research. Read more at: http://www.icr.org/articles/type/6/
Exceeding Greatness
“and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,” Eph. 1:19.
There are a number of scriptural superlatives that convey something of the tremendous magnitude of our great salvation. These are marked by the adjective “exceeding,” which in the Greek implies essentially boundless, surpassing dimensions of the attributes it describes.
First of all, as our text implies, His power available to us is one of exceeding greatness. Its magnitude is measured by the power required to bring Christ back again from death and Hades. Consider also the measure of His grace, “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus,” Eph. 2:7. His grace has saved us when we were dead in sins, but this is only a small token. In the ages to come, we will experience His grace as one of exceeding riches.
Then there is the wonderful peace of God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, Phi. 4:7. In this verse, the word “transcends” is the same word. Paul is saying that God’s peace is one exceeding understanding. Finally, consider His glory. “For our light and momentary affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,” 2 Cor. 4:17. The future eternal glory is one of exceeding weight, or abundance.
Thus the infinite blessings and resources of our salvation in Christ are described as providing the power of surpassing greatness, the grace of surpassing richness, the peace which surpasses all understanding, and the eternal glory of surpassing abundance! All of this is freely available “toward us who believe.”
Jul
08
“Psalm 119 has 176 verses, more than any chapter in the Bible. Nearly all those verses mention God’s Word, using various synonyms. It’s remarkable how many of the verses speak of affliction. Look carefully at some of them, and contemplate the role of God’s Word in dealing with our suffering:
I am laid low in the dust;
preserve my life according to your word. (verse 25)
My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word. (verse 28)
My comfort in my suffering is this:
Your promise preserves my life. (verse 50)
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I obey your word. (verse 67)
It was good for me to be afflicted
so that I might learn your decrees. (verse 71)
I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous,
and in faithfulness you have afflicted me. (verse 75)
If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction. (verse 92)
I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD,
according to your word. (verse 107)
Trouble and distress have come upon me,
but your commands are my delight. (verse 143)
Look upon my suffering and deliver me,
for I have not forgotten your law. (verse 153)
Consider what these verses tell us. God’s Word gives us strength in our weariness, and it comforts and sustains us. When not afflicted, we tend to go astray, but God uses our afflictions to help us obey his Word. Without God’s Word to sustain us, we will perish in our affliction. God has purpose in our affliction, and one purpose is to know him better through studying his Word. We must not forget God’s Word, for it preserves our lives. His Word is a source of delight to us.
Clearly, if we are to face suffering well, if we are not to waste our suffering, we must let it take us to God’s Word. If we don’t, our loss will be incalculable. If we do, our gain will be abundant and eternal.”
The above quote was taken from an article found at Eternal Perspective Ministries by Randy Alcorn.
Read more at: http://www.epm.org/blog/2010/Jun/25/nourishment-soul
"Keep Seeking The Things Above!" 