Recent Posts
God? Who Needs Him?May 31, 2013
Self-sufficient humanism. Paul saw it coming – “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
Imago Dei
September 12, 2012
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Why Can't I Pray?
August 18, 2012
The bible gives us several reasons, but according to Jeremy Taylor, a deceitful heart is at the root of prayerlessness.
It's Not Rocket Science
July 23, 2012
To keep in step with the Spirit should be our daily quest. And if we are successful at that, all of life falls into place.
Theological Steak
April 10, 2012
These words by P. T. Forsythe on the magnificence of Christ's work are to theology what Ruth's Chris is to a good steak.
Describing the Indescribable
February 11, 2012
What we have in Christ will take all eternity to describe. But for one segment of one sermon, a great preacher made a mighty attempt.
Making Sense Of It All
January 30, 2012
Where are things headed? Is there rhyme and reason to the endless cycle of summer, fall, winter and spring? Is there a plan in place, or is randomness the explanation?
Suffering Saints
January 25, 2012
We get nervous thinking about it - suffering for the sake of Christ. How necessary is it, and what does it produce in us?Jeremy Taylor preached a sermon on this text...
For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God. And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 1 Peter 4:17-18
Why suffering? Taylor takes a deep breath and gives it a whirl...
"...without the sufferings of saints, God should lose the glories
1) of bringing good out of evil;
2) of being with us in tribulation;
3) of sustaining our infirmities;
4) of triumphing over the malice His enemies.
5) Without the suffering of saints where were the exaltation of the cross, the conformity of the members to Christ their head, the coronets of martyrs?
6) Where were the trial of our faith?
7) Or the exercise of long-suffering?
8) Where were the opportunities to give God the greatest love, which cannot be but by dying and suffering for Him?
9) How should that which the world calls folly prove the greatest wisdom;
10) And God be glorified by events contrary to the probability and expectation of their causes?
11) By the suffering of saints Christian religion is proved to be most excellent; while the iniquity and cruelty of the adversaries invites those onlookers to consider the secret excellencies of that religion for which and in which men are so willing to die; for that religion must needs be worth looking into, which so many wise and excellent men do so much value above their lives and fortunes.
12) By our suffering we have a capacity of serving God beyond that of angels, who indeed can sing God's praise with a sweeter note, and obey Him with a more unabated will, and execute His commands with a swifter wing and a greater power; but they cannot die for God, they can lose no lands for Him; and He that did so for all us, and commanded us to do so for Him, is ascended far above all angels, and is heir of a greater glory.
13) 'Do this and live' was the covenant of the law, but in the gospel it is 'suffer this and live. He that forsakes house and land, friends and life, for my sake, is my disciple.'
14) By the suffering of saints, God chastises their follies and levities, keeping their errors from evolving into heresies, and stopping their infirmities from becoming crimes.
When God Comes Close
May 19, 2010
Jacob had his dream, and knew that God had been there. Jonathan Edwards had that afternoon in the woods, as God poured out his love profoundly and personally. Paul had an experience with God that he could not put into words. And they were changed.A pastor in Scotland for the latter part of the 19th Century, Matheson's eyesight gradually declined to the point of blindness, but thanks to the help of his sisters, he excelled, and armed with an exceptional ability to memorize, he maintained a successful and fruitful ministry from the pulpit. Often those who heard him preach for the first time did not even realize that he was blind.
From Matheson's own recollection, we are told how O LOVE THAT WILT NOT LET ME GO was born.
My hymn was composed in the manse of Argyleshire, Scotland on the evening of the 6th of June, 1882, when I was 40 years of age. I was alone in the manse at that time. It was the night of my sister’s marriage, and the rest of the family were staying over night in Glasgow.
Some thing happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression of having it dictated to me by some in ward voice rather than of working it out myself.
I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. I have no natural gift of rhythm. All the other verses I have ever written are manufactured articles; this came like a dayspring from on high.
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
Of Whom This World Was Not Worthy
July 20, 2009
In Hebrews 11, the reader is overwhelmed with a heritage of the faithful. They are many and varied. And history testifies that this glorious train of believers is ongoing, and magnificent. It will take all of history to tell the full story.
The Best And Worst Of Times
May 11, 2009
In the opening sentences of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, the reader is immediately thrust into the turmoil. For Madame Elizabeth of France, that turmoil meant death by guillotine. She was faithful to the end, and went magnificently.
Restless? Join The Club
April 7, 2009
Why do we sit with a remote and just click away mindlessly? Why do we flit from interest to interest? Why is remaking ourselves a popular cultural passtime? Do you think God might have had anything to do with it?
Deep Waters
November 18, 2008
Our God is in the rescue business. He delivers, he saves. And not only that. The very trials we face are the testings we need to become strong, eventually producing eternal results
Faith And Real Life
November 16, 2008
"Keep a stiff upper lip," we're told. Buck up. Life is capable of throwing a withering sequence of blows at us, bringing even the strongest to their knees - literally. For if our hope is in God, our future is very bright, no matter how grim the present.
Making A Difference
November 13, 2008
We all want our lives to matter, to count for something. How can we be sure we are not throwing our life away? What will count for eternity? This much we know. Giving ourselves to Kingdom of God work is never wasted effort.
And They All Lived Happily Ever After
July 11, 2008
The music swells, the couple embraces, THE END appear on the screen, and we go home smiling. Real life is murkier, and the Bible is no different, presenting real characters railing at God, or loving Him, or both. As to the final outcome - God only knows.
Comfort and the Plan of God
July 11, 2008
The kingdom of this world is becoming the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. But that battle is "no holds barred" - it's nasty, and believers can get caught up in some pretty uncomfortable moments in the process.
The Light That Surprised William Cowper
July 8, 2008
The Lord said to Moses, "Who gave man his mouth?...is it not I, the Lord?" William Cowper stuggled with mental illness all his life, yet even so his "thorn in the flesh" enriched the Church. Just how did this happen?
Life's Wear And Tear
July 8, 2008
"I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Acts 9:16
