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.
It Is Necessarily So!
July 24, 2010
The Bible has always had its detractors, but for the last hundred years there has been an unprecedented attack mounted against it. The death blow has failed, but not for lack of trying.Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Psalm 119:89
Among other things, it's mock-proof.
The broadcaster Daniel Schorr has died at 93. Apparently while attending a Frank Zappa concert, he was called up on stage and invited to sing. In a performance worthy of American Idol's worst auditions - you know, the people who think they are singers, but aren't - he crooned the song IT AIN'T NECESSARILY SO, by George and Ira Gershwin.
Not being familiar with the song (from PORGY AND BESS) a quick Google search brought up this.....
It ain't necessarily so
It ain't necessarily so
The t'ings dat yo' li'ble
To read in de Bible,
It ain't necessarily so.
Li'l David was small, but oh my !
Li'l David was small, but oh my !
He fought Big Goliath
Who lay down an' dieth !
Li'l David was small, but oh my !
You get the idea? Let's just mock the Bible. A Youtube clip shows the singer holding the Bible in his hand, sneering derisively, heaping scorn on a woman who unquestioningly trusted the words written there.
Other verses include......
Well, it ain't necessarily so
Well, it ain't necessarily so
Dey tells all you chillun
De debble's a villun,
But it ain't necessarily so !
To get into Hebben
Don' snap for a sebben !
Live clean ! Don' have no fault !
Oh, I takes dat gospel
Whenever it's pos'ble,
But wid a grain of salt.
And then Ira and George show their true agenda - this is their sermon.
I'm preachin' dis sermon to show,
It ain't nece-ain't nece
Ain't nece-ain't nece
Ain't necessarily ... so !
If Francis Quarles (1592-1644) were in the same room with the Gershwin brothers, he might read them some "lyrics" of his own, to warn them of the consequences when the Bible is not taken seriously.
ON GOD’S WORD
Francis Quarles
God’s sacred Word is like the Lamp of Day,
Which softens wax,
but makes obdure (hardens) the clay.
It either melts the Heart, or more obdures (stiffens).
In never falls in vain,
It wounds, or cures.
Lord, make my breast thy Hive, and then I know,
Thy bees will bring in Wax and honey too.
I know which effect I want the Bible to have on me. Lord, soften my heart.
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.
When Spurgeon Saw The Light
March 13, 2009
The story of Gideon amazes us. 300 men accomplished the unthinkable. God loves to do amazing things, especially when there is no other explanation. The conversion of Charles H. Spurgeon is such a wonder. Enjoy this hilarious retelling by the man himself.
Think About His Love
March 3, 2009
Meditating on the love of God is faith-energizing, hope-building, and the opposite of wasting time. Comprehending God is impossible, but the little we can know will be health and life to our soul.
Saintly Resolutions: GEORGE BOWEN
January 1, 2009
Who? It was said of him,"He was all soul, and you can't photograph the soul nor describe it as you know it to exist." Missionary, scholar, mystic, saint. Quite a resume. So what advice does he give us at the turning of a new year?
Saintly Resolutions: HENRY MARTYN
December 29, 2008
Shaped by the pastoring of Charles Simeon at Cambridge, Henry Martyn burned bright for God in India until his early death at age 31. From an entry in his journal on the first day of 1807, we get a wonderful glimpse of his heart for God.
Saintly Resolutions: MATTHEW HENRY
December 29, 2008
Making New Year resolutions is a venerable tradition. But they do tend to be a bit trivial, as in weight goals. Matthew Henry (1662-1714) left us an example of how to set our hopes and dreams and expectations before the Lord, with eternity in mind.
Go Away And Leave Me Alone!
December 13, 2008
This world is enemy territory, and Satan fights for every inch. And the biggest threat to him are Christians who take the word of God as just that, the word of God, and seek to live by that word, knowing that to be the path of greatest happiness.
God and Sinners Reconciled
November 29, 2008
The angels tried to convey what their excitement this little baby born in the town of Bethlehem. "To you is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord!" God was up to something - restoring a broken relationship.
Stay On The Main Road
November 25, 2008
Jesus said that he and he alone is the way, truth and the life. No one could get to the Father except through him. But many try alternate routes. It is only an exercise in futility.
Feeling Our Way Through Life
November 24, 2008
Feelings have become the new end all, the criteria that governs our actions. At the same time, self-discipline is frowned upon as inauthentic and artificial. Worship often loses out, when it is our means to health and wholeness.
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
I Pray The Lord My Soul To Keep
November 4, 2008
The Bible is full of prayers that took place at night. Assuming that we will wake to see the morning light is hasty, and presumes on God's grace. Isaac Watts put his heart on paper in meter and rhyme, placing his hope in the grace of God.
Cheaper Chicken
October 29, 2008
What are you shooting for? Is your life being lived myopically, with self-interest as the bottom line? Or do you have the grand purposes of God propel you? Choose carefully. Each of us gets one go-around.
Pride
September 3, 2008
Thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought provides the fertile soil for all sorts of mayhem.
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.
Pride Revisited
July 9, 2008
Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began...pride always means enmity...and not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God. C.S. Lewis
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
The World Was Not Worthy Of Him
July 7, 2008
Heaven will be filled of saints who lived here on earth as if there was a home elsewhere waiting for them - an eternal home. George Bowen of Bombay was such a follower of Christ.
