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Calling on God
I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. (Psalm 40:1-2)
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?
Whatever We Ask....
August 6, 2009
"Well done, good and faithful servant" will ring throughout the heavens someday as millions receive their reward. This much we know. Our own energy will have produced nothing worth rewarding. But in God's power? Now that's a different story.
Our age is an age of moderate virtue and of moderate vice, When men will not lay down the cross because they will never assume it.
Yet, nothing is impossible, nothing, to men of faith and conviction.
T. S. Eliot CHORUSES FROM THE ROCK
Hudson Taylor was used of God to open up China to the gospel in the mid 1800's. As the demand for workers grew, in the year 1887 he felt lead to pray with others for the addition of 100 worker. Of course, adding that many workers would be a tremendous challenge financially.
In THE GROWTH OF A WORK OF GOD, Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor tell of the wonder of that request.
The story of the Hundred has often been told-it belongs to no one mission or land. We know how, with growing courage, Mr. Taylor and those associated with him were led to pray for ten thousand pounds of additional income, as necessary to meet the increased expenses ; and that it might be given in large gifts, so that the home staff should not be overwhelmed with correspondence.
We know that no fewer than six hundred men and women offered themselves to the Mission that year for service in China ; that one hundred and two, to be exact, were sent out ; and that not ten but eleven thousand pounds of extra income was received, no appeal having been made for financial help.
And we know, most wonderful perhaps of all, how definite prayer was answered as to the very form in which the money came ; the whole being received in just eleven gifts, involving little or no extra work to the office staff of the Mission. But such a story bears retelling, especially from Mr. Taylor's letters, to the glory not of man or methods, but of God.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15
Yet, nothing is impossible, nothing, to men of faith and conviction.
T. S. Eliot CHORUSES FROM THE ROCK
Hudson Taylor was used of God to open up China to the gospel in the mid 1800's. As the demand for workers grew, in the year 1887 he felt lead to pray with others for the addition of 100 worker. Of course, adding that many workers would be a tremendous challenge financially.
In THE GROWTH OF A WORK OF GOD, Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor tell of the wonder of that request.
The story of the Hundred has often been told-it belongs to no one mission or land. We know how, with growing courage, Mr. Taylor and those associated with him were led to pray for ten thousand pounds of additional income, as necessary to meet the increased expenses ; and that it might be given in large gifts, so that the home staff should not be overwhelmed with correspondence.
We know that no fewer than six hundred men and women offered themselves to the Mission that year for service in China ; that one hundred and two, to be exact, were sent out ; and that not ten but eleven thousand pounds of extra income was received, no appeal having been made for financial help.
And we know, most wonderful perhaps of all, how definite prayer was answered as to the very form in which the money came ; the whole being received in just eleven gifts, involving little or no extra work to the office staff of the Mission. But such a story bears retelling, especially from Mr. Taylor's letters, to the glory not of man or methods, but of God.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15
Richard Dawkins, Meet Blaise Pascal
April 17, 2009
Paul tells us that the god of this world blinds the hearts of unbelievers. So their conclusions about eternal things further Satan's cause. Others, like Pascal, see with God-given perception, and truth is advanced, for those who have ears to listen.
There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.
Blaise Pascal PENSEES
Oxford educated Richard Dawkins has become the poster child for athiesm. If T. H. Huxley was Darwin's bulldog, then Dawkins has rightfully earned the title of Darwin's rottweiler!
Advocating natural selection, Dawkins has made it his personal mission to debunk a supernatural creator, and his loud protests against God have accellerated recently, including a high-pitched yelp in his 2006 book THE GOD DELUSION, where he concludes that since God does not exist, faith qualifies as a delusion - a fixed false belief.
The weight of history and thinking would disagree with Dawkins, suggesting that a deep darkness has settled on modern man, a darkness that makes every attempt to choke out the light, wherever it is found. We're are not getting smarter - the opposite is true.
Listen to what George Matheson, a pastor and theologian in Scotland in the 1800's, had to say....
My heart needs Thee, O Lord, my heart needs Thee! No part of my being needs Thee like my heart. All else within me can be filled by thy gifts.
My hunger can be satisfied by daily bread. My thirst can be allayed by earthly waters. My cold can be removed by household fires. My weariness can be relieved by outward rest.
But no outward thing can be make my heart pure. The calmest day will not calm my passions. The fairest scene will not beautify my soul. The sweetest music will not make harmony within. The breezes can cleanse the air; but no breeze ever cleansed a spirit.
This world has not provided for my heart. It has provided for my eye; it has provided for my ear; it has provided for my touch; it has provided for my taste; it has provided for my sense of beauty - but it has not provided for my heart.
Provide Thou for my heart, O Lord! It is the only unwinged bird in all creation; give it wings."
Let's conclude with Augustine adding his "Amen."
"O God, Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts find no rest until thy rest in Thee."
Blaise Pascal PENSEES
Oxford educated Richard Dawkins has become the poster child for athiesm. If T. H. Huxley was Darwin's bulldog, then Dawkins has rightfully earned the title of Darwin's rottweiler!
Advocating natural selection, Dawkins has made it his personal mission to debunk a supernatural creator, and his loud protests against God have accellerated recently, including a high-pitched yelp in his 2006 book THE GOD DELUSION, where he concludes that since God does not exist, faith qualifies as a delusion - a fixed false belief.
The weight of history and thinking would disagree with Dawkins, suggesting that a deep darkness has settled on modern man, a darkness that makes every attempt to choke out the light, wherever it is found. We're are not getting smarter - the opposite is true.
Listen to what George Matheson, a pastor and theologian in Scotland in the 1800's, had to say....
My heart needs Thee, O Lord, my heart needs Thee! No part of my being needs Thee like my heart. All else within me can be filled by thy gifts.
My hunger can be satisfied by daily bread. My thirst can be allayed by earthly waters. My cold can be removed by household fires. My weariness can be relieved by outward rest.
But no outward thing can be make my heart pure. The calmest day will not calm my passions. The fairest scene will not beautify my soul. The sweetest music will not make harmony within. The breezes can cleanse the air; but no breeze ever cleansed a spirit.
This world has not provided for my heart. It has provided for my eye; it has provided for my ear; it has provided for my touch; it has provided for my taste; it has provided for my sense of beauty - but it has not provided for my heart.
Provide Thou for my heart, O Lord! It is the only unwinged bird in all creation; give it wings."
Let's conclude with Augustine adding his "Amen."
"O God, Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts find no rest until thy rest in Thee."
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?
Overheard From The Closet
January 28, 2009
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16
History In The Making
January 28, 2009
“Prayer is a grand cement, and lack of prayer is like withdrawing the force of gravitation from a mass of matter, and scattering it into so many separate atoms.” C. H. Spurgeon
Fire!
January 16, 2009
Church history has known times when lukewarm believers catch fire and get redhot, and the lost are suddenly aware of their need for a Savior. Prayer is always the kindling God uses to fan into flame his smoldering Church.
Praying For The Wrong Reason
January 5, 2009
Just why did Jesus promote praying in seclusion, with the door closed? Our tendency to pray horizontally and not vertically must be avoided at all costs. We naturally posture and pose, and suddenly what is beautiful turns ugly, both to man and to God.
"And In This Corner..."
November 17, 2008
The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray. Samuel Chadwick
Self-examination
November 12, 2008
"Don't be so hard on yourself. Give yourself a break." Welcome to our cultural mantra. The gravitational pull of the world can be devastating, so Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13: 5: "Examine yourselves." Just what does that look like, and how do we do it?
The Best Sermon of the Last 200 Years
November 11, 2008
What if someone preached a sermon so powerful that it launched Protestant missions, and initiated the modern mission movement? What in the world did William Carey say that had such an impact?
A Pastor After God's Own Heart
October 22, 2008
The shift from pastor as shepherd to pastor as CEO has had devastating effects on the "sheep." They've wandered off. So what are the pastoral basics again, and how do we become "retro?"
Detecting Slippage
October 21, 2008
This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. Isaiah 66:2
Prepping The Heart For Worship
October 14, 2008
How many of us slide into church on Sunday morning, and the first song is like a cold shower. What might we do to prepare the heart for worship? A Puritan has a few valuable suggestions.
The Best Time Of The Day
October 8, 2008
Most of us struggle to have a quiet time at all, so to argue for the early morning hours as "most desirable" seems a bit unfair. What secret did Jesus know that we need to rediscover?
A Burst of Praise
October 3, 2008
Do you often feel tongue-tied when trying to express devotion to God? Do words fail you? Why not borrow from the best? Here, from the heart of Augustine, a transformed mind expresses the grandest truths in a masterful, gifted outpouring.
From The Mouth of St. Francis Of Assissi
September 26, 2008
Psalm 119 is a prayer, yes, but it is also a work of art. Occasionally, God anoints his servants to take us higher. Such is the following prayer of that great saint, Francis of Assissi.
When Personal Piety Is Problematic
July 9, 2008
In chapter one of Acts, we are told that the Church "joined constantly in prayer." Where did that kind of zeal go, and how might we get it back?
Rend The Heavens And Come Down
July 8, 2008
God can withdraw His presence, and if He does, things just become normal and blah. Who wants that? What happens if we call on God to come near?
Getting Serious About Revival
July 8, 2008
I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known. Habakkuk 3:2
Don't Despise The Day Of Small Things
July 8, 2008
God doesn't get caught up in numbers. Remember Gideon? An "army" of 300? This is the story of a prayer meeting that changed a nation.
