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Sunday's Comin' 9/27/2014

9/27/2014

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Today's selection comes from Charles Spurgeon as quoted by Wayne Mack and David Swavely in their book Life in the Father's House (pgs. 100-101).
There should be some preparation of the heart in coming to the worship of God. Consider who he is in whose name we gather, and surely we cannot rush together without thought. Consider whom we profess to worship, and we shall not hurry into his presence as men run to a fire. Moses, the man of God, was warned to put off his shoes from his feet when God only revealed himself in a bush. How should we prepare ourselves when we come to him who reveals himself in Christ Jesus,, his dear Son? There should be no stumbling into the place of worship half asleep, no roaming here as if it were no more than going to a play house. We cannot expect to profit much if we bring with us a swarm of idle thoughts and a heart crammed with vanity. If we are full of folly, we may shut out the truth of God from our minds.

Corporate worship is designed to remind you that your world is not out of control, but under the control of your Sovereign Savior King.

— Paul David Tripp (@PaulTripp) August 31, 2014
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Friday Fragments 9/26/2014

9/26/2014

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Here's a little food for thought.
  • As you read your Bible, you sometimes skip over genealogies, don't you? Bad idea. Here are some ways to profit from them. (Hint, you have to read them to benefit from them!)
  • Saw something helpful from Sinclair Ferguson on mortifying sin. Let's call sin what it is. Don't say "I stumbled." Say, "I broke God's holy law." Don't say "I fell." Say, "I looked at pornography with lust in my heart and by doing so hardened my conscience, sinned against my wife (or future wife), contributed to the sex trade, committed fornication or adultery, showed my selfishness, and told Jesus that he wasn't enough for me." Unless we see sin for what it is, we won't be appalled by it and won't deal with it radically as we ought. (That's my version of one of the points he makes in the article.)
  • Did you know GBC is offering a financial seminar in October? We are. Check out the details here.
  • Kindle Deals - You can get the Holman Christian Standard Study Bible for just $2.99. Pretty good price for a study Bible. Cross Talk by Michael Emlet is available for free!

People in the world are miserable in their happiness, but children of God are happy in their misery. Thomas Manton

— Burk Parsons (@BurkParsons) September 25, 2014
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Sunday's Comin' 9/20/2014

9/20/2014

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Ever struggle with joy on the Lord's Day? Here are some encouraging words from John Murray. (This is excerpted from the Collected Writings of John Murray, vol. 1. "The relevance of the Sabbath.")
If the Sabbath is the Lord's day, it ought to be suffused with the joy derived from and correspondent with the resurrection joy of the Lord. We should never fail to appreciate our Lord's own resurrection joy. Jesus came trailing the clouds of humiliation. We think of Gethsemane with its agonizing confession, its prayer of holy revulsion, and its bloody sweat; of Calvary with its cry of abandonment. Here are the lowest depths of humiliation, of incomparable agony. But then there is the sequel of resurrection exultation. 'Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross...and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God' (Heb. 12:2). 'Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?' (Luke 24:26). It is a morning without clouds, the morning of triumph, and therefore of triumphant joy. In this joy ours is begotten (cf. 1Pet 1:3).
Jesus lives! Let us rejoice together with the people of God as we gather on his day tomorrow!
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Friday Fragments 9/19/2014

9/19/2014

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Have a great weekend!
  • If our behavior doesn’t match our profession of faith, we give opponents of the gospel the ammunition they will use against us and the gospel we profess. 
  • Prayer meeting make you fearful? Check out these helpful thoughts from Tom Hicks, Jr., a pastor acquaintance. This is admittedly not something I had given a lot of thought to previously as it's not a fear of mine. Perhaps it is a fear of yours. If so, soak up the comfort here! Thankful for Tom's pastoral heart on display here.
  • Free on kindle: Paul Tripp's A Quest for More.

God is sovereign over every detail of His universe- threats of Russia, ISIS, and Ebola- and even that anxious worry nagging you. Trust Him!

— David Sills (@DavidSills) September 13, 2014
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Sunday's Comin' 9/13/2014

9/13/2014

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Another prayer from Matthew Henry. This one is a portion of a prayer for Public Worship on the Lord's Day. You can find the Mathew Henry prayers we've posted and more here.
We come together to give glory to the great Jehovah, who in six days made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the  seventh day, and therefore blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. And our help stands in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. 

O let us be new creatures, thy workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. And let that God, who on the first day of the world commanded the light to shine out of darkness, on this first day of the week shine in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

We come together to give glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to sanctify this sabbath to his honour, who was the stone that the builders refused, but now is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing, it is marvellous in our eyes: This is the day which the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. He is the first and the last, who was dead, and is alive. 

O that we may this day experience the power of Christ’s resurrection and may be planted together in the likeness of it, that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life and may sit with him in heavenly places; and by seeking the things that are above, may make it to appear that we are risen with him. 

We come together to give glory to the blessed Spirit of grace, and to celebrate the memorial of the giving of that promise of the Father, in whom the apostles received power on the first day of the week, as on that day Christ rose.

O that we may this day be filled with the Holy Ghost, and that the fruit of the Spirit in us may be in all goodness and righteousness and truth.
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Friday Fragments 9/12/2015

9/12/2014

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God's blessings to you on this Friday!
  • I've written about pornography at this blog before (more than once) and may well do so again. But for today, here are some helpful thoughts from David Murray. He's doing a series of posts pointing college students to technology that will help them out. The post I've linked to is on Covenant Eyes, which is an accountability software. If no one knows what you're looking at online, it's hard for anyone to hold you accountable. Covenant Eyes provides a way to do that. But beyond his description of what CE can do, his 10 points on the harm that porn does are spot on. Please don't bury your heads in the sand. Porn is epidemic in our society and the church is not immune. Check the kindle deals below for a helpful book on doing battle with pornography. If you're addicted, don't stay in the dark. Come into the light. Get help. We have a great Savior.
  • Don't think it's really a problem? Have a read. It's real. It's in the church.
  • Kindle Deals - Heath Lambert's Finally Free comes highly recommended as a source for doing battle with pornography addiction. It can be had for $3.79. Arthur Pink on The Attributes of God is just $.99. I posted this one awhile back, but you can get Cold-Case Christianity for $2.99.
  • Good Question:

Are you better known for preaching the gospel to unbelievers or for arguing with believers?

— Burk Parsons (@BurkParsons) September 7, 2014
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Restoration is Sweet

9/8/2014

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Read 2 Timothy 4 and it doesn't take long to realize that these are likely some of the last words Paul ever wrote. He's in prison, and death at the hand of the Romans isn't far off. Some of his last words may seem a bit mundane (he wants Timothy to bring his cloak), but they are packed with meaning and implications for us. Notice, for example, just one of the things he said: "Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry" (from 2 Tim. 4:11).

At first glance, that may not seem significant, but think about who Mark is. Oh, he's that Mark! We believe this is the Mark (also called John) who had left Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:13). This was apparently such a significant failure on Mark's part, that Paul didn't want to take him along when he and Barnabas  were planning another trip to visit the churches that had been established. Acts 15:37-38 "Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work." Sadly, there was such a disagreement over this between Barnabas and Paul that they split. Barnabas took Mark with him and Paul took Silas with him.

But now at the end of his life, Paul says Mark is useful to him for ministry. What went on in the years between Acts 15 and 2 Timothy 4? We don't know everything, but Mark shows up in Colossians 4:10 and Philemon 1:24 as a companion of Paul when he was first imprisoned in Rome. Somehow Mark must have regained Paul's trust at some point. Maybe it was from his work when he traveled with Barnabas, but ultimately we don't know and apparently we don't need to know.

What we do know is that Paul went from sharply disagreeing with Barnabas over Mark to finding him a useful companion for ministry. You know what that gives us? Hope. Hope for that broken relationship; hope for those who have lost trust; hope for those who have been let down; hope if you have come up short in some responsibility. If you're Mark in this story, you can get back up and by God's grace find usefulness again. If you're Paul, you can have your lost confidence in a person restored. Whatever relationship you view as hopeless, maybe it's not. Of course not every broken relationship will work out this way. But they can. Paul and Mark teach us that. And that reality is full of hope.


"Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry." Sweet words. Hopeful words.
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Sunday's Comin' 9/6/2014

9/6/2014

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A Psalm this week to help prepare our hearts for tomorrow when we go to God's house to meet with God's People on God's day to worship God.
Psalm 84

1  How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
2  My soul longs, yes faints for the courts of the LORD;
    my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

3  Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself,where she may lay her young,
    at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.
4  Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!

5  Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6  As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs;
    the early rain also covers it with pools.
7  They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion

8  O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob!
9  Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!

10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
    I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor.
    No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!



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Friday Fragments 9/5/2014

9/5/2014

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Welcome to September!
  • Proverbs 19:3 "When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD." Funny how we often blame others for the problems we have caused ourselves. We get in trouble by our folly and then we're foolish enough to blame God for it.
  • Al Mohler on the Osteens. "The problem with Prosperity Theology is not that it promises too much, but that it aims for so little. What God promises us in Christ is far above anything that can be measured in earthly wealth..."
  • Looking for something to do on a Friday night? Come down to Warsaw's First Friday and check out the GBC table and say hello (if it's not raining!).
  • Kindle Deals - Westminster Books is offering a stack of P&R Publishing titles for $1.99 in e-book format. (Buying them this way is not as seamless as doing so through Amazon, but once you get it set up, it shouldn't be too bad.) This offer ends tomorrow!
  • Any doubts about whether there are really any significant differences between Protestantism and Christianity? Check out this sad, sad tweet from the Pope:

The Christian who does not feel that the Virgin Mary is his or her mother is an orphan.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 2, 2014
That's a different gospel, friends. That denies that the sufficiency of the work of Christ whereby I am adopted as one of God's children. That's offensive to God and as one of his children, it is offensive to me. I suppose it's possible he could mean "orphan" in the sense of having lost 1 parent, but even then he's unbiblical since Mary is not anywhere called our mother.
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I am He Who Comforts You

9/1/2014

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Last night at GBC, we looked together at Isaiah 51:12-13 which has striking and comforting words for those with ears to hear:
I, I am he who comforts you;who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
Here is a word from our God reminding us HE is the one who comforts us. Who are we? Well, that's no so pretty. We are the ones who are afraid of men who die, who are like grass. We are the ones who have forgotten the Lord; who fear continually all the day. As I think of different ones I know who are hurting and afraid and think of my own fear, I find comfort in these two verses and hope you do as well.

Here our perspective is reoriented. God himself speaks into our fear and says I, I am he who comforts you. This is the God of comfort (2 Cor. 1:3); the Son who is the consolation or comfort of Israel, his people (Luke 2:25-32); the Holy Spirit who is the comforter (John 14:16,26) who also gives us his Word for our comfort (Rom. 15:4-5). What a comforter we have!

And when he says he is the one who comforts us, there's weight behind that promise. If you lose your job and your 5 year old child says, "It's ok, I'll take care of you," that's sweet; it's comforting to know your child loves you. But your child has no power to fulfill his promise; he can't take care of you or provide for you. But when God says, "I comfort you; I'll take care of you; I'll provide for and protect you," there's power behind those words. As we're reminded in these verses, this is your MAKER who speaks comfort. It is the One who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth (Psalm 121:1-2). It's no empty promise. It's a promise from the omnipotent One fully able to make good on it.

Our trouble is that we forget. Who are you who have forgotten the LORD, your Maker? Forgetting leads to fear. When we feel fear rising in our hearts, it may well be that we are forgetting God and his mighty promise that he is the one who comforts. Don't misunderstand. Our trouble is very real; we have oppressors and enemies, wrath directed against us. Painful trials beat down our doors. But when we forget our Maker we succumb to fear.

So may God help us to remember. When fear comes, let it trigger in us a instinctive fleeing to the triune God who is our comforter and his word instead of sinking further into our fear. Your God says to you, I, I am he who comforts you.
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    When I quote Scripture In this blog, unless otherwise indicated, the quotations are usually from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission.

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