I enjoyed this clip on the importance of teaching good doctrine towards godliness. You can find the complete sermon here.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Resolved 2009
Here is the trailer for the upcoming Resolved Conference that will take place in Palm Springs, CA from June 12 (Friday) to June 15 (Monday).
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lamentations 3:21-23
"This I recall to my mind, there I have hope. The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."
Throughout college, my one of the songs that I sang often was Great is Thy Faithfulness. It is only recently though that I understand the full implications of that phrase and the meaning of the song. It is through texts like Lamentations 3:21-23 that I realize His faithfulness is the assurance of my hope. Every morning I wake up, God is faithful to give me breath. Every morning I wake up, God is faithful to keep me saved. Every morning I wake up, God is faithful to remind me of His glories. The wonder of it all is that God will do so until we are glorified, until we cross the Jordan, until we see Him face to face. There is no greater assurance than in the faithfulness of God. Stay strong in the Lord and God bless!
"This I recall to my mind, there I have hope. The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."
Throughout college, my one of the songs that I sang often was Great is Thy Faithfulness. It is only recently though that I understand the full implications of that phrase and the meaning of the song. It is through texts like Lamentations 3:21-23 that I realize His faithfulness is the assurance of my hope. Every morning I wake up, God is faithful to give me breath. Every morning I wake up, God is faithful to keep me saved. Every morning I wake up, God is faithful to remind me of His glories. The wonder of it all is that God will do so until we are glorified, until we cross the Jordan, until we see Him face to face. There is no greater assurance than in the faithfulness of God. Stay strong in the Lord and God bless!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
A 12 year old on Abortion
You don't see too many encouraging articles on the web these days, but here is one for you. Stay strong in the Lord and God bless!
Monday, February 16, 2009
For whom should I pray?
1 Timothy 2:1, 2
"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."
Today is President's Day, a day in which we honor our former and present presidents. I thought it would be a good reminder to look at Paul's exhortation to pray for "kings and all who are in authority." If you are wondering for whom you should lift up intercession today, lift up a prayer for our President. He really needs it. Stay strong in the Lord and God bless!
"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."
Today is President's Day, a day in which we honor our former and present presidents. I thought it would be a good reminder to look at Paul's exhortation to pray for "kings and all who are in authority." If you are wondering for whom you should lift up intercession today, lift up a prayer for our President. He really needs it. Stay strong in the Lord and God bless!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
02-01-09 Sermon Review
Feeding the Multitudes
John 6:1-13
It amazes me that Jesus did all sorts of miracles when He was on earth. He did not just heal the sick, but He also made the blind see. He also made water into wine, raised Lazarus from the dead, walked on water, calmed the sea. He did a variety of miracles to prove in those various ways that He is God omnipotent. He is not bound by any law of nature. We come today to a text in which Jesus performs yet another miracle that John calls a sign. It is a unique miracle in the sense that it is recounted in all four Gospels. I want you to see in the text that Jesus provides both sustenance and satisfaction as a display of His divinity
Sustenance - The situation in which we find Jesus and His disciples seems dire. There are 5,000 hungry people who do not have anything to eat. Jesus could have sent them away. That would have been the obvious decision for a mere man, but Jesus had different plans for He is no mere man. Jesus asks Philip a simple question, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" (vs. 6). Philip's answer is absolutely correct. "Two hundred denarii are not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little" (vs.7). But what Philip did not take into account was that the Great Provider was right before Him. Philip disregarded two things: Jesus' power and Jesus' desire. Jesus not only had the power to feed the multitudes, but He also had the desire to do it.
Even Andrew who seems to have had a little more faith than Philip disregarded these two things. Had they forgotten what Jesus already taught them? "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'" (Matt. 6:30,31). If the disciples recognized what the signs meant, they would have responded to Jesus' question by saying, "Lord, You are the Provider, and we shall be filled if You will it." It goes to show you that signs do not produce faith and right actions. Jesus' grace does.
Satisfaction - So after the testing of His disciples, Jesus performs His sign. Miraculously, He feeds the multitudes starting only with a boy's lunch! It is important for us to notice that Jesus did not give the bare minimum. He provided until everyone had as much as they wanted (vs. 11)! And just to prove that He is the Lord who provides abundantly, He provides enough for twelve baskets of food to be left over. Not only is His providence timely, it is satisfactory. It is sufficient, rather more than we deserve. We'll soon how satisfaction is a dangerous thing, but we need not dismiss the fact that God indeed satisfies not simply spiritually, but also physically. Indeed, we cannot expect the greatest physical comforts and pleasures in this life, but we still do taste of His abundant goodness day by day. Let us not forget how much He satisfies us with His grace.
What a wonderful display of Jesus' deity! John calls this a sign since it pointed to Jesus' Lordship. Now here is what's interesting. The people seeing this sign attempted to make Jesus king by force. Now that seems like a good thing, but Jesus did not think so. You see, what is being displayed here is the conflict between man's will and God's will. After being satisfied, the multitudes wanted to make for themselves a king out of Jesus. If they understood the sign, they ought to have worshiped and listened to Jesus, ready to submit to His every word. Yet, their will, driven by a satisfied stomach, compelled them to act for themselves.
Be careful. In your walk with Jesus, it will be easy to fall into this sort of thinking. I have seen far too many people desiring to make Jesus "Lord" after a tremendous blessing they received; yet, their allegiance to Jesus was nothing more than an expression of a satisfied stomach and exercise of their own will. Let your experiences of God's providence in your life constantly push you to greater submission to His holy name. That is the rightful response. No loud, public declaration is necessary; only a quiet, submissive heart. That is where the multitudes failed after tasting of divine bread. Jesus requires allegiance to His name, but He will deny all allegiances to Him if it comes from the will of man. Be ready to submit your will to His. May Christ get all the glory. Stay strong in the Lord and God bless!
John 6:1-13
It amazes me that Jesus did all sorts of miracles when He was on earth. He did not just heal the sick, but He also made the blind see. He also made water into wine, raised Lazarus from the dead, walked on water, calmed the sea. He did a variety of miracles to prove in those various ways that He is God omnipotent. He is not bound by any law of nature. We come today to a text in which Jesus performs yet another miracle that John calls a sign. It is a unique miracle in the sense that it is recounted in all four Gospels. I want you to see in the text that Jesus provides both sustenance and satisfaction as a display of His divinity
Sustenance - The situation in which we find Jesus and His disciples seems dire. There are 5,000 hungry people who do not have anything to eat. Jesus could have sent them away. That would have been the obvious decision for a mere man, but Jesus had different plans for He is no mere man. Jesus asks Philip a simple question, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" (vs. 6). Philip's answer is absolutely correct. "Two hundred denarii are not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little" (vs.7). But what Philip did not take into account was that the Great Provider was right before Him. Philip disregarded two things: Jesus' power and Jesus' desire. Jesus not only had the power to feed the multitudes, but He also had the desire to do it.
Even Andrew who seems to have had a little more faith than Philip disregarded these two things. Had they forgotten what Jesus already taught them? "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'" (Matt. 6:30,31). If the disciples recognized what the signs meant, they would have responded to Jesus' question by saying, "Lord, You are the Provider, and we shall be filled if You will it." It goes to show you that signs do not produce faith and right actions. Jesus' grace does.
Satisfaction - So after the testing of His disciples, Jesus performs His sign. Miraculously, He feeds the multitudes starting only with a boy's lunch! It is important for us to notice that Jesus did not give the bare minimum. He provided until everyone had as much as they wanted (vs. 11)! And just to prove that He is the Lord who provides abundantly, He provides enough for twelve baskets of food to be left over. Not only is His providence timely, it is satisfactory. It is sufficient, rather more than we deserve. We'll soon how satisfaction is a dangerous thing, but we need not dismiss the fact that God indeed satisfies not simply spiritually, but also physically. Indeed, we cannot expect the greatest physical comforts and pleasures in this life, but we still do taste of His abundant goodness day by day. Let us not forget how much He satisfies us with His grace.
What a wonderful display of Jesus' deity! John calls this a sign since it pointed to Jesus' Lordship. Now here is what's interesting. The people seeing this sign attempted to make Jesus king by force. Now that seems like a good thing, but Jesus did not think so. You see, what is being displayed here is the conflict between man's will and God's will. After being satisfied, the multitudes wanted to make for themselves a king out of Jesus. If they understood the sign, they ought to have worshiped and listened to Jesus, ready to submit to His every word. Yet, their will, driven by a satisfied stomach, compelled them to act for themselves.
Be careful. In your walk with Jesus, it will be easy to fall into this sort of thinking. I have seen far too many people desiring to make Jesus "Lord" after a tremendous blessing they received; yet, their allegiance to Jesus was nothing more than an expression of a satisfied stomach and exercise of their own will. Let your experiences of God's providence in your life constantly push you to greater submission to His holy name. That is the rightful response. No loud, public declaration is necessary; only a quiet, submissive heart. That is where the multitudes failed after tasting of divine bread. Jesus requires allegiance to His name, but He will deny all allegiances to Him if it comes from the will of man. Be ready to submit your will to His. May Christ get all the glory. Stay strong in the Lord and God bless!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Indulgences!
Times Magazine recently had an article on the reintroduction of the practice that fed the fuel to Luther's 95 Thesis and the Protestant Reformation. It is amazing that people still believe that Evangelicals are the same as Catholics. I found this quote quite hilarious: "The good news is we’re not selling them anymore." Oh how we need to pray.
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