vassal of the King

“God Has Formed a Human Being in My Wife—God’s Handiwork Manifest” Thursday, October 30, 2008 If there ever was a truism, it is this: human beings cannot create life—only God can. This morning Elizabeth and I traversed to the doctor’s office for our first Ultrasound. Not only did we have a Jewish doctor, but we were able to see the third human member of our family! This little guy was moving around like crazy in the womb of Elizabeth . He is almost 12 weeks old and has two arms and two legs and a head! As I was looking into that monitor watching the heartbeat of our baby (not sure if it’s a boy or a girl yet—a few more months for that!) I found myself wondering how someone could look into that screen and see a heartbeat like that and conclude that the baby is not a human life yet. I am thankful that Elizabeth is carrying a human being, a physical, literal, heart-pumping little baby in her womb. It is beyond me how people can assert that little guys like this are n

Elizabeth and I had lunch with a family after church on Sunday and the wife asked me if I enjoy preaching through Revelation (we're on Rev 20:11-15: the Great White Throne Judgment tonight). I responded with this lengthy answer expressing my gratitude for the opportunity to study about the end times. As most preachers would say, my favorite book of the Bible is the one I'm currently preaching through--and for me, one of those books is Revelation. Over the past year or so, I've been immersed in this final book of the Bible thinking, praying, meditating and musing on the final events that God has ordained in human history. I find that as I study more--especially recently as I've been drawing closer to the Lake of Fire and the New Heavens and the New Earth--I, consequently, live my life with an awareness that my life could end any moment (Prov 27:1) and that my life is a vapor (James 4:14) which could be taken from me at any moment. The recognition that eternal

I find that what God told Jeremiah to do is what God also commands modern-day preachers to do for Him. Jeremiah 6:11 11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD: I am weary with holding it in. "Pour it out on the children in the street, And on the gathering of young men together; For both husband and wife shall be taken, The aged and the very old. Charles Feinberg is right in stating: Regardless of success or failure, Jeremiah's duty was to preach the Lord's message. Whether the people listened or not, he was divinely compelled to voice the Lord's indignation. Full of the divine wrath, he is commanded to pour it out on everybody--children, young men, married couples, the elderly--all are involved in the city's doom. Even the children and the aged, usually the special objects of God's care, are to be shown no mercy. The wrath was evoked by the sins now set forth: greed (v.13), deceitful prophecy (vv.13-14), loathsome deeds and shamelessness (v.15), obduracy (vv.16

Today in our seminary chapel, I heard a wonderful exposition of Mark 10:35-45 on servant leadership. After his exposition, he left about 20 minutes for specific and and pointed application (reminded me of the old Puritan sermons!). I post them here for your encouragement (and conviction!): Practical ways in which a pastor can be a servant leader in the local church: Don’t listen to people who tell you what a great preacher you are! It’s a lie! Studiously avoid the place of honor (or the head table) at church banquets and potlucks Regularly perform custodial duties around church property. Make it a habit to volunteer yourself to serve in a low-profile ministry (jail, walk for life, evangelize, elementary school chapel, etc). Consider adopting another title besides “Senior Pastor ”—perhaps “Undershepherd” or “Teaching Pastor”. Let us all learn from these truths for, after all, our Savior was the greatest servant of all. Finally, h

I'm convinced that I--we--all-too-often don't think enough about the reign of our Savior, Jesus Christ, upon the earth during the 1,000 year Millennium--to our own detriment. As I've been studying these last few weeks for my Revelation 20 sermon tonight at church, not only is my conviction in the literal, physical, bodily and righteous reign of Jesus Christ on earth stronger, but my confession is that I don't think enough--much less, get excited about--on this wonderful period. I believe that Satan will be bound for 1,000 years--as the biblical text clearly states (if you interpret it with any normal, plain, consistent hermeneutic) in Rev 20:1ff and that that time on earth will be a period of: 1) Reigning together with Christ (Rev 20:4, 6; 2 Tim 2:12; 1 Cor 6:2; Rev 5:10; Deut 28:1). It baffles me how many an interpreter can overlook these texts and perform extraordinary hermeneutical gymnastics to come up with some other interpretation. 2) Seeing God face to face (1 Jo

"The adjectives used in the Bible to describe the heart are an eyeopener. The heart is variously described as adulterous, anguished, arrogant, astray, bitter, blameless, blighted, broken, calloused, circumcised, contrite, crushed, darkened, deadened, deceitful, deluded, devoted, disloyal, envious, evil, faint, faithful, far off, fearful, foolish, grateful, happy, hard, haughty, humble, mad, malicious, obstinate, perverse, proud, pure, rebellious, rejoicing, responsive, righteous, sick, sincere, sinful, steadfast, troubled, unfeeling, uncircumcised, upright, unsearchable, weary, wicked, wise, and wounded. No wonder the Bible says that it is out of the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks" (Tedd and Margy Tripp, Instructing a Child's Heart , 53).

This is a must listen to. This song is absolutely saturated with Scriptural truth. His Forever Jesus, friend of sinners Loved me ’ere I knew Him Drew me with His cords of love Tightly bound me to Him ’Round my heart still closely twined The ties that none can sever For I am His and He is mine Forever and forever Jesus, friend of sinners A crown of thorns You wore for me Bruised for my transgressions Pierced for my iniquities The wrath of God that I deserved Was poured out on the Innocent He took my place, my soul to save Now I am His forever Jesus, friend of sinners I love to tell the story Redeeming love has been my theme And will be when in glory Not death nor life nor anything Can ever separate me O love that will not let me go Yes, I am His forever

C.S. Lewis writes: "The safest road to hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."

Distinctives of Sunday Morning Worship Gatherings When we corporately gather together on Sunday mornings, it is our endeavor for the service to be marked by the following distinctives: Rejoicing in the Salvation of God It is abundantly clear from the Scriptures that one is to approach God in worship with joyous praise (Ps 33:1-2). To be sure, a genuine believer who has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit will want to gather with other like-minded believers to corporately worship God together (Heb 10:24-25). One of the main purposes of our gathering together is to rejoice together that God has saved us “by his own purpose and grace” (2 Tim 1:9). He has given salvation to us as a free gift (Rom 5:8, 6:23; Eph 2:8-9). This is to produce joy inexpressible (1 Pet 1:8) and sincere gratitude to God for the work He has wrought in our lives (Ps 95:2; Col 4:2). Therefore, we make it our ambition to rejoice and remember the free gift of salvation God has freely given to us

This week we had the privilege of having seven Master's College students come to our church and minister alongside us as we had many tasks to accomplish. Activities included canvasing local neighborhoods around the church for addresses so we could make a file and send out a church mailing, taking lunch to our high school youth on Friday, a beach soccer night, a game night, a movie night, visiting two nursing homes and singing and sharing the gospel with the elderly, and reroofing part of our gymnasium. It was a busy week--but a profitable one! They also formed a sort-of "mini choir" for church this morning and we did some TMC chapel songs as we led our congregation in worship. It was a great time of fellowship. Praise God for the Master's College and its commitment to biblical truth in every area of life. Our church was tremendously blessed to have had these college students serve us this week! Ephesians 1:15-17 15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in

John Owen writes: The business at hand for the sinner must be to consider his serious condition. He needs to apply himself toward conversion. God stirs our conscience and disquiets our heart that we might recognize our need of Him. Seeking mortification of sin just to quiet the soul and find relief from the torment of the conscience, all the while neglecting to deal with the root cause of sin, is a result of self-love. Source: John Owen, Mortification of Sin , 44.

This week I am in Mobile, Alabama for the Expositor's Conference here at Christ Fellowship Baptist Churc h. Last night, my dad and I had the privilege of going to Dr. Lawson's home and having dinner with him, talking with him, and asking him questions for about 3 hours. It was a delightful time. Now it's game time. Over the next 48 hours or so, I will hear about 8 sermons on how to preach narrative from the Book of Acts --how appropriate because I'm currently preaching through Acts on Sunday mornings at my beloved church. Praise God for this conference. I'll try to update when I can!

This is part 2 of our "Ministry Distinctives" series at Christ Community Church: The Divine Perspective on Preaching I endeavor to reveal four aspects of the preaching ministry Christ Community Church ’s youth ministry. The preaching of the word of God is: Powerful It is our conviction that when the Word of God is preached it comes forth with power—divine power (1 Thess 2:13). In other words, when the Bible speaks, God speaks (Ex 17:14; Jer 30:2). For this reason it is powerful and never returns void (Isa 55:11). It is our position that the Word of God faithfully taught (2 Tim 2:15) is the only means by which a person can powerfully and irresistibly be convicted of sin (Acts 2:37) and brought to repentance in Jesus Christ. This power, of course, comes through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; 1 Thess 1:5). Persuasive It is our conviction that when the Word of God is preached it must have an element of persuasiveness inherent in the delivery

I never knew this but here is a typical order of service at the Metropolitan Tabernacle: Silent Meditation Pastoral prayer Hymn Bible reading with comments Long (pastoral) prayer Hymn Sermon Benediction Simpler than we find in many churches today! There is more prayer and Scripture reading in that service than many of our churches today. What a great example for us to emulate. Source: Drummond, Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1992).