We always want our times of prayer together to be a mixture of praise towards God, thanksgiving, confession of sin and prayer for one another. But we also want to see that some of our time is taken up in offering prayers for others: friends, enemies, and those we know are facing challenges. God has been so clear in His communication with us that He desires that we offer our requests to Him. It is a good thing to bring them to Him and we are deprived of something very wonderful when we go through seasons of neglecting to ask.

It is interesting to notice that John Calvin’s Institutes longest section is on the subject of prayer. It is in this section that he makes it sure we know God’s desire for us is that we bring our requests:

Otherwise, to know God as the master and bestower of all good things, who invites us to request them of him, and still not go to him and not ask of him-this would be of as little profit as for a man to neglect a treasure, buried and hidden in the earth, after it had been pointed out to him. (Book 3, Chapter 20, Section 1)

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Tags: beseech, church, Holy Spirit, prayer, request, Word

Note: This video shows abortion clinic workers reporting on what was happening in their clinic – not the Gosnell clinic, but in another state. Please use discretion in viewing this video, as it contains graphic explanations of what was happening in the clinic.

There are two ways in which the murder conviction of Kermit Gosnell is one of the great legal and public relations scams of the century.

First of all, it was a legal scam because the he murdered thousands but was only prosecuted for three murders. Every single baby he aborted, whether it was six weeks or thirty weeks was a brutal killing since it is no secret that life begins at conception. It is a scam to pretend that only some abortions are murder.

Second, it is a public relations scam because what he was doing is happening everyday in abortion clinics and the press makes it seem that what was happening was an isolated case. See the evidence here that Kermit Gosnell is not an Outlier. The conviction gives the perception that somehow there are abortion clinics practicing murder and then there are those which are not; some are horrific and some are not; some are grisly and some are not, when in fact, all abortion clinics kill babies and the problem is not that a clinic is dirty and unkempt, and some of the babies were older, but that babies were being killed.

These scams, both legal and public relations, are the kinds of scams that dull the consciences of the American public, while pleasing the abortion rights crowd and the Obama administration.

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Tags: abortion, Bible, child, children, choice, daughter, duty, family, father, feminism, fetus, friend, godliness, gospel, great commission, heaven, hell, life, marriage, mother, murder, pastor, preach, roe v wade, sacrifice, son, Spirit, Supreme Court, womanhood, Word, worry

In Genesis 35:2-4, we see a father (Jacob) appealing to his children to abandon their idols, change their garments, and make a new start. Every morning, God gives us a new day, to identify our idols and sins and begin afresh.

And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

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Tags: daughter, discipleship, discipline, father, idol, reformation, son, training

Here is J.R. Miller writing on the amazing role of a wife as an influencer of her husband:

Again let me say that no wife can over-estimate the influence she wields over her husband, or the measure in which his character, his career and his every destiny are laid in her hands for shaping. The sway which she holds over him is the sway of love, but it is mighty and resistless. If she retains her power, if she holds her place as queen of his life, she can do with him as she will. Even unconsciously to her herself, without any thought of her responsibility, she will exert over him an influence that will go far toward making or marring all his future.

If she is vain and frivolous, she will only chill his ardor, weaken his resolution and draw him aside from any earnest endeavor. But if she has in her soul noble womanly qualities, if she has true thoughts of life, if she has purpose, strength of character and fidelity to principle, she will be to him an unfailing inspiration toward all that is noble, manly and Christ-like. The high conceptions of life in her mind will elevate his conceptions. Her firm, strong purpose will put vigor and determination into every resolve and act of his.

Her purity of soul will cleanse and refine his spirit. Her warm interest in all his affairs and her wise counsel at every point will make him strong for every duty and valiant in every struggle. Her bright, orderly, happy homemaking will be a perpetual source of joy and peace, and an incentive to nobler living. Her unwavering faithfulness, her tender affection, her womanly sympathy, her beauty of soul, will make her to him God’s angel indeed, sheltering, guarding, keeping, guiding and blessing him. Just in the measure in which she realizes this lofty ideal of wifehood will she fulfill her mission and reap the rich harvest of her hopes.

Such is the ‘woman’s lot’ that falls on every wife. It is solemn enough to make her very thoughtful and very earnest. How can she make sure that her influence over her husband will be for good, that he will be a better man, more successful and more happy because she is his wife? Not by any weak resolving to help him and be an uplifting inspiration to him; not by perpetual preaching and lecturing on a husband’s duties and on manly character; she can do it only by being in the very depths of her soul, in every thought and impulse of her heart and in every fiber of her nature, a true and noble woman. She will make him not like what she tells him he ought to be, but like what she herself is.

So it all comes back to a question of character. She can be a good wife only by being a good woman. And she can be a good woman in the true sense only by being a Christian woman. Nowhere save in Christ can she find the wisdom and strength she needs to meet the solemn responsibilities of wifehood. Only in Christ can she find that rich beauty of soul, those gems and pearls of the character, which shall make her lovely in her husband’s sight when the bloom of youth is gone, when the brilliance has faded out of her eyes and the roses have fled from her cheeks. Only Christ can teach her how to live so as to be blessed and a blessing in her married life.

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Tags: beauty, christian, husband, influence, love, marriage, wife

Do you long to see the glory of God? Moses is one example of a man who did see the glory of God. This phrase, “Thus did Moses; just as the Lord had commanded him” is recorded 8 times when Moses was erecting the tabernacle…. then “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Often we think of the glory of God as a result of some emotional experience. Here it results from obedience.

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Tags: daughter, glory of God. son, obedience, son of God

“Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” Matthew 6:27

So it is useless to worry! A short person cannot, by any amount of anxiety, make himself an inch taller. Why, therefore, should he waste his energy and fret his life away–in wishing he were taller?

One worries because he is too short–another because he is too tall; one worries because he too lean–another because he is too heavy; one worries because he has a lame foot–another because he has a mole on his face. No amount of fretting will change any of these things!

People worry, too, over their circumstances. (more…)

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Tags: anxiety, Christ, fret, gospel, miller, worry

I preached on Matthew 8:14-27.

These are some of the statements that I made during the application portion of the sermon:

The presence of your afflictions are not according to chance.

The timing of your afflictions are all part of God’s pre-ordained plan to sum up all things in Christ.

The weight of your afflictions are carefully measured, to bring you forth as gold.

The number of your afflictions are strategically appointed to buffet you enough to change you.

The length of your afflictions will be no shorter or longer than what pleases God, in order to enlarge your patience.

The outcome of your afflictions are designed to address a God-glorifying end.

The arms which brought the afflictions will hold you through them.

You listen to the message here.

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Tags: affliction, Christ, comfort, Holy Spirit, temptation, trial

It is always a blessing to find examples of men who finished well. David Livingstone is one of those men. The year before he died, his heart was still burning to obey Christ. On his 59th birthday, this great missionary to Africa made this entry in his journal:

19th March, 1872. Birthday. Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever any ties save the tie that binds me to Thy heart. My Jesus, my King, my life, my all, I again dedicate my whole self to Thee.

– from DAVID LIVINGSTONE (1813-1873)

Inscription: “This Engraving, for which I supplied the materials, represents my meeting with Dr. Livingstone at Ujiji, Lake Tanganyika; and is as correct as if the scene had been photographed.” – Henry Morton Stanley

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Tags: Bible, child, Christ, duty, endurance, evangelism, family, father, friend, godliness, gospel, great commission, happy, harvest, Honor, joy, love, manhood, preach, relationship, sacrifice, Spirit, war, white unto harvest, Word

The pivot point hangs on whether or not God has revealed a universal pattern for the church in the New Testament. If He has not, then anything will do so long as it works. But I am convinced that nothing so dear to the heart of Christ as His Bride should be left without explicit instructions as to her corporate conduct. I am further convinced that the 20th century has in no way simulated this pattern in its method of ‘churching’ a community… it is incumbent upon me, if God has a pattern for the church, to find and establish that pattern, at all costs.
– Jim Elliot

Elizabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty: Life and Testimony of Jim Elliot (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row, 1989), 138-139.

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Tags: church, jim elliot, new testament, obedience, pattern

In Matthew 5, Jesus contrasts two voices, “You have heard that it was said” vs. “But, I say to you.” When Jesus says, “You have heard it said” (Matt 5:27-32), He is referring to those vain add-ons and short sighted simplifications to the law. These sayings had made the Old Testament law a concoction of human imagination and invention rather than the revealed nature and character of God. Jesus gives the remedy with the statement, “But, I say to you.” With this statement, the Son of God offers an accurate exposition on the law. He offers the true antithesis to false teaching and exposes how a proper understanding of the law regarding adultery is actually a focus on the desires of the heart and not on the works of man. This true understanding shows how every law of God unleashes and promotes love and reveals that it is a true treasure profitable for our soul. Listen here.

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Tags: adultery, Christ, sermon on the mount, teaching

Julie Roys, I want to thank you for including me in the interview with Doug Brown and Luke MacDonald. My appeal in this interview was essentially to acknowledge that the modern, age-segregated discipleship methodology is not a creature of Scripture, but rather of the philosophy of public education and the influence of a new phenomenon – youth culture. Now is the time to sound the alarm and go back to Scripture alone, rather than trying to salvage broken patterns of a youth culture. That always has been, and will continue to be the greatest place of blessing.

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Tags: age integration, family, father, lost, pastor, youth

Albert Mohler speaks up for the unborn, as he has so many times, in this article, Thrown Over the Fence — Infanticide, Canadian Style. He ends the piece with these chilling words:

Mark this well — the horrific logic of this judge’s decision will not remain in Canada. Indeed, it did not even start in Canada. Those arguments are already in place in the United States. If we will not defend life in the womb, eventually the dignity of every single human life is thrown over the fence.

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Tags: abortion, Bible, child, children, choice, daughter, duty, family, father, feminism, fetus, friend, godliness, gospel, great commission, heaven, hell, life, marriage, mother, murder, pastor, preach, roe v wade, sacrifice, son, Spirit, Supreme Court, womanhood, Word, worry

If you have been watching the news over the past two decades relating to the Netherlands’ rising culture of death, you would see it keeps trending upward and reaching new areas. Even children are being euthanized there now, and the age threshold keeps dropping.

The author of this Life News article concludes with this, “If the USA legalized euthanasia and had a similar killing count, the total number of doctor-administered deaths would be over 300,000 annually!” Christians have a way to think this through via one of the Ten Commandments – “Thou shalt not kill.” It is one of many verses in Scripture where God condemns this practice.

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Tags: Bible, child, children, Christ, death, euthanasia, family, godliness, gospel, great commission, Honor, love, manhood, sacrifice, Spirit, war, Word

I just returned from the funeral of Howard Phillips, 1941-2013.

It was a rich time to be with the family and to hear well over thirty speeches from friends, family, and fellow workers.

Most people knew Howard as a statesman, but I did not know him that way. I knew him as the father of my friend. Doug spoke often of his father. It seemed to flow out naturally, effortlessly, and randomly – in the stream of consciousness, during private conversations, platform speeches, and casual moments in small, unscheduled collaborations. Boiling it down, he honored, praised, quoted, and told stories of his father. I knew Howard because he was my friend’s father.

I also knew Howard Phillips another way – as a fan of his son. I saw his love for his son on many occasions, since Howard was a regular participant in Doug’s conferences. He adored his son. I walked beside Howard on history tours and sat beside him at conferences. I went to hear him lecture. We were often in the same hotel overnight. Howard was an early riser and so am I. I would get up early and head to the restaurant for a cup of coffee and a newspaper and often Howard would be there, and we would talk over the news. He would often say, “Scott, thanks for being Doug’s friend.” I knew his love for his son was at the bottom of that statement, for he was a father who hoped for loyal friends for his son.

One thing is clear: Howard was a communicative father. What made him different was that he had passion in his heart, and he captured the moment for it. He seized time and used it to teach his children. This marks the difference between great fathers and poor ones. Howard would take command of the moments at the dinner table, on the road, in his office, and use them for  the discipleship of his children. Howard was a busy man, but he had the same twenty-four hours everybody else had. What set him apart was that he took time by the neck and squeezed it for all it was worth. The time that passive men let slip into irrelevant oblivion, Howard filled with content for his children.

(more…)

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Tags: family, father, gospel, Honor, love, phillips, politician, son

I found the following summary, How the Gospel Can Transform a Marriage, to be helpful in seeing the applicability of the gospel in marriage:

• Because of the gospel, Christians have become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). Therefore, in our marriage, our past does not define us, confine us, or determine our future.
• Because of the gospel, we are forgiven (Ephesians 1:7). Therefore we can live free of all guilt and condemnation for every sin, and we can trust that God, in his mercy, will be gracious to us.
• Because of the gospel, we can forgive, just as Christ forgave us (Ephesians 4:32). Nothing done against us compares to our sin against God. Therefore all offenses, hostility, and bitterness between Christians can be completely forgiven and removed.
• Because of the gospel, we are accepted by God (Romans 15:7). Therefore we are not dependent on a spouse for who we are or what we need.
• Because of the gospel, sin’s ruling power over us is broken (Romans 6:6, 14). Therefore we can truly obey all that God calls us to do in our marriage, regardless of any circumstance or situation.
• Because of the gospel, we have access to God through Christ (Hebrews 4:14-16). Therefore we can at any time take any need in our marriage to the One who can do all things.
• Because of the gospel, we have hope (Romans 5:1-4). Therefore we can endure any marital difficulty, hardship, or suffering, with the assurance that God is working all to our greatest good (Romans 8:28).
• Because of the gospel, Christ dwells in us by his Holy Spirit (Galatians 3:13-14). Therefore we are confident that God is always with us and is always at work in our marriage, even when progress is imperceptible (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
• Because of the gospel, we have power to fight and overcome remaining sin, which continues to dwell and war within us (Romans 7:19-21, 24-25; Galatians 5:16-17). This indwelling enemy represents the essence of what is called the doctrine of sin.

These are just a few of the ways the gospel can transform a marriage. Sometimes it’s not easy to live in the reality of these truths. But it is always possible—and not because of our strength or determination, but because of God’s empowering and enabling grace.

Gary and Betsy Ricuchi, Love That Lasts: When Marriage Meets Grace (Crossway, 2006), pp. 22-23.

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Tags: gospel, husband, love, marriage, transform, wife