C. S. Lewis - A Collection of Thoughts

Greetings All!

     Today you get another post of many different "thoughts" rather than one longer continuous thought.  Yet, unlike my last mailing sent out two weeks ago, these all come from one author - C. S. Lewis.  I've been going through three of his books lately and found them all very rewarding. This is just a sampling of short thoughts from him.  I trust you might find a few of these to be helpful as you mull them over, and that one or two might be used of God to encourage, challenge, or comfort you.

     At our men's group this morning we discussed our favorites from my previous mailing two weeks ago, and why each person found particular ones the most helpful. If you get a chance today, and would want to share with me what your particular favorites are from the list below, I'd be interested in receiving your feedback!  Enjoy.

"If everything comes simply by signing checks, you may forget that you are at every moment dependent upon God." 

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but God will make us good because He loves us."

"It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they will see God, for only the pure in heart want to."

"I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I knew that a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity." 

"We are not necessarily doubting God will do the best for us, we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." 

"Don't shine so that others can see you. Shine, so that through you, others can see Him."

"Do not waste time bothering whether you "love" your neighbor; act as if you did."

"If God had granted all the silly prayers I've asked in my life, where would I be now?" 

"If you're thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you are embarking on something that will take the whole of you."

"Everyone thinks forgiveness is a wonderful idea until he has something to forgive."  

"A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is... No one knows how bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good. A man who gives into temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.  That is why bad people know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in." 

"If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."

"God cannot give us happiness apart from Himself, because there is no such thing."

"It is not your business to succeed, but to do right. When you have done so the rest lies with God." 

"Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace in difficulties."

"We must lay before God what is in us, not what ought to be in us."

With prayers for your continued growth in godliness, and your service in Jesus name, Pastor Jeff

A Lesson in Integrity

Greetings All!

     This week's "thought" was sent to me by a friend.  It's basically a lesson in integrity in a world that often lacks it.  It came from the blog site: WONDERNEED ( runwonder.com ) and was the post for August 7th.  I thought it was a story worth passing on simply for the truth it teaches -- that in a world that has embraced moral relativism, some still look for people of godly character.  Enjoy.

How One CEO Taught His Employees a Lesson in Integrity

     "A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.  Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.  He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you..”  The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued: “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED… I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”

     One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.  By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

     Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.  A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

     When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”   The CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot.  He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front.  Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”  When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed – Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!  His name is Jim!” Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.  “How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.

     Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow.  All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”

     In a world where we can tend to think that the road to success is simply a matter anticipating what others want, and then seeking to give them what we think they want (even if it means violating what we know to be right and true), this story stands as a helpful corrective. The honest person, or the person of integrity, as we all know, does not always "win out" in the end -- from a worldly perspective. Many people without solid integrity rise to the top, while those who have integrity get left in the dust.  In many cases honesty and truthfulness and a refusal to do what is wrong can be a problem when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder.  I knew a man who had to step down from a good paying managerial job because he was asked to change (tell an outright lie) on an employee accident report where the company was indeed at negligent and at fault, so that his employer would not be sued by the injured workers for their lost wages.  His honesty resulted in his losing his job, not a promotion.

     Yet, that's the choice we must all make.  Do what's expected and wanted, or do what is right.  Tell the truth, or manipulate the truth to our advantage. Do what we are asked (though immoral) or refuse to do it and accept the consequences -- whether they are good (by the world's standards) or bad (by the world's standards). Be a person of integrity because we know that's what God wants, and Christ calls us to, or do whatever enables us to get ahead in the world.  After all, many things that are legal are not moral, holy, or righteous in the sight of God.

     It brings us back to the ultimate question:  "What good is it if we gain the whole world and lose our soul?"   Every twisting of the truth...  every breach of integrity...  every overly-inflated charge (like the OT weighted scales)... chips away at the substance of our character and makes us less and less of what God wants us to be.  As Jesus told his disciples, "Let your yes be yes and your no be no; whatever is more than these is of the evil one" (Matthew 5:37).  When confronted by a moral dilemma, our goal should never be,"what will benefit me (in the worldly sense),"  but what honors God the most?  What does honesty and integrity demand?  For only then can it truly be to our benefit.

In the Glad Service of Jesus, Pastor Jeff

The Sensate Culture

Greetings All!

     Today I struggled long and hard to know what "thought" to post.  So many books, so little time to read through them all!  But I finally settled on this one from Harold O. J. Brown's book "The Sensate Culture."   It was published in 1996 and has to do with the three stages nearly every major culture passes through as it moves from it's initial rise to power to eventual collapse.  Having read it in 1996, and just skimming it's pages once again today, I realized it is not only full comprehensive research, and wise insight, but is also rather prophetic -- since what he predicted 20 years ago has come into fuller measure today.

     After taking a class with him, I must tell you he is one of the most intelligent people I ever learned from (with John Frame, in my opinion, coming in a close second).  I say that because I want you to know he knows his subject well.  He is well-studied, knows history, gives attention to detail, and sees things from a somewhat non-biased (since no one is unbiased) big-picture perspective -- and combines it with an incisive understanding of culture and human nature. I highly recommend the reading of his book (if you truly care to gain an understanding of where we are at culturally speaking, and why so much upheaval is taking place). That's why I share this little taste of what his book has to offer. Enjoy.

     "Sorokin (in his book Social and Cultural Dynamics) identified three distinct phases through which cultures pass: 1.) Ideational - This is where a culture is willing to sacrifice pleasures and immediate goals for the sake of higher principles. Self-denial, asceticism, and martyrdom are natural behaviors from the ideational point of view.   2.) Idealistic - This is a compromise stage between Ideational and Sensate, where spiritual truths and values are still rated above all others, but it appreciates the realities and values of the sensory world and does not treat them as meaningless or non-existent.  3.) Sensate - At this point, the culture tends to be interested only in those things (usually material in nature) that affect the senses. It seeks the imposing, the impressive, the voluptuous and it encourages self-indulgence... No apology is made for encouraging people to squander their resources on self-indulgence...

     The great democracies of the ancient world (e.g., Athens and the Roman Republic) arose during an idealistic culture and did not survive the shift to sensate culture. Democracy requires self-discipline and self-control on the part of the masses -- qualities that are derided and destroyed by sensate culture...  Our present sensate culture [the phase the U.S. is in right now] increasingly lacks one of the most important conditions for a vibrant democratic government, namely, moral responsibility and integrity on the part of the majority of the citizens. Democratic institutions necessarily presuppose that people will govern themselves in many areas of life, but this is precisely what is discouraged and impeded by the sensate attitude of "eat, drink and be merry."  The idea that there are certain eternal or divine principles of justice that most people will respect without compulsion (which is characteristic in both the ideational and idealistic cultures) disappears in a sensate culture where people are interested only in things that give pleasure, avert pain, and provide immediate gratification.  When people do not have ideals and principles that move them to act without compulsion for the good of all, no government functions smoothly or well.  In the sensate phase of society, it is extremely difficult to maintain faith in the moral legitimacy of government, whether monarchical or democratic....

     Democracy presupposes a consensus of values or widespread agreement concerning what constitutes the morally good and desirable life. These are features of an integrated culture, but they become lost as a culture disintegrates in a transition phase. Consequently, one can predict with certainty that the democracy that we in the West profess to value is doomed to die if the sensate phase continues without any fundamental reorientation. When any form of government functions well, without the need to resort to extensive compulsion (by force), it is a sign that the citizens it governs have an adequate degree of personal responsibility and integrity. In an overripe sensate culture, governing a large multitude of people becomes progressively more difficult no matter what the political system, whether monarchy or democracy, oligarchy or dictatorship, because people interested only in that which gratifies their own senses find it next to impossible to act spontaneously and without compulsion, for the benefit of the community...

     In his inaugural address in 1961, President Kennedy made an appeal to the remnants of the idealistic mentality among the American people: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Unfortunately for the Kennedy's hopes, the remnant was not hardy enough to accomplish what he expected of it, for the culture was already too sensate, and the influence of the mass media and mass communication was rapidly exterminating virtually every memory of earlier idealistic attitudes...  Events of history -- "historical accidents" so to speak (ie: the murders of John Kennedy and his brother Robert, Vietnam, segregation, and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., just to name a few) - have all contributed to the increasingly acute crisis of democratic theory in Western society, although its fundamental causes lie in the nature of the sensate culture itself, not in historic incidents, however dramatic...

When a sensate culture is wealthy and luxurious, as Western culture now is, it becomes increasingly difficult to motivate people to exert the self-denial and effort necessary to overcome dangers and avoid economic catastrophes...  It is difficult for the population of a democratic society in a late sensate culture to generate its own moral sense, or build the morale necessary to produce endurance under difficult and trying conditions. In such a culture, Jesus' words, "not to be served but to serve" (Matthew 20:28) strike most people as pure foolishness. Idealistic societies prize service; sensate societies cherish gain... As the sensate mentality becomes more pervasive, democratic politicians are forced to become nothing but demagogues, flattering the people and offering them easier and easier acquisition of more and more material goods and pleasures, as the Roman emperors provided the plebs with bread and circuses."

     This is not a political rant.  I don't belong to any party.  Nor do I indulge in politics.  I never bring them into the pulpit because I have never seen governmental systems as the answer to the human problem. I tend to follow Jesus on this and leave what is Caesar's to Caesar.  In fact, that's what impressed me about Prof. Brown -- after an entire course with him, I had no idea of his political affiliation, be it Democrat, Republican, or any other party (if he even belonged to one).  In fact, his general attitude seemed to be the one I espouse: That the Gospel of Jesus Christ was too radical to be held captive to any humanly devised political system or party.  That's about as political as I get!

     No, this "thought" is about the rise, and eventual demise, of any culture.  What brought it to prominence, and what will eventually lead to its downfall.  And I offer it to you simply as wise thoughts to consider, as well as soul-food to guide you in your prayers. Because cultural collapse, as our increasingly recurring glimpses have shown us, is a matter worthy of our earnest intercession.

In His Service, Pastor Jeff   

When Praying is Wrong

Greetings All,

As I was looking through the books on one of my shelves this week, a small pamphlet fell to the floor.  It was entitled, "Keys to the Deeper Life" by A. W. Tozer.  In picking it up I glanced through it and my eye came across the heading of one subsection. It was curiously called: "When Praying is Wrong."  Since most of us would be hard-pressed to think of a time when praying could possibly be wrong, I read what he had to say and decided to pass it along to you to ponder as this week's "thought."   (I have taken the liberty to update from the KJV the biblical texts he cites.) Enjoy.

When Praying is Wrong

     "Most evangelicals no longer initiate, they imitate -- and the world is their model. The holy faith of our fathers has in many places been made a form of entertainment, and the appalling thing is that all this has been fed down to the masses from the top...  The radical element in testimony and life that once made Christians hated by the world is missing from present-day evangelicalism. Christians were once revolutionaries -- moral, not political -- but we have lost our revolutionary character.  It is no longer either dangerous or costly to be a Christian. Grace has become not free, but cheap. We are busy these days proving to the world that they can have all the benefits of the gospel without any inconvenience to their customary way of life. It's "all this and heaven too." 

     This description of modern Christianity, while not universally applicable, is yet true of an overwhelming majority of present-day Christians. For this reason it is useless for large companies of believers to spend long hours begging God to send revival. Unless we intend to reform, we may as well not pray. Unless praying men have the insight and faith to amend their whole way of life to conform to the New Testament pattern, there can be no true revival.

     Sometimes praying is not only useless, it is wrong. Here is an example: Israel had been defeated at Ai, and "Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the ground on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening came; he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads."  According to our modern philosophy of revival this was the thing to do, and if it lasted long enough, should certainly have persuaded God and brought the blessing.  But, "the Lord said to Joshua, 'Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions... Go consecrate the people. Tell them, 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says, ' That which is devoted [to another god] is among you, O Israel.  You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove [the accursed thing] from among you."

     We must have a reformation within the Church. To beg for a flood of blessing to come upon a backslidden and disobedient Church is to waste time and effort. A new wave of religious interest will do no more than add numbers to churches that have no intention to own the Lordship of Jesus and come under obedience to His commands. God is not interested in increased church attendance unless those who attend amend their ways and begin to live holy lives. Isaiah spoke of this same thing in as well: "When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you, even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are full of blood. Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing wrong and learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow..." (Isaiah 1:11-17).

     Prayer for revival will prevail when it is accompanied by radical amendment of life, not before.  All-night prayer meetings that are not preceded by practical repentance may actually be displeasing to God.  "To obey is better than sacrifice" (I Samuel 15:22).  We must return to New Testament Christianity, not in creed only, but in complete manner of life as well. Separation, obedience, humility, simplicity, earnestness, self-control, modesty, cross-bearing -- these all must again be made a living part of the total Christian concept and be carried out in everyday conduct. We must cleanse the temple of the hucksters and the money changers and come fully under the authority of our risen Lord once more. And this applies to this writer, and to this magazine, as well as to everyone that names the name of Jesus. Then we can pray with confidence and expect true revival to follow."

     I needed to hear that.  The Church needs to hear that.  We all need to hear and consider it if we struggle with why God is not answering our prayers.  Grace does not mean God turns a blind eye to all sin. It means He loves His people enough to do whatever He knows is necessary to get them to consider their sins, repent for those sins, and turn from them -- even if what He must do is refuse to answer their prayers until they have turned away from them (Ezekiel 14:4-5). His will for our lives, is, after all, "our sanctification" ( I Thessalonians 4:3 / Ephesians 5:15-20 ).  And because that is His will for us, He will not relent from His work of purifying and conforming us to the likeness of Jesus -- the stated purpose for which He chose and predestined us (Ephesians 1:4-5 / Romans 8:28-30).

     Tozer's words made me do some soul-searching which led to repentance.  Maybe the Spirit has moved in you too, and you sense the need to do the same. If so, remember the words of Luke, that when we repent, "times of refreshing come from the Lord" (Acts 3:19).

In the Service of Jesus, Pastor Jeff

Act Like Men -- 40 Days to Biblical Manhood

Greetings All!

Today's thought comes to you via James MacDonald, from his book, "Act Like Men -- 40 Days to Biblical Manhood."  A close friend who receives these "Thoughts for the Week" sent it to me thinking it would be helpful for others. After reading it I also thought it could be beneficial -- to both men and women -- though it seems to be directed exclusively toward men.
     I once spoke at a conference where a married man shared that his wife was jealous because he had a close "Jonathan/David" type friendship with another man in his church. (For those who may not know what that is, see I Samuel chapters 18-20).  She even asked him to end the relationship. Why? "Because although I've told her, she can't understand that men need deep friendships with other men."  Over the years I have come to see the truth of his statement.
     And I'm not talking of friendships that cause a man to ignore his wife and children, or skip out on his husbandly/fatherly obligations and responsibilities to them. That would be wrong.  No.  I'm speaking of the need for male to male friendships, and spiritual accountability, and camaraderie, and having each other's back, and encouraging each other to do the right and honorable thing.  The type of male to male relationships that would actually enhance the marriage and prevent the enormous amount to marital/family casualties we see happening all around us in our society today.

     One of the biggest problems today (for both men AND women) is a lack of time (or priority?) in establishing good, solid, healthy, godly, soul-nurturing, and life-sustaining friendships with those of the same gender.  As I have mentioned many times, the need for paid counselors would plummet (I'm convinced) if we just had good friends with whom we could transparently pour out the contents of our soul knowing they have our back and truly have our best interests in mind.

     But this is not about hearing from me!  Sorry!  I now defer to Mr. MacDonald who prefaces today's selection with these words: "Plain and simple, men need community with other men. Loving, you-before-me, dedicated relationship. If you have never had it, or don't really get it yet, or if you had that community and lost it, you know the cavity it leaves in your soul until you discover it again."   Enjoy.

Knock off the Lies

     "As I talk to men all around the world, I discover that they are not much different than we are (here in the States).  They need the same solutions, battle the same things, and believe the same lies. Earlier in this book we looked at the satanic strategy of using lies to disguise, divide, and destroy. Let's focus on that middle word of Satan's plan to defeat you. The word is "divide" and his strategy is to get a wedge between you and men who can support God's work in your life through loving mutual community.

     As always, he does this through lies. See if you recognize any of these common lies men believe that lead them to reject community and live in isolation [from each other]:
1. Nobody understand the struggles I am dealing with. 
2. I can't trust anyone. Total honesty will be used against me.
3. If someone tries to get close to me, they just want something. 
4. People like me, but they don't really know me. I can't risk total self-disclosure.
5. I've seen Christians kick a guy when he's down. No thanks.
6. Christian men are weak, crying and confessing. Oh please!
7. If I really face my secrets, the dam will burst and I will lose it.
8. What if I make myself known and the other guys don't reciprocate? 

     I hear these lies so frequently from the mouths of men that I know they are being implanted there by the "accuser of the brethren" (Rev. 12:9).  The way to defeat a lie of the enemy is: name the lie and insert the truth.  Jesus did this in Matthew 4 when Satan came to tempt Him after His forty-day fast in the wilderness. Satan urged Him to make stones into bread and Jesus said: "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God' (Matthew 4:4). This happened two more times, and each time Jesus defeated the lie of the enemy by quoting Scripture. Can we afford to do less?

      What do you believe about loving friendship with other men that keep your areas of defeat isolated and unchanged?  Take the first lie above: 'Nobody understands the struggles I am dealing with.'  That is clearly untrue because I Corinthians 10:13 says, 'No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond you ability, but with the temptation he will provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.' In every instance we need to name the lie and replace it in our thinking with the truth of God's Word. That's what it means to, 'resist the devil and he will flee from you' (James 4:7).

      For almost fifteen years I met with a group of men every Friday morning at 6:00 a.m.  Each man would report on what he had gleaned from God's Word personally that week and then we would pray for each other. We laughed, we instructed, we carried each other's burdens, and afterward we went out for breakfast. Looking back I regret ever breaking that pattern. I have found it here and there in other ways, but never as good as that until recently.

     The reason I withdrew from formal, regular, scheduled community was that I failed to experience the two things my doctoral thesis revealed men absolutely must experience to remain in community. First, men need confidentiality. They have to believe that what they disclose will never be shared with anyone -- not a spouse, not a cousin in a far country, no one.

     Second, men need to experience mutuality.  Men need to know that if they bring you in on whatever battles they have kept secret, you won't 'leave them hanging,' or pridefully conceal the truth about your own struggles. They need you to quickly match their personal disclosure.  'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us' (I John 1:8)."

     I trust his words would prompt you, if you struggle alone and isolated (as a man) to get involved in a community of godly, transparent and trustworthy men where you can discover the blessed truth of what true Christian community is meant to be and facilitate.  If you are a woman, the same is true for you -- seek out the support of other godly women. And if you are a wife (or husband), it would be to your advantage (as well as that of your spouse) to encourage them to get involved with a group -- men with men, and women with women -- where they/you can apply the truth of God's Word to the soul in the context of confidentiality, transparency, accountability and a mutual commitment to grow into the fullness of maturity in Christ.

     And if you see that need, do not delay or put it off!   Rugged individualism and isolated independence are NOT what the Bible advocates. They are actually part of the problem.

With Prayers That You Will Determine to Make That Step, Pastor Jeff 

Practical Christianity

Greetings All!

After a couple weeks of vacation I returned to the office today. Part of what I had on my list to do was send out this insightful little "thought" regarding temptation and fighting sin.  It comes from a book entitled , "Practical Christianity," which contains helpful advice on the Christian life from over 80 well-respected Christian authors.

     This particular selection is from Adrian Rogers.  His advice is short and simple but wise.   Enjoy!

Filling Legitimate Desires Illegitimately

     "The devil is a pervert. He cannot create things himself. He can only take things God has created and twist them. We sin when we give in to the devil's temptations and try to fulfill legitimate God'-given desires in an illegitimate way. For example, food is a God-given necessity, but gluttony is a sin.

     Sex within a loving marriage is a God-given blessing, but adultery is sin. Having and enjoying material things is a God-given privilege, but pride, dishonesty, stealing, greed and selfishness are sins. When we are tempted, we need to figure out what legitimate desire the devil is trying to pervert. Then we need to find God's way to fulfill that desire legitimately. If we do that we will have no itch the devil can scratch.

     Rather than always trying not to sin, we ought to turn our focus in another direction -- on finding our satisfaction in the Lord Jesus Christ. I think parents, pastors, school teachers and youth workers make this mistake with young people. We try to keep our young people from doing wrong. If you've ever tried to take a bone away from a dog, you know that's a good way to get bit. The way to do it is to lay a piece of red meat in front of the dog. He will drop the bone in order to grab the meat. We need to show young people how they can get their needs legitimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they won't have to guard the bones."  

     It is helpful, as he points out, to remember that "sin" is often nothing more than seeking to meet legitimate needs in illegitimate ways.  It is to meet them prematurely, in excess, or outside the boundaries God has set for their enjoyment or exercise, The particular need is not evil, nor is the fulfillment of that need when met in a godly fashion.  The "sin" lies in the inappropriate way we go about seeking to meet holy, God-given and legitimate needs. For more often than not, the devil's temptation (or perversion) is to tempt us to partake before we should, consuming more than we should, in a way that violates how we should -- thereby dishonoring the wise and good purposes of God in creation.

In the Bonds of Gospel Fellowship, Pastor Jeff

Puritans

Greetings All!

     This week's "thoughts" come to you from a selection of different Puritans. Yes, Puritans!  I know many are prejudiced against the Puritans from the start (often by exposure to exaggerated and untrue propaganda) but I would ask you (if you are such a person) to let them speak for themselves and not read them through the filter of another person's opinion of them.  Ryken's Book "Worldly Saints" is a wonderful corrective to many of the common myths.
Overall (with a few minor exceptions) they were a very gospel-centered and grace-oriented group of people. Yet you would only know that if you took the time to read the things they actually wrote themselves, instead of things others have written about them (often without ever having taken the time to do what I just suggested)!  After all, wisdom and fairness would say we should never formulate an opinion of someone until we get to know and interact with them personally.
     So, with that said, here are some "Puritan" thoughts! In terms of a time frame, the vast majority lived between the years 1600 - 1690.   Enjoy.

     "The man whose heart is endeared to the woman he loves... dreams of her in the night, has her in his eye and apprehensions when he awakes, muses on her at he sits at table, and walks with her when she travels... She lies in his bosom, and his heart trusts in her, which forces all to confess that the stream of his affection, like a mighty current, runs with full tide and strength." 

Thomas Hooker

     "There is no relationship more near, more entire, more needful, more kindly, more delightful, more comfortable, more constant, more continual, than the relationship of a man and his wife, the main root, source, and origin of all other relationships." 

Thomas Gataker

     "Creatures, like pictures, are most beautiful from a distance.  But it is not so with Christ. The nearer the soul approaches Him, and the longer it lives in the enjoyment of Him, still the sweeter and more desirable He becomes... He is bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, a garment to the naked, and healing to the wounded. Whatever a soul can desire is found in Him."

John Flavel

     "What is the Gospel itself but a merciful moderation, in which Christ's obedience is esteemed ours, and our sins laid upon Him, wherein God, from being a judge, becomes our Father, pardoning our sins and accepting our obedience, though feeble and blemished."

Richard Sibbes

     "Men would sooner believe that the Gospel is from heaven, if they saw more of its heavenly effects in the hearts and lives of those who profess it."

Richard Baxter

     "One word of seasonable, prudent advice, given by a minister to persons in need, may be of more use than many sermons."

Richard Baxter

     "It is the same impossibility for a thing to be created out of nothing, as to be created by nothing." 

William Law

     "He only that stills the stormy seas, can quiet the distressed and tempestuous soul."

John Flavel

     "A man may easier see without eyes, or speak without a tongue, than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit."

John Owen

     "Humility is a strange flower -- it grows best in winter weather and under storms of affliction."

Samuel Rutherford

     "There are two aspects to love; the one is to give, the other is to forgive." 

John Boys

     "In marriage a husband must choose his love, and then he must love his choice." 

Henry Smith

     "God commands nothing but what is beneficial...  To obey God is not so much our duty as our privilege." 

Thomas Watson

     "If you neglect instructing your children in the way of holiness, will the devil neglect to instruct them in the way of wickedness? No. If you will not teach them to pray, he will teach them to curse, swear, and lie.  If ground remain uncultivated, weeds will spring up on it."

John Flavel

     "Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."

John Bunyan

     "All married persons must above all things, love, respect and cherish grace in one another."

Thomas Taylor

     In the Bonds of Christian Affection, Pastor Jeff