Temptation

Greetings!

     Today's "thought" has to do with temptation -- something every one of us is very familiar with!   In fact, it's something Jesus was very familiar with as well, according to Hebrews 4:15.  Yet, in this thought, taken from a devotional book by Michael DiMarco called "Devotions for the God Guy," (don't let the title mislead you, this one is for guys and girls alike!) he looks at temptation in a slightly different way. The more subtle ways that it works. The often overlooked ways.  The ways where temptation sometimes comes disguised as what we think is virtue.  Enjoy.

"The Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted of the devil." 

Matthew 4:1

     "The most obvious temptation is the temptation to do wrong things.  But what about the temptation to do good things for God? Have you ever been tempted to be great in the eyes of God? Have you ever thought about how amazing it would be to save the world with your gifts, or to become the best in some area of ministry?  This kind of temptation is tricky because it looks all noble and good. But at the heart of it is a bit of pride, and that pride puts the focus on you instead of God.

     We've got Christian "stars."  Those people in the faith who've made it big.  They even have fan clubs.  But that should never be your goal.  When it is, Satan uses your dream of fame to distract you and make it all about you. After Jesus was baptized, immediately he went went out into the desert to be tempted. Do you remember how he was tempted?  He wasn't just tempted to do wrong, but to do God-like things. Things that proved he was who he said he was, like commanding the angels [to keep his foot from striking a stone], or turning the rocks into bread (Matt. 4:1-11).  

     Maybe once you were saved you became tempted to do great things too, so that you could prove yourself, get the glory, be successful, or have a greater purpose. So don't look at temptation as just a chance to do bad things, but look at your heart and make sure it doesn't want to be worshiped just a little bit.  Make sure it doesn't want glory or fame.  Don't let it lead you to try and take the attention away from Jesus.  Everything you do as a God Guy should be to bring glory to God and not yourself (Isaiah 42:8)."

     These are temptations to sin that we often overlook because they're masked under the cloak of what could be seen as virtue in our society.  We have celebrities everywhere, why not in Christian circles?  How could that be so wrong -- especially if it gets us followers who heed what we say about Jesus?  Sometimes we forget that with God it is not necessarily the things we do that makes them sin, but the motive we do them for. After all, what's wrong with wanting people to admire us, look up to us, and be our "fans"?

     It goes back to the admirable attitude exemplified by John the Baptist (which I preached on this past Sunday): "He (Jesus) must increase, I must decrease."  Wrong motivations do motivate us, for self-interest is a very powerful motivator.  But it is also the road that leads us to sin in a faith where Jesus is to have the preeminence or supremacy (Colossians 1:15-20).  A faith where we are to see ourselves (regardless of the effort or endeavor) as "unworthy servants" who have simply "done our duty" (Luke 17:10).  As Paul says of himself and Apollos in I Corinthians 3:7 in regard to sharing the gospel and seeing people come to faith: "So neither he who plants (Paul) nor he who waters (Apollos) is anything, but only God who makes things grow."  In a culture which loves making idols out of people, we need to be careful we do not see as good something that is actually a temptation to sin. 

     May we ponder the words of Jesus more extensively when he says, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"-- especially when the evil doesn't seem all that evil.

Only By His Grace, Pastor Jeff

How to Walk With God.

Greetings All,

Today's thought comes from the first chapter of a book I read as I was starting out in the ministry.  It was 1987 and the book was written by a man who was having a ministry of great impact at that time in New England -- Everett L. Fullam.  The book is entitled, "How to Walk With God."    Yet, before Fullam tells us how to walk with God (by faith, of course), he points out one necessary detail many overlook in terms of the Being we hope to walk with by faith.  Enjoy.

     "The most distinguishing characteristic of the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob -- the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ -- is His holiness. It's not His great power. It's not His infinite wisdom or knowledge. It's His holy character, with no dark spots, no shadows, but rather light through and through. His holiness means a consistency of purpose that is never deflected and a constancy of devotion in continual and eternal covenant.  If we are going to be among those who seek the Lord, we must concern ourselves with His holiness -- and concentrate on responding with a personal holiness that conforms to the will and purpose of God (Hebrews 12:14 / I Peter 1:16). 

     Holiness is not a popular idea today. There is a form of Christianity that is devoid of holiness, an eloquent testimony that its god is not the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, nor is it the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. People fashion gods after their own images and relate to those gods (those idols) on their own terms, because their gods are products of their own self-creation. In the early chapters of his prophecy, Isaiah recorded a marvelous vision of God seated high and lifted up on a throne. Isaiah wrote that God's train filled the temple, and that the pillars of the temple trembled at the presence of God.  He saw the place was filled with smoke and seraphs and angels flew about, singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts" (Isaiah 6:3).  In perceiving this God, the first words that came from his mouth were, "Woe is me, for I am undone. Because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips."  He had been dealing with the real God, and said: "For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 6:5).

     The only time we can deal with God and not be impressed by the depths of our need is when we fashion a god after our own liking and worship that god. We can deal with that god and remain the same, but if we come into the presence of the living God, we are struck with our own need. If we are unwilling to deal with the things in our lives that are contrary to the purpose of God, then we are not dealing with the holy God. We are dealing with an idol of our own imagining...  Whatever concerns us ultimately, whatever is the controlling dynamic of our life, is our god. For some people it is family, for others its careers, or getting ahead, or reaching the top. Whatever is dominant in our life is our god; and if it is anything other than the Lord God Himself, that's idolatry.  Before we can walk with Him we need to deal with those things. He wants His people to allow Him to be supreme, and so He told Abram to leave his country, his people, and his father's house. He told him to throw away the gods of his forefathers so he could start afresh, so he could learn to serve Him in singular faithfulness...

     God is a God of mercy -- He is a God of the second chance, and the third chance, and the fourth chance, and fifth and sixth and so on. When we come to Him -- even though we've been walking in the wrong direction,  even though we've stopped for a time and have not been moving at all -- if we recognize that we've been disobedient, and confess and deal with our sin by repentance, we can start over again right away.  God's forgiveness cleanses, and the grace of God again begins to flow toward us, and in us, as the joy of our salvation is restored."

     In our day it must be asked if we seek to walk with God as He really is.  That is, if we seek to walk with the God who is revealed in the Bible as being Holy above all else -- Holy, Holy Holy.  Unspeakably Holy and unalterably opposed to sin.  A God who as Fullam points out, calls us to be holy as He is holy (I Peter 1:16).  In many ways this calls us to divest ourselves of some of the common misrepresentations we have about Him in our minds. It means we must be willing to rid ourselves of the images of Him that we've created (or adopted over time) that make us feel more comfortable in dealing with Him.

     In 1987 when Fullam wrote the book, he could say, "Holiness is not a popular idea today."  I would say that is even more the case today.  Yet if we are to walk with God we must not ignore His primary attribute.  For we are told He is, "the Holy One of Israel."   We are told to "glory in His Holy name" (I Chron. 16:10).  Scripture tells us, "our God is Holy," and "His ways are Holy" (Ps. 77:13 / Ps. 99:9).  No other attribute of God is ever repeated three times in rapid succession. God is never said to be, "Love, Love Love," or"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy."  But He is said on three occasions to be, "Holy, Holy, Holy."  And therefore, if we desire to walk with Him, we must seek to grasp -- maybe above all else -- exactly what that means. For if we do not envision a God who is holy, we are not envisioning the God who is.

May we learn to walk with Him in holiness and reverence, Pastor Jeff 

Ecclesiastes, The Search For Meaning

Greetings All,

     I trust this email finds you well!  Today I thought I would share some thoughts on one of my favorite books in the Bible -- the Book of Ecclesiastes.  These "thoughts" come from a Brit (I'm assuming from the name he's originally from Wales).  His name is Selwyn Hughes, and they come from a Bible Study booklet in the series, "Every Day With Jesus."  The title of this particular volume is: Ecclesiastes, The Search For Meaning."

     Solomon begins this book with a rather shocking statement: "Meaningless, meaningless," says the Teacher... Everything is meaningless!"  Yet we must remember it's a statement qualified by the other frequently-repeated phrase in the book, "under the sun," which essentially means, "focused only on the things of earth."   "Under the sun" essentially means, "life lived without consideration of God," or "life viewed apart from the acknowledgement God," or "life lived apart from a relationship with God."   So, with that clarification, I hope you find these thoughts challenging, relevant and useful. Enjoy.

     "The main message of the book comes through it's opening statement: "Everything is meaningless."  Seeing the utter futility of life is the first step to an encounter with God. Many are not ready to meet with the Lord until they have been silenced by the futility of this world in which they live. I heard someone say that the first book of the Bible everyone should read is the book of Ecclesiastes -- because it silences you.  When we see as clearly as Solomon saw that the world does not provide us with the life for which our souls were created, then we are more likely to turn to the true source of happiness -- the eternal God Himself.  One of the reasons why some of us do not know God well is because we have never been convinced of the utter futility of trying to find life in things. We have not been silenced. We must let Ecclesiastes silence us, and and in that silence we may experience a deeper awareness of God...

     One of the reasons why Solomon uses such forceful language...is to break through our defensive attempts to avoid reality.  It was T. S. Elliot who once said: "Humankind cannot bear too much reality." Psychologists warn that we should be careful about stripping away people's defenses, as coming face to face with reality too quickly can cause those who are fragile to slide into depression. The author of Ecclesiastes seems unconcerned about this, however, and tells us over and over again, and with deep conviction that life, "under the sun" is futile... 

     He tells us how his determination to find purpose for living led him to deep and serious study. But study, and trying to grasp the meaning of the universe by the intellect alone, proved also to be futile. He says that it is like "chasing after the wind" (chap. 1:17).... Yet if education, intellectualism, and philosophy are not the routes to making life work, then what is? Perhaps (say some) life can be found in pleasure. Not so, says Solomon [and who would know better than a man who had 700 wives and 300 live in prostitutes?!]. Pleasure pleases, but it is powerless to quench the ache that exists in the soul.

     Solomon provides us with a list of ways that pleasure can be gained, but he gives all of them the "thumbs down."  The first pleasure is laughter (2:2).  Send in the clowns.  Bring on the jokers. Let's hear the funny one-liners. But as almost everyone knows, those who bring laughter to thousands are themselves often desperately unhappy.  Billy Graham tells the story of a man who went to a doctor for help with his depression. "I'll give you something better than anti-depressants," said the doctor. "Go to see the clown at the local circus. He has just arrived in the town and is sending people into hysterics." The man looked at the doctor and dolefully said, "I am that clown."

     If laughter cannot satisfy, then perhaps drink will help.  "I tried cheering myself with wine," Solomon says (2:3). But clearly that did not satisfy either. He then threw himself in a great round of activity -- great projects and achievements like building a house for himself, planting vineyards, purchasing male and female slaves, buying up herds and flocks, amassing silver and gold, and finally equipping himself with a harem -- what he describes as, "the delights of the heart of a man" (Chap. 2, v 4-8).  He even tried fame and making a name for himself (v.9). But did these things work? Here's his conclusion: "everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind..."  He is not saying these things did not bring pleasure. He is making the point that this kind of pleasure just does not last...

     Facing the realities of life can greatly provoke anxiety. The moment when we face the fact that there is nothing in this world -- no person, place or thing -- that can meet the deepest ache in our soul, is probably one of the most solemn moments of our existence. Many can't face that kind of reality so they escape into such things as fantasies, endless rounds of activity, drink, sensual pleasures, and so on...  Satisfaction in things is found only when they are seen as being behind God and not in front of Him. When God is not first, then everything around which we wrap our affections are unsatisfying idols. There are two paths we can choose: One is to find life in God and enjoy the provision of His hands; the other is to find life in things, and turn our back on God. The latter is "meaningless," says Solomon. It's like "chasing after the wind.'"

     I myself went through a period, in my late teens and early 20's, of trying to make sense of the world if God did not exist.  It was one of the primary things that drove me into a lengthy period of depression.  Thinking God did not exist made it much easier to sin, but it also made life (and all I did) meaningless and inconsequential. If there are no eternal consequences for anything we do, life becomes completely meaningless and somewhat intolerable. It even led me to entertain thoughts of suicide.

     I still say to this day that the only way one can be an atheist and think life has meaning is to lie to oneself.  To make up what a world without God can never supply.  To be "content" in a life lived apart from God ("under the sun") does not come from asking important questions and getting satisfying answers, it comes from refusing to ask enough questions.  It comes from being content not to connect the dots, or follow the path godless thinking to the depressing dead end where it will always lead when life is considered without reference to God.

     I do not encourage anyone to stop asking questions. I encourage them to ask one after another after another and not stop!  Because I believe (as Solomon shows and many others have discovered) that at the end of those all those questions -- if they dare ask them all -- one will run headlong into the eternal Absolute that stands behind all that exists. The road of truly seeking does not lead to nothing, it leads through the nothingness of human futility to the ultimate reality we call God. But we must press things to the limit, because it's a lesson many can only learn after trying all those other things and discovering they end in futility and will not satisfy the truly thirsty soul.

Grace and Peace, Pastor Jeff

The Knowledge of the Holy

Greetings All,

     Today's 'thought' goes along with a sermon I preached from Revelation 4:1 this past Sunday, entitled: "The Script Has Already Been Written."  For that verse speaks of God's plan for the future and how it "must" come to pass.

     In this thought A. W. Tozer elaborates on that same topic with his typical clarity. This selection is found in his superb book, "The Knowledge of the Holy."

     Given the world situation at this present time (which seems like a pressure cooker about to explode!) such biblical truths can ease many of our fears, and give us the encouragement we need to look to the future with hope.  Enjoy.

     "God's Sovereignty is the attribute by which He rules His entire creation, and to be sovereign God must be all-knowing, all-powerful, and absolutely free... Only God is free. God is said to be absolutely free because no one and no thing can hinder Him or compel Him or stop Him. He is able to do as He pleases always, everywhere, forever.  To be thus free means also that He must possess universal authority...

     Even to discuss the authority of Almighty God seems a bit meaningless, and to question it would be absurd.  Can we imagine the Lord God of Hosts having to request permission of anyone or to apply for anything to a higher body?  To whom would God go for permission? Who is higher than the Highest?  Who is mightier than the Almighty?  Whose position antedates that of the Eternal?  At whose throne would God kneel?  Where is the greater one to whom He must appeal? (Is. 45:5, 20-21 / 46:5, 8-10)...

     [Yet] if God rules his universe by His sovereign decrees, how is it possible for man to exercise freedom of choice? And if he cannot exercise freedom of choice, how can he be held responsible for his conduct? Is he not a mere puppet whose actions are determined by a behind-the-scenes God who pulls the strings as it pleases Him?

     The attempt to answer these questions has divided the Christian church neatly into two camps [one denying God's sovereignty, the other man's will to choose]...

     Here is my view: God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make, but that he should be free to make it.  If in His absolute freedom God has willed to give man limited freedom, who is there to stay His hand or say, "What doest Thou?"  Man's will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so.

     Perhaps an illustration might help us to understand. An ocean liner leaves New York bound for Liverpool. Its destination has been determined by proper authorities. Nothing can change it. This is at least a faint picture of sovereignty.

     On board the liner are several scores of passengers. These are not in chains, neither are their activities determined for them by decree. They are completely free to move about as they will. They eat, sleep, play, lounge about on the deck, read, talk, altogether as they please. But all the while the great liner is carrying them steadily onward toward a predetermined port. Both freedom and sovereignty are present here and they do not contradict each other. So it is, I believe, with man's freedom and the sovereignty of God. The mighty liner of God's sovereign design keeps its steady course over the sea of history. God moves undisturbed and unhindered toward the fulfillment of those eternal purposes which He purposed in Christ Jesus before the world began.

     Toward [the fulfillment of all God has decreed and promised] God is moving with infinite wisdom and perfect precision. No one can dissuade Him from His purposes; nothing can turn Him aside from His plans. Since He is omniscient, there can be no unforeseen circumstances, no accidents. As He is sovereign, there can be no countermanded orders, no breakdown in authority; and as He is omnipotent, there can be no want of power to achieve His chosen ends... Within the broad field of God's sovereign, permissive will, the deadly conflict of good and evil continues with increasing fury. God will yet have His way in the whirlwind and the storm, but the storm and the whirlwind are here, and as responsible beings we must make our choice in the present moral situation."

     There are certain things I might phrase a bit differently than Tozer, but his points are well taken. God is sovereign, man is responsible. God decrees and ordains all that happens, yet without ever violating our liberty to choose. His plan will unalterably come to pass -- the ship is going to Liverpool! (to use his illustration) -- but we still have the liberty to make choices for which we will be held responsible (Westminster Confession, Chapter 3, section 1 -- On God's Eternal Decrees).

     To use the words of Revelation 4:1, "Come up here and I will show you what MUST take place after this."  In the end it will all unfold just as God has decreed. This means that when things look out of control (from our perspective) we can be thankful God still occupies the throne of His sovereign rule, and is, "moving with infinite wisdom and perfect precision" to carry out His plan for the ages.

Under the shadow of His wings, Pastor Jeff

Called

Greetings All,

 

      This week's 'thought' comes to you from "The Call -- Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life," by Os Guiness.  It's a book that is profoundly insightful, intellectually and spiritually stimulating, and personally encouraging, while also being challenging. If you want to understand postmodern culture -- and especially want to help your older children or other young people find direction and a way through the maddening maze of contemporary life-alternatives -- this book is extremely helpful.  Guiness has an uncanny grasp of human need, sees the big picture, and relates it to the smaller details of modern life very well. 

      I know this quote is long, but ask you not to ignore it for that reason!  It was difficult to condense into a short selection, since the whole chapter is so good.  It comes from the chapter entitled: "A Focused Life."   If you are one who often feels like life is confusing, superficial, too fast-paced and overloaded with too many alternatives, options and choices, you may gain helpful insight and guidance for your dilemma from his words -- words you can share with others.  Enjoy.  

    "Pluralization is the process by which the proliferation of choice and change rapidly multiplies the number of options. This affects modern society at all levels, from consumer goods to relationships to worldviews and faiths... The modern world offers an endless range of choice and change, overwhelming traditional simplicities and cohesion.... Life has become a smorgasbord with an endless array of dishes.  And more important still, choice is no longer just a state of mind. Choice has become a value, a priority, a right.  To be modern is to be addicted to choice and change.  These are the unquestioned essence of modern life.  

    Some of the effects of pluralization are desvastating... For example, the increase in choice and change leads to decrease in commitment and continuity -- to everyone and everything. Thus, obligation melts into option and choice.  Other effects are also terribly obvious -- above all the way in which choice and change lead quickly to a sense of fragmentation, saturation, and overload.  In the modern world there are simply too many choices, too many people to relate to, too much to do, too much to see, too much to read, too much to catch up with and follow, too much to buy.  

     Each choice sprouts with its own questions.  Might we? Could we? Should we? Will we? Won't we? What if we had? What if we hadn't? The forest of questions leads deeper and deeper into the dark freedom, then to the ever darker anxiety of seemingly infinite possibility. At some point different to us all, a cut-off switch kicks in.  We are overloaded, saturated. There is too much to do and too little time to do it.  But life goes on.  Neither planning nor juggling can span the gap.  But life goes on.  At the level of our relationships alone, their sheer number, variety, and intensity become impossible. But life goes on. One minute we feel the vertigo of unlimited possibility and the next the frustration of superficiality. But life goes on. 

     The result is not only overload but also a profound loss of unity, solidity, and coherence in life. Experience comes to us shredded into fragments and episodes.  Each moment stands on its own, with neither roots in any yesterday, not consequences for any tomorrow.  Like a sound-bite or a headline, each experience bursts into our attention and quickly fades from our memory. So today's rage is ridiculous tomorrow; today's celebrity is tomorrows bore.  Not surprisingly, attention-deficit is a contemporary disorder and genuine tradition is a scarce commodity. 

      Stone, it is said, was the medium for the ancients and steel for the early moderns; ours is plastic and the name of the game is recycling.  'One-and-only' and 'forever' are obsolete, and 'needing more space' is our most readily given excuse.  In our fragmented lives the one thing necessary is to "keep our options open." The art of "identity building" is more a matter of fluidity than fixture.  And since the rules of the game change as fast as the games themselves, we are taught to avoid above all else, being 'stuck' with commitments that might 'mortgage' the freedom of tomorrow...

   Yet the very character of [our God-given] calling counters the fragmentation and overload at key points and opens up the secret of a focused life in a saturated world: First, calling subverts the deadly modern idolatry of choice... Choice for modern people is a right that overwhelms both responsibility and rationality... But, ultimately, only one thing can conquer choice -- being chosen.  

    Thus, for followers of Christ, calling neutralizes the fundamental poison of choice in modern life. 'I have chosen you,' Jesus said, 'you have not chosen me.' (John 15:16) 'We are not our own, we were bought with a price.' (I Cor. 6:19-20)  We have no rights, only responsibilities.  Following Christ is not our initiative, it is merely our response, in obedience. Nothing works better to debunk the pretensions of choice than a conviction of calling.  Once we have been called, we literally 'have no choice.'

    Second, calling provides the story line for our lives and thus a sense of continuity and coherence in the midst of a fragmented and confusing world.  The saturation and overload produced by pluralization, and reinforced by mobility, are a leading cause of modern alienation.  If we have lived too many places, had too many jobs, known too many people, and watched too much TV, how do we make sense of it all?  Is there a story line to our lives or are they just a jumble of experiences that are, 'sound and fury, signifying nothing'?... 

     Whenever we feel this dilemma, calling reminds us that there were nomads before modern mobility -- and calling gave them meaning.  Thus Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees and followed the call of God without knowing where he was going. The people of Israel crossed a trackless desert following a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  In both cases their sense of direction and meaning came soley from God's call, not from their foresight, their wisdom, or their ability to read their circumstances. They were on their way to a land of promise.  They did not always know the way God was leading them, but they always knew why they trusted God: His word was the promise and his call was the way...  Follow the call of Christ despite the uncertainty and chaos of modern circumstances, and you have the story line of your life.

    Third, calling helps us to be single-minded without being fanatics. Modern choice and change, reinforced by the pace and pressure of modern life, constantly threaten to diffuse our concentration and dissipate our energy... The dangerous notion that 'the need is the call,' is a sure recipe for overload and confusion... The remedy, needless to say, lies in setting wise goals and setting aside everything else.  But how? Long ago the writer of Proverbs observed, 'Folly may amuse the empty-headed, but a man of understanding makes straight for his goal.'  More recently, Harvard philosopher George Santayana wrote, "in accomplishing anything definite a man renounces everything else' ....

     A sense of calling helps because it provides the bull's-eye at the center of the widening concentric circles that are life's possibilities.  Modern life assaults us with an infinite range of things we could do, we would love to do, or some people tell us we should do.  But we are not God and we are neither infinite nor eternal.  We are quite simply finite. We have only so many years, so much energy, and so many bank notes in our wallets... Let God's calling be the ultimate compass in your life... [For] calling is a 'yes' to God that carries with it a 'no' to the chaos of modern demands, and helps us trace and unriddle the meaning of our lives in a chaotic world."    

       We live in a challenging era, where living out our faith in Christ is difficult (maybe more difficult than ever before), and thus empathy and compassion for struggling and lost souls, and not anger, or an escapist desire for a "return to simpler days," needs to drive us to offer advice such as which Mr. Guiness gives. Advice which is intelligent, coherent, wise, and finds its source in the high calling of God, and not your typical superficial remedies.

                             That we may all reorient ourselves to the compass point of His call, 

Pastor Jeff

Comforting

Greetings All,

Most of you know the often quoted first question and answer of the Westminster Larger Catechism: "What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever."

In recent years John Piper suggested it could be ammended to read: "What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever."

But today I offer you the first question and answer of another confession you may not know as well - The Heidelberg Catechism. It is one I have sometimes used as a call to worship, since it is so rich in its expression. I offer it to you who may not be familar with it since the truths it expresses are so beautifully and majestically proclaimed. Enjoy!

"Q. -- What is your only comfort, in life and in death?

A. -- That I belong - body and soul, in life and in death -

not to myself, but to my faithful Saviour,

Jesus Christ, Who at the cost of his own blood,

has fully paid for all my sins,

and has completely freed me

from the dominion of the devil;

That he protects me so well,

that without the will of my Father

in heaven not a hair can fall from my head;

Indeed, that everything must fit his purpose

for my salvation.

Therefore, by his Holy Spirit,

He also assures me of eternal

life, and makes me wholeheartedly

willing and ready from now on to live for him."


It's true. No matter what we are struggling with, it cannot come into our lives unless it has first passed through the filter of God's love for us as His grace-adopted children. I believe the catechism is right. Everything our sovereign Father permits to enter the life of one of His children "must fit his purpose for (our) salvation."

In the Bonds of Christian Charity, Pastor Jeff