Six Words

I'm not sure how I stumbled upon this but here it is:

Some have reported that the idea was inspired by an old story about writer Ernest Hemingway, who reportedly won a bar bet by composing a story in only six words. Hemingway is said to have called it his best writing. His submission: "For sale: baby shoes, never used."

Taking it further some have used that idea as an amusing parlor game of sorts: Sum up your life in six words, if you can.

Here are some entries:

"Frankly, it is all about me."

"Child, adult, wife, mom, widow, me."

"Not what I expected, but fun."



What would be the six words that sum up your life?

Send in your entry .... you can remain anonymous.

Exposition

"The preached Word, applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit, is the essential instrument through which God shapes His people. As the Reformers remind us, it is through preaching that Christ is present among His people."



From "He Is Not Silent" by R. Albert Mohler, Jr., published by Moody Publishers, 2008, pg. 69.

Remember THE Reason?

I ran across the following portion of a sermon by Charles Spurgeon in a post by Dan Phillips.

I recall reading a small tract which quotes this portion of Spurgeon's sermon regarding Christmas and the unbiblical warrant for celebrating the holiday but this is the first time I have read his position on using the holiday as a means of preaching to the celebrants. I think this perhaps balances Spurgeons thoughts on the subject.




"WE HAVE NO superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Saviour; and, consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Saviour's birth, although there is no possibility of discovering when it occurred. Fabricius gives a catalogue of 136 different learned opinions upon the matter; and various divines invent weighty arguments for advocating a date in every month in the year. It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the church celebrated the nativity of our Lord; and it was not till very long after the Western church had set the example, that the Eastern adopted it. Because the day is not known, therefore superstition has fixed it; while, since the day of the death of our Saviour might be determined with much certainty, therefore superstition shifts the date of its observance every year. Where is the method in the madness of the superstitious? Probably the fact is that the holy days were arranged to fit in with heathen festivals. We venture to assert, that if there be any day in the year, of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which the Saviour was born, it is the twenty-fifth of December. Nevertheless since, the current of men's thoughts is led this way just now, and I see no evil in the current itself, I shall launch the bark of our discourse upon that stream, and make use of the fact, which I shall neither justify nor condemn, by endeavoring to lead your thoughts in the same direction. Since it is lawful, and even laudable, to meditate upon the incarnation of the Lord upon any day in the year, it cannot be in the power of other men's superstitions to render such a meditation improper for to-day. Regarding not the day, let us, nevertheless, give God thanks for the gift of his dear son."
From Joy Born at Bethlehem, preached December 24, 1871.


As Mr. Phillips observes, "...even though the association is bad, preaching about the incarnation any day of the year is good..."



Although, for the record, I will do without the 'over-the-top' holiday schmaltz, santa clause, falsity, etc., so celebrated today.

So, What's New?

The following was sent to my wife and I thought worth posting in keeping with the wisdom of Solomon.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. (Eccl. 1:9)

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refitted, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest (the nation) become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

Who wrote that sage advice? Cicero. In 55 B.C. The nation referred to is Rome. Cicero was a Roman statesman and constitutionalist of the first level.

For those who refuse to believe the Scriptures but want to know how our nation will fare if it continues on the path it has chosen crack open a history book (preferrably one that hasn't been tampered with by the "factually-challenged", i.e. the revisionists of the past half century). Read what happened to the Roman Empire as it degenerated more and more. As our nation follows in the Roman Empire's footsteps it will certainly come to the same end.

May our Sovereign God wake our nation up!

...my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway....Like the east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. I will show them my back, not my face, in the day of their calamity. (Jeremiah 18:15-17)

A Plea

My Dear Sister in Christ,

You have now been absent from the body for over a month now - failing to attend the services of the church and absenting yourself from the Lord's table. We have spoken on the telephone and both shared thoughts regarding your situation and one of the questions I posed to you was, "What biblical evidence do you give for taking the route you are taking and absenting yourself from the church you so faithfully have been attending?" What biblical reason can you give for leaving the local church you helped to begin and covenanted with others "..to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines..."?

Is your leaving a result of the Pastor hurting your feelings? You complain that the preaching has been directed to you or against you? Does this wound your conscience? Would you prefer he spoke ‘smooth things'? Is the preaching not supposed to ‘stir the conscience'? If he was wrong have you forgiven him?

Or perhaps, you feel that he is unconcerned about your soul? That he fails to pray for you? That he does not try and meet your spiritual needs as much as possible?

Perhaps you feel the church lacks a proper understanding of the fundamentals of the gospel? Is the soteriology of the church in error? Do you feel that the church does not care for each member of the body? Do you feel unloved by its members? Do you not observe any evidence of God's grace upon the church?

You state that you have a difference of opinion in your interpretation of some doctrine in the Bible that necessitates your leaving the church but also acknowledge that you have an interpretation that many faithful preachers do not hold. Is this an adequate reason?

So, you leave off attending your church to travel some distance to another church to hear someone who you describe as a good preacher. That is for now. What will you do when he says or does something that you feel isn't correct? When he preaches something you disagree with? Things that you feel are directed against you or are offensive to you? What will you do when the church doesn't feel so caring? When you have a disagreement with them?

I'm afraid you're beginning a long, lonely, unbiblical trip that has many problems along the route. Problems that can be avoided by returning to the church you are a member of that wants to grow with you together in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have many good qualities that the Holy Spirit can use enabling you to contribute to the growth of the church.

We're not perfect. Our pastor is not perfect. I am not perfect. I have lots of questions but seek to resolve them by working in the church. I believe that Christ intends His church to grow and we are to be His instruments used by the Spirit of God. This takes work and charity and love and patience and......well you get the idea.

Christ has provided us with the analogy of His church as a body to help us understand our inter-dependence upon, not independence of, one another. You are part of our body........and we miss you.



If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ....So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:1-7,13 )

The Confrontation

The following is adapted from the book, "A Simple Way to Pray" by Dr. Archie Parrish, which I thought appropriate to share in this time that some think our world is falling apart.

"One of the most significant events in what would become the Protestant struggle took place in Worms, Germany in the year 1521.....

On April 17, 1521, the marshal of the empire escorted Martin Luther, wearing his monk's robes, from his lodgings to the assembly diet. The archbishop of Treves asked him two questions: Would he acknowledge those books that were laid upon a bench before him to be his productions, and would he recant the opinions contained in them? .... after hearing the titles read, he answered, "Yes". However, to the second question, at the suggestion of his counselor, he requested that he be allowed until the next day to consider his answer.

That night in his room Luther prayed:

‘The bell has been already cast, judgment has been pronounced. Ah God, ah God, O You, my God. Stand by me; do this, You must do it, You alone! The matter is not mine, it is Yours. O God, do You not hear? My God, art Thou dead? No, You cannot die; You only hide Yourself. Stand by me. Lord, where do You tarry? Where art You, O my God? Come, come! I am ready, even to forsake my life for this, submissive as a lamb, for righteous is this cause which is Yours. And should my body perish for this cause, should it fall to the ground, year, be broken to fragments, yet Your Word and Your Spirit are enough. And all this can happen only to the body; the soul is Yours and belongs to You and will remain forever with You.'

In the quiet of his room Luther might have thought about John Huss (1372-1415), who had been burned at the stake for seeking reforms similar to those that he now sought. The words of his prayer show that Luther knew that what he said to the diet the next day might soon result in a similar sentence for him. Luther's heart turned to God in Psalm 46, which was written at a time when the psalmist saw the world falling apart. This at this time of Luther's great crisis this psalm became a major source of encouragement. Psalm 46 reads:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

After meditating on this psalm, Luther wrote:

A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our Helper He, amid the flood
O'er mortal ills prevailing......."

The rest, as they say, is history.


A Simple Way To Pray (pg. 21) - Published by Serve International, Inc., Marietta, GA. rev. 2005.

Nothing Changes

Under the heading of "nothing new under the sun".....

Regarding the practice of "Pastoral Visitations" and the 'busy-ness' of today's family...

"Indeed, amid the artificial arrangements of modern society, the great difficulty often is to find any time suitable for such visitations, families being so variously occupied with the employments of active life, and so seldom for any length of time gathered together in their respective homes."

From "Pastoral Theology" by Patrick Fairbairn, first published in 1875.
(Old Paths Publications, Audubon, NJ)

An Expositional Listener

"...expositional listening benefits the gathered congregation. Repeatedly, the New Testament writers exhort local churches to be unified - to be of one mind. Paul writes to one local church, "I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there may be no divisions among you, but that you may be united in the same mind and the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1:10; see also Rom. 12:16; 2 Cor. 13::; 1 Pet. 3:8). As we gather together in our local churches and give ourselves to hearing the voice of God through his preached Word, we're shaped into one body. We are united in understanding and purpose. And that unity testifies to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ (John 17:21). But if we listen with our own interests and agendas in mind, if we develop "private interpretations" and idiosyncratic views, we risk shattering that unity, provoking disputes over doubtful matters, and weakening our corporate gospel witness."

An excerpt from "What Is A Healthy Church Member" by Thabiti Anyabwile - Publ. by Crossway Books, Wheaton, Il - 2008 - (pg. 21)