Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. … [God] ordered the Jews to preserve and propagate to all mankind the doctrine of a supreme, intelligent, wise, almighty sovereign of the universe… the great essential principle of morality, and consequently all civilization.” —John Adams, in a letter to Judge F. A. Van der Kemp, February 16, 1809

I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man. (Hosea 11:9) 

The Lord thus makes known His sparing mercies. It may be that the reader is now under heavy displeasure, and everything threatens his speedy doom. Let the text hold him up from despair. The Lord now invites you to consider your ways and confess your sins. If He had been man, He would long ago have cut you off. If He were now to act after the manner of men, it would be a word and a blow and then there would be an end of you: but it is not so, for “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are His ways above your ways.” 

You rightly judge that He is angry, but He keepeth not His anger forever: if you turn from sin to Jesus, God will turn from wrath. Because God is God, and not man, there is still forgiveness for you, even though you may be steeped up to your throat in iniquity. You have a God to deal with and not a hard man, or even a merely just man. No human being could have patience with you. You would have wearied out an angel, as you have wearied your sorrowing Father; but God is longsuffering. Come and try Him at once. Confess, believe, and turn from your evil way, and you shall be saved. —Charles Spurgeon, Faith′s Checkbook (February 16) 

Stomach-churning: Former Planned Parenthood Nurse Speaks Out

“It was not an easy task which the Church faced when she came down from that upper room…. Left to herself the Church must have perished as a thousand abortive sects had done before her, and have left nothing for a future generation to remember. That the Church did not so perish was due entirely to the miraculous element within her. That element was supplied by the Holy Spirit who came at Pentecost to empower her for her task. For the Church was not an organization merely, not a movement, but a walking incarnation of spiritual energy. And she accomplished within a few brief years such prodigies of moral conquest as to leave us wholly without an explanation—apart from God.” —A.W. Tozer

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

May God have mercy! Belgium Parliament Approves Euthanasia For Children

[VIDEO] Nailed it: Jon Stewart Calls Out Obama For Corrupt Ambassador Choices

Watch out! 7 Times Obama Ignored The Law With His Executive Orders

“The Christian who goes out without faith in ‘wonders’ will return without fruit. No one dare be so rash as to seek to do impossible things unless he has first been empowered by the God of the impossible. ‘The power of the Lord was there’ is our guarantee of victory.” —A.W. Tozer

Tim Elmore prepares us: Welcome To Our McCulture

So excited!! The Assembly of God and the United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God Unite

Ronald & Nancy Reagan loved each other deeply: Valentine′s Day Advice From Ronald Reagan

“Our blunder (or shall we frankly say our sin?) has been to neglect the doctrine of the Spirit to a point where we virtually deny Him His place in the Godhead. This denial has not been by open doctrinal statement, for we have clung closely enough to the Biblical position wherever our credal pronouncements are concerned. Our formal creed is sound; the breakdown is in our working creed. This is not a trifling distinction. A doctrine has practical value only as far as it is prominent in our thoughts and makes a difference in our lives. By this test the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as held by evangelical Christians today has almost no practical value at all. In most Christian churches the Spirit is quite entirely overlooked. Whether He is present or absent makes no real difference to anyone. Brief reference is made to Him in the Doxology and the Benediction. Further than that He might as well not exist. So completely do we ignore Him that it is only by courtesy that we can be called Trinitarian. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity boldly declares the equality of the Three Persons and the right of the Holy Spirit to be worshipped and glorified. Anything less than this is something less than Trinitarianism.” —A.W. Tozer

Poetry Saturday—Only A Dad

Edgar A. GuestOnly a dad, with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame,
To show how well he has played the game,
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come, and to hear his voice.

Only a dad, with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more.
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent, whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad, but he gives his all
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing, with courage stern and grim,
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen,
Only a dad, but the best of men. —Edgar A. Guest

A View To Pleasing God

I read an article this week 10 Bad Reasons To Be A Pastor. For the most part it was right on-target.

Even if we have the right reason (singular, not plural) for being a pastor—namely, that God called us—we can still battle discouragement over what is or isn’t happening in our ministry. I am convinced that much of this discouragement comes from listening to the wrong applause.

Chrysostom

John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom, a man very reluctant to answer God’s call on his life to enter the pastorate, wrote—

“Let, therefore, the man who undertakes the strain of teaching never give heed to the good opinion of the outside world, nor be dejected in soul on account of such persons; but laboring at his sermons so that he may please God, (For let this alone be his rule and determination, in discharging this best kind of workmanship, not acclamation, nor good opinions,) if, indeed, he be praised by men, let him not repudiate their applause, and when his hearers do not offer this, let him not seek it, let him not be grieved. For a sufficient consolation in his labors, and one greater than all, is when he is able to be conscious of arranging and ordering his teaching with a view to pleasing God. (emphasis added)

Our view must always be to pleasing God. It matters little whether humans hands applaud us or not. We must live, and preach, and discharge our pastoral duties solely for the applause of nail-scarred hands. If our Master says, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” what does it matter what anyone else says?

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

4 Health Dangers Of People-Pleasing

“What is so profoundly disturbing here is that the one person who takes a specific oath to defend the Constitution—to protect the Constitution, to defend the laws of the United States and to enforce the laws—is the one bastardizing them. The rule of law is disintegrating before our eyes.” —Rush Limbaugh. Read this: How Far Can Obama Go?

Amazing story! Miracle Baby Born After Sustains The Life Of His Brain-Dead Wife

“You see, the Lord’s concept of ‘church’ is much different from ours. We think of church as being a ministry to people. It is a place where all the needs of God’s people—spiritual, physical and emotional—are met. Of course, that is all part of what makes up a church. But the true Church, according to Scripture, begins with ministry to Jesus Christ. His concept of the Church is anyplace there is ministry to Him.” —David Wilkerson

Belief in science takes faith: Statistical Errors In The Scientific Method. “Change your statistical philosophy and all of a sudden different things become important. Then ‘laws’ handed down from God are no longer handed down from God. They’re actually handed down to us by ourselves, through the methodology we adopt.” —Dr. Steven Goodman, a physician and statistician at Stanford

The Bible says God has placed eternity in every human heart. Can this be verified? Evidence Of Eternity In Our Hearts?

“With good reason the ancient proverb strongly recommended knowledge of self to man. For if it is considered disgraceful for us not to know all that pertains to the business of human life, even more detestable is our ignorance of ourselves, by which, when making decisions in necessary matters, we miserably deceive and even blind ourselves! But since this precept is so valuable, we ought more diligently to avoid applying it perversely. This, we observe, has happened to certain philosophers, who, while urging man to know himself, propose the goal of recognizing his own worth and excellence. And they would have him contemplate in himself nothing but what swells him with empty assurance and puffs him up with pride. But knowledge of ourselves lies first in considering what we were given at creation and how generously God continues his favor toward us, in order to know how great our natural excellence would be if only it had remained unblemished; yet at the same time to bear in mind that there is in us nothing of our own, but that we hold on sufferance whatever God has bestowed upon us. Hence we are ever dependent on him. Secondly, to call to mind our miserable condition after Adam’s fall; the awareness of which, when all our boasting and self-assurance are laid low, should truly humble us and overwhelm us with shame.” —John Calvin

The dangers of our national debt: America In Debt

Thursdays With Oswald—The Power To Descend

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Oswald Chambers

The Power To Descend 

     The test of spiritual life is the power to descend; if we have power to rise only, there is something wrong. … Spiritual selfishness makes us want to stay on the mount; we feel so good, as if we could do anything—talk like angels and live like angels, if only we could stay there. But there must be the power to descend; the mountain is not the place for us live, we were built for the valleys. … 

   The reason we have to live in the valley is that the majority of people live there, and if we are to be of use to God in the world we must be useful from God’s standpoint, not from our own standpoint or the standpoint of other people. 

From The Love Of God

When Peter, James and John were with Jesus on the mountain and He was transfigured in their presence, Peter said, “Lord, let me build some shelters so we can stay here always!” (see Luke 9:28-36). But there was no one on the mountaintop, except for them. In the valley below was a demon-possessed boy who needed help (Luke 9:37-43). If they had stayed on that mountain, this boy would not have been helped.

On the day of Pentecost, the followers of Jesus were on the “mountaintop” of an upper room when the Holy Spirit baptized them (Acts 2:1-4). It was an amazing experience, probably very similar to what those apostles had seen with Jesus. It would have been very tempting to stay there, basking in the presence of God. But Jesus had said that this baptism in the Holy Spirit was to empower them for the “valley” of service (Acts 1:8). There were people in valleys all over the world who needed the good news of Jesus.

Mountaintops with God are great. God gives us these experiences so that we can be of greater service for Him in the valleys. The people are in the valleys and they need what you and I have received from God. Enjoy the mountaintop experience with God and then go quickly to minister in the valleys!

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

Truth! What Gossip Actually Does

“How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing, it is irresistible.” —C.S. Lewis

“The difference in winning and losing is most often not quitting.” —Walt Disney

A son shows his sick mother some love: A Message Of Love In The Snow

Max Lucado on what angers Jesus: Hucksters And Faith Peddlers

Researchers question the long-term effectiveness of ADHD medicines: The Smart-Pill Oversell

An interview with Alvin Plantinga: Is Atheism Irrational?

[VIDEO] A great TobyMac song with a great message: Speak Life

Sit Walk Stand

Sit Walk StandThis coming Sunday we begin a new series at Calvary Assembly of God called Sit Walk Stand: A Study In The Book Of Ephesians.

Why Ephesians? Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, who preached 232 sermons on this book to his packed-out church, said, “It is very difficult to speak of Ephesians in a controlled manner because of its greatness. Many have tried to describe it. One writer has described it as the crown and climax of Pauline theology. Another has said that it is the distilled essence of the Christian religion, the most authoritative and most consummate compendium of our holy Christian faith. What language! And it is by no means exaggerated.”

It is my desire that the congregation of Calvary Assembly of God be as biblically literate as I can encourage and resource them to be. So Tom Kaastra, a 38-year veteran pastor, is going to co-teach with me, and we’re going to spend the next 6-weeks mastering this powerful epistle. Then we’ll pick it up again around this same time next year, as we continue our way through the entire letter.

The name of our series—Sit Walk Stand—comes from Watchman Nee, who wrote, “Of all Paul’s epistles, it is in Ephesians that we find the highest spiritual truths concerning the Christian life. The letter abounds with spiritual riches, and yet at the same time is intensely practical.”

Please join us this Sunday at 10:30am.

Such Confidence!

Such Confidence“May God give you the desires of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” (Psalm 20:4)

How confident David is! How bold! And yet through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David says exactly what Our Lord taught—

If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you. (John 15:7)

I tell you the truth, My Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. (John 16:23)

This assurance to ask largely of our loving Heavenly Father looks to His provision alone. It believes and it asks. It knows that God can answer—“now I know (Psalm 20:6)—and that He does answer—You have granted all the desires of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips” (Psalm 21:2).

Oh, for faith to believe You and ask You for more!

How would your prayers change if you had the confident assurance of David?

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

Beat the flu: 10 Ways To Boost Your Immune System

[VIDEO] Better Google searches

For 20-somethings: 20 Things People Over 20 Should Stop Doing

“If Christians today want to find the right church, they must begin with prayer! No one is ever going to find God’s true Church by jumping on a bus, train or plane and racing around the world in search of it. We simply can’t get to His Church by any modern conveyance. The only reliable map is our secret closet of prayer!” —David Wilkerson

So President Obama, who has sworn to uphold the law of the land, won′t even uphold his own law?!? New Obamacare Delay

Truth: 10 Bad Reasons To Be A Pastor

“My greatest fear in life is standing before the Lord and hearing Him say, ‘I had so much more for you, but you held on too tightly.’” —Larry Burkett