On the Death of Children

My last post of Chalmers' letter to Mrs. M'Corquodale reminded me of this excerpt from a new book that the Founders Ministry has put out. Below is the chapter by Basil Manly, Sr.

Reflections on the uncertainty of human prospects, and the brevity of life chasten our worldly attachments.

As pilgrims we are reminded that this is not our rest, and are forbidden to love the world or the things of it...

Whith regard to children, particularly, as so large a portion of their lives is spent in helplessness, and so much of their future well-being depends on the care which is bestowed on their infancy and youth, God has opened two abundant fountains in nature to supply the streams of affection.

They are a part of our selves. They take our names, wear our features, and our blood runs in their veins...

The care and attention bestowed on their helpless years endear and strengthen affection - and for the same reason that benevolence is a stronger affection than gratitude...the love of a parent to a child is greater than that of a child to a parent.

Bereavement of children therefore is on this account more poignant and at the same time, the disparity of grief is further increased by the fact that parents have fewer mitigations than children for the most part have.

As to the death of parents, the course of nature leads us to anticipate their departure and the expectation diminishes the shock of this final fall.

But that of children is unexpected. We did not think to survive them, had hoped to be proffered in declining years to live again [with] them, and thus to mingle...with future generations.

Add to this, that in almost every instance there is some peculiarly touching circumstance which is affecting to a parent's mind, more than to that of any other relation...

We are not surprised therefore at the feelings which some have manifested - David for Absalom; Jacob for Joseph - It is what many feel.

This however was immoderate - Jacob afterwards was brought to a better mind. Under more complicated evils of the same kind he said, "If I be bereaved, etc."

Let it be so - explained by Esther 4:16; Acts 21:14.

How shall we hope to arrive at such a state of mind?

Passing by those considerations which are a common relief to all the afflicted, we shall notice those which seem to have contributed to Jacob's resignation.

1. A perception of the hadn of God as our Father in it. In the supposed of loss of Joseph, the peculiar circumstances turned his mind more to the immediate causes. Now he sees the hand of God. Wise, good, merciful, all-sufficient, etc. "I was dumb, etc."

2. The subduing affect of repeated affliction. At first he was like a bullock unaccustomed. What could have persuaded him when he said, "My son shall not go," that he could be brought to consent? The Lord knows how to make us bow to receive the yoke.

3. The conviction that in dismissing Benjamin he was acting out of a sense of duty, as pointed out by Providence. It would seem Jacob had a view to the welfare of them all and probably might not have been without some expectation that the promise of Abraham was now to be fulfilled. Genesis 15:13-14. It is true to some as Joseph said, God sends our children before to save life... They go before to people the new celestial country, and wait to welcome us to our final home.

Let us cease to weep.

1. Moderate attachment - make not food for grief.
2. As Joseph said to Rachel, God with more propriety may say to us, "Am not I better than 10 sons?"

[Marginal note: Preached on Sabbath after the death of my dear little John, who died November 6, 1830 at 1/4 past 6 of Saturday evening. I was absent at the time. This was preached Sabbath, November 14, 1830]

[Marginal note: To this sermon Mrs. Ker Boyce (mother of Dr. J. P. Boyce) referred her conversion. (Sarah Manly)]

[Basil Manly, Sr., "Bereavement of Children," sermon preached on November 14, 1830, Basil Manly Manuscripts Sermons and Notes, James P. Boyce Centenniel Library Archives, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky. Manly based this sermon for John Waldo Manly (see prior chapter in Soldiers of Christ ed. Haykin, Duke, Fuller), on Genesis 43:14, "If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved."]

Manly Sr., Basil Soldiers of Christ: Selections from the Writings of Basil Manly, Sr., & Basil Manly, Jr. (Cape Coral: Founders Press, 2009), 79-81.

The Evanescence of Our Present World

No. CCCLXL - To Mrs. M'Corquodale
St. Andrews, 17th October 1827

My Dear Madam,

I very sincerely condole with you on the heavy bereavement which you have been called upon to suffer, the first loss I understand in your family, and which, in the absence yet of all personal experience myself upon the subject, I should regard as far more trying to nature than the dissolution of any other relationship. Affection points more strongly downwards - as from a parent to children - than in any other direction; and when I think of the suddenness of your daughter's death, her interesting age, and the many cares and attentions which the delicacy of her health has required from you, and which all go to strengthen affections and add to its tenderness - the shock you have experienced must be of no common severity. And what other comfort has one liable to the same visitations to offer, but those considerations which are familiar to all, though practically felt by few, even the evanescence of our present world, and the bliss and brightness of that invisible Heaven, where sorrow and separation are unknown.

We hear on these occasions of melancholy of the healing influence of time, and refuge is often taken in such expedients, as business, variety, and entertainments. These may soothe, but they do not sanctify. They drown the painful recollection; whereas the recollection should be kept alive and made the instrument of weaning our desires and expectations from a scene so transitory. The worldly would stifle the thought - the Christian softens it by pointing his eye upwards to God and forwards to eternity.

I am, yours, &c.,
Thomas Chalmers

Chalmers, Thomas Letters of Thomas Chalmers (Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 2007), 468.

To Lean Upon the World is to Lean Upon a Foundation of Dust

No. CCCLIX.

On Visiting a Family in which a Sudden Death had Occurred.

My Dear Sir,

I am so particularly taken up by previous arrangements to-day, and, I fear, also to-morrow, that I shall not be able to see you again so soon personally as I could wish. But the scene of last night makes me very desirous of communicating with you some way or other. I was very thankful you invited me to witness it, for it was a truly impressive one, and eminently fitted to stir up in the heart of every behold a salutary feeling of the vain and transient character of our present pilgrimage; and I trust I felt that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, for that is indeed the end of all men, and that the living may lay it to heart. In a disaster so big, and at the same time so sudden and unlooked for as that which has come upon yourself and family, it is impossible to minister any effectual consolation without you go to the root of the matter - everything short of that argument which embraces the great elements of religion, and eternity, and the soul, and its meetness for th eenjoyment of God in Heaven, is but superficial and vain.

The healing influence of time will bring round the mind an afflicted man even without Christianity to its wonted tone; but how desirable that our comfort should be secured on a better foundation, that it should come to a place int he heart not by the mere wearing away of sorrow, but by the firm suggestions of an understanding exercising itself on the realities of faith, and fetching from the Divine Word such considerations as will bring peace and the peaceable fruits of righteousness along with them.

You feel now what you never felt so nearly and so experimentally before, that the world ought never to be counted a place of rest. It is indeed a great delusion ever to feel otherwise; but still it is a delusion which is always hanging about us, and that attaches to the fallen and estranged state of our natures from God. At this moment the delusion is in your case for a time broken up. I prophesy that it will again return if there be no visitation of grace from on high - no anointing which remaineth - no favourable and abiding demonstration of the Spirit of God to advance your present feeling into a practical habit and principle of the soul. You are at this moment made most intimately and effectually to understand, that to lean upon the world is to lean up on a foundation of dust; that to build your tabernacle here, is to build your house upon the sand; and that nothing will fill and satisfy the soul and enable it to stand all the changes and vicissitudes of this eventful pilgrimage, but a renouncing of the world as our home, and taking the inheritance that endureth for ever as our portion.

I know nothing that more effectually hinders a man from venturing his all on Christ than that divided state of affections in either of which he would like to reserve a portion to himself. "You will not come unto me that you may have life." You never, my dear Sir, were in more favourable circumstances for an unqualified resignation of all into His hands than at this moment; to whom else, alas, can you go?

You never got so buried to the world as now when the dearest of all its objects has been torn away from you - when the desire of your heart has been cut down by a stroke - when your family are all in sad grief, desponding under the pressure of a great unlooked for and overwhelming visitation. Do improve the favourable season with all your might to be a new creature in Christ Jesus; let all old things be done away, andd all things become new; the very retirement will animate and bear you up under the heaviness of your present circumstances, and present calamity will indeed be a blessing in disguise if it lead you to a close alliance with Him who, though a God, is also a Saviour.

I am, &c.,
Thomas Chalmers

Chalmers, Thomas Letters of Thomas Chalmers (Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 2007), 464-466 [I edited this for clarity in reading.]

Nothing More Disorderly than Applause

P. H. Mell was the president of the Southern Baptist Convention for fifteen years. I was at the SBC annual convention this year and it was a wonderful time, but taking into account how the assembly gave applause for everything and gave standing ovations to most things I think, based upon the following quote from his biography, P. H. Mell would roll over in his grave if he witnessed the business meeting of the SBC today:

"In the chair sat the venerable Dr. Mell, whose piercing eye, gray hair, tall, straight person, indicated penetration, thought and firmness. The prince of parliamentarians, he rules the body with measured ease. 'I appeal from the decision of the chair,' is becoming beautifully less, and Dr. Mell, in the Southern Baptist Convention, is almost instinctively recognized as President without the vote of acclamation. Upon motion of Rev. G. A. Nunnally, of Georgia, Dr. P. H. Mell was elected President by acclamation. The result was heard with applause, whereupon the President suggested that nothing is more disorderly than applause in a religious assembly."

Mell, Jr., P. H. The Life of Patrick Hues Mell (Harrisonburg: Gano Books, 1991), 165.

Bruised Reed

In Richard Sibbes' little book The Bruised Reed he meditates on what it means to be a bruised reed in a list of eight qualities. Check it out and pray that God would help us to see how we are bruised reeds with a Savior who will not break us.

But how shall we know whether we are such as may expect mercy?

(1) By the bruised here is not meant those that are brought low only by crosses, but by such as, by them, are brought to see their sin, which bruises most of all. When conscience is under the guilt of sin, then every judgment brings a report of God's anger to the soul, and all lesser troubles run into this great trouble of conscience for sin. As all corrupt humours run to the diseased and bruised part of the body, and as every creditor falls upon the debtor when he is once arrested, so when conscience is once awaked, all former sins and present crosses join together to make the bruise more painful. Now, he that is thus bruised will be content with nothing but with mercy from him who has bruised him. He has wounded, and he must heal (Hos. 6:1). The Lord who has bruised me deservedly for my sins must bind up my heart again.

(2) Again, a man truly bruised judges sin the great evil, and the favour of God the greatest good.

(3) He would rather hear of mercy than of a kingdom.

(4) He has poor opnions of himself, and thinks that he is not worth the earth he treads on.

(5) Towards others he is not censorious, as being taken up at home, but is full of sympathy and compassion to those who are under God's hand.

(6) He thinks that those who walk in the comforts of God's Spirit are the happiest men in the world.

(7) He trembles at the Word of God (Isa. 66:2), and honours the very feet of those blessed instruments that bring peace unto him (Rom. 10:15).

(8) He is more taken up with the inward exercises of a broken heart than with formality, and is yet careful to use all sanctified means to convey comfort.

Sibbes, Richard The Bruised Reed (Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 2008), 10-11. And/or Sibbes, Richard Works of Richard Sibbes Volume One The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax (Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 2001), 46-47.

The Camel Method Part 2

This is a follow-up to a post I did back in 2007, The Camel Method.

Here is a good 9Marks book review of it. Check it out if you are interested and have the time.

Book Review by Doug Coleman of The Camel

We Have No Right to Anything at All

I found this to be a helpful quote from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' book Spiritual Depression:

Do not think in terms of bargains and rights in the Kingdom of God. That is absolutely fatal. There is nothing so wrong as the spirit which argues that because I do this, or because I have done that, I have a right to expect something else in return. This is met with frequently. I know very good evangelical Christian people, who seem to be thinking like that. 'Now,' they say, 'if we pray for certain things, we are bound to have them, for instance if we pray all night for revival we must have revival.' I have sometimes described this as the 'penny in the slot' idea o f Christianity. You put in your coin and you draw out a bar of chocolate or whatever else you want. Now this is that same attitude. Because men in the past have prayed all night that revival might come and revival has come, therefore let us have an all-night prayer meeting and revival will come. But that surely is to deny the whole principle which our Lord is teaching. I do not care what it is, whether prayer or anything else, in no respect must I ever argue that because I do something I am entitled to get something-never. And of course the principle can be seen to be true in practice. Think of the many such prayer meetings that have been held. And yet the revival has not come, and I am going to venture to say that I thank God that it has not. What would the position be if we could command these things at will? But we cannot. Let us get rid of this bargaining spirit, that if I do this then that will happen. You cannot have revival whenever you want it and as a result of doing certain things. The Holy Spirit is Lord, and He is a Sovereign Lord. He sends these things in His own time and in His own way. In other words we must realize that we have no right to anything at all.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn Spiritual Depression Its Causes and Cure (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965), 129.

Let us labor in faithfulness and as we trust in God's promises knowing that they find their yes and amen in Christ!

Jesus is Alive

Check out this video with music by the rapper Shai Linne.


(HT: Feeding on Christ)

Poolesville Baptist Church in Poolesville, MD

This is a picture of Poolesville Baptist Church in Poolesville, Maryland.

For those who are interested I preached on Psalm 3 "Trusting in the Lord" on the Lord's Day yesterday. Click here if you would like to hear the sermon. If you have any critical comments or encouragements I would be interested to hear them. I am always trying to learn and grow in my preaching!

Foundations of the Christian Religion

I found this to be a helpful quote from E. J. Young in My Servants the Prophets: An Authoritative Interpretation of the Institution of the Prophets. And it was written in 1952!

"The climate of the theological and philosophical opinion is more and more to remove the Christian Religion from its foundations in history and to place it in a supra-temporal and supra-historical realm. This procedure is based upon a philosophical position which is essentially anti-metaphysical and hence destroys once and for all true Christianity. For true Christianity is rooted and grounded upon something that God did for man in history. It is a religion that is historical throughout, and if this historical basis goes Christianity goes with it."

Young, Edward J. My Servants the Prophets: An Authoritative Interpretation of the Institution of the Prophets (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979), 191.

Muslim Christian Dialogue: Zawadi & Anyabwile (Parts 17-22)

Part 17-20: Audience questions and panel answers








Part 21: One last question and Bassam’s closing remarks


Part 22: Thabiti’s closing remarks

Muslim Christian Dialogue: Zawadi & Anyabwile (Parts 9-16)

Part 9-10: Bassam questioning Thabiti




Part 11-12: Thabiti questioning Bassam




Part 13-16: Audience questions and panel answers

Muslim Christian Dialogue: Zawadi & Anyabwile (Parts 1-8)

The following videos are from the Muslim Christian Dialogue held on March 2, 2009 held in Dubai, UAE. Check this out.

Part 1: Welcoming Comments



Parts 2-4: Zawadi's Opening Remarks






Parts 5-8: Anyabwile’s Opening Remarks

Mortify Sin Even in Grief (John Owen)

To Mrs Polhill.

Dear Madam,

-----The trouble express in yours is a great addition to mine; the sovereignty of divine wisdom and grace is all that I have at this day to retreat unto; God direct you thereunto also, and you will find rest and peace. It adds to my trouble that I cannot possibly come down to you this week. Nothing but engaged duty could keep me from you one hour: yet I am conscious how little I can contribute to your guidance in this storm, or your satisfaction. Christ is your pilot; and however the vessel is tossed whilst he seems to sleep, he will arise and rebuke these winds and waves in his own time. I have done it, and yet shall farther wrestle with God for you, according to the strength he is pleased to communicate. Little it is which at this distance I can mind you of; yet some few things are necessary. Sorrow not too much for the dead; she is entered into rest, and is taken away from the evil to come. Take heed lest, by too much grief, you too much grieve that Holy Spirit, who is infinitely more to us than all natural relations. I blame you not that you so far attend to the call of God in this dispensation as to search yourself, to judge and condemn yourself: grace can make it an evidence to you that you shall not be judged or condemned of the Lord. I dare not say that this chastisement was not needful. We are not in heaviness unless need be; but if God be pleased to give you a discovery of the wisdom and care that is in it, and how needful it was to awaken and restore your soul in any thing, perhaps in many things, in due time you will see grace and love in it also. I verily believe God expects, in this dealing with you, that you should judge yourself, your sins and your decays; but he would not have you misjudge your condition. But we are like froward children, who, when they are rebuked and corrected, neglect other things, and only cry that their parents hate and reject them. You are apt to fear, to think and say, that you are one whom God regards not, who are none of his; and that for sundry reasons which you suppose you can plead. But, saith God, this is not the business; this is a part of your frowardness. I call you to quicken your grace, to amend your own ways; and you think you have nothing to do but to question my love. Pray, madam, my dear sister, child and care, beware you lose not the advantage of this dispensation; you will do so, if you use it only to afflictive sorrows, or questioning of the love of God, or your interest in Christ. The time will be spent in these things which should be taken up in earnest endeavours after a compliance with God’s will, quickening of grace, returns after backsliding, mortification of sin and love of the world, until the sense of it do pass away. Labour vigorously to bring your soul to this twofold resolution: ----- 1. That the will of God is the best rule for all things, and their circumstances; 2. That you will bring yourself into a fresh engagement to live more to him: and you will find the remainder of your work easy; for it is part of the yoke of Christ. I shall trouble you no farther, but only to give you the assurance that you are in my heart continually, which is nothing; but it helps to persuade me that you are in the heart of Christ, which is all.

-----I am, dear madam, your very affectionate servant,
J. Owen

[Owen, John The Glory of Christ; The Works of John Owen Volume 1: Life of Dr. Owen by Rev. A. Thomson (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), 117-8.]

Every Work of God Is Good, Even in Sorrow (John Owen)

To the Lady Hartopp

Dear Madam,

-----Every work of God is good; the Holy One in the midst of us will do no iniquity; and all things shall work together for good unto them that love him, even those things which at present are not joyous, but grievous; only his time is to be waited for, and his way submitted unto, that we seem not to be displeased in our hearts that he is Lord over us. Your dear infant is in the eternal enjoyment of the fruits of all our prayers; for the covenant of God is ordered in all things, and sure. We shall go to her; she shall not return to us. Happy she was in this above us, that she had so speedy an issue of sin and misery, being born only to exercise your faith and patience, and to glorify God’s grace in her eternal blessedness. My trouble would be great on the account of my absence at this time from you both, but that this also is the Lord’s doing; and I know my own uselessness wherever I am. But this I will beg of God for you both, that you may not faint in this day of trial, ----- that you may have a clear view of those spiritual and temporal mercies wherewith you are yet intrusted (all undeserved), ----- that sorrow of the world may not so overtake your hearts as to disenable to any duties, to grieve the Spirit, to prejudice your lives; for it tends to death. God in Christ will be better to you than ten children, and will so preserve your remnant, and so said to them, as shall be for his glory and your comfort. Only consider that sorrow in this case is no duty; it is an effect of sin, whose cure by grace we should endeavour. Shall I say, Be cheerful? I know I may. God help you to honour grace and mercy in a compliance therewith.

My heart is with you, my prayers shall be for you, and I am, dear madam, your most affectionate friend and unworthy pastor,
J. Owen

[Owen, John The Glory of Christ; The Works of John Owen Volume 1: Life of Dr. Owen by Rev. A. Thomson (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), 116-7.]

Don't Waste Your Bereavement (Robert Murray M'Cheyne)

Another to one bereaved. Betake yourself to Him that is ever the same.

March 9, 1843

My Dear -----,

----- I did not think I would have been so long in answering you in your time of sorrow, but I have been more than occupied. I earnestly trust that this sad bereavement may be greatly blessed by God to you. Pray that you may not lose this precious opportunity to giving your hand and heart for ever away to the Lord Jesus. May Hosea 2:14 be fulfilled in you all: “Behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her;” and that clear promise: “I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant” (Ezek 20:35-37). This solemn event shows you what I always used to tell you, how short your life is, ----- what a vapour, ----- how soon the joys that depend on the creatures may be dried up; that “one thin is needful,” and that Mary was wise in choosing the good part that cannot be taken away from her. You remember the first night you were in St. Peter’s I showed you this preaching from Psalm 41:6: “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places, and I have a goodly heritage.” I am indeed more than ever anxious about you, that you receive not the grace of God in vain. It is the furnace that tries the metal, and it is affliction that tries the soul whether it be Christ’s or not. I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, lest the furnace should show you to be reprobate silver. Do let me hear how your soul truly is, ----- whether you can see the hand of a Father in this bereavement, ----- and whether you are more than ever determined, through grace, to be the Lord’s. How sweet that Jesus ever liveth! He is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then He is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation, ----- a rock rising above the storm. The Bible, too, is more full of meaning. Have you ever prayed over that verse: “He doth not afflict willingly” ? (Lam 3:33). Oh, precious book, that conveys such a message to the mourner’s dwelling! And does not trial bring more meaning out of that verse: “We know that all things work together for the good of them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose?” (Rom 8:28). The Bible is like the leaves of the lemon-tree – the more you bruise and wring them, the sweeter the fragrance they throw around. “Is any afflicted? let him pray.” Do you not find that prayer is sweeter now? The soul finds vent for its feelings toward God. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” When I had my fever abroad, Mr. Bonar whispered that verse into my ear. I had nearly lost all my faculties, ----- I could remember nothing except that I was far from home; but that verse kept sounding in my ears when I was nearly insensible: “I called, and He delivered me.”

Are you preparing to go to the Lord’s table next Lord’s day? May you indeed have the wedding garment, -----righteousness without works, ----- and see the King in His beauty, ----- and give yourself away to Him, saying, “I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine!” It should be a solemn sacrament to you. I can add no more. Write me soon, dear G-----, and tell me all that is in your heart, and whether the voice of the Comforter does not say, Be still! when death has left so deep a silence in your family. ----- Believe me ever your friend in Jesus, etc.

[M’Cheyne, Robert Murray Memoir & Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne Ed. Andrew Bonar (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2004), 331-2.]

Robert Murray M'Cheyne on Bereavement

To one who had met with a bereavement. Sorrow of the world—Incidents

March 8, 1843

My Dear ------,

-----I know you will be wearying to hear from me; but it has scarcely been in my power till now, I have had so many things to do since my return. I trust Jesus is making known to you His power to calm the soul in the deepest trials. “Where is your faith?” He said to the disciples; and He says to you: “All things are possible to him that believeth.”

I was much afflicted for your sakes to read the solemn letter you sent me. Do you remember the words, “He must needs go through Samaria?” We are getting new light upon their meaning.

I was reading to-day about godly sorrow, and the sorrow of the world. Do you know the difference between these two?

Had this blow come upon you in your unconverted state, it would have wrought, perhaps, only the sorrow of the world, ----- carnal sorrow, ----- sorrow that drives us away from God, ----- makes us murmur and complain of His dealings. Like Pharaoh, who turned harder every blow that God struck, ----- even the loss of his first-born only hardened him. But godly sorrow, or, more literally, “sorrow towards God,” ----- grief that brings us to the feet of God, ----- worketh repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of. It is used as an instrument to bring the humbled soul to cleave to Jesus. Oh may it be so with you! Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and He shall exalt you in due season. Improve the season while it lasts. The farmer improves the seed-time, to cast in the seed into the furrows. Now, when God has made long the furrow by the plough of affliction in your heart, oh, see that you let the sower sow the good seed deep in your hearts. I trust H. B----- may be made a great blessing and comfort to you next Sabbath. May you all be enabled to meet with Jesus at His own table, and to tell Him all your sorrows there, and ask grace to keep you in the evil day.

I would like well to be with you; but in body this may not be. In heart I am often with you, because I can say what I was reading to-day: “Ye are in my heart to live and to die with you” (2 Cor 7:3).

I preached twenty-seven times when I was away, in twenty-four different places. I was very, very tired, and my heart has beat too much ever since, but I am wonderfully well. I have “fightings without the fears within” just now. Do pray earnestly for me, ----- as indeed I know you do. I wish you had been with me last night. When I was away, the people agreed to meet twice a week in the lower schoolroom to pray for me; and now that I have come back, we have continued the meetings. The school is quite crammed. Such sweet loud singing of praise I never heard, and many tears.

I stood by a poor socialist in the agonies of death to-day. He was quite well yesterday. He anxiously wished me to come and pray. Oh to be ready when the Bridegroom comes!

Farewell. Peace from above fill your soul, your friend and brother prays, etc.

[M’Cheyne, Robert Murray Memoir & Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne Ed. Andrew Bonar (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2004), 329-30.]

Job 36-37: He Comes With Golden Splendor

The greatness of God is laid before us in this passage! God is mighty in strength and understanding (36:5): “Behold, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him? Who has prescribed for him his way, or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’? (36:22-23)” Further, the author writes, “Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable (36:26).” God is infinite, and yet He works in time as we understand it. One of the strongest images that the Lord shows Himself through in time is outlined in the author’s illustration of God’s power over lightening. It is unfathomable that God scatters lightening around Himself (36:30), and he covers his hands with the lightening and commands it to strike the mark. Its crashing declares his presence (36:32-33). Elihu meditates further on this in chapter thirty-seven. After this Elihu then stops and poses the question, “Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror? Teach us what we shall say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of darkness (37:18-19).” We are too often blinded by our sin; we are drawn to lesser pleasures than the Lord. Our sight is in darkness and we need the Lord to draw up our eyes to Him. So that we might perceive that the Lord comes in golden splendor: “Out of the north comes golden splendor; God is clothed with awesome majesty. The Almighty—we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit (37:22-24).” This is a majestic God!

Psalm 45: A Fitting Song for a Glorious Love Story

Psalm 45 is humbling knowing that the church is not worthy of the love of Christ. It is astounding that this handsome King with grace on His lips rides in victory for the cause of truth, meekness, and righteousness. Further, that His arrows are sharp in the hearts of His enemies. We deserve to be the recipients of the King’s wrath against falsehood, pride, and wickedness. His sharp arrows are designed for hearts like ours. This psalm also describes the King’s throne as eternal; that He has loved what is right and hated what is wicked. This again marks our hearts as the target of His eternal righteous wrathful vengeance. We comprehend a sense of what we lack in the description of His abundance as He is anointed with the oil of gladness, and that His robes are fragrant with the scent of myrrh, aloe, and cassia. We are given a vision of the true and lasting enjoyment we lack in the image depicted of His ivory palaces with stringed instruments. Despite the wickedness of our hearts Jesus Christ has chosen to save His church.

He bore the wrath of God in the place of His church. In this way He has made the church, His bride, beautiful. Christ has made the bride glorious in her chamber, desires her beauty, has clothed her with robes interwoven with gold, and has established that she be led in robes of many colors to Himself, the King. When the bride is led to the King she has joy and gladness as she enters His palace. The church can rejoice in the manner of Isaiah, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels (Isa 61:10).”

If we are found in God’s church we may walk with joy and gladness as we are led to enter the palace of the King, even if it entails sleepless nights, toil, and hardship. We as the church must bow to Him because He is Lord, and He alone has completely and perfectly accomplished the salvation of His bride. If we repent of our sins and believe in the gospel we are found in the church, and we look forward to participating in the marriage supper of our King, Jesus Christ (Rev 19:6-10). Oh, how we should love the King! Oh, how we should love Christ’s church! Let us extend the invitation of the King to those who will repent and believe. Let the Spirit and the Bride say, “‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price (Rev 22:17).” This is truly a glorious salvation for the church accomplished through Christ’s substitution.

John Peter Mahnenschmidt

In doing some genealogical research I have found that my great, great, great, great, great (that’s 5) grandpa on my mom’s side, John Mannasmith (c.1770-1826) had a cousin who was a pastor. He was the first known German Reformed Pastor to minister in Ohio. Anyhow here are a few passages about his conversion, life, and death from The Fathers of the German Reformed Church in Europe and America by Rev. H. Harbaugh, D.D.:

“As early as his sixteenth year, he was instructed in the doctrines of God’s word, according to the Heidelberg Catechism, by a colleague of Mr. Otterbein. This proved the means of great and decided blessing to him, moving him earnestly to turn to God in heart and life. He sought and found the Lord to the comfort and satisfaction of his spirit; and the grace which he experienced in his own heart powerfully moved him to exhort others to seek reconciliation with God. Repentance and conversion were the themes on which he dwelt in all his exhortations, and his honest efforts were owned of the Lord to the good of many.” (pg. 207-8)

“The following notice of his demise we take from a religious paper, without knowing the name of the writer. Coming from a stranger, a member of another Church, it is the more valuable. He says: ‘The Rev. John Peter Mahnenschmidt has gone to his blessed reward. He died July 11th, 1857, in Canfield, Mahoning Co., Ohio, aged 74 years. He entered the ministry of the German Reformed Church when but eighteen years of age, and labored until within a few months of his death. He was very successful in winning souls to Christ – was evangelic in his views and preaching. He was a pioneer of the German Reformed Church in the West, having established the first church of his denomination this side of the Alleghanies, and the first in this region of Ohio. He died as he lived – firm in the faith, and with an assurance of a glorious immortality.’ So dies the faithful servant of Christ, falling asleep in jesus, with the sweet and certain hope of a glorious resurrection. ‘They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.’” (Pg. 219)

Harbaugh, Rev. H. The Fathers of the German Reformed Church in Europe and America, Vol. III (Lancaster: J. M. Westhaeffer, 1872)

Review: Boomtown by Nowen N. Particular

BOOMTOWN by Nowen N. Particular

Quick synopsis:

A pastor and his family move to a new town and become acclimated with the community. Boomtown is filled with lots of diverse people who all seem to get along in spite of their differences - and they love fireworks. The pastor is pushed out of his comfort zone as he gets to know his new community.

Things I liked about this book:

- It had a really fun and engaging story line with lots of interesting characters and entertaining events

- It had a good emphasis on getting along with people who are not like you and learning to appreciate one another's differences

Things I didn't like about this book:

- The father was consistently a poor leader of his family. His children were disobedient and disrespectful throughout the entire book without consequence. He frequently "caved" into doing what his kids wanted to do and was portrayed as being very out of touch.

- While unity was a big theme, there was no genuine Christian unity displayed. What people thought about God seemed to be pretty irrelevant.

- The teaching about the church was really unclear at best. The church wasn't distinct at all - it functioned similarly to a school or a library, as just another institution to serve the community at large.

- There was a real lack of any sort of justice - or even pursuing worthy goals. If people did something wrong, or failed in some way, it was overlooked, and usually even celebrated.

My overall thoughts:

I would not recommend this book. While it's a fun story, you'd get more edifying teaching from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in my opinion. I think that at best, this book shows that disobeying parents is okay. Even worse, it paints a false picture of Christian unity and confuses the importance of the church. In a town where it doesn't really matter what you think or do, there isn't a basis for truth, justice, forgiveness, or reconciliation - and hence, while it seeks to paint a beautiful picture of unity, it really leaves out the gospel.

Review: Tim McGraw's "My Little Girl"

Just an fyi. You may see some reviews of children's books on the old blog, because I signed up to do some book reviewing for Thomas Nelson books. I don't have time to read long books at the moment, but kid's books I can do!

So, that being said, this (My Little Girl) was a really very sweet book that draws out how to delight in the good days and the relationships God gives us. Most of the weight in this book is given to the relationship between a father and daughter. The father tells his little girl on the eve of a day they will spend together that, “Tomorrow they would have a spectacular day.” This sprang the little girl’s mind out of the blocks dreaming up what might be coming the next day. As she is all excited he comes to the foot of the stairs and says they will be doing, “nothing in particular.” This bummed Katie out. She soon learns that the day is a one full of time spent enjoying the relationship she has with her dad. It may be a bit optimistic in the fact that there are no temper tantrums throughout the day, but it is a really a cute little book that hopefully won’t give little girls a false hope that their daddies might give them this kind of attention. Hopefully as fathers read this with their little girls it will encourage them to take a day here and there to spend time with their little girls. One theological thing to note, the way this little girl loves her daddy is an example of how we too often love our God. He plans good things for those that love Him, despite their expectations. Too many times when things go differently than we plan or expect we are disappointed. We should trust that if we are in Christ (that is, if we repent of our sins and believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead for our justification and to vindicate His claims) God's plan to dwell with us now and for all eternity in the future is the source of true joy, even now. Even though the book is a bit utopian, if you are looking for a children’s book to give you the motivation to model God's fatherly love to your little girl, you may find this book to be a good encouragement.

God's Happiness

I'm sure this has been quoted a million times all over the internet, but this is the first time I've read it. This is the first paragraph in Jonathan Edwards' "Discourse on the Trinity":

When we speak of God's happiness, the account that we are wont to give of it is that God is infinitely happy in the enjoyment of himself, in perfectly beholding and infinitely loving, and rejoicing in, his own essence and perfections. And accordingly it must be supposed that God perpetually and eternally has a most perfect idea of himself, as it were an exact image and representation of himself ever before him and in actual view. And from hence arises a most pure and perfect energy in the God-head, which is the divine love, complacence and joy.

Edwards, Jonathan The Works of Jonathan Edwards Vol. 21: Writings on the Trinity, Grace, and Faith ed. Sang Hyun Lee (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 113.

Abortion: To Deny What They Knew To Be True

Check out this video from South Dakota's Vote Yes For Life Campaign for Initiative 11. Pretty powerful stuff...



Also notice who else endorses initiative 11. Roe from Roe v. Wade.

And Doe from Doe v. Bolton

Obama: Pro-Choice, Anti-Abortion, or Anti-Life?

I don't like to comment on politics...but this is important, so I am;) Everyone voting in the upcoming election and with an opinion regarding the "abortion debate" really should read this article, "Obama's Abortion Extremism", by Robert P. George. He earned a law degree and a theology degree from Harvard, and a doctorate from Oxford. He is currently the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, and as the director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. He also serves on The President's Council on Bioethics and previously served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

George lists the case for his claim that, "Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress," in the following points.

1. Senator Obama has, "promised to seek repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which has for many years protected pro-life citizens from having to pay for abortions that are not necessary to save the life of the mother and are not the result of rape or incest."

2. Senator Obama has promised, “the first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. ( FOCA)" This makes abortion a federally guaranteed right through all nine months of pregancy for any reason. Virtually every state and federal limitation on abortion that is currently on the books would be abolished (e.g., parental consent and notification laws for minors).

3. Senator Obama opposes the ban on the heinous practice of partial-birth abortion and strongly disagreed with the Supreme Court ruling to uphold the ban.

4. Senator Obama wishes to strip federal funding from pro-life crisis pregnancy centers that provide alternatives to abortion for pregnant women in need.

5. Senator Obama refused to support the pro-life Democrats' “95-10” legislation (designed to reduce the number of abortions by 95% in 10 years by strengthening the social safety net for poor women). This would not have made abortion illegal; it would seek to reduce abortion.

6. Senator Obama, "opposed legislation to protect children who are born alive, either as a result of an abortionist’s unsuccessful effort to kill them in the womb, or by the deliberate delivery of the baby prior to viability." The bill contained a specific provision that ensured that the bill would not affect abortion laws (Obama and his campaign misled/lied about this fact until it was proven in the records [A co-worker of mine pulled together this fact sheet]).

7. Senator Obama has co-sponsored a bill authorizing the large-scale industrial production of human embryos for use in biomedical research in which they would be killed. It would require the killing of human beings in the embryonic stage that were produced by cloning, and would make it a federal crime for a woman to save an embryo by agreeing to have the tiny developing human being implanted in her womb so that he or she could be brought to term.

8. Senator Obama was one of the few senators to oppose a bill that would have put a modest amount of federal money into research that would develop methods to produce the exact equivalent of embryonic stem cells without using (or producing) embryos. "From any rational vantage point, this is unconscionable. . . . Why create and kill human embryos when there are alternatives that do not require the taking of nascent human lives? It is as if Obama is opposed to stem-cell research unless it involves killing human embryos."

George then ends the article by writing that, "in the end, the efforts of Obama’s apologists to depict their man as the true pro-life candidate that Catholics and Evangelicals may and even should vote for, doesn’t even amount to a nice try. Voting for the most extreme pro-abortion political candidate in American history is not the way to save unborn babies."

What do you think of all of this?

[HT: Justin Taylor]

Are You Narcissistic?

I have been reading 1 & 2 Samuel, and books about 1 & 2 Samuel, for a while in the mornings and this morning I was finishing up the overview sermon Mark Dever wrote about 1 Samuel in The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made. To my shame sometimes I don't read the questions at the end of chapters in books, because sometimes it feels like I am being spoon fed. In my pride I don't realize how arrogant that is. I have the tendency to think, "why do I need their questions, I can think deeply about this on my own." How arrogant! Anyhow, I was reading the questions for reflection at the end of the chapter The Message of 1 Samuel: Faith in Faithless Times and there was a wonderful and very convicting question. Here it is:

"8. As Christians, we do not believe that narcissism is simply a 'psychiatric disorder,' as many might define it. It's sin. It's pride. Still, the American Psychiatric Association's definition of 'Narcissistic Personality Disorder' provides an apt profile of Saul as well as a good checklist for examining our own hearts! A person is 'narcissistic,' so they say, when he or she has 'a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behaviour), need for admiration, and lack of empathy.' More specifically, a narcissistic person displays some of the following qualities:

• A grandiose sense of self-importance: you tend to exaggerate achievements and talents; you expect to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements.

• A preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love: really, you feel like you deserve these things.

• An opinion of oneself as 'special' or unique: you tend to feel understood by - or prefer associating with - other special or high-status people.

• Desirous of admiration from others.

• A sense of entitlement: you expect people (parents, spouses, employers, restaurant servers, anyone behind a counter) to grant you special treatment, or to automatically comply with your desires and expectations.

• Interpersonally exploitive: you quietly and subtly take advantage of others for your own ends.

• A lack of empathy: you are unwilling to recognize or identify yourself with the feelings and needs of others.

• Feelings of envy: you tend to be envious of others, and you like to think they are envious of you.

• Arrogance: you are often haughty in your behaviors or attitudes.

How would you feel about handing this list to two of your closest friends and asking them to evaluate you?"

[Mark footnotes that this list came from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (Washington D. C.: APA, 2000), 717.]

I wasn't expecting it, but this was really pretty convicting to meditate on. I better start reading the questions at the end of chapters more often!

The Battle of the Raccoon River

Lindsey and I have often talked about how we either didn’t pay attention at all during school (k-12) or some of our teachers didn’t teach us very well. We have especially felt this way in the subject of history. Lately I have been doing a little research about the religious history of Iowa and as I was flipping through the pages in Benjamin F. Gue’s four volumes of the History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century published in 1903 something caught my eye. I have never seen or heard this before. And trust me…no one told me this story because I grew up almost on the banks of the Raccoon River and I would have remembered this one!

First, A little History

Chapter IX of Volume I starts out describing the Pottawattamie (also known as Pouks by the French) Native Americans. Pottawattami means “makers of fire”. In 1804 the United States acquired land from the Sacs (also known as Sauks) and Foxes for the sum of $2,000 a year, which included much of Iowa. Black Hawk, the chief of the Sacs, never recognized this acquisition.

On August 24, 1816 the United States yielded a portion of these lands to the Pottawattamies, Ottawas and Chippeways in exchange for their lands on the west shore of Lake Michigan, which included the site of Chicago. After the United States yielded this land to them they then repurchased it in two treaties: first on September 20, 1828 and second on July 29, 1829. In the second treaty the Native Americans were to be paid $16,000 a year forever, for a small portion of the lands originally purchased from the Sacs and Foxes. In response to this Chief Black Hawk said, “If a small portion of our lands are worth $16,000 per [year], how was it that more than 50,000,000 of acres were sold for the insignificant sum of $2,000 per year?” Gue writes that this question could never be satisfactorily answered. Gue then describes how the Pottawattamies ended up living on the eastern shores of the Missouri River. Then on June 5, 1846 the United States made a treaty with the Pottawattamies in which they exchanged their Iowa lands for a reservation, which was thirty miles square within the limits of Kansas, and they moved there.

The earliest explorers of the Northwest recognized three powerful Native American nations in the Mississippi Valley in the 16th century: (1) The Pottawattamies, (2) The Dakotas who were the most powerful and populous of the nations. This nation spanned from Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, more than half of Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, all of Kansas and Nebraska, the greater part of Minnesota, to the north half of Wisconsin. The Sioux Native Americans belonged to the Dakota nation. (3) The Mahas or Omahas. The Oc-to-ta-toes or Octoes were a small offshoot of them that lived in western Iowa close to the Missouri River. Their hunting grounds extended from near Council Bluffs to the Des Moines River.

Hostile Relations

Gue describes the relational situation between the United States and the Sioux saying, “They were always more or less hostile to the Americans and only restrained from open hostilities by the wholesome fear of troops stationed in the frontier forts. They were also deadly enemies of the Sac and Fox nation."

This brings us to the events of 1841.

“A party of the Sioux surprised a hunting camp of twenty-four Delawares on the Raccoon River, killing all but one of them. The Delawares, led by their Chief, Neowa-ge [Neowage], made a heroic fight against overwhelming numbers, killing twenty-six of their enemies, four of whom fell beneath the terrible blows of the Delaware chief... One [Delaware] escaped to carry the tidings to their Sac and Fox friends, who were camped on the east bank of the Des Moines River, near where the State House now stands. Pashepaho [Pashepao], [their] chief, who was then eighty years of age, mounted his pony and, selecting five hundred of his bravest warriors, started in pursuit of the Sioux. He followed the trail from where the bodies of the Delawares lay unburied, for more than a hundred miles up the valley of the Raccoon River, where the Sioux were overtaken. Raising their fierce war cry and led by their old chieftain, the Sacs and Foxes charged on the enemy’s camp. The battle was one of the bloodiest ever fought on Iowa soil. [The combatants were mortal enemies.] Hand to hand [they] fought with a desperation never surpassed in [Native American] warfare. The Sioux were fighting for life and their assailants to revenge the slaughter of their friends. The conflict lasted for many hours. The defeat of the Sioux was overwhelming [even though they won]. More than three hundred of their dead were left on the field of battle. The Sacs and the Foxes lost, but [only] seven [of them were] killed.”

This is a combination of accounts from the following works:

Gue, Benjamin F. History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume I: The Pioneer Period (New York City: The Century History Company, 1903), p. 104; & Maclean, Paul History of Carroll County Iowa A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement Volume I (Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912), pp. 7-8.

Confirmation By Aftermath

In Paul Maclean’s History of Carroll County Iowa A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement Volume I he provides a few more details about what was left over a few years after the battle and a few more details of the battle.

“The settlers in the central part of the county found along the east bank of Crescent Lake (later called Swan Lake, now extinct) many signs to indicate that it must have been at one time the scene of a bloody and disastrous [Native American] battle. Human skulls and bones could be picked up at an early day, and the prairie around was strewn with implements of Indian warfare. Among these were several rusty muskets of a primitive type and thousands of flint darts and other weapons common among the [Native Americans]. There were, however, no signs to tell anything of the battle or the combatants, but this debris indicated that it could not have taken place a great many years before. Several ingenious theories have been advanced by way of accounting for a battle to fit the field and circumstances. It is probable, however, that the shore of Crescent Lake was the scene of a reckoning between the Sacs and Foxes and the Sioux.”

He further wrote the same account that I quoted above from the History of Iowa book by Gue. After recounting the battle Maclean then writes:

“The accounts of this battle do not locate it, but so far as is known there were but three [terrible Native American] collisions in western Iowa. A terrible battle was fought near Twin Lakes, in Calhoun county, between the Pottawottamies and the Sioux. The same foes again met on the South Lizard in Webster county, where the event was also a tragic one and where the Sioux were the victors as they were also at Twin Lakes. These are the same Sioux who perpetrated the massacres at Spirit Lake and Okoboji fifteen or twenty years later. The relics of the battle at Crescent Lake were so numerous and important as to indicate beyond probable doubt that that was the scene of the third of the three great [Native American] battles of western Iowa.”

Maclean, Paul History of Carroll County Iowa A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement Volume I (Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912), pp. 7-8.

So here are a few questions… Why didn’t we ever talk about the three great Native American battles in Iowa? Growing up playing down by the Raccoon River why hadn’t I ever heard of the great battle of the Raccoon River? I looked for arrowheads as it was…and I know that the main part of the battle was way up the river, but man I would have been down there looking for them more intensely if I knew events like this happened. Since we have lived in Washington, DC I have definitely grown in appreciation of history. This is mainly because we are able to go see all the actual locations of events such as George Washington’s home, the Whitehouse, I’ve been to Gettysburg and Vicksburg battlefields, and many other historical sites. I know that if I had known more of the history of where I lived I would have been more engaged. That’s all speculation though;)

Anyhow, if you have read all of this I hope you have picked up a bit more of a desire to learn about the local history of where you live. The next time I'm in Iowa I'm definitely going to head to the Raccoon River and ponder some of the events that took place along its banks.

What Sacraments are Designed to Secure

Sometimes folks make the sacraments (the Lord's Supper and Baptism) out to be completely objective and in the process squash much of what they portray when practiced in the local church. Some make the sacraments out to be completely subjective and end up removing the foundation that they have in the Word of God pointing primarily to the truth of the gospel. G. C. Berkouwer's book Studies in Dogmatics: The Sacraments has a helpful clarifying paragraph about this. What do you think about the sacraments? What in your mind do they depict or represent? I hope to post a few more quotes and comments about the sacraments in the future.

"The efficacy of the sacraments has often been misinterpreted, either by objectivizing them, or by making them dependent upon the subject. The mystery of the sacrament can be understood, however, only if both of these concepts are rejected. For God's acting differs from the objectivity of things in this world, and faith is something other than a subjective disposition which can be investigated as to its presence or absence. That is why Calvin can write that, apart from faith, the sacrament is nothing but a certain ruin for the Church. This is no subjectivizing of the sacrament, but a reference to the mystery of the sacrament, which can be understood only in the way of belief, and which in that way displays its full power. Those who expect more from the efficacy of the sacrament do not understand that thus they do not esteem the sacrament more highly, nor do they really strive after more reality, for this striving must alienate them from the one reality that the sacraments are designed to secure: the reality of salvation."

Berkouwer, G. C. Studies in Dogmatics: The Sacraments (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969), 89.

What a great phrase: "Those who expect more from the efficacy of the sacrament do not understand that thus they do not esteem the sacrament more highly." If we import more into the sacrament than what Scripture would have us then we destroy the usefulness of the sacraments and as he quoted Calvin, "apart from faith, the sacrament is nothing but a certain ruin for the Church." With these "means of grace" we have to be very careful, because sentimentalism and a misunderstanding of their use and effect can supplant the sole efficacy of Christ's work on the cross to redeem sinners. It is as if we mistook a painting of the countryside to actually be the countryside. This doesn't mean that the countryside isn't real, or that the painting doesn't import an aesthetic experiential effect. It's just that the countryside is much more beautiful than the painting (for example...imagine the movement, the breeze, the smell, the sounds vs. the echo of the hall of an art gallery). How much more beautiful are the events of Christ's death and resurrection than the sacraments which depict them?

Sexual Sin is Hate

Here is a helpful way to fight sexual sin and lust. If you haven't checked out the audio or video from the Sex and the Supremacy of Christ conference you really should (just click on the title of the conference and you can check it all out for free). David Powlison's talk was really helpful in showing how to get a little more understanding about how these sins work. Here's a quick quote from the book that was written as a result of the conference Sex and the Supremacy of Christ:

"The way Jesus loves is the diametric opposite from how sexual sin works. Whether flagrant or atmospheric, whether physical or imaginary, sexual sin is hate. It misuses people. Jesus' love treasures and serves our sexual purity. We misuse God's gift of sexuality when we do not treasure and serve the sexual purity of others. We degrade ourselves and degrade others. As Jesus starts to rearrange how you treat people, you are becoming a qualitatively different kind of person...

First, you learn to see and treat all people in wise, constructive ways. In principle, for the Christian, every person of the opposite sex fits into one of three categories: either family member, or spouse, or threat. (Every person of the same sex fits into one of two categories: either family member or threat.) "Family member" is the controlling category. In general we are to view and treat people as beloved sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, grandmothers and grandfathers. The lines are clear: anything that sexualizes familial relationships is wrong. True affection and fierce protection go hand in hand. The notion of incestuous sexuality is abhorrent before God. In marriage, one sister, Nan, becomes my wife, and I become her husband. All our sexuality belongs rightly and freely to each other. The notion of treacherous sexuality - infidelity - is abhorrent before God. A third group of people falls into the category of threat. Males and females who prove unfamilial in their intentions are threats. Again, the lines are clear: nothing sexualized, so flee seduction, whether in person or in imagination. The notion of an invitation to immoral sexuality is abhorrent before God. Love is radically free to be fiercely faithful."

Powlison, David Making All Things New: Restoring Pure Joy to the Sexually Broken [From Sex and the Supremacy of Christ] (Wheaton: Crossway, 2005), 103.

How do you think about the opposite sex?

First Baptist Marydel [Marydel, MD]

Here's a picture of First Baptist Marydel's church building.

For those of you that prayed for me on such short notice...thank you! I trust that my sermon went well, praise God. That said I still have a lot to learn about preaching. It was excellent preaching on the "Parables of the Kingdom" from Matthew 13. Trying to get all seven parables into a sermon was challenging, but it was wonderful. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the parables in Matthew 13 here's the breakdown and an idea of the structure I was going for.

I. The Unexpected Teaching: 2 Ways to Live in Parables

(1) The Parable of the Sower: Main parable acting as a lense in order to understand the following six. "2 kingdoms (kingdom of God & kingdom of man) or 2 ways to live in four kinds of soil" Also, God's Word is active seeking those people to save.

(2) The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares: Jesus making the point that His kingdom is spiritual, not political despite what the people were expecting.

(3) The Parable of the Mustard Seed: "God's power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9) and God's weakness is stronger than men (1 Cor 1:25)."

(4) The Parable of the Leaven: Similar point to the Parable of the Mustard Seed. God's rule & reign is all consuming penetrating the entire life of the citizens of the kingdom. Also, the kingdom of God seemingly starts small & through weak means (e.g. Israel, Jesus coming as a baby, God using a moon worshipper in Abram, murderer in Moses, David, a persecutor of Christians in Paul, etc.)

II. The Unexpected Cost of the Kingdom

(5) The Parable of the Hidden Treasure in the Field: The citizens of the kingdom willingly & joyfully give up everything for it. A picture of repentance.

(6) The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price: Same point as the last one.

III. The Unexpected Judgment Depending on the Kingdom You are in

(7) The Parable of the Dragnet: Ultimately which of the 2 kingdoms one is in will determine how God judges. This is very similar to the parable of the wheat and the tares. Just because the kingdom has not been fully consummated now (despite their expectations of what the messiah would do) it doesn't mean that it will always be that way.

[Note: The last two points should not have been unexpected if the people were familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures]

Thank you for praying, it was a joy to prepare and a blessing to visit First Baptist Marydel. By the way, "Ma" hosted a wonderful brunch!


Here is a picture of Pastor Bob Phillips & me.

[UPDATE: Here is a recording of my sermon, The Unexpected Parables of the Kingdom: Matthew 13.]