While discussing the sovereignty of God and predestination in Sunday School, the question about “our free will” was asked. Although I did my best to give a clear answer, I think I still fell short.  Today at Reformed Baptist Fellowship, Walter Chantry addresses that topic with a post called The Myth of Free Will.  It is worth reading and sharing.

That may not be the best opening line to share the Gospel.  But Don Whitney at The Center For Biblical Spirituality lists some opening questions to get the conversation started along spiritual lines.

Many Christians suffer with unnecessary fears about sharing their faith. Once they finally get a conversation turned to the subject of the Gospel, however, most believers find that they’re able to manage quite well. Much of the time the biggest problem is simply moving a conversation from small talk to “big” talk, the biggest subject of all—the Gospel. Here’s a list of questions that can help. Some of them aren’t original with me, though I don’t recall where years ago I first heard the ones I’ve borrowed. I’ve found that the last one opens more doors for the Gospel in the widest variety of situations.

1. When you die, if God says to you, “Why should I let you into Heaven?”, what would you say? Are you interested in what the Bible says about your answer?
2. If you were to die tonight, where do you think you would spend eternity? Why? Are you interested in what the Bible says about this?
3. Do you think much about spiritual things?
4. How is God involved in your life?
5. How important is your faith to you?
6. What has been your most meaningful spiritual experience?
7. Do you find that your religious heritage answers your questions about life?
8. Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs? If what you believe were not true, would you want to know it? Well, the Bible says . . . .
9. To you, who is Jesus?
10. I often like to pray for people I meet; how can I pray for you?

Copyright © 2002 Donald S. Whitney.

The story in Acts 10-11 gives clear evidence that moral living does not create a believer. It is the through the Gospel message that God saves sinners. Living with a moral conscience and acting on that conscience in society can be a very good thing. But that does not save. Actually it is more condemning. Recognition of that which is good, yet denying the source of it, is rebellion not ignorance.

Acts 10:1-6 NASB  Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,  2  a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.

Acts 11:13-18 NASB  “And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;  14  and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’  15  “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as  He did upon us at the beginning.  16  “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’  17  “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as  He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”  18  When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

There will be no seeking after divine grace where there is no sense of sin. We may preach until we are hoarse, but you ‘good’ people who are not guilty of doing anything wrong, will never care for our message of mercy. Oh, that you felt your sins! Oh, that you knew your need of forgiveness! There can be no giving of divine grace where there is no guilt. There can be no ‘mercy’ where there is no sin.

There can be ‘justice’, but there cannot be ‘mercy’ unless there is an owning of criminality. If you think you are not a sinner, God cannot have mercy upon you. If you have never sinned, God cannot display pardoning grace towards you for there is nothing to pardon. You are not in a position for Him to display free grace to you until your mouth is shut and you sit down in dust and ashes, silently owning that you deserve nothing at His hands but infinite displeasure. Confess that whatever He gives you that is good and gracious must be given freely to one who deserves nothing. Only the ’self condemned’ shall be forgiven through the precious blood of Jesus and the sovereign grace of God.

You are in such a condition that only the free, rich, sovereign grace of God can save you! The sound of the silver bells of infinite love, free pardon, and abounding grace should make you hasten to the hospital of mercy that you may receive healing for your sinfulness, strength for your feebleness and joy for your sorrow. – Charles Spurgeon

In my Inbox today:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  – Romans 8:5-6

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, set your mind on the things of the Spirit. What does that mean? By FAITH strive for holiness. You have been set apart for God and His Kingdom. Be about advancing His Kingdom. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness – BE CHRISTLIKE! Out of love be obedient to your Father in heaven. It means that whether you eat or drink, or WHATEVER you do, do all to the glory of God.

Remember that the world has nothing to offer. All the Christian needs is taken care for us by our Father. Our greatest pursuits in life should be to love the LORD our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength,  love others, strive to be pleasing to Him, and pursue with all my might in His strength to be more and more like Jesus. THAT IS TRUE LIVING!

“Be filled with the Spirit. Seek to be more and more under His blessed influence. Strive to have every thought, word, action, and habit brought under the obedience to the leading of the Holy Ghost. Grieve Him not by inconsistencies and conformity to the world. Quench Him not by trifling with little infirmities and small besetting sins. Seek rather to have Him ruling and reigning more completely over you every week that you live.” J.C. Ryle

We are 1 week away from the release of the new Hymns Album! When the first album was released I was able to download it for free. As a result, I discovered a group that I listen to almost every week as I prepare my Sunday School lesson. Page CXVI takes hymns and gives them a fresh arrangement. But the music doesn’t detract from the message. I encourage you to take a listen. You can download the first Hymns album here for one week starting April 27th.

I haven’t heard the new album yet but I am confident that it is just as good as the first. The new Hymns II album will be available for purchase on April 27th and the pre-order physical copies will be sent out May 4th. Wholesale orders for church bookstores will also be available at a discounted rate through the website as well. All downloads will include the official chord charts with correct CCLI numbers for each song.

The song list for the new album is:
1. How Great Thou Art 2. Praise To The Lord 3. Jesus I Am Resting, Resting 4. Rock Of Ages 5. Abide With Me 6. Battle Hymn Of The Republic 7. Doxology

If you are curious, I haven’t received anything for promoting the album (unless you count the logo image). I just liked the first album so much I volunteered to promote the next one.

From the CCW.org blog today:

In Psalm 119:103 the psalmist exclaims, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” Though we may not put it in such eloquent words, that is the testimony of every true Christian.

Nevertheless, even true Christians, those who recognize the importance, excellence, beauty, and authority of the Scriptures, sometimes lose their appetite for the study of God’s Word.

How does this happen? Perhaps they are busy with their job, or their children occupy a great deal of their time, or they moved away from a good church where friends encouraged them to read and study. Maybe they have fallen into a bad habit of sleeping too much, watching too much TV, reading too many other books, or spending too much time on the internet. Perhaps they can’t explain how or why it happened. It just happened. The study of the Bible lost its appeal whil e other pursuits gained the priority in their time and attention. They may have reached the frustrating point where they regularly choose not to study the Bible even when they have plenty of time and nothing else to do.

Is this your story? Do you miss those former times of discovery and amazement as you enthusiastically turned page after page in the book of God-breathed words (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16)?

What can you do? How can you get your appetite back?

Believe it or not, Winnie the Pooh illustrates the answer for us. I recently watched a Pooh video with my young sons. In this episode, Pooh lost his appetite for honey. Pooh’s friends (Tigger, Owl, Rabbit, Piglet, and Gopher) became suspicious that this bear, one who looked like Pooh and was claiming to be Pooh, might be an imposter because, as everyone knows, the real Pooh bear loves honey. Pooh even began to question his own identity.

Gopher eventually led Pooh and Tigger to a large tree with a Pooh-sized hole way up high. He assured Pooh and Tigger that Pooh’s missing appetite was inside the hole. Tigger promptly pushed Pooh through the hole, causing him to fall into the middle of a giant pool of honey inside the tree. Then an amazing thing happened. As soon as Pooh found himself in the pool of honey he instinctively began to eat . . . and eat, and eat, and eat.

Gopher was right. Pooh’s appetite for honey was inside that tree, right in the middle of a big pool of honey —the very thing Pooh bears love best. Pooh was really Pooh, not an imposter. His rediscovered appetite for honey assured everyone of that fact, including Pooh himself.

Just as Pooh found his appetite for honey when he found himself in the middle of a pool of honey, we will likely find our appetite for Scripture when we find ourselves in the middle of Scripture. We will rediscover our love of God’s Word when we begin once again to discipline ourselves to study God’s Word.

The only alternative to intentionally recovering our appetite is both unprofitable and disturbing. If Pooh had moped around, wondering how he lost his appetite for honey and helplessly waiting for it to return, he may have never rediscovered it. Likewise, you may never rediscover your appetite for God’s Word if you don’t search for it with diligence.

Read your Bible! Study with the help of other solid biblical literature. Expose yourself to good Bible teaching in fellowship with other Christians as often as possible. And pray that God will grant you a renewed fervor. If you spend your time doing nothing more profitable than lamenting your spiritual deadness and coldness, you will only grow colder.

And here’s the disturbing part: If Pooh were never again able to enjoy honey, neither he nor his friends would have any reason to believe he was truly a Pooh bear. Though his appetite waned for a time, real Pooh bears will always love honey. That’s just the way Pooh bears are. Likewise, although their spiritual appetite may experience ups and downs, real Christians will always love the Word of God. If the pattern you establish and maintain is one of increasing spiritual coldness and deadness, and if you never experience a reversal of your affections, you may prove yourself not to be who you thought you were.

Jesus said this to some who professed to be His disciples:
“If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.  Matthew 28:6

Jesus Christ rose from the dead and lives today!

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,   John 11:25

Place your faith in the risen Lord Jesus and you will have eternal life.

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,   2 Timothy 1:7-10

Boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He has risen and abolished death!  He has risen and gives eternal life! He has risen!

For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind And declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness And treads on the high places of the earth, The LORD God of hosts is His name.
Amos 4:13 NASB-

The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth, The LORD is His name.
Amos 9:6 NASB-

As Attila the Hun prepared his first attack on Roman provinces and Augustine secluded himself in his study writing The City of God, Patrick’s parents worried about their son. At almost 16 years old, he hadn’t professed faith in Christ, even though his father Calpornius was a deacon and his grandfather Potitus was a pastor in the church. Something of a rebel, Patrick had already committed a serious sin that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

One night shortly before his 16th birthday, Patrick stayed at his father’s country estate in Britain with the household servants while his parents traveled to a nearby town on business. While everyone slept, a party of Irish slave traders surrounded the estate. All the able-bodied members of the household were kidnapped, bound with chains and loaded into boats to be transported to Ireland. Those who resisted were killed outright.

After a two-day journey in an open boat, chained to the other captives, Patrick was sold to a farmer and given the menial task of watching the sheep. Three days before he had been a nobleman’s son commanding slaves, now he was a slave. Patrick wrote about this time in his Confession:

But it was here in Ireland that God first opened my heart, so that—even though it was a late start—I became aware of my failings and began to turn with my whole heart to the Lord my God. For He looked down on my miserable condition and had compassion for me, young and foolish as I was. He cared for me even before I knew who He was, before I could tell the difference between right and wrong. He protected me and loved me even as a father does his own child.1

Patrick prayed constantly during these years, alone with the sheep, and remembered the Godly teaching of his parents and his pastor. Patrick also learned to speak the language of the Irish people, gradually learning their customs and about the gods they worshipped. In learning to protect and care for the sheep, Patrick was for the first time forced to think of something other than his own selfish desires. Patrick said:

God used the time to shape and mold me into something better. He made me into what I am now—someone very different from what I once was, someone who can care about others and work to help them.

After serving as a slave for six years, Patrick twice had a dream in which he heard a voice say, “Your ship is ready.” Taking this as a sign from God, Patrick ran away from his owner and traveled “maybe 200 miles” on foot as a fugitive. Patrick was utterly alone for weeks and yet said he was never afraid until he came to the port city. There, he summoned up his courage and asked a ship’s captain if he might sail with them to Britain as a member of the crew. The Captain initially refused his request, but as Patrick breathed a prayer for guidance, the officer changed his mind. Patrick was going home.

Can you imagine the celebration as Patrick walked into the courtyard of his home in Britain? The son they had thought twice lost, both to this world and the next, was twice found. Patrick said, “They took me in—their long-lost son—and begged me earnestly that after all I had been through I would never leave them again.”

We know little about the next few years of Patrick’s life—how long he stayed at home or what plans his parents had for his future. We do know that as a result of a series of dreams, Patrick was convinced that God wanted him to return to Ireland as a missionary. Patrick’s parents would lose him yet again.

After receiving the proper training and the blessing of the church, Patrick obeyed God and returned to the land of his captivity, preaching among the people there for the next 40 years. Thousands of people came to know Christ and the church in Ireland was established. In Confession, a letter Patrick wrote late in his life, he said:

My final prayer is that all of you who believe in God and respect Him—whoever you may be who read this letter that Patrick the unlearned sinner wrote from Ireland—that none of you will ever say that I in my ignorance did anything for God. You must understand—because it is the truth—that it was all the gift of God.

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1 Quotes from Patrick’s Confession were taken from the translation of Philip Freeman, St. Patrick of Ireland (Simon and Schuster, 2004), pages 176-193.
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Copyright © 2006 Susan Verstraete
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