I Have No Good Apart from You

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you."

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

--Psalm 16

"That's a nice testimony you have....Wanna swap?"

Recent events concerning Dr. Ergun Caner, Dean of Liberty Theological Seminary have reminded me of a great joke by Tim Hawkins. It’s at around the 3:10 mark on this video but the rest is just for you to enjoy:



We laugh about this until we see how true it can be. I remember being in Peru and thinking that I shouldn’t have to share my testimony because I was so young when I was saved. In fact, the great majority of the sin in my past is post-conversion, not pre-conversion. But this really is a problem. The value we place on “better” testimonies. Sure we can think, “if God could save him He could save anyone” just as long as we are thinking, “if God could save ME He could save anyone.” Because that’s the truth.

Moreover, we tend to think of the grand testimonies in the Bible thinking that they are the norm, and let’s face it there are some good ones. Paul goes from being a church persecutor to the greatest theologian we’ve seen since the ascension of Christ. The thief on the cross turns to Jesus for mercy in the last hours of his life. The Philippian jailor was about to commit suicide when he found out Paul and Silas hadn’t left so he asks them for the gospel. But we forget just how many testimonies there are that look like ours (assuming you don’t have one of those “spectacular” ones).

Take Lydia for example:

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us. (Acts 16:14-15)

Here’s a woman who is hard working, financially stable, and religious. Chances are she isn’t a murderer or drug dealer. She simply pays attention to Paul’s words, gets baptized, and shows hospitality. Big deal right? RIGHT! What she probably didn’t even realize was the fact that the Holy Spirit was leading the evangelists to her (Acts 16:6-10), that her prior status as a “worshiper of God” was not enough to save her, and that the Lord opened her heart to hear the gospel. Now things are starting to sound more like 2 Corinthians 4:3-6.

We are all in the same boat. No matter how your sinful heart manifested itself, you needed Christ. So there is no need to embellish your testimony or covet someone else’s. So to all who have done so, or been tempted to do so (including Dr. Caner) just know that Christ is still as powerful a savior for that sin as he is for any other sin.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

Truth Project

At work we are going through Focus on the Family's "Truth Project." This is a series that seeks to give christians a biblical worldview because lets face it not all believers have that. Today we covered Philosophy and Ethics. I absolutely loved it although there were alot of sad realities that were shown in the video. When people take God out of anything you get a shell of what used to be truth that is now a lie. When people take God out of philosophy you get pathetic attempts of people trying to explain big questions like "why are we here" and "what is the meaning of life" and "what is reason". they get answered with all these different "ism's" like idealism, rationalism, naturalism, relativism, mentalism, etc that are all wrong.

When God is taken out of life people end up depressed, lonely and trying to fill voids. They turn to pleasure (hedonism) because "if im not going anywhere when i die i better seize the day"

Ethics and morality get tossed out the window because there is nothing firm to base it off of. People end up going with statistics to determine what is right and wrong. "Statics show that people are more linient towards homosexuality and abortion" therefore it must be ok since 56% (the majority) of the population is ok with these practices.

Please do not let God be taken out of your life and worldview. Crazy, wait sinful and God belittling, things happen when God is taken out of any area of our lives.

Grace and Peace
sarah B.

Made to Worship

Over the last week or so I have heard several references towards the fact that creation is made for a purpose. My favorite was Dauglas Allison who said that if cars had an attitude they would not be happy if they wern’t driven. that conjured up the image of the movie cars. A movie by pixar where the main car lives for going fast.
This weekend I also saw Toy Story 3 which is about toys that desire to be played with. Thats when they are happiest.

It might be cheesy examples but the song made to worship kept playing in my head. We are made by God for God Colossians, 1:16, Everything we do is supposed to be for Him 1 Corinthians 10:31, God wants us too John 4:23.

The Valley of Vision

He is my mediator, brother, interpreter, branch, daysman, Lamb;

Him I glorify, in Him I am set on high.


Crowns to give I have none,

but what thou hat given I return,

content to feel that everything is mine when it is thine,

and the more fully mine when I have yielded it to thee.



Let me live wholly to my Saviour,

free from distractions,

from carking care,

from hindrances to the pursuit of the narrow way.



I am pardoned through the blood of Jesus-

give me a new sense of it,

continue to pardon me by it,

may I come every day to the fountain,

and every day be washed anew,

that I may worship thee always in spirit and truth.

The Message

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

-1 John 1

A Purpose Driven Death

"Once I attended a pastors’ gathering with Richard Wormbrand. He asked questions like, 'Will you choose to suffer?' If suffering were offered to you as a gift, would you accept it?

He told a story about an abbot. A reporter asked him about what he would say if found out at the end of his life that there was no God. He said, 'Holiness, silence, and sacrifice are beautiful in themselves. I still would have used my life well.' Does that sound noble? Right?

Here’s what Paul said: 'If for this life only, we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.' Why did Paul say that? Because his life was a life of consciously embraced suffering. Read the list in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28. Most of us define the benefits of Christianity with how it makes our life better now: 'Your best life now." -John Piper (Sermon- Filling Up What is Lacking in the Afflictions of Christ) Listen Here.

Before the Throne of God Above

Last Sunday we had the opportunity to go to the detention center. I had the privilege of helping lead worship with Jonathan Danforth and Jason Lapp, two guys that I really look up to and admire. There we played "Before the Throne of God Above" and I love this song. So today I'm going to post the lyrics.


Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on his hands,
My name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.


When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.

Because a sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me


Behold him there, the risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I am,
The King of glory and of grace!

One in himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by his blood
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Savior and my God
With Christ, my Savior and my God

Rod sparer

We have a new addition to our family. A sweet ball of fur named Peter. Although there has been less responsibility taking care of him than there would be for a kid, im still learning, kinda sorta about parenting (on a very small scale).

This cat is pretty good...for the most part. Why even as im writing he's entertaining himself with a rubber band, but there have been a few instances of "discipline" that have had to be enforced. The first time was when he wanted to play with one of my candles. Now it wasn't lit then, but someday it will and i really don't want to test out renters insurance any time soon. I told him no, he kept on so i did it again, still kept on, then i popped him on the head and that got through. The same situation happened with my wedding rings. I really don't want to have to go on a search for them. I had to tell him no a few times and eventually get smack him on the head.

why is discipline so important? what good could it possibly do? i remember certain rules that my parents had that i didn't understand that now i can see why they instigated them. Discipline is for our good. In the same way that i don't want my cat playing with candles so that our chances of having an apartment caught on fire goes way down, God disciplines us so that we don't ruin our lives, but instead learn to enjoy him and the way he set certain orders to this world. He disciplines us for his glory. You don't love your kid by letting them play in the middle of the street, you love them by making them play in the yard and taking proper action when disobeyed.

Discipline is hard for me. I have a kind of rebellious nature, well were all sinners and aren't naturally wanting to live for God, but God is slowly and sometimes painfully showing me how important and beautiful and glorifying discipline is.

Grace and Peace
sarah B.

O LORD my God

²O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
³O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

⁴Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
⁵For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

⁶As for me, I said in my prosperity,
"I shall never be moved."
⁷By your favor, O LORD,
you made my mountain stand strong;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.

⁸To you, O LORD, I cry,
and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
⁹"What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
¹⁰Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me!
O LORD, be my helper!"

¹¹You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
¹²that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Psalm 148

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his hosts!

Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the LORD!
For he commanded and they were created.
And he established them forever and ever;
he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.

Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!

Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
Beasts and all livestock,
creeping things and flying birds!

Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and maidens together,
old men and children!

Let them praise the name of the LO
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his saints,
for the people of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the LORD!

Thundering Voices

I'm not sure that I could say I have a favorite actor, but if I had to pick one I think Liam Neeson would be right at or near the top of the list. This comes to mind because I recently heard Neeson on a radio interview. I've always loved his work (in fact my desire to see the movie A-Team is mostly because of him) but, after listening to the interview, I began to wonder why my attention was so well kept by him when he wasn't overly funny or entertaining. I think part of it is due to the fact that I like his movies so when he talked about his experience in doing certain scenes it was interesting. But there is no doubt in my mind that his voice was a big reason my interest wasn't altered during the 10 minute segment.

That's something we hardly think about, though Hollywood knows it has an effect on us. A man with such a voice as Neeson can have a presence like non-other. Just think of the roles the man has been chosen to play in the past 10+ years. In the first prequel of Star Wars he played Qui Gon Jin, the wise mentor to Obi Wan Kenobi. In Batman Begins he was Bruce Wayne's tutor of sorts. He was also chosen to be the voice of Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia movie series. And, of course, his movie taken gives us the following speech (beginning at about the 22 second mark):



Apparently a good enough voice can communicate wisdom, make one sound trustworthy, and ignite fear in one's adversaries.

But as good a voice as Neeson may have, it isn't worth an echo of the voice of his Creator. Though God speaks to us today by His written Word and through the agent of the Holy Spirit, it is not because He lacks a voice.

One magnificent example of the voice of the Lord that we find in Scripture is in John 12:

"Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.' Then a voice came from heaven: 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.' The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, 'An angel has spoken to him." (27-29)

I'm not sure what amazes me more, the Father speaking audibly with a beautiful voice like that of an angel or the people attributing such beauty to thunder. But there are two things that are more important than this (1) who is speaking and (2) what He is saying.

You see- in the end, guys like Liam Neeson, Morgan Freemon, and James Earl Jones can sound as trustworthy as they want. The Lord, on the other hand, is exactly as He sounds: powerful, pure, and perfect. What we hear in these other men is the echo of the truly perfect One who spoke the world into existence.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

Power of Prayer

Prayer can be such a powerful thing, right? For me sometimes it just becomes something that i do rather than pouring my heart out to an amazing and all-knowing God. I was reminded of just how powerful prayer is this week when my office co-workers and i went to a ladies prayer meeting in hot springs. My boss, Jerry Cox, has had them do this in the past but since im new this was my first time to go. We get there and this sweet old lady with big puffy brown hair and big glasses was speaking. Her name was Hettie Lou and she was the leader of this group of ladies. Well she asks us to come up front so they can pray for us. Now i was thinking we would go up front and just stand together and they would pray, but i was mistaken.

She had told us that when Jerry had asked if we could come last month she contacted several women in her group and asked if they would each specifcally pray for one person in the office for 25 days. This was so comforting knowing that for 25 days i was being specifically prayed for by someone i had never even met. What was really amazing was just seeing how the Holy Spirit reveals things to people. Many of the women who came up and prayed for each person in my office would say something like "over this time God has really put ______ on my heart to pray for you" and it was exactly what i knew they needed. When the lady who had me came up, her name was donna, she was so sweet and as she started praying over me it was for courage...the very thing i had been needing the past month and even now. I had been planning a home school graduation at the time, something i had never even been to much less planned, and felt so timid because im young and had never done this before.

Anyways all of this is to say that prayer IS powerful and God knows what we need and CAN reveal this to others who dont' even know us. What an honor it is to come before the Lord with our needs and desires and to be able to lift one another up in prayer.

Grace and Peace
sarah B.

O LORD, our Lord

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8

Abundant Goodness

Psalm 145

I will extol you my God and my King

and bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The LORD is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
The LORD upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
The LORD preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

For Natalie

Two years ago I wrote this to my girlfriend Natalie as she left for a Summer mission trip in Peru (10 weeks). Now she is my fiancée and is in San Diego for yet another Summer mission trip. I post this as a reminder for her but also to hopefully edify others who seek to be obedient to God's global purpose for propagating the gospel.

When you miss me and your family and friends: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26).

When you are nervous: "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:31-33).

When you meet new people look for God's purpose: Acts 8:26-40.

When you lose purpose: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).

When you get scared: "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people" (Acts 18:9-10).

When you get sick: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Colossians 1:24).

When you are tempted not to share the gospel with someone: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14-15)

When you feel worthless: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" (Romans 10:15b)

When the gospel is rejected: "[the gospel] is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor. 4:3-4)

When the conversions happen: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).

When you forget your life verse: "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24).

It should be encouraging for you to know that what you are doing is the fruit of your own salvation (Romans 1:5). Missions is SUCH an important part of the Christian life but it is not THE most important part of the Christian life. Make sure that all of your flights, eating and drinking, evangelism, singing, are acts of worship in faith or else it is in vain and, in fact, sin (Romans 14:23). Remember that the fruit of your labor is already being prepared by God; there are names of people God will save through your testimony of the gospel that have been written in the Book of Life since before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

Life and Death

Last Saturday I went to worship team practice and had a great talk with the guys there. Jason Lapp spoke to us about George Lawson's sermon when he came to teach the youth. George taught on Luke 12:13-21, the parable of the rich fool, who tore down his barns to build bigger barns to fill his abundant wealth. "And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry", says the rich fool. Jason emphasized to us the greatness of God's response.

"Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?"

This night...as in tonight. He is saying tonight you will die and those things you have in life will mean nothing.

I was mulling over this all day. I was looking at my life and my relationships and saw how much they were lacking. I have not been a very good older brother. I can be short and angry, and I just don't show that I care enough. I wish I was a better son. I'm arrogant and think I know everything my parents have to tell me. I'm disrespectful and, again, don't show my appreciation of them enough. God really convicted my heart and I was glad for it and glad for his forgiveness, but I felt a weight to change things in my life.

That night I was on my way home from sonic and my phone rang. I looked down to press talk and looked up just in time to see a red light in front of me and car on my right. I didn't have time to react and the car hit me. I remember closing my eyes and feeling the car flip. The hood caved in and I slid upside down as glass flew everywhere in the car. At this moment, I thought it was over. I was dead in my mind.

The car flipped right side up and I escaped with only a small cut on my head and arm. God protected me in an amazing way. I should be dead. No one should have survived that crash, let alone walked away unharmed. I am in shock and awe that I am still here right now and I don't understand why, except that God is not finished with me yet.

Immediately after the crash, I was reminded about all that I had been thinking about that day. If I had died, I would have left this world and, while I believe I would be with my Father, I would regret leaving with those things unchanged. Earlier that day I told myself "I need to live like I'm going to die tonight"....then I almost died. I can't even explain how serious this is. Please don't take life for granted. I did and then the day God opened my eyes, He jerked them open. This was one of the best things He could have done for me. Instead of Him just telling me, He showed me and it scared me to death.

I know I will fail, but every time I feel tempted to get mad at my siblings or to think I'm smarter than my parents, I'm going to think of that night, because I don't want to leave this worl and that be the last thing they remember about me. I want them to look at me and say that to his dying hour he represented Christ. That is my prayer for me and for everyone. Praise and glory and honor be to Christ Jesus, who has the power over life and death!

Brethren, We have Met to Worship

"Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God;
Will you pray with all your power, while we try to preach the Word?
All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down;
Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Brethren, see poor sinners round you slumbering on the brink of woe;
Death is coming, hell is moving, can you bear to let them go?
See our fathers and our mothers, and our children sinking down;
Brethren, pray and holy manna will be showered all around.

Sisters, will you join and help us? Moses’ sister aided him;
Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin?
Tell them all about the Savior, tell them that He will be found;
Sisters, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Is there here a trembling jailer, seeking grace, and filled with tears?
Is there here a weeping Mary, pouring forth a flood of tears?
Brethren, join your cries to help them; sisters, let your prayers abound;
Pray, Oh pray that holy manna may be scattered all around.

Let us love our God supremely, let us love each other, too;
Let us love and pray for sinners, till our God makes all things new.
Then He’ll call us home to Heaven, at His table we’ll sit down;
Christ will gird Himself and serve us with sweet manna all around."

--lyrics by George Atkins