Holy Saturday 2017

LORD, God of my salvation;

I cry out day and night before you.

Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry!  

For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol.

I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

like one set loose among the dead,

like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom you remember no more,

for they are cut off from your hand.

You have put me in the depths of the pit,

in the regions dark and deep.

Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves.  
 

You have caused my companions to shun me;

you have made me a horror to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O LORD;

I spread out my hands to you.

Do you work wonders for the dead?

Do the departed rise up to praise you?

Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

Are your wonders known in the darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

 

But I, O LORD, cry to you;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?

Why do you hide your face from me?

Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.

Your wrath has swept over me;

your dreadful assaults destroy me.

They surround me like a flood all day long;

they close in on me together.

You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;

my companions have become darkness.
-Psalm 88 image

Good Friday 2017

I bind my heart, this tide
To the Galilean’s side,
To the wounds of Calvary—
To the Christ who died for me.

I bind my soul this day
To the brother far away
And the brother near at hand,
In this town and in this land.

I bind my heart in thrall
To God, the Lord of all,
To God, the poor man’s Friend,
And the Christ whom He did send.

I bind myself to peace,
To make strife and envy cease.
God, knit Thou sure the cord
Of my thralldom to my Lord.
...Lauchlan MacLean Watt image

Maundy Thursday 2017

Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless

Thy chosen pilgrim flock

With manna in the wilderness,

With water from the rock.
 

We would not live by bread alone,

But by Thy word of grace,

In strength of which we travel on

To our abiding place.
 

Be known to us in breaking bread,

And do not then depart;

Savior, abide with us, and spread

Thy table in our heart.
 

Lord, sup with us in love divine,

Thy Body and Thy Blood,

That living bread, that heavenly wine,

Be our immortal food.

-James Montgomery image

Benedictus

Jan 19, 2017
Steve Angrisano
A great prayer to start any day..."In His tender compassion, the dawn now breaks on high". Blessings.

The Christian landscape...

The Christian landscape is strewn with the wreckage of derelict, half-built towers—the ruins of those who began to build and were unable to finish. All too many people still ignore Christ’s warning and undertake to follow him without first pausing to reflect on the cost of doing so. The result is the great scandal of so-called nominal Christianity.
...John RW Stott image

Of the Father’s love begotten...

Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be,

 He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He,

 Of the things that are, that have been,

 And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!

At His Word the worlds were framèd;
He commanded; it was done:

 Heaven and earth and depths of ocean
in their threefold order one;

 All that grows beneath the shining

 Of the moon and burning sun, evermore and evermore!

He is found in human fashion, death and sorrow here to know,

 That the race of Adam’s children
doomed by law to endless woe,

 May not henceforth die and perish

 In the dreadful gulf below, evermore and evermore!

O that birth forever blessèd, when the virgin, full of grace,

By the Holy Ghost conceiving, bare the Savior of our race;

 And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,

 First revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore!

Christ, to Thee with God the Father,
and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,

 Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving,
and unwearied praises be:

 Honor, glory, and dominion,

 And eternal victory, evermore and evermore!

-Aurelius Prudentius

Christ in the Desert

by J.D. Flynn
3/17/17

On Saturday, I watched good friends carry a miniature white casket up the aisle of our parish church, to be laid before the altar for a funeral Mass. Their son was stillborn last week. Our parish had come to the church to pray for them as they laid their son’s body to rest.

My friends have entered the season of Lent in a profound way.

During Lent, we remember Jesus, fasting and praying in the Judean desert. We remember that Jesus was weak, and tired, and alone, and that, relying on the word of God, he overcame the empty promises of Satan.

Like Christ, my friends will likely feel weak, tired, and alone this Lent. C. S. Lewis said that grief feels much like fear, and I suspect they’ll sometimes feel afraid. He also said that grief is an amputation, and I suspect they’ll sometimes feel crippled.

And like Christ, my friends will face temptations. They may be tempted to turn on each other. They may be tempted to turn from God. They may be tempted to pretend they don’t need help—human or divine—when, in fact, they surely do. I suspect my friends will overcome those temptations, by grace. But if they don’t, I know they’ll seek God’s mercy, and I know he’ll give it freely.

During Lent, most of us offer up small sacrifices—pittances, really—to spend more time in prayer. We limit our comforts, just a little. We give alms, usually from our excess, and rarely from our need. And somehow God, in his mercy on us—his pity for our pitiful sacrifices—gives these tiny sacrifices meaning, and uses them to draw us closer to him... image

The rest at First Things

Shine On Us

Philips, Craig and Dean

Thou Lamb of Calvary...

My faith looks up to Thee,

Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine!

Now hear me while I pray, take all my guilt away,

O let me from this day be wholly Thine!
 

May Thy rich grace impart

Strength to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire!

As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee,

Pure warm, and changeless be, a living fire!
 

While life’s dark maze I tread,

And griefs around me spread, be Thou my Guide;

Bid darkness turn to day, wipe sorrow’s tears away,

Nor let me ever stray from Thee aside.

When ends life’s transient dream,

When death’s cold sullen stream over me roll;

Blest Savior, then in love, fear and distrust remove;

O bear me safe above, a ransomed soul!

-Ray Palmer image

CityAlight: I Want to Know You

Stand still, and see!

In every life

There's a pause that is better than onward rush,

Better than hewing or mightiest doing;

'Tis the standing still at Sovereign will.

There's a hush that is better than ardent speech,

Better than sighing or wilderness crying;

'Tis the being still at Sovereign will.

The pause and the hush sing a double song

In unison low and for all time long.

O human soul, God's working plan

Goes on, nor needs the aid of man!

Stand still, and see!

Be still, and know!

-V. Raymond Edman

10 Things You Should Know about Revival

January 9, 2017
by Sam Storms

Excerpt:
(1) Revival cannot be scheduled. Revival cannot be predicted, but neither can it be precluded. There simply are no natural laws that guarantee revival. True revival is a sovereign work of God (Zech. 4:6). In other words, revival is always a miracle. Revival is not "in our pocket." Once we fall into the trap of thinking that revival is at our beck-and-call, we will begin to develop earthly strategies that we are convinced will produce the desired end. We will become sinfully pragmatic in the business of religion, as we justify virtually any tactic or method just so long as it gets "results". But this is precisely what we must avoid at all costs.

(2) Someone has defined revival as "a copious effusion of the influence of divine grace," i.e., a bountiful outpouring of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. J. I. Packer defines revival as "a work of God by his Spirit through his word bringing the spiritually dead to living faith in Christ and renewing the inner life of Christians who have grown slack and sleepy" (Revival, 36). Or again, "Revival is God stirring the hearts of his people, visiting them . . . coming to dwell with them . . . returning to them . . . pouring out his Spirit on them . . . to quicken their consciences, show them their sins, and exalt his mercy . . . before their eyes" (Keep in Step with the Spirit, 256).

(3) True revival is a surprising work of God. This is because revival is a gracious work of God. No one deserves revival. One may never expect what one does not deserve. If God were not to send revival, no one could protest that an injustice had been done. That is why we must never demand revival, as if God were in our debt. God is not obligated to visit us with the refreshing waters of his presence. That he occasionally does is an expression of mercy. It is the compassion and loving kindness of God that accounts for revival. image

Full article here

More Observations on the Nature of True Revival

Added 1/12/17: A Dozen Additional Thoughts on the Nature of Revival and How People Respond to It

Rejoice; for, to us is born a King...

Rejoice; for, this day is born for us a Mediator, that man may be reconciled with God, and that this peace may be spread over the earth.

Rejoice; for, to us is born a Physician, to make sinners pure from sin, to deliver them from the power of Satan, to redeem them from eternal damnation, to impart to all a heavenly joy, that glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men.

Rejoice; for, to us is born a King, to fill us with joy; a High Priest, to pour on believers the Divine blessing; a Father, to adopt us as his children for all eternity. To us is born a well-beloved Brother, a Master in every kind of knowledge, a veritable Chief, a Judge of most perfect equity, that glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men.

Rejoice, sinners, for He who is born is the Son of God, the High Priest who absolves all that repent, in order that glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men. ...John Huss image

Lo, God, our God has come!

Lo, God, our God has come!

To us a Child is born,

To us a Son is given;

Bless, bless the blessed morn!

O happy, lowly lofty birth,

Now God, our God, has come to earth!

 

Rejoice, our God has come!

In love and lowliness;

The Son of God has come

The sons of men to bless.

God with us now descend to dwell,

God in our flesh, Immanuel.

 

Praise ye the word made flesh!

True God, true man is He.

Praise ye the Christ of God!

To Him all glory be.

Praise ye the Lamb that once was slain,

Praise ye the king that comes to reign.

        ...Horatius Bonar image

Christmas According to Kids

From: Southland Christian Church

Bp. Dobbs: Habakkuk Online Bible Study Part IV

Habakkuk # 4 from Julian Dobbs on Vimeo.

Bp. Dobbs: Habakkuk Online Bible Study Part III

Habakkuk # 3 from Julian Dobbs on Vimeo.

"Fear Not"

Just Drop the Blanket: The Moment You Never Noticed in A Charlie Brown Christmas ...Looking at it now, it is pretty clear what Charles Schultz was saying, and it's so simple it's brilliant.

The birth of Jesus separates us from our fears.

The birth of Jesus frees us from the habits we are unable (or unwilling) to break ourselves.

The birth of Jesus allows us to simply drop the false security we have been grasping so tightly, and learn to trust and cling to Him instead...

Anne Kennedy: Dear Baby God, Help Us To Stop Freaking Out ...Humanity is Evil y’all. It just is. That’s why we have to celebrate Christmas. That’s what Christmas is For–to admit that we all blew it So Badly that God could come to earth as a literal human baby and still be stronger than all our capacity to correct our own course. This should be humiliating, but also pretty great. We might as well nestle back in our couches, or our refugee cots, and drink whatever we can get our hands on (well…maybe not whatever) and rejoice that God is strong enough to deal, even as a baby. And he isn’t a baby any more! He’s in heaven, glorified, powerful, ready to judge us all whenever we hit that sweet terrifying moment...

He Came Down

Bp. Dobbs: Habakkuk Online Bible Study Part II

Habakkuk # 2 from Julian Dobbs on Vimeo.

Part I here

O Come Divine Messiah

Habakkuk On Line Video Series-Part I

Habakkuk # 1 from Julian Dobbs on Vimeo.

More info here

Hark! the glad sound! the Savior comes

Hark! the glad sound! the Savior comes,

The Savior promised long:

Let every heart prepare a throne,

And every voice a song.
 

He comes the prisoners to release

In Satan's bondage held;

The gates of brass before him burst,

The iron fetters yield.
 

He comes, the broken heart to bind,

The bleeding soul to cure;

And with the treasures of his grace

To enrich the humble poor.
 

Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,

Thy welcome shall proclaim;

And heaven's eternal arches ring

With thy beloved Name.

-Philip Doddridge image

Advent and the Exodus

Tim Chester
November 28th 2016

I was confused and distressed.
I couldn’t find any comfort.
I lay awake at night.
I didn’t know what to say.
I groaned when I remembered the good old days.

Any of these statements sound familiar? I wonder how many you could tick off.

They are all sentiments expressed in the opening verses of Psalm 77. And they are followed by the Psalmist’s questions: “Has God forgotten to be merciful?” “Has his unfailing love vanished for ever?”

Yet the Psalm ends with a great expression of confidence. Something happens which makes the Psalmist ask a very difficult kind of question: “What god is as great as our God?”

What’s brought about this transformation? It’s not down to any change in his circumstances. There’s no hint of that in the Psalm. Something else has changed. And whatever it is, it’s surely a secret worth knowing. Here is something that enables us to face life with confidence—even in the midst of regret, heartache and struggle.

The answer is that the Psalmist appeals to the story of God. “To this I will appeal,” he says in verse 10, “the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.” It’s followed by four resolutions “to remember the deeds of the LORD”. The Psalmist determines to let the story of God shape his understanding of God and his understanding of himself.

For the Psalmist that meant remembering the story of the exodus. He alludes to the plagues on Egypt and he describes the parting of the Red Sea. The exodus story kicks off when God meets Moses at the burning bush. “I have come down,” God tells Moses, “to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians” (Exodus 3 v 8). God came down to reveal himself, to liberate Israel from slavery and to form them as his own people. This was the great defining moment for Israel. And it’s recalling this moment that so radically changes the Psalmist’s perspective on life... the rest image

It was not suddenly and unannounced...

It was not suddenly and unannounced that Jesus came into the world. He came into a world that had been prepared for him. The whole Old Testament is the story of a special preparation …Only when all was ready, only in the fullness of his time, did Jesus come. ...Phillips Brooks image

My God, how endless is Thy love!

My God, how endless is Thy love!

Thy gifts are ev’ry ev’ning new;

And morning mercies from above

Gently distill like early dew.
 

Thou spread’st the curtains of the night,

Great guardian of my sleeping hours;

Thy sov’reign word restores the light,

And quickens all my drowsy pow’rs.
 

I yield my pow’rs to Thy command,

To Thee I consecrate my days;

Perpetual blessings from Thine hand

Demand perpetual songs of praise.

...Isaac Watts image

Albert Mohler: Will Beauty Save the World?

November 1, 2016

by Albert Mohler
 

Sometimes persistent questions demand a response. The question I would like us to ask and answer this morning is will beauty save the world? It may sound like an odd question. It’s a question occasioned by Dostoevsky the great Russian novelist, in his work The Idiot—a novel drenched in Christian content and deeply engaged with Christian theology. Beauty will save the world. Is that a Christian affirmation or not? When Dostoevsky said that beauty will save the world, how was he defining beauty?

I want us to consider two biblical texts in response to this question. First Isaiah 53:1-10.

“Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
the rest image

O child of suffering, be thou patient...

O child of suffering, be thou patient; God has not passed thee over in his providence. He who is the feeder of sparrows, will also furnish you with what you need. Sit not down in despair; hope on, hope ever. Take up the arms of faith against a sea of trouble, and your opposition shall yet end your distresses. There is One who careth for you. His eye is fixed on you, his heart beats with pity for your woe, and his hand omnipotent shall yet bring you the needed help. The darkest cloud shall scatter itself in showers of mercy. The blackest gloom shall give place to the morning. He, if thou art one of his family, will bind up thy wounds, and heal thy broken heart. Doubt not his grace because of thy tribulation, but believe that he loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness. What a serene and quiet life might you lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence! With a little oil in the cruse, and a handful of meal in the barrel, Elijah outlived the famine, and you will do the same. If God cares for you, why need you care too? Can you trust him for your soul, and not for your body? He has never refused to bear your burdens, he has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the hand of a gracious God.  -CH Spurgeon image

How To Lose Your Zeal for Christ

September 20, 2015

by Tim Challies

Are you zealous for Christ? Do you have a genuine zeal to live for him and to advance his cause in the world? Or have you lost the zeal that once marked you? Here, courtesy of Joel Beeke and James La Belle are 9 ways you may lose your zeal.

Major in speculative religion. Speculative religion is religion whose primary concern is that which is theoretical or conjectural. Look to the pastoral epistles and you will often find Paul warning Timothy and Titus that they must avoid anything like this—anything vain and unprofitable, anything obsessed with fables and genealogies (see 1 Timothy 4:2, 2 Timothy 2:14, Titus 3:9, etc). Christianity is meant to be an experiential religion, one that is meant to reach the heart and the will and to work itself out in action. “Christian faith begins with an experiential renovation of the heart and progresses by an experiential relationship that impacts all of life.”

Love the world. “How can we be zealous for heaven when our hearts are wrapped up in earthly things? How can we lift our spirits heavenward when our minds are weighed down with the cares of this life? How can we be zealous for God when our love is divided between Him and this world? Worldly mindedness will starve our zeal.” Jesus promised us that we can serve only one master; our zeal will diminish when our loyalties are torn between God and mammon, God and this world.

Be spiritually presumptuous. Some people start out in the Christian faith, but then assume that they have nothing more to do. They presume upon the riches and grace of Christ, but invest little effort in battling sin and putting sin to death. Some take an opposite view and claim that they are no longer sinful, that they have attained perfection. In either case, these people are dangerously presumptuous and will necessarily see their zeal decline and disappear. the rest image

The Cross of Christ...

The whole stream and drift of the Old Testament moves straight to the cross of Christ. The whole New Testament is nothing but the portrait of Christ. Let a man seek the true course of his own life in the Word, and inevitably it will land him at the cross, to seek mercy as a perishing sinner in the Saviour’s wounds; and let him, starting afresh from this point of departure, seek his true course still farther, and inevitably what he will see will be, rising upon him in the distance, astonishing and enchaining him, but drawing him ever on, the image of perfection in the man Christ Jesus. ...James Stalker image

As artists give themselves to their models...

As artists give themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we addict ourselves to prayer.
...CH Spurgeon image

O Wondrous Sight! O Vision Fair!

O wondrous sight! O vision fair

Of glory that the church shall share,

Which Christ upon the mountain shows,

Where brighter than the sun He glows!
 

From age to age the tale declares

How with the three disciples there

Where Moses and Elijah meet,

The Lord holds converse high and sweet.
 

The law and prophets there have place,

Two chosen witnesses of grace,

The Father’s voice from out the cloud

Proclaims His only Son aloud.
 

With shining face and bright array,

Christ deigns to manifest that day

What glory shall be theirs above

Who joy in God with perfect love.
 

And faithful hearts are raised on high

By this great vision’s mystery;

For which in joyful strains we raise

The voice of prayer, the hymn of praise.
 

O Father, with the eternal Son,

And Holy Spirit, ever One,

Vouchsafe to bring us by Thy grace

To see Thy glory face to face.

...from the Sar­um Brev­i­ary

Go back! Back to that Upper Room...

Go back! Back to that Upper Room, back to your knees, back to the searching of heart and habit, thought and life; back to pleading, praying, waiting, till the Spirit of the Lord floods the soul with light, and you are endued with power from on high. Then go forth in the power of Pentecost, and the Christ-life shall be lived, and the works of Christ shall be done. You shall open blind eyes, cleanse foul hearts, break men’s fetters, and save men’s souls. In the power of the Indwelling Spirit, miracles become the commonplace of daily living. ...Samuel Chadwick image

How To Pray When Your Soul Is Bone Dry

Tim Challies
July 21, 2016

You know you ought to pray. You know that God invites and even commands you to pray. He loves to hear from you, loves to know you. Yet there are times when your soul feels bone dry, when even opening your mouth to pray seems an impossibility. What do you do?

Just Pray

Perhaps the hardest thing to do in those times is to even make the effort to pray. Just pray. It is always the right thing to do. Pray short if you need to. Tell God you are struggling to pray. But somehow just pray.

• And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:17-19)

the rest image

Recovering the Priority of Personal Holiness

by Alistair Begg
July 18, 2016

“If the Word does not dwell with power in us,” wrote Puritan John Owen, “it will not pass with power from us” (The Works of John Owen, vol. 16, p. 76.). This godly minister personified this truth in his personal life and public ministry more than three centuries ago. For years he carried the message of Jesus Christ into the trenches of a culture as chaotic as our own while simultaneously dealing with the death of his wife and all eleven of his children. John Owen was no ivory tower theologian, but rather a zealous pastor who worked to the brink of exhaustion to further the work of the Reformers. He is remembered for shining gospel light into the spiritually dark arenas of politics and academia. And his love of Scripture was clearly and forcefully articulated from the variety of pulpits into which God called him.

Yet what gave John Owen success in ministry was not so much his oratory skill, nor his evangelistic zeal, nor even his love for the people he shepherded. John Owen was used mightily by God in all these ways because he was a man characterized by personal holiness. And in an age when the church is emulating the world, where it is no longer distinguishable from our pleasure-oriented culture, the example of John Owen shines like a beacon on a stormy night.

Let’s consider whether we have allowed contemporary culture to infiltrate our minds and hearts. Have we inverted Christ’s desire that the church be in the world by bringing the world into the church instead? If we take an honest look, perhaps we’ll discover that we are contributing to this trend. Rather than relying solely on the sufficiency of God’s Word, are we employing counselors in our churches who apply worldly methods of psychological analysis to address felt needs? Have we adopted worldly means to reach the seekers who sit skeptically in the back pews rather than offering them the truths of the Gospel and the Christian life? Faithful teaching of God’s Word is vanishing. Are we among the number that have replaced preaching with elaborate drama productions aimed at entertaining? In terms of covenantal relationships, the rate of divorce and remarriage reflects societal statistics. Where do we stand on this issue? The church has become tolerant of all kinds of biblical compromise, casting aside principles that Owen and his contemporaries would have given their lives to protect and defend... the rest image

“Let not your hearts be troubled. "

John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me."
 

In seasons of uncertainty and turmoil, we are being asked to make a deliberate decision. We are being asked to not allow our hearts to be troubled. The only way I know how to do that is to spend copious amounts of time with God so I can walk through hard times from a place of peace... and that peace will impact those directly around me. It starts with me. ...Katherine Walden image