I found these words this week in my study.  They do not fit the message I am preaching, but I do not want to lose them because they fit the Christian life.  They were written by Philp Henry, Matthew Henry’s father, for his children at their baptism.

I take God to by my chief end and highest good.

I take God the Son to be my prince and Savior.

I take God the Holy Spirit to be my sanctifier, teacher, guide, and comforter.

I take the Word of God to be my rule in all my actions and the people of God to be my people under all conditions.

I do hereby dedicate and devote to the Lord all that I am, all that I have, and all I can do.

And this I do deliberately, freely, and forever.

Lately, I have been reading a small but helpful Banner of Truth book by Walter Chantry,  Shadow of the Cross, and one chapter deals with “Marriage and Self-Denial”.  In it he offers 3 reasons why marriages and homes are falling apart in western society.

1. Spouses may be ignorant of the well-marked boundaries which God has set for them
2. Spouses may raise clenched fists of defiance against the Most High
3. Remaining corruption and slight progress in grace may prevent husband and wife from executing known precepts of the Lord

He concludes this paragraph by quoting Isaiah 45:9 “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him” (ESV).  Our problems in life are usually simply, we or those around us have failed to do things God’s way.  The fix is not difficult to figure out, but is often refused because it requires us to deny ourselves and give up our own way.

March Madness is finally here! The Brackets are out. Butler is a 9 seed! IU is resting comfortably in Bloomington. Purdue probably has the best chance to advance.

If you are connected to Edgewood and want to take part in the Reformed Round Ball Bracket Challenge hosted by Yahoo give me an email and an invite will be promptly sent out. If you have received an invite and haven’t signed up, what are you waiting for?

From the Olney Hymns written by John Newton to be sung as a response to hearing the preached word of God.

Jesus is mine!  I’m now prepared to meet with what I thought most hard;

Yes, let the winds of trouble blow, And comforts melt away like snow;

No blasted trees, or failing crops, Can hinder my eternal hopes;

Though creatures change, the LORD’S the same, Then let me triumph in his name.

Ligonier recently did an interview of Sinclair Ferguson and asked many questions about the book”In Christ Alone”.   Sinclair is one of my favorite speakers and authors alive today.  His knowledge of scripture and insight in applying it have a steady depth that is needed today.  The interview ranges from subjects concerning quotes in the book, Calvin, the reformation and the church today.  One question:

 

What are some of your concerns related to the health of Protestant Christianity we see here in present-day America and in your beloved Scotland? 

The passage which was expounded at my ordination to the gospel ministry was 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, and it has served as a kind of guiding light to me ever since. Paul says there that he has put aside not only disgraceful, underhanded ways, but that he does not “do” things just because “they work.” Instead he expounds the truth and does so in such a way that both the truth of the gospel and his own integrity are clear. By contrast we have become a very pragmatic church; we have a thirst for size (bigger is seen as better).

We have also spawned a cult of the personality and the guru. I have seen pulpit search committee material stating in black and white that they need an “outstanding communicator” to be their minister. Much of our thinking has actually become very worldly.

One indication of this recently is in the ease with which Christians now speak about “the quality of our worship” but unlike their forefathers do it only once on Sunday (and many ministers know that an evening service would not be well attended …. for all kinds of reasons that I suspect will not hold up before the God of the universe who is worthy to be worshiped and adore world without end! I wonder what he thinks of the quality of our worship!). It is also a concern to me that we are living in the age of the worship leader and the counselor rather than the preacher (what we do and what we talk about–sadly usually ourselves–takes precedence over God talking to us.

Again there is the lack of prayer, and of the church praying. This is to me the most alarming, for this reason: we have built apparently strong, large, successful, active churches. But many of our churches never meet as a congregation for prayer. I mean never! What does that indicate we are saying about the life of the church as a fellowship? By contrast the mark of a truly apostolic spirit in the church is that that we give ourselves to prayer and the word together

This month’s Tabletalk is on the issue of Authority and deals with government, family, and church.  David Mathis wrote an encouraging article “Served By God, Serving Men” in respect to the local church.

My dad hasn’t been to seminary. He has no formal theological training. Nobody pays him and Mom for their endless hours serving the church. But they could write an article on sacrificial service to the church. They’ve lived it.

Pop is a dentist in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He and Mom moved to town in the late seventies after dental school and a couple years practicing on marines. They didn’t know anyone when they arrived. They visited churches, soon found one, and have been there for over three decades now.

I remember Pop giving all day Saturday to referee church basketball and getting up before five to get things ready for the men’s breakfast. Mom gave herself to the ladies of the church and helped launch the prayer room. I remember Pop putting the final touches on his Sunday school lesson and driving straight from work to an evening search committee or deacons’ meeting.

The kids didn’t suffer from our parents’ church service. We only benefited. Parents who served the church became more and more sacrificial at home.

I guess my folks are old school — and biblical. They didn’t join First Baptist for the entertaining music or youth ministry or cool preacher. They found a church where they could be blessed by God and be a blessing to others.

So many of us think about it the other way around. We think of church in terms of our serving God and receiving from others. But this is backwards.

Sacrificial service in the church doesn’t start with serving. It starts with being served by God. Then as we are satisfied in Him and who He’s revealed Himself to be in His crucified Son, we gladly overflow in service of others.

Local churches all across our country need a few more “old school”/biblical church members.

Or at least for the month of March you can try out the ESV Study Bible Online for free.  Yes that is right, unlimited access to the full ESVSB.  Sure it is yet another marketing attempt on this much marketed Study Bible, but it is a great chance to check it out and see if it might be a help to you in your study of God’s Word.

Crossway announced yesterday that they were making the Online ESV Study Bible available free to anywhere, anywhere, for the entire month of March.

A couple of features worth noting:

• You can listen to the audio of the ESV from narrator David Cochran Heath.
• You can take and save your own notes in the Online ESVSB.
• You can highlight words and verses in several different colors.

All you have to do is go to their website and sign in, leaving the code blank, and you can test drive the ESV Study Bible.

(ht:jt)