Overcoming Coldness in Prayer

"A brother recently asked me what was the best way to overcome coldness of heart and a 'bound' spirit when he sought to pray. I told him to begin praising the Lord as soon as he dropped upon his knees, and if he could think of nothing else, to commence by thanking him that he was not already in Hell. I read recently of a handsome young man who returned from the war minus his right arm. His friends and relatives gathered together to commiserate him and were bewailing his loss. He turned to them and said, 'Help me to praise God that I still have my left arm!'"
-A.W. Pink, Letters of Arthur W. Pink

As seen on Calvinistic "Quotes" 23/09/2010

Nothing Like a Hymn With Depth and Substance! (2)

Not what my hands have done
Can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne
Can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do
Can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers,
And sighs and tears
Can bear my awful load.

Thy work alone, O Christ,
Can ease this weight of sin
Thy blood alone O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within.
Thy love to me O God,
Not mine, O Lord, to Thee
Can rid me of
This dark unrest,
And set my spirit free!

Thy grace alone, O God,
To me can pardon speak;
Thy power alone O Son of God,
Can this sore bondage break.
No other work, save Thine,
No other blood will do,
No strength save that,
Which is divine,
Can bear me safely through.

I bless the Christ of God;
I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and heart,
I call this Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt,
I bury in His tomb
My unbelief,
And all my fear,
Each lingering shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace,
I trust His truth and might
He calls me His, I call Him mine,
My God, my joy, my light
’Tis He Who saveth me,
And freely pardon gives
I love because
He loveth me,
I live because He lives!

Horatius Bonar

Self-Abnegation

“Our self-abnegation is thus not for our own sake but for the sake of others. And thus it is not to mere self-denial that Christ calls us but specifically to self-sacrifice, not to unselfing ourselves but to unselfishing ourselves. Self-denial for its own sake is in its very nature ascetic, monkish. It concentrates our whole attention on self—self-knowledge, self-control—and can therefore eventuate in nothing other than the very apotheosis of selfishness. At best it succeeds only in subjecting the outer self to the inner self or the lower self to the higher self, and only the more surely falls into the slough of self-seeking, that it partially conceals the selfishness of its goal by refining its ideal of self and excluding its grosser and more outward elements. Self-denial, then, drives to the cloister, narrows and contracts the soul, murders within us all innocent desires, dries up all the springs of sympathy, and nurses and coddles our self-importance until we grow so great in our own esteem as to be careless of the trials and sufferings, the joys and aspirations, the strivings and failures and successes of our fellow-men. Self-denial, thus understood, will make us cold, hard, unsympathetic—proud, arrogant, self-esteeming—fanatical, overbearing, cruel. It may make monks and Stoics, it cannot make Christians.”

B. B. Warfield, “Imitating the Incarnation,” in The Person and Work of Christ (Grand Rapids, 1970), page 574.

A Bible Conference

By Angus Wordsworth Duncan at The Sacred Sandwich

A write up from Pastor Gregg

You can find this and more at Gospel Driven Disciples.

Becky, There Are No Lines

"For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Romans 8:7-8 (ESV)

Someone has forwarded to me for a second time a new song. There is another "feel-good" CAC ("Christian"-Approved Correct) song making the rounds on the Internet and Face book via YouTube. It is called, "Where is the Line To See Jesus?" This is designed to make people feel  all  "Christianie" during this season of commercialization, spending, and celebration. The idea is that there are long lines in the stores and such but there is not a line for Jesus. People have lined up to see "Santa" and a little boy asks his mommy where is the line to see Jesus.

I, for one, would be worried if there were a line amongst the "worldlings" to see Jesus. Since there is such a hostility between God and man until God, in His sovereign timing by His Holy Spirit overcomes that hostility and changes heart and mind of a man, no one wants to see Jesus. As a matter of fact the Bible says that man loves the darkness and his dark deeds so much that he hates the light and won't come to the light. (Colossians 1:3; John 3:19-20)

Please don't fool yourself, or worse yet, convince yourself that men and women are going to get all "Jesusy" around this time of year and line up for Jesus. Feel-good emotional songs designed to tug at our hearts and bring tears will not end this hostility.

We can look to the New Testament and the life of Jesus and see that for a time great crowds did line up to see Jesus and to follow him. The world will line up at one time or another and for one or more of the following reasons Men did follow Jesus for the...

...Multitudes - yes some followed because others were flocking to Jesus to see what the "fuss" was all about. They heard about a man saying and doing strange things and performing miracles.

...Meals - many followed because they had been fed on at least two occasions. Times were hard and to have some feed you was welcomed.

...Miracles - many more followed because they had received something. Some were healed of terrible infirmities or diseases, some were raised from the dead, and some saw Jesus perform wonderful miracles

...Master - very few followed Jesus because they were willing to own him as Master

Remember, when Jesus put it all on the line and laid down the requirements to be his disciple and to follow him, what did those who had lined up do? They turned back and followed him no more. As a matter of fact so many left the "lines" that Jesus asked his disciples if they too were going to turn back and go away. The world  does not want to "line up and follow" the Jesus of the Bible nor do they want to own Him as Master.

Where's the line for the Lord asks the singer? Don't look hard or long since you won't see one. People will not line up for the God or the Jesus of the Bible. They will always line up for a God or Jesus of their own imagination. No one, Romans 3 says very clearly will line up for Jesus. No one will until God in His grace and by His mercy overcomes the sin and darkness of their hearts and transfers them into the kingdom of His dear Son.

Let me encourage you to put away this commercialized and sentimental view of the Christ-child and pick up the Bible and read deeply of the wonderful, gracious, and miraculous incarnation of the Son of God. Read of the reason for the incarnation. Then, if you haven't as of yet, find a quiet place, fall on your face and plead with God to save your soul thereby ending the hostility between you and God. Give God glory for the incarnation of the Christ-child!

If you have done this and you are a child of God, resist the temptation to forward this sappy, sentimental, yet biblically empty song and share something truly substantial. Share the gospel with someone this year. Are you looking for that perfect gift that fits all? That gift no one can return? Share the gift of the Son of God who died to overcome the hostility between God and man and who reconciles God to man. That is the gift that will keep on giving.

You have a lovely voice and great talent but Becky, there are no lines.

Gregg Metcalf
"Spreading a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the glory of God and the joy of all people through Jesus Christ in Longview, Washington."

Colossians 3:12

A Puritan Prayer - In Prayer