Support and Prayer for Phil Robertson

I support my brother in Christ, Phil Robertson. We share the same faith, the same views on sin, and the same simple southern logic.

Homosexuality is indeed illogical. But like he says, so is all sin.

Why would one sin and rebel against their gracious Creator? The Bible explains the answer. We all have a sin nature, inherited from our fathers.

And thus, we all need Jesus Christ... whose precious blood is the only thing that can wash away a rebel's sin, and whose perfect righteousness imputed to a man gives him peace with God his Maker.

Once Christ is received through repentant faith, the Holy Spirit continues the work within to conform the elect into His image... to make us who we are... in Christ! But the sanctifying work will only be complete when we are glorified in heaven... when we see Him "as He is." Until then, we are "a work in progress," but perfect in God's sight.

This is the Christian message. This is the Gospel. This is THE Good News. God saves sinners!

But how can sin be known apart from the law. If we are afraid to define sin, how will the lost see a need for Jesus?

We Christians must not shy away from lovingly but boldly calling sin what it is.

"The business of Christianity ultimately is not simply to make us feel happier or even to make us live a better life... It is to reconcile us to God!"
- Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones

I am praying for Phil and his whole family, as they face the onslaught of Satan and a rebellious world that lies in darkness under his power. May they stand strong in the faith, even if it means losing everything else.

327,166 Little Souls

Dr. George Grant notes that the numbers have just been released in their annual report, and the folks at Planned Parenthood were responsible for performing 327,166 murders in 2012.

These 327,166 babies only lived inside their mothers for a few days, maybe a few weeks. Their mothers did not want them, and so their lives were taken for a little money.

Planned Parenthood received taxpayer funding at a rate of $1.5 million per day. That's right... $1.5 million each day!

This is our government. This is our money. And these babies will never in this life get to see a sunrise in the morning, a flower in full bloom, a thunderstorm in all it's power... or the warmth of their mother's kiss.

Lastly, for every one adoption referral they made, Planned Parenthood performed 149 abortions.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones on Modern Man and the Gospel

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones is interviewed by Joan Bakewell in December of 1970.

http://youtu.be/-vbydx95tVQ

Open Letter to Bonn International School Secondary Principal

I have a sincere concern.  I would prefer to come in and speak face-to-face about this matter, but my work schedule is extremely hectic this month.  

In the name of Jesus Christ, I would like to humbly express our disappointment that it appears that Bonn International School allows a sinful activity (according to our faith) to be openly promoted and celebrated in the open areas of the Agora Building.  

We are among many Christians at BIS.  Surely you must know that the propaganda in the Agora Building would be offensive to Christians, as well as those of other faiths, who teach that homosexual behavior is wrong.  I have spoken to many other parents, and they all agree. 

While I assume that those who allow this over-sexualization of our children do so with good intent (maybe to promote mutual respect for one another and to condemn bullying), we find this pro-homosexual propaganda offensive and disrespectful.

We are teaching Biblical truths to our children at home, instructing them in the ways of God.  But the school celebrates homosexuality with rainbow flags hung next to nation flags (which is a disgrace to all nations, in my opinion), school-endorsed clubs, and propaganda in the passageway displays.  On "Gay Day," when our youngest daughter was eating with a group, there was even a teacher who approached them, proudly extended her arm with a rainbow painted on it, and said, "Look!  I've got a rainbow!"  This is blatant, "in your face" disrespect to people of faith.  I hope you would agree that it would be best for things of this nature to be taught only at home by parents, according to our faith and our values.

I hope you can understand our concern and can place yourself in our shoes.  We respect and love all people, but we do not wish for our children to become callous to sinful behavior by continual exposure to the LGBT agenda, attempting to make this behavior socially and morally acceptable.

Thank you for your time, and we humbly ask for your consideration.  

 

Your Servant in Christ,
Marty L. Smith

The Cross

Please watch...

If nothing appears above, you can watch the video at this link.

Cancer Patient: One of the Obamacare Losers

Please read, from the WSJ, this cancer-patient's heart wrenching story of losing her affordable, life-saving medical insurance policy.... You Also Can't Keep Your Doctor

I have two comments.

First, while I have great sympathy for this dear woman and her fight against cancer, maybe she should have made a little time for politics. Our voices must be heard if we want a government of, by, and for the people.

Secondly, I think we will soon hear a lot more of these stories. Let us pray for the people of our nation, and for our leaders.

How to Spend a Day with God

How to Spend a Day with God

A holy life is inclined to be made easier when we know the usual sequence and method of our duties–with everything falling into its proper place. Therefore, I shall give some brief directions for spending the day in a holy manner:

1. Sleep. Measure the time of your sleep appropriately so that you do not waste your precious morning hours sluggishly in your bed. Let the time of your sleep be matched to your health and labor, and not to slothful posture.

2. First Thoughts. Let God have your first awaking thoughts. Lift up your heart to Him reverently and thankfully for the rest enjoyed the night before, and cast yourself on Him for the day which follows. Think of the mercy of a night’s rest and of how many have spent that night in hell; how many in prison; how many in cold, hard lodgings; how many suffering from agonizing pains and sickness, weary of their beds and of their lives. Think of how quickly days and nights are rolling on–how speedily your last night and day will come! Observe that which is lacking in the preparedness of your soul for such a time, and seek it without delay.

3. Prayer. Let prayer by yourself alone (or with your partner) take place before the collective prayer of the family. If possible, let it be first, before any work of the day.

4. Family Worship. Let family worship be performed consistently and at a time when it is most likely for the family to be free of interruptions.

5. Purpose. Remember your ultimate purpose, and when you set yourself to your day’s work or approach any activity in the world, let holiness to the Lord be written on your heart in all that you do. Do nothing in the world for any other ultimate purpose than to please, glorify, and enjoy Him. “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

6. Diligence. Show that you are not sluggish and servant to ease. Keep out idle thoughts from your mind. Do not waste precious time. Diligently carry out occupation.

7. Temptation. Be thoroughly acquainted with your temptations and the things that may corrupt you. Watch against the master sins of unbelief: hypocrisy, selfishness, pride, flesh-pleasing, and the excessive love of earthly things. Take care against being drawn into earthly mindedness, excessive cares, or covetous designs for rising in the world. Maintain that modesty and cleanness of speech that the laws of purity require. Strengthen yourself against impatient, revengeful pride.

8. Meditation. When alone in your occupations, improve the time in practical and beneficial meditations. Meditate on the infinite goodness and perfections of God; Christ and redemption; heaven and how you deserve eternal misery in hell.

9. Time. Place a high value on your time; guard it more zealously than you guard your money. Do not let worthless recreations, idle talk, unprofitable company, or sleep rob you of your precious time. Make sure that you are not merely never idle, but rather that you are using your time in the most profitable way.

10. Eating and Drinking. Eat and drink with moderation and thankfulness for health. Never please your appetite in food or drink when it is prone to be detrimental to your health. The Apostle Paul wept when he mentioned those who “are enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame–who set their minds on earthly things” (Phil. 3:18-19).

11. Sin. If any temptation prevails against you and you fall into any sins, repent quickly, whatever the cost. It will certainly cost you more if you continue in sin and remain unrepentant. Do not make light of your habitual failures, but confess them and daily strive against them.

12. Relationships. Remember every day the special duties of various relationships: whether as spouse, child, employer, employee, pastor, leader, follower.

13. Bedtime. Before returning to sleep, it is wise to review the actions and mercies of the day past, so that you may be thankful for all the special mercies and humbled for all your sins. This is necessary in order that you might renew your repentance as well as your resolve for obedience, and in order that you may examine yourself to see whether your soul grew better or worse, and whether you are better prepared for suffering, death, and eternity.

May these directions be engraved on your mind and be made the daily practice of your life. If sincerely adhered to, these will be conducive to the holiness, fruitfulness, and quietness of your life, and add to you a comfortable and peaceful death.

(Adapted by Matthew Vogan; http://www.puritansermons.com/baxter/baxter5.htm)

President Obama Seizes Power From Congress!

I don't think most Americans, or the world for that matter, understand what is happening in the federal government of the United States of America.
 

A few people get it.

Mark Levin and Congressman Tom McClintock understood what was about to happen... and it happened.  God help us.


"...By threatening to default the nation [in violation of his oath and the 14th Amendment]... the President is in effect seizing authority from the Congress, and he has succeeded... He will have neutered Congress."
- Mark Levin


Please listen to Mark Levin's fifteen minute opening monologue from Oct 15th, where he and the congressman explain this more fully.  It is linked on The Right Scoop, and you can find it by clicking here.

Practice and Dispositions

By thy Spirit within me...

... may my practice spring from principle,
and my dispositions be conformable with duty.



(From the prayer "Mercy," in The Valley of Vision)

Sarah Palin on House Obamacare Defunding Vote

This is classic Palin.  It amazes me how the opposition usually attacks her personally, but rarely engages her on the issues.  Hope you'll take time to read her op-ed from the 21st of September...

"Bombs Away on Obamacare; Cruz is Over the Target"

We conservatives scored a victory in the House of Representatives.  But it's only one battle in the larger war to restore our great nation to the constitutional republic that our forefathers graciously handed us.  Let us win hearts and minds one citizen at a time, with respectful dialogue and reasonable arguments, and let us not lose hope while there is a merciful God in heaven.

The Dark Guest

O LORD,

Bend my hands and cut them off, for I have often struck thee with a wayward will, when these fingers should embrace thee by faith.

I am not yet weaned from all created glory, honour, wisdom, and esteem of others, for I have a secret motive to eye my name in all I do.

Let me not only speak the word sin, but see the thing itself.
Give me to view a discovered sinfulness, to know that though my sins are crucified they are never wholly mortified.

Hatred, malice, ill-will, vain-glory that hungers for and hunts after man's approval and applause, all are crucified, forgiven, but they rise again in my sinful heart.

O my crucified but never wholly mortified sinfulness!
O my life-long damage and daily shame!
O my indwelling and besetting sins!
O the tormenting slavery of a sinful heart!

Destroy, O God, the dark guest within whose hidden presence makes my life a hell.

Yet thou hast not left me here without grace;
The cross still stands and meets my needs in the deepest straits of the soul.

I thank thee that my remembrance of it is like David's sight of Goliath's sword which preached forth thy deliverance.

The memory of my great sins, my many temptations, my falls, bring afresh into my mind the remembrance of thy great help, of thy support from heaven, of the great grace that saved such a wretch as I am.

There is no treasure so wonderful as that continuous experience of thy grace toward me which alone can subdue the risings of sin within:

Give me more of it.


- The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

Just and the Justifer

From Tabletalk, Sep 4:

 

"... Those who serve the Lord in faith do not do so because they possess a righteous status in themselves before God.  Instead, as with those who remain outside of the kingdom, we who love the one, true Creator are children of wrath apart from our Father's sovereign initiative (Eph. 2:1-3).  

 

But God sent His Son to endure the day of the Lord in our behalf, to bear the punishment we deserve as the enemies of God, thereby showing Himself to be just and the Justifier (Acts 2:14-41; Rom. 3:21-26).  

 

Christ's work on Calvary manifested the day of the Lord for His elect, which was granted by our holy God in His grace that His people would not have to be counted as His enemies on the day when Jesus returns to consummate His kingdom.  

 

Because God has judged us in Christ and imputed His righteousness to us, the final day of the Lord for us will not be the day of wrath it will be for those who do not know Jesus (1 Thess. 1:10).

 

...One day, we shall rule over the whole earth, the Holy Land included."

And with that in mind, we can say with the Psalmist (from my daily Bible reading this morning from M'Cheyne's Bible reading plan):

"My heart overflows with a pleasant theme."

-Psalm 45:1

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

This is powerful, and I pray, helpful. Carve out 20 minutes... grab a notebook, a pencil, and some tissue... and click on the link below:

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God: An Interview with R.C. Sproul Jr.

The Liberty Amendments

"There is a path forward but it requires an enlightened look back at our founding."
- Mark Levin, The Liberty Amendments

May the restoration of our constitutional republic begin!

Interview on Hannity
(H/T The Right Scoop)

	The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic by Mark R. Levin Link: http://amzn.com/1451606273

Bill Whittle: The Wretched Lynching of George Zimmerman

This is a must-watch for anyone interested at all in the Zimmerman case.

According to The Right Scoop...

Bill Whittle’s latest Afterburner is off the hook, the best one I’ve seen in a long time. He totally nails it as he tells the truth about Trayvon Martin and what he calls the ‘wretched lynching’ of George Zimmerman.

It’s fantastic and a must watch:

Charles Spurgeon - July 14 - Morning...

There is treasure of truth and encouragement from Morning & Evening, by Charles Spurgoen.  If you have never explored his rich devotional, I would commend it to you.  There is even a good app for it.

This morning, July 14th, I found the devotional particularly meaningful and timely, given the prevalent beliefs of many, and the tendency of my own heart to lift itself above the humbling truths found in the Holy Writ. 

I hope you find it edifying.  The enlarged texts are my doing...

Exodus 20:25

If thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

God's altar was to be built of unhewn stones, that no trace of human skill or labour might be seen upon it. Human wisdom delights to trim and arrange the doctrines of the cross into a system more artificial and more congenial with the depraved tastes of fallen nature; instead, however, of improving the gospel carnal wisdom pollutes it, until it becomes another gospel, and not the truth of God at all. All alterations and amendments of the Lord's own Word are defilements and pollutions. The proud heart of man is very anxious to have a hand in the justification of the soul before God; preparations for Christ are dreamed of, humblings and repentings are trusted in, good works are cried up, natural ability is much vaunted, and by all means the attempt is made to lift up human tools upon the divine altar. It were well if sinners would remember that so far from perfecting the Saviour's work, their carnal confidences only pollute and dishonour it. The Lord alone must be exalted in the work of atonement, and not a single mark of man's chisel or hammer will be endured. There is an inherent blasphemy in seeking to add to what Christ Jesus in His dying moments declared to be finished, or to improve that in which the Lord Jehovah finds perfect satisfaction. Trembling sinner, away with thy tools, and fall upon thy knees in humble supplication; and accept the Lord Jesus to be the altar of thine atonement, and rest in Him alone.

Many professors may take warning from this morning's text as to the doctrines which they believe. There is among Christians far too much inclination to square and reconcile the truths of revelation; this is a form of irreverence and unbelief, let us strive against it, and receive truth as we find it; rejoicing that the doctrines of the Word are unhewn stones, and so are all the more fit to build an altar for the Lord.

Bill Whittle: Dependence Day

Barack Obama's Past & America's Future

Here is a lecture from Trevor Loudon that should wake up every American!

Don't wait for those in the media to inform you of this, because I don't believe they will.

If what he shares is true, and I have no reason to believe it isn't, we are in for some dark days ahead.

But I pray that the LORD will raise up another generation of patriots who will be willing to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, for His glory and for our good.

For that to happen, I believe we should first be praying that God would mercifully grant another "great awakening."  If He fights our battles, we cannot lose.

May we saints all be about the kingdom business of telling others about sin, righteousness, and judgment... and the good news of Jesus Christ!  For how can they know, unless someone tells them?

In the meantime, be informed, that there are wolves among us.

"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation..."

ZONATION: The Bully-crats

Democrat State Senator Switches to Republican Party

This is the best four-minute speech I've heard in a while:

Hat-tip: Drudge Report & WND

Now... if the Republican Party leadership would espouse and defend true constitutional conservatism, as Mr. Guillory is doing, I think we'd have a lot more Democrats switching over!

We need statesmen who are articulate, well-educated patriots, who know their history like this man, and all the big government RINO's in the party leadership must be replaced!

By God's grace, I think we could actually save our great nation!  I can't wait for Mark Levin's new book (out in August), for a good battle plan to do just that.

But news like this inspires me!!!

Losing Our Doctrine = Losing Our Country?

Commenting on Calvinism's influence on the American Revolution and the formation of our great nation, Loraine Boettner writes,

"History is eloquent in declaring that on a people's religion ever depends their freedom or their bondage. It is a matter of supreme importance what doctrines they believe, what principles they adopt: for these must serve as the basis upon which the superstructure of their lives and their government rests.

Calvinism was revolutionary.  It taught the natural equality of men, and its essential tendency was to destroy all distinctions of rank and all claims to superiority which rested upon wealth or vested privilege.

The liberty-loving soul of the Calvinist has made him a crusader against those artificial distinctions which raise some men above others.

Put the truth of the sovereignty of God into a man's mind and heart, and you put iron in his blood."

Needed: A Righteousness

"Many men spend their days in obstinacy and hardness, adding drunkenness unto thirst, never once inquiring what their condition shall be when they enter into eternity;

 

others trifle away their time and their souls, sowing the wind of empty hopes, and preparing to reap a whirlwind of wrath;

but this lies at the bottom of all the saints' communion with Christ -- a deep, fixed, resolved persuasion of an absolute and indispensable necessity of a righteousness wherewith to appear before God. 

The holiness of God's nature, the righteousness of his government, the severity of his law, the terror of his wrath are always before them.  They have been convinced of sin, and have looked on themselves as ready to sink under the vengeance due to it. 

They have all cried, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved?'  'Wherewith shall we come before God?' and have all concluded, that it is vain to flatter themselves with hopes of escaping as they are by nature. 

If God be holy and righteous, and of purer eyes that to behold iniquity [Hab. 1:13], they must have a righteousness to stand before him;

and they know what will be the cry one day of those who now bear up themselves, as if they were otherwise minded (Isa. 53:1-5; Mic. 6:6-7).

They weigh their own righteousness in the balance, and find it wanting..."



- John Owen, Communion with the Triune God

Some Thoughts on Death and Grieving

Death is such a permanent thing.

And I mean permanent in the sense that when we lose a loved one here on earth, the joys we share with them can now only be memories.

For we believers, it is true that we will share joys anew around the throne-room of God when we gather on the other shore.  We will in fact again see our brothers and sisters in Christ.

But the loss of a family member or friend here on this shore is, well, such a pang to the heart that the pain is simply hard to describe.  And it is not just one pang... but many.  They grow less frequent with time, but by experience we all know they still come.

Is the word "pang" the right word to describe it?

My father has been gone for over 16 years.  Others too... my uncle, my aunt, my grandparents.

The pangs still come. 

What's been your experience?

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope." 

-- 1 Thess. 4:13

But we still grieve.  And I would assert... it is not as others... but more deeply and affectionately.  At least, we should.

"Jesus wept." 

-- John 11:35

In fewer than 11 weeks, my dear wife has lost two cherished grandfathers, our oldest daughter has lost her precious grandfather (her biological dad's father), and our beloved cousin Danny was called home after a nearly 2-year bout with brain cancer.  Our hearts mourn the losses, and we pray for comfort and peace for families back home.

As an aside, living in Germany has had its challenges.  To grieve the deaths of loved ones without the loving comfort provided by extended family is not one of the challenges we foresaw.  And likewise, we yearn to provide some measure of loving comfort to those grieving most... but yet, we cannot in ways we'd wish.  This adds another dimension to our grief.

A pastor... who knew all too well the grieving that takes place when someone dear to us dies, for he had lost his wife shortly after she had given birth to their fourth child... wrote these words later in a letter:

"Tears are proper for believers.  Indeed, they should be all the more copious.   For Christians are more sensitively aware of every emotion, whether of joy or of sorrow, than those who have known nothing of the softening and enlivening grace of God."

It hurts.

When Prayer in School is Still Permitted

 

On May 20th, a rare EF5 tornado slammed the town of Moore, Oklahoma.  The devastation was unbelievable.  At least 24 are confirmed dead, and dozens more are injured.

Along the tornado's path there were two elementary schools.  Tragically, at least 7 children were killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School.  But at the other, Briarwood Elementary, all miraculously survived.

In an interview with a 2nd grade teacher at the latter school, there are several things that hero Tammy Glasgow said and did that were courageous and inspiring.  (Please watch the interview by clicking the link above.)


Here is a portion of the story:

"....Right before the tornado hit, she hurried students into two bathrooms and a closet. There were about eights boys in the boys' bathroom, including Glasgow's son, and a dozen girls in the girls' bathroom.

She and other adults were with three children in the closet.

"Before I shut the doors, because both bathrooms had doors, I said, 'I'm going to shut these doors,' and I said, 'I love you.' The boys looked at me a little strange. (I) walked in the girls' (bathroom) and said, 'I love you' and they all said 'I love you' back.

"I just told them to pray, and then that's what we did the whole time in the closet, just prayed," said Glasgow.

The storm blasted through..."

Among other things, I see two powerful things in this story:  Love and Prayer.  I thank God for teachers like Tammy Glasgow.  And I thank God that He spared all their lives, and enabled Tammy to tell this amazing story.


Love.  She loved her students, as if they were her own children.  She cared for them, and told them to do what was right and what was good for them... and she provided protection for them in the storm.  She loved them.  Oh, how she loved them.  It reminds me of Someone else I know.  And because she loved them, she taught them and commanded them to pray.


Prayer.  Prayer is powerful because of the One we beseech.  Will the ACLU move to prosecute this teacher for telling her students to pray?  No.  Is it okay to remove prayer from schools, except when a tornado is coming?  No.

Will God be glorified, in spite of our own depravity as a nation?  Yes.

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up;  God is our salvation.  Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death." (Psalm 68:19,20) 

I thank God for Tammy Glasgow... and for others I know that are like her.

12 Minutes

This is what our president is doing:
Obama 12-Minute Speech to Planned Parenthood Time for 7.6 Abortions at Planned Parenthood


This is what Planned Parenthood is doing:

This is what we can be doing:
Share the Movie at 180movie.com

Abort73.com: Abortion Unfiltered