The Mind Reformed

All day I have been pondering the words of a song by Thomas Cowper. The song is There is a Fountain Filled with Blood, and the words which have been penetrating my heart so deeply... "There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."

I cannot but be caught in the wonder of what those words mean. That a sinner such as I, and chief thereof, would be freed from guilt and shame through the precious blood of my Lord... the lamb of God whosse blood is the atonement for my sin... the appeasement of the just wrath of God...

And as I read on, Cowper's song brings greater tears of joy when I read this line... "Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more." How marvelous and wonderful is the great love of our God and King! Not only have the sin and stains been lost within that precious flood, but that powerful element which cleanses us - Christ's blood, shed on Calvary - shall never lose its power... til all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more... Oh how great a salvation is ours who are called according to the will of God. May we who are without merit, who least deserve the grace of God, elect unto His purpose and for His glory... may we never cease to be amazed and awestruck by this the salvation of God! Amen!

"Calvinism, cousin to the Reformation's other pillar, Lutheranism, is a bit less dour than its critics claim: it offers a rock-steady deity who orchestrates absolutely everything, including illness (or home foreclosure!), by a logic we may not understand but don't have to second-guess. Our satisfaction — and our purpose — is fulfilled simply by "glorifying" him. In the 1700s, Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards invested Calvinism with a rapturous near mysticism. Yet it was soon overtaken in the U.S. by movements like Methodism that were more impressed with human will. Calvinist-descended liberal bodies like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) discovered other emphases, while Evangelicalism's loss of appetite for rigid doctrine — and the triumph of that friendly, fuzzy Jesus — seemed to relegate hard-core Reformed preaching (Reformed operates as a loose synonym for Calvinist) to a few crotchety Southern churches." Quote from "The New Calvinism" By DAVID VAN BIEMA

I read this quote tonight and find it all too true. The encouraging thing I find is that, despite the negative connotation that Reformed Theology - particularly that associated with the moniker Calvinism - is finding a resurgence. It seems too that this resurgence is among people around my age who have been confronted in real life with the disconnect between the "friendly, fuzzy Jesus" which dominates contemporary Christianity today and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as found in scripture. Praise God that He is working in and through His word to confound the wisdom of this day and change the lives, hearts, and minds of men and women who were once wretched and godless sinners... into a righteous and glorious remnant. Sure, we realize it is a foreign righteousness and glory, but in Christ we can desire nothing of our nature and only that which is bestowed upon us through the amazing grace and mercy of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. May His name be glorified and magnified throughout the earth. Amen!

God is so very good and often allows such hardship on so many... it is increasingly hard to understand God. The more I grow in understanding (by the illumination of His Spirit, despite my sinful and wayward mind and heart), the more I realize that I am perplexed and cannot fathom or begin to concieve the workings of God in the world around me.

Today God has richly blessed my family and I. After about a year and a half of hunting, God has brought to close an amazing opportunity. We have acquired a residence... and it is so much more than we could have asked for. However, the bitter side to the story is that we realize a family was foreclosed upon, could not keep their house, and lost it to a bank. We do not know the circumstances or the family, but my heart has to question what occurred. We sincerely desire that God would be blessing and providing for this family, that He in His infinite love would be drawing them into closer walks and greater faithfulness to Him... This truly is the same prayer that we have for ourselves in this situation. That God would allow us to use what He has provided as those who are stewards to bring great blessing to our faimly. Additionally, we understand that this house has not been providentially made possible as a mere material possession, but rather is a means that we might bring glory to the name of Christ and praise to our Father in Heaven.

We pray that we might be faithful to this call and that all things which we acquire would be held loosely in love, and always with a mind of how we might greater benefit the Bride of Christ and those who are dead and dying in sin. May this house be a house where praise of the One True God is evident and the Gospel of Christ is proclaimed with boldness and authority. Amen.

So, I just finished the book of Genesis with the small group Bible study that I teach. After a year in this first book of the scriptures we are now in transition. Currently, we are doing a study as a church body for about six weeks and this is giving me some time to prepare for my next series of lessons. I am actually very excited about these. Typically, I am very expositional and labor through verse by verse from one book to another (which I might add has wrought great benefit to me and seems to be profitable in the hearts of those who study with me). We will next be moving into what I pray will be a very foundational study of 10 doctrines which surround a biblical view of Salvation.

My hope is to give a brief synopsis here, more as a discipline of attempting to be more faithful in posting. Yet, there is a part of me that truly desires to catalyze discussion and conversation that will be edifying. As I am not entirely sure what the order will be, I am refraining from listing the specific doctrines and order of the study, but I hope to have this posted soon.

My desire in this study is that the Spirit of God would help us to see more clearly as we read scriptures the connectivity of scripture. To see that God has inspired His word in more than a random story, but as interconnected truths which are vital to a clear understanding of who God is, who we are in light of Him, and how we are to live in light of God's commands. I pray deeply that this would be the effect of our study and that through God's word we would continue to loook more and more like Him daily.

This is a long message, but it has been very impactful in my life and many others. I pray that you would take the time to watch this, and maybe even send it to friends.

I have met Paul many times and have family who are members of the church he serves at, and he is one of the most humble men I have ever met. So, as you watch this, understand that this is a man consumed with passion for the Lord Jesus Christ and 'sold out' to the mission he has been given by his God to proclaim the Gospel.

It has been far to long, yet tonight I am compelled to post because of the awesome display of our great God and king I have experienced this evening. I am continually amazed that God shows us more of Himself, we who are completely without merit. I have been used as a messenger of forgiveness for a grevious sin which occurred in the past. The reception of this by my brother was overwhelming. The working of God in his life and the expression of true thankfulness to God for His lovingkindness to give this forgiveness so openly after so many years to my brother was an amazing thing to behold. God showed me once again tonight that what the enemy uses for evil God often chooses to use in glorifying Himself among His people and the world. Praise be to God, for He extends grace and mercy to me though I was wicked and poor He has clothed me in the very righteousness of Christ Jesus my Lord. May His name be exalted and all renown be His for He is Great and Greatly to be praised! Amen!