So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1Co 10:31)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
In Christ Alone
Here are the original lyrics, I personally would change the line “For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—“ to “For our sin on Him was laid-“ to make it more theologically correct.
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.
"In Christ Alone"Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music
Voddie Baucham Videos
The Purpose of Family Worship
The Importance of Family Worhsip
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
More thoughts on the Family Integrated Church
I would have to say my views on the church have not changed since starting SGCF and I would credit this to having tried from the beginning to see what God would have His church to look like. One of the areas that I think we fail, and I have failed here before, is all too often we think about church from what we would like rather than what God desires. This usually stems, or it did for me, from wanting to be comfortable but if we read scripture closely Christianity is far from comfortable. If we come together each Lord’s Day to worship God and to exalt His name should not how we worship be more focused on Him than us? If this is so then it would seem that we should to the best of our ability seek guidance from scripture as to how we are to worship rather than what people prefer. This may be uncomfortable for people and probably in our culture with its focus on comfort and individualism will not be popular.
I say all of this because while a fair number of people are seeking out churches that teach from a more reformed perspective the road block SGCF would seem to offer is that we see God desiring all people to worship together and not to segregate. While I firmly hold that first and foremost in the gathering of the local church is the teaching of the word I also believe we are called to do so in a manner that does not fragment families, in whatever form they may be. So I do not see it as enough to simply have good doctrine taught, as important as that is, but it needs to be taught in a community that most exhibits God’s call for the gathering of the local church.
Up until not too long ago, probably around 100 years or maybe less, the concept of children and families being separated to worship God would have been foreign to the church. We have been so ingrained with this philosophy that I admit it will be hard to break out of the mold but I believe for the church to grow we will have to do this. The issues we now face with such a large percentage of youth leaving the church or going in wayward directions is in large part due to a segregating mentality. The motive for initially segregating children and youth and any other group was to supposedly better disciple them but the model in the scriptures of Older teaching the Younger and families being the primary discipling centers of the church is lost in this mentality.
So I pray that people will be drawn back to the way God designed us to worship and that people will struggle through the change and initial discomfort that comes with any change. I pray that in the future one would not have to have monikers like “Family Integrated Church” because it will be the norm rather than the anomaly. I pray that people would be so instilled with a desire to worship with their children that they would do whatever was necessary to do so and that youth and singles would see the call from God to worship with others outside their own comfortable group setting to enter into multigenerational worship at all cost.
I pray that SGCF will remain steadfast in this God given vision
Friday, August 24, 2007
Around the Web and Blogosphere (8/24/07)
Sovereign Grace Ministries audio messages are being offered for free here: Messages
If you have been following the conversation between Wayne Grudem, John Piper, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan and Sam Storms ( I am sure there are others) you can get a recap with links to the various articles on Justin Martin’s Blog Between Two Worlds: Baptizoblogodebate Roundup (with Breaking News). This is a good debate to contemplate as it does say much about what we believe and how it interplays with how we relate to each other. Personally, I think there is a disconnect in many of the comments I read, between church membership and fellowship. I don’t know why I cannot fellowship with a brother and sister in Christ that is not a member of the church I attend.
Over at the Reformed Baptist Fellowship the article, It’s worse (and better) than you think, speaks to the obstacles usually presented with regards to reaching this generation. But the issue is not the presentation but the spiritual condition of the one that the message is being presented to. I am sure that many would claim to rely on the Word of God but it seems that all of the antics and gyrations performed to “reach this generation” would say otherwise. Does today’s church take Hebrews 4:12-13 as still true?
Heb 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Free Online Book Resources
This made me think that it might be a good idea to give out some other places to go for free online books. So, here are some links to other free online book resources:
Desiring God Ministries - Books
Monergism.com - Books
Monergism.com - Commentaries
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics
If you know of others please let me know and enjoy the resources above.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Around the Web and Blogosphere (8/16/07)
Over at Gospel Driven Life there is a series on the question: Is Biblical Fellowship Optional? This is not speaking about simply meeting for a potluck or other social gathering but is asking for us to really think about what fellowship is and what the biblical call for fellowship is. All too often we simply try and cover the “fellowship” aspect as a perfunctory duty but it seems pretty clear to me that fellowship is not optional and it is to be much deeper than simply surface level relationships.
“First, this literature introduces children to a glorified view of the Occult (arguing that children should never read about occult practices would eliminate portions of Holy Scripture 1 Samuel 28). Second, there is better, more wholesome literature available. Finally, I disagree with those who argue that children need exposure to such material in order to be effective witnesses.”
At Banner of Truth there is an article titled: What to Expect of Preaching. The author of the article gives the following as his definition of preaching:
Preaching is the proclamation of the timeless written Word into the present day life-setting of the people, delivered through a called man’s personality, so that a person hears the Word with something of the clarity, urgency, and vitality experienced by the original hearers.
He is not saying that preaching does not include imparting information and helping to discover application but it is that and so much more. The goal of all preaching should be to convey God’s Word to His people as God intended it and not as we would like it to be. This entails making sure that we convey the original message so that today’s listener can understand it as the message was originally intended. I find that preaching through books of the bible systematically helps in this area as I am less likely to avoid tough subjects and thorny passages and instead I have to go headlong into what God has said and is still saying.
Friday, August 10, 2007
The New Pilgrim’s Progress Movie
One of the many difficulties with making movies from such literature as Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is being true to the story line and getting it all in with a time limit of 2 – 3hrs. This also leads to the inevitable question about what should be cut out to meet the time constraints. If you have read Pilgrim’s Progress you will know that there is not much if any material that can really be cut out without altering Bunyan’s vision.
We will just have to see how it goes. I am so leery about any film of this nature and pray that if it does anything it leads people to actually read Pilgrim’s Progress. Christians need to be more discerning about what they watch and make sure they are not simply used by the media as a source of income. We need to not be afraid to discern what we watch and support so that the message is sent that our faith is not to be taken lightly or tampered with.
So, at the moment this is not really an endorsement, if my endorsement means much anyway, as I know little about the producers and content but is to let you know this endeavor is out there.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Around the Web and Blogosphere (8/8/07)
At Reformation Theology that have an article entitled: The Five Points of Hyper Calvinsim
Doug Philips has a good article entitled: How to Honorably Leave a Church. I am convinced that this does not happen because today people take church membership so lightly that leaving one church for another is not different than choosing another restaurant or grocery store. It is when we truly understand the idea of the local church that when we are called by God to leave that we will do so honorably.
Charley at The Home Discipling Dad writes on: the Unexamined Life and links to another sermon by Paul Washer. I have listened to this one and it is very good.
Lastly, as a shameless plug I have been able to get the sermons from our new church start up and they can be downloaded from the church website, Sovereign Grace Christian Fellowship, or if you use ITunes the Podcast address.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Steve Camp on the Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis
Thursday, August 02, 2007
John Piper Writes on Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Around the Web and the Blogosphere (8/1)
I have been visiting this site recently largely due to the series it has on Church Planting: Reformed Baptist Fellowship
I was led by Scott over at These are the generations of…. to read Mike Ratliff’s blog – Possessing the Treasure. The call to the church to repent is a message that needs to be heard more and more today as it seeks to find its way by every other means than God’s word.
At Reformation21 Rick Phillips shares about his visit to the annual Christian Booksellers' Association (CBA) convention in Atlanta this year. Here are a couple observations he makes and you can read the rest at: Christian Booksellers Association Convention
“It was also striking to observe the Christlessness of the Christian Booksellers' Association. The vast majority of it is about you.”
“Okay, I really was shocked by one thing. That was the way that worldly sensuality is starting to permeate everything evangelical. (After all, it sells!) It was utterly shocking to see that the award given for best children/youth book went to one titled Sexy Girls.”