Called To Be Holy

"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."
- Deuteronomy 7:6

"Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work."
- 2 Timothy 2:20-21

"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.' And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."
- 1 Peter 1:13-21


I have always been one to make at least one or two new year's resolutions. As a Christian, I believe it would be wise to look to God's Word to see what kind of resolutions would be blessed by the Lord, for without Him, we can do nothing.

My new year's resolution for 2016? I want to be holy in all my conduct, for His glory.

Will you join me?

Convention of States

Do you believe the federal government has too much power? Do you agree the national debt is out of control? Are you convinced Washington will never reign in itself?

As a District Captain (TN Legislative District 63) for Convention of States, I urge ALL to sign the petition to call for an Article V convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution. Our goal is to "...[restore] constitutional republicanism and [preserve] the civil society from the growing authoritarianism of a federal Leviathon" (Mark Levin, THE LIBERTY AMENDMENTS).

I believe THIS is our best hope and last civil recourse!

You can sign the petition here:
SIGN PETITION

This is how it WILL work!

Never to Wander More

"My Beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him."
Song of Solomon 5:4

Knocking was not enough, for my heart was too full of sleep, too cold and ungrateful to arise and open the door, but the touch of his effectual grace has made my soul bestir itself. Oh, the longsuffering of my Beloved, to tarry when he found himself shut out, and me asleep upon the bed of sloth! Oh, the greatness of his patience, to knock and knock again, and to add his voice to his knockings, beseeching me to open to him! How could I have refused him! Base heart, blush and be confounded! But what greatest kindness of all is this, that he becomes his own porter and unbars the door himself. Thrice blessed is the hand which condescends to lift the latch and turn the key. Now I see that nothing but my Lord's own power can save such a naughty mass of wickedness as I am; ordinances fail, even the gospel has no effect upon me, till his hand is stretched out. Now, also, I perceive that his hand is good where all else is unsuccessful, he can open when nothing else will. Blessed be his name, I feel his gracious presence even now. Well may my bowels move for him, when I think of all that he has suffered for me, and of my ungenerous return. I have allowed my affections to wander. I have set up rivals. I have grieved him. Sweetest and dearest of all beloveds, I have treated thee as an unfaithful wife treats her husband. Oh, my cruel sins, my cruel self. What can I do? Tears are a poor show of my repentance, my whole heart boils with indignation at myself. Wretch that I am, to treat my Lord, my All in All, my exceeding great joy, as though he were a stranger. Jesus, thou forgivest freely, but this is not enough, prevent my unfaithfulness in the future. Kiss away these tears, and then purge my heart and bind it with sevenfold cords to thyself, never to wander more.

Concomitant Accretion

"In modern America, the unraveling of the civil society had been subtly persistent but it is now intensifying. Evidence of rising utopian system - the allure of political demagogues and self-appointed masterminds peddling abstractions and fantasies in pursuit of a nonexistent paradoxical society, and the concomitant accretion of governmental power in an increasingly authoritarian and centralized federal Leviathan - abounds."

- Mark R. Levin, PLUNDER AND DECEIT

Subjugation

"Every man should endeavor to understand the meaning of subjugation before it is too late… It means the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern schoolteachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit objects for derision… It is said slavery is all we are fighting for, and if we give it up we give up all. Even if this were true, which we deny, slavery is not all our enemies are fighting for. It is merely the pretense to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties.” 

--- Confederate Maj. General Patrick R. Cleburne, CSA, January 1864

Sovereign

Unremitting Thought

I loathe myself.

Learning Contentment

"...Christian contentment means that my satisfaction is independent of my circumstances.

...for Paul, contentment was rooted not in self-sufficiency but in Christ’s sufficiency (Phil. 4:13). Paul said that he could do all things—both being abased and abounding—in Christ... 

...contentment is something we have to learn. And here is the crux of the matter: to learn it, we must enroll in the divine school in which we are instructed by biblical teaching and providential experience.

...Christian contentment, therefore, is the direct fruit of having no higher ambition than to belong to the Lord and to be totally at His disposal in the place He appoints, at the time He chooses, with the provision He is pleased to make.

...If I insist on knowing exactly what God is doing and what He plans to do with my future, if I demand to understand His ways with me in the past, I can never be content until I am equal with God.

...In our Augustinian tradition, it has often been said that the first sin was superbia, pride. But it was more complex than that; it included discontentment. A discontented spirit is both the fruit and the evidence of an ungodly heart."


- Sinclair Ferguson
Learning Contentment

Few Saved

“I will go as far as anyone in exalting God’s mercy in Christ, but I cannot shut my eyes against the fact that this mercy profits no man so long as it is wilfully refused.

I see nothing wanting, on God’s part, for man’s salvation. I see room in heaven for the chief of sinners. I see willingness in Christ to receive the most ungodly. I see power in the Holy Ghost to renew the most ungodly.

But I see, on the other hand, desperate unbelief in man: he will not believe what God tells him in the Bible. I see desperate pride in man: he will not bow his heart to receive the Gospel as a little child. I see desperate sloth in man: he will not take the trouble to arise and call upon God. I see desperate worldliness in man: he will not loose his hold on the poor perishable things of time, and consider eternity.

In short, I see the words of our Lord continually verified: 'Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life' (John 5:40), and therefore I am driven to the sorrowful conclusion that few are likely to be saved.”


Excerpt From: Ryle, J. C. “Old Paths.” iBooks. 
This material may be protected by copyright.

The New "Leader of the Free World"

The Prime Minister of Israel gave a historical speech this week before a joint session of Congress which was both inspiring and alarming.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a leader. He speaks with moral clarity and manly boldness. I heard Mark Levin call him "the new leader of the free world," and regrettably I agree. Whittle also made the point:

Our current President pursues, among other things, a foreign policy of appeasement that weakens the security and strength of our nation. I believe this is intentional. He has proven himself lawless and untrustworthy. Now his administration is engaging in negotiations with a tyrannical government which is the world's leading sponsor of terror and is equally untrustworthy.

The actors are in place. The circus is underway. The music is playing.

I hope the negotiations crumble and dissolve. But I believe both sides will ultimately get what they want. And I fear for our nation, and the nation of Israel.

Our world, as we know it, is crumbling before our eyes. Godlessness is prevalent. Christians are mocked, persecuted, raped, enslaved, and executed. And sadly within the borders of the two beacons of hope... the USA and Israel... the most innocent among us are a slain by the hundreds of thousands - legalized infanticide - often paid for by our taxpayer money. But I digress.

I praise God for leaders like Netanyahu. And I pray for our nations. May God grant repentance, forgiveness, and reformation.

Here is the speech. I hope you will watch it:

The Life of the Justified

“The life of the justified is one of watchfulness.

...Forgiveness has altered all his circumstances and hopes. It has brought him into a new world, from which are shut out things he was formerly familiar with, and into which are introduced things which he knew not. He sees and hears what he never saw nor heard before; and he ceases to see and hear what but lately he delighted in. He expects changes, and wishes that they were come.

...The present has become less to him, the future more; and in that future the one absorbing object is the reappearing of Him, whom not having seen he loves.

...That the future should be a mere repetition of the present,--with a few scientific and political improvements,--is quite enough for the worldly man. But the man who, by his new connection with the cross, has been transported into a new region, is not content that it should be so.

...He wants a better future, and a more congenial world; he desires a state of things in which the new object of his love shall be all.”


Excerpt From: Bonar, Horatius. “The Everlasting Righteousness.” Monergism Books, 2011-11-05T22:59:54.841000+00:00. iBooks. 
This material may be protected by copyright.

Sacrificing Self

“Self-sacrifice ought not to seem much to those for whom Christ has died, and whom He now represents upon the throne. Generous deeds and gifts and words ought to be as natural as they are becoming in those who have been so freely loved, so abundantly pardoned, and so eternally blest.”


Excerpt From: Bonar, Horatius. “The Everlasting Righteousness.” Monergism Books, 2011-11-05T22:59:54.841000+00:00. iBooks. 
This material may be protected by copyright.

William Tyndale on Sovereign Election

"In Christ God loved us, His elect and chosen, before the world began, and reserved us unto the knowledge of his Son and of His holy gospel."

"Why does God open one man’s eyes and not another’s? Paul (Rom. 9) forbids to ask why; for it is too deep for man’s capacity. God we see is honoured thereby, and His mercy set out and the more seen in the vessels of mercy. But the popish can suffer God to have no secret, hid to Himself. They have searched to come to the bottom of His bottomless wisdom: and because they cannot attain to that secret, and be too proud to let it alone, and to grant themselves ignorant, with the apostle, that knew no other than God’s glory in the elect; they go and set up free-will with the heathen philosophers, and say that a man’s free-will is the cause why God chooses one and not another, contrary unto all the Scripture."

- From Ligonier Ministries

The Family

O SOVEREIGN LORD,

Thou art the Creator-Father of all men,
  for thou hast made and dost support them;
Thou art the special Father of those who know, love, and honor thee,
  who find thy yoke easy, and thy burden light,
  thy work honourable, thy commandments glorious.

But how little thy undeserved goodness has affected me!
How imperfectly have I improved my religious privileges!
How negligent have I been in doing good to others!

I am before thee in my trespasses and sins,
  have mercy on me,
  and may thy goodness lead me to repentance.

Help me to hate and forsake every false way,
  to be attentive to my condition and character,
  to bridle my tongue,
  to keep my heart with all diligence,
  to watch and pray against temptation,
  to mortify sin,
  to be concerned for the salvation of others.

O God, I cannot endure to see the destruction of my kindred.
Let those that are united to me in tender ties 
  be precious in thy sight and devoted to glory.

Sanctify and prosper my domestic devotion, instruction, discipline, example,
  that my house may be a nursery for heaven,
  my church the garden of the Lord,
    enriched with trees of righteousness of thy planting, for thy glory;
Let not those of my family who are amiable, moral, attractive,
  fall short of heaven at last;
Grant that the promising appearances of a tender conscience,
  soft heart, the alarms and delights of thy Word,
  be not finally blotted out,
  but bring forth judgment unto victory
    in all whom I love.


- The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

Mighty To Save

"Mighty to save."
Isaiah 63:1

(The Holy Scriptures, and Spurgeon, lay waste to the contemporary prevailing view of human "free will" and tell us of One who is free to will and do as He pleases.)

By the words "to save" we understand the whole of the great work of salvation, from the first holy desire onward to complete sanctification. The words are multum in parro: indeed, here is all mercy in one word. Christ is not only "mighty to save" those who repent, but he is able to make men repent. He will carry those to heaven who believe; but he is, moreover, mighty to give men new hearts and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the man who hates holiness love it, and to constrain the despiser of his name to bend the knee before him. Nay, this is not all the meaning, for the divine power is equally seen in the after-work. The life of a believer is a series of miracles wrought by "the Mighty God." The bush burns, but is not consumed. He is mighty to keep his people holy after he has made them so, and to preserve them in his fear and love until he consummates their spiritual existence in heaven. Christ's might doth not lie in making a believer and then leaving him to shift for himself; but he who begins the good work carries it on; he who imparts the first germ of life in the dead soul, prolongs the divine existence, and strengthens it until it bursts asunder every bond of sin, and the soul leaps from earth, perfected in glory. Believer, here is encouragement. Art thou praying for some beloved one? Oh, give not up thy prayers, for Christ is "mighty to save." You are powerless to reclaim the rebel, but your Lord is Almighty. Lay hold on that mighty arm, and rouse it to put forth its strength. Does your own case trouble you? Fear not, for his strength is sufficient for you. Whether to begin with others, or to carry on the work in you, Jesus is "mighty to save;" the best proof of which lies in the fact that he has saved you. What a thousand mercies that you have not found him mighty to destroy!"

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning & Evening