Black Friday is a product of, and contributing factor towards, Christless American consumerism. The Advent Conspiracy is an attempt to fight the cultural sin that sweeps away millions into into its ocean of stupid debt. Join the conspiracy!
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Some people say big things about things are actually small. They overexaggerate. But then, sometimes, people don't overexaggerate. They are spot-on. Like when Tozer said in The Knowledge of the Holy, "Every man's greatest need is a greater view of God." That's true. That's not wow-factor talk. Nothing is more important than God. Nothing is more needed than knowing Him through Christ.
That lead me to suggest a great Christmas gift. Samuel Rutherford's The Loveliness of Christ. Get it. Give it away. It's not a 'normal book'. It can be read in about 1 hour.
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“The cost for the recipient of God’s grace is nothing - and no price could be higher for arrogant people to pay.”
- Dan Allender, as quoted in Gospel Transformation
HT: FI
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Continue praying fervently for the Nigeria mission team. Remember that tonight (Tuesday) they will begin sleeping in the "bush" (three nights). This, I trust, will be tremendously profitable in the advance of meaningful partnerships and the expanse of the gospel.
Please
pray also for today's TCT Network meeting that I'm a part of in
Minneapolis. This meeting (all day yesterday and today) has been
devoted to dreaming, planning, and praying through the Lord's
intentions to use us to become a church planting movement. So far today
we've heard visions from planters aiming at planting reproducing
churches in St. Paul, San Deigo, and South Africa (and reaching into
the pre-modern portions of the African Continent).
Oh Lord, let the nations rejoice and be glad in Jesus!
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"This is Nathan Sawyer...we have arrived in Nigeria and are awaiting our luggage...not sure how much we will be able to communicate...thx for your prayers."
Amen. May Jesus be embraced by, and advanced through, the team!
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The Nigeria mission team leaves tomorrow evening (Friday) and is scheduled to return next Sunday, November 23.
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Check out all five parts...again and again! (start at the bottom and work up)
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The sufficiency of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, is the theme of the current meetings at Grace, and He is the theme song of all who know Him as Lord. From the far-reaching corners of the expanse of galaxies, to the intricate detials of sub-atomic particles, Christ sustains everything, and everyone, by the word of His power.
Oh my soul, can He not fill you with His limitless sufficiency?
If you are in the Memphis area, I hope you will join us Wednesday evening at 6:30PM at Bridges for the final (application) sermon in the series, "The Majesty & Glory of Jesus Christ."
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Ligon Duncan will be at Riveroaks Presbyterian Church in Memphis
Saturday-Sunday, November 8-9 as the guest speaker for their
Reformation Conference. I strongly urge you to attend!!
It looks like the two Saturday sessions will be at 5:00PM & 7:00PM
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Please join the countless army now praying for my good friend, Scott Attebery, who will be burying his wife, Jill, today (details here). Scott is continuing well, by the grace of God. Today will be especially tough for him.
The church Scott serves as pastor, Wyatt Baptist in El Dorado, has asked that I come back this weekend to preach Sunday morning. I covet your prayers as I prepare to do so.
O DEATH WHERE IS THY STING
A quote from Edward Payson's, Legacy of a Legend."The power of death, the last enemy, is destroyed, as it respects all who believe in Christ. Instead of being the jailer of hell and the grave, he is now, as it respects Christ's people, the porter of paradise. All he can now do is to cause them to sleep in Jesus, release their immortal spirits from the fetters which bind them to earth, and deposit their weary bodies in the tomb, as a place of rest, till Christ comes at the last day, to raise them incorruptible, glorious and immortal; and reunite them to their souls in a state of perfect, never-ending felicity."
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Derek Webb has stated the point well in his song, 'A King & A Kingdom.' Even calling the notion 'one of the two greatest lies I've ever heard' (The greatest being, 'If you eat this fruit, you will not surely die').
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Here's some news and updates about the this Sunday's Community Reformation Service that I received today via email.
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The cross and resurrection of Jesus are the focal events of the entire Bible (and history of the world!). God has always had this great expression of His glory and our good in mind.
Lord willing, this Sunday at Grace we will look deep into the heart of God through the lens of Mark 15. There, if our eyes are opened, we will see love that surpasses knowledge. Pray that we will know this unknowable love.
"Here is love, vast as the ocean; lovingkindness as a flood. That the Prince of Life, our ransom; shed for us His precious blood."
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Just read the sermon text (several times)...
The parrallel accounts would be helpful too:
See you Sunday, Lord willing.
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Our commission as Christians is to commend Jesus--the One we cherish--to the entire world. So...
It is my privilege to be this evening's guest speaker at a local Perspectives course. I covet your prayers. My assigned topic and the corresponding key qustions are:
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We at Grace have come to love the truth that...
God's primary methodolgy for the global glorification of His Name, the edification and equipping of His saints, and the evangelization of the lost is the establishment of more Christ-exalting churches.
So pray for church planters. Pray for more of them to be thrust out into the harvest of the world.
Pray also for four specific church planters: Nathan, Joey, Justin, and Drew. They are in preparations to be sent out two by two from North Wake Church to the Washington D.C. area and to Tampa, FL. I have the joy of spending today with them in hopes of encouraging them in their great work.
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"This chapter begins that part of Mark's Gospel, which describes our Lord's sufferings and death. Hitherto we have chiefly seen our Savior as our prophet and teacher. We have now to see Him as our High Priest. Hitherto we have had to consider His miracles and sayings. We have now to consider His vicarious sacrifice on the cross."
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I read the First Importance Blog almost everyday. It has been a great jolt from a brother or sister that aids my looking unto Jesus. Today's quote is a powerful summary of what Mark's gospel has been saying to Grace Church this entire year.
"Salvation is not a detached gift of God in some gracious and miraculous way bestowed upon man. Salvation is Christ, and to experience salvation is to experience Christ. It is not the experience of something, but of someone.
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Watch John Piper answser this question. Be sure to watch the end of the answer...which is a simple explanation of the great end of the gospel = GOD!
Click here to see the short video.
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Ever heard of Peter Van Mastricht? Me either. Until a few weeks ago.
Van Mastricht wrote a work called, A Treatise on Regeneration, which Jonathan Edwards--the greatest theologian America has ever produced--praised by saying, "...take [Van] Mastrict for divinity in general, docrine, practice, and controvery, or as a universal system of divinity, and it is much better than Turretin or any other book in the world, excepting the Bible, in my opinion." (Jonathan Edwards to Joseph Bellamy, Jan. 15, 1746/47).
If you're wondering, that would be a pretty high compliment coming from a guy who is not the least bit interested in flattering people.
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Just as the worst part of any sin is what might have been had we obeyed, so the worst part of being spiritually hard of hearing is what glories we might have seen in Christ had we had receptive hearing to the gospel.
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Grace's summer Burning Heart groups have been a joy for everyone involved. Most groups have recently
completed their reading & discussion of Andrew Murray's, Humility.
As part of the Summer of Spreading Christ, I've asked one of Grace's members to point our blog readers to Jesus by sharing a few thoughts about the impact that Murray's book is having on his life. Our prayer is that the following thoughts will stir you to seek Jesus--The Humblest of All.
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