Awestruck by the Sovereign LORD

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Isaiah 1:16-18 Several weeks ago, I asked a friend of mine to write about an issue close to her heart and one that should close to ours, that is, social justice. Dear friends, A few weeks ago, I went to see the movie Amazing Grace , a movie about a man named William Wilberforce who helped bring an end to the slave trade in Great Britain. Wilberforce’s life inspires me, not only because of his passion to abolish slavery but also because this zeal came from his deep faith in God. In one of his addresses to Parliament, he said “Sir, when we think of eternity and the future consequence of all hum...

Apparently, it does not take being pop-culturally savvy to be relevant to the perils of today. Three of John Owen’s works have been collected and edited by Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor in Overcoming Sin and Temptation . They have made the texts more readable and have included some very useful appendices to aid your study. Reading Owen is never easy, but these two have made it more accessible. Our generation is indebted to them. Owen’s treatment of sin and temptation is challenging and an essential tool in understanding how to fight sin. The battle against sin must be waged. If we are to make any progress in holiness, we should prepare ourselves to walk “over the bellies of [our] lusts.” We need to “be killing sin or it will be killing [us].”

Pastor Hughes has shown us what it means to be a man in Christianity. Whereas some modern texts with their supermarket theologies have divorced manhood from Scripture, Disciplines of a Godly Man hugs the Word of God tightly. This is a refreshing text, and it is needed in this age of nominal Christianity. You may read more about this text at the publisher's website . For the women, a similar text, written by Barbara Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Woman is available as well. For families, Kent and Barbara Hughes have written Disciplines of a Godly Family . For those who are on the road, there are audio versions available.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Ephesians 5:1-5 In the midst of our congregations, we have a cacophony drowning out the righteousness of Christ. Much to the relief of some readers (and this writer), I am not speaking of those who sing along in church poorly (and loudly). Instead, we have a tumor in our tongues. We are in great need of a spiritual biopsy of our tongues. We wonder why there are so many congregations splitting over the insignificant issues ...

I have found that even with the Christian men with whom I associate and in whom I confide, we do not talk about the problem of sexual sin. I think part of the reason that many of us do not discuss it is because many of us are just hoping that it will go away. As I study the idea of fighting sin, I realize that sin just does not go away. Instead, we must “by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body” if we want to live (Romans 8:13b). Our congregations have produced a weak breed of boys (not men) who think that we can “continue in sin that grace may abound” (Romans 6:1). This shows a misunderstanding of God’s grace and a lack of zeal for the things of God. “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:2). Since we have ignored the plague of sexual sin among us, we have become poor leaders, bad husbands, and disgusting brothers. We have devalued the grace of God, slandered the holiness of God, and mocked the cross of Christ. However, there is hope. “If we confes...

Election sovereign and free. Romans 9:20-23. Isaac Watts Behold the potter and the clay, He forms his vessels as he please: Such is our God, and such are we, The subjects of his high decrees. [Doth not the workman's power extend O'er all the mass, which part to choose And mold it for a nobler end, And which to leave for viler use?] May not the sovereign Lord on high Dispense his favors as he will, Choose some to life, while others die, And yet be just and gracious still? [What if, to make his terror known, He lets his patience long endure, Suff'ring vile rebels to go on, And seal their own destruction sure? What if he means to show his grace, And his electing love employs To mark out some of mortal race, And form them fit for heav'nly joys?] Shall man reply against the Lord, And call his Maker's ways unjust, The thunder of whose dreadful word Can crush a thousand worlds to dust? But, O my soul! if truths so bright Should dazzle and confound thy sight, Yet still his ...

“What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” As I walk through my life, I find that self-sufficiency is like a tumor haunting me. I continually find myself fighting against the idea that I can do anything on my own power. It is easy for a Christian to give lip-service to grace, to talk highly of it. Oh, but to be consumed by it is rare. I spoke with someone recently over dinner, and I was astounded by how quickly I became a hypocrite. Passionately describing how fleeting life is and how precious grace is, I found such inconsistency in my own life. If I believed firmly in even what I understand of God’s sovereignty, I would be such a different Christian. Instead, I find myself often without the zeal for God that is so important to me. James 4 was a banner over that recent conversation, challenging my pride. “As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” Oh, is there ever a moment free from such boasting in ar...