When you are oppressed with the weight of any duty or service in your calling, improve your trust in God’s power. Perhaps you find the duty of your calling too heavy for your weak shoulders: lay the heaviest end of your burden in God’s shoulder. When at any time you are sick of your work and ready with Jonah to run from it, encourage yourself with that which God said to Gideon; ‘Go in this your might’, has not God called you? … Such a bountiful heart your God has, that while you are asking for a little peace and joy, He bids you to open your mouth wide and He will fill it. Set your needs all before the Almighty. God has strength enough to give.
William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armor
As quoted in Voices from the Past, Puritan Devotional Readings, edited by Richard Rushing
“… never think you behave yourselves as becomes Christians, except when you sincerely, sensibly, and fervently love all men, of whatever party or opinion, and whether friendly or unkind, just or injurious, to you or your friends, or to the cause and kingdom of Christ.”
Today my son was married. Again. What a story of love, forgiveness, grace and mercy. A family was made whole again because of the faithfulness of God, whose mercies are new every day! Husband, wife and daughter are now a family again for the first time in about 10 years.
There are a lot of songs mulling in my head, but these two seem to be at the top right now.
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!
The Doxology, by Thomas Ken
And this is a bit more recent, by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.
My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who bore my pain;
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace
And gave me life again;
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness
And clothed me in His light
And wrote His law of righteousness
With pow’r upon my heart.
My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who walks beside;
Who floods my weaknesses with strength
And causes fears to fly;
Whose ev’ry promise is enough
For ev’ry step I take,
Sustaining me with arms of love
And crowning me with grace.
My heart is filled with thankfulness
To him who reigns above,
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace,
Whose ev’ry thought is love.
For ev’ry day I have on earth
Is given by the King;
So I will give my life, my all,
To love and follow him.
I am substituting for Pastor Currie in his Sunday School class this morning, teaching in Philippians 1. Philippians is a great book full of joy and rejoicing, with some form of that word used roughly 12 times (I’m not too good at counting – may be more, may be fewer). Paul prays with joy, he [...]
Sojourn Music, a ministry of Sojourn Church, just released a new Christmas CD, “A Child Is Born”, with many reworked carols and a couple of new songs (at least to me).
Sojourn Music has done a number of CDs, but my favorites are the two based on the works of [...]
A very good friend is quite proud of his granddaughter, and submitted this article to the local weekly paper, The Straitsland Resorter. The article was in Thursday’s paper.
Matt is the pastor of a small church in Mississippi (not Missouri), www.CalvaryBaptistBSL.org. If you would like to donate to the grand piano fund, you can [...]
I love the Psalms. You may not have picked up on that yet from reading this blog, but it’s true. I’m not sure why, other than the fact that the psalmist expresses so many of the thoughts I have, but so much more eloquently than I can.
This phrase is repeated many times throughout the Psalms (and elsewhere in the Bible). It bears repeating.
Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!
I’m singing the offertory Sunday, doing one of my favorite songs, but with a new melody. I wrote about it earlier, in this blog post, but the text bears repeating here. The lyrical melody line is nothing like what you’ve sung in the past or heard on “Little House On the Prairie” and breathes new [...]
O safe to the Rock that is higher than I, My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly; So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine, would I be; Thou blest “Rock of Ages,” I’m hiding in Thee.
Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee, Thou blest “Rock of Ages,” I’m hiding in Thee.
