A letter of encouragement in circumstances of trial.

John Newton wrote the following letter to encourage his friend. Captain Scott, to whom the letter is written, is apparently about to be reprimanded or fired from his position in the army. Newtons heartfelt words encourage him to see how great his audience with God is, rather than dwelling on the proud and vain condemnations of men. This letter meant a lot to me.

To Captain Scott, August 8, 1766

My dear friend,- I am very willing to meet with you with a letter at York, though I have no particular advice to offer. It seems probable, as you say, that your expected interview with the general will afford you some further light into your path. I am in no pain about the event. Man is a proud creature, and prone to release himself with the imagination of influence and power; but in reality he has none any further than as it is given him from above. The general, or whoever else are displeased with you, have their commission, and limits assigned by them by one whom they little think of; and when they seem to think they can do most, they shall in effect do nothing but as instruments of his will. I trust the Lord will stand by you, put his love into your heart, and suitable words into your mouth, and overrule the minds of them with whom you have to do. And if He has further service for you in that situation, you will find that his hook and bridle will hold them in, so that they will not be able to hurt you. As you know whom you have believed, and where to apply for strength suited to your day, according to his promise, I am so far from trembling for the event, that I congratulate you on the honorable opportunity that is before you of witnessing a good confession in such a presence, which I trust the Lord will own, and bless you in.

Fear them not. Remember Jesus stood before the high priest, Herod, and Pilate, for you. But, how different are the cases! You may perhaps meet some expressions of dislike, but the laws of the land will protect you from the full effects of their resentment; and even the laws of politeness will in some degree restrain them. You are not going to be buffeted, blinded, and spit upon. Look at your regimentals, and let them remind you of him who wore a scarlet robe for you, not as a mark of honorable service, but as a badge of infamy. You are a soldier: if you were appointed to march against a battery, though it is a service not agreeable to flesh and blood, yet a sense of honor, and what you owe to your king, your country, and yourself, would prompt you to reject any rising thought of fear, that might betray you to act a part unsuitable to your character, with disdain. But oh, how much stronger and more animating are the motives which should influence us as Christian soldiers! I trust you will fully feel their influence. There is but a veil of flesh and blood between you and that unseen world where Jesus reigns in all his glory. Perhaps you will be attended with such companies of the heavenly host, as made themselves visible to the shepherds. How they will rejoice to see you fervent and faithful in your Master’s cause! Nay, Himself will be there; and though you cannot see him, He will be looking upon you, as He did on his servant Stephen. Then think of the day when He, in his turn, will own and confess you before an assembled world. Yea, perhaps upon the spot, He may witness his approbation; and if you can hear him whispering in your heart, “Well done, good and faithful servant, “ you will little regard what is said to you. As to consequences, leave them in his hand: they shall be all good and glorious to them that fear him. He may suffer a cloud to appear, but He can blow it away in a moment. He may permit this or that course to be stopped up; but He can open twenty in the room of it. He can show you how little dependence there is to be placed on the friendships and favor of men, when once we are enabled to be active and hearty for him; but these failures shall only give occasion of showing you likewise how all-sufficient He is in wisdom, love, and power, to give more and better than creatures can possibly deprive us of. Fear not, be strong, yea I say unto you be strong: the Lord of hosts is with you.

God is Not Your Bitch

Pardon my french

The title is taken from Mark Morford's provocative article in the San Francisco Chronicle found here- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/07/24/notes072409.DTL

Read the article, please do it. It embodies a major complaint against all sorts of organized religion (even the kind "that's a relationship, not a religion"). Morford is very thought provoking, and I even agreed with him at a couple spots.

I had seen this video right before I read Morfords article, which happened to be a very personal, precise, and minute grace.

Tim Keller also has these incredible words on what it means to be a Christian, which provides a very fitting reply to Morford's complaint.

http://www.monergism.com/acidtest.html

All three of these pieces helped me understand the infinite yet personal glory of God that works in the heavens, in the earth, and in our lives. It is time to worship

no business

God has no business being human. He has no business getting dirty, being humble, serving people, getting toilet trained, living homeless, and spending three years with people who would deny him and betray him.

But he did.

Winning Races

The sun is rising on football season. For me this is an exciting time, though there are admittetly mixed opinions on the value of sports in America. While human nature will always find ways to twist and debase sports into an idol and obsession, there is a lot to learn and love from the fields of competition. For example, if anyone needs help understanding total depravity- examine the Washington Huskies 2008 football season. More positively, I have been tremendously helped by the perseverance and courage experienced in sports. Paul commonly uses racing imagery in his letters, and it ought to be commonly remembered.

In Pauls letter to the Philippians

"But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way"

In Pauls letter to timothy

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith"

A succesful running lifestyle involves two things- good work and good rest. In the long run you must have those two components. Both are found in Jesus Christ. Most often people think life is all about one or the other. But nobody wants the "most often" results in life do they?

My old cross country coach showed this to our team prior to one of our state meets. It's one of my favorite videos ever.

5 stars for the gospel

If someone told me to buy a 133 page book on the parable of the prodigal son by a pastor from New York City, my reply would be something like this...

"Does the parable of the prodigal son really need more press? Don't I have enough pages to read already? There are pastors in New York City?"

Thankfully, I am mistaken at every level of thought. The Prodigal God by Tim Keller is one of the most valuable books I have seen in a very long time.

Why? It gives the good news, and you will probably read it in one day. I could write a very long list of more sophisticated reasons, but I don't feel like being long winded- Buy this book.

The fool or the fool who attacks him?

A man who is a brother in Christ was recently called the "Howard Stern of Christianity"

This is just one of the flaming arrows that I recently thought only the devil would be throwing at Christians. I was largely unaware of this problem in Christianity because I was a huge partaker of it. This quote from A.W. Tozer was very convicting about "Christian" maliciousness that is so prevalent today, from the least to the greatest of us.

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander,
as well as all types of malicious behavior." Ephesians 4:31-32

Dispositional sins are fully as injurious to the Christian cause
as the more overt acts of wickedness. These sins are as many
as the various facets of human nature. Just so there may be
no misunderstanding, let us list a few of them: sensitiveness,
irritability, churlishness, faultfinding, peevishness, temper,
resentfulness, cruelty, uncharitable attitudes; and of course
there are many more. These kill the spirit of the church and
mar the witness of the church in the community. Many unsaved
people have been turned away and embittered by manifestations
of ugly dispositional flaws in the lives of the very people who
were trying to win them.

Unsaintly Saints are the tragedy of Christianity!

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Gal. 5:22-23

chew on this

wisdom from the letters of John Newton:

"The Lord permits us to feel our weakness, that we may be sensible of it; for though we are ready in words to confess that we are weak, we do not so properly know it, until that secret, though unallowed, dependence we have upon some strength in ourselves is brought to the trial, and fails us. To be humble, and, like a little child, afraid of taking a step alone, and so conscious of snares and dangers around us, as to cry to him continually to hold us up that we may be safe is the sure, the infallible, the only secret of walking closely with him."

These words easily resound with our hearts after a long and trying day. God is good.

Summer reading

Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics will be my prize as soon as I get my first paycheck from newly found summer work! Check out part of the fourth volume on amazon- http://www.amazon.com/Reformed-Dogmatics-vol-Spirit-Creation/dp/0801026571/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245277347&sr=8-2

It's a God-glorifying, Christ-centered, biblically saturated(check out the scripture index in the preview of the book via the amazon link!), intellectually challenging, and devotionally applicable 4 volume set. Will I ever finish reading it? Probably not, but that never stopped me

Touchdown Packer!!

That was my reaction the first time I read Packer's description of one-point calvinism. It remains my favorite description of God-glorifying soteriology.

Here it is

"The very act of setting out Calvinistic soteriology in the form of five distinct points (a number due, as we saw, merely to the fact that there were five Arminian points for the Synod of Dort to answer) tends to obscure the organic character of Calvinistic thought on this subject. For the five points, though separately stated, are really inseparable. They hang together; you cannot reject one without rejecting them all, at least in the sense in which the Synod meant them.

For to Calvinism there is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology: the point that God saves sinners.

God—the Triune Jehovah, Father, Son and Spirit; three Persons working together in sovereign wisdom, power and love to achieve the salvation of a chosen people, the Father electing, the Son fulfilling the Father’s will by redeeming, the Spirit executing the purpose of Father and Son by renewing.

Saves—does everything, first to last, that is involved in bringing man from death in sin to life in glory: plans, achieves and communicates redemption, calls and keeps, justifies, sanctifies, glorifies.

Sinners—men as God finds them, guilty, vile, helpless, powerless, unable to lift a finger to do God’s will or better their spiritual lot.

God saves sinners—and the force of this confession may not be weakened by disrupting the unity of the work of the Trinity, or by dividing the achievement of salvation between God and man and making the decisive part man’s own, or by soft-pedaling the sinner’s inability so as to allow him to share the praise of his salvation with his Saviour. This is the one point of Calvinistic soteriology which the “five points” are concerned to establish and Arminianism in all its forms to deny: namely, that sinners do not save themselves in any sense at all, but that salvation, first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is of the Lord, to whom be glory for ever; amen."

More like touchdown God

division and orange skies

Shafeen Charania has an interesting post about unity in the abortion, death penalty, and marriage debates. http://interacc.typepad.com/

It got me to thinking(a risky thing to do immediately following finals week), when is division worth it? The American world appears to value unity more than any time I can remember, with the tolerance, diversity, and pluralistic religious movements. How long do Christians go along with the peace train?

Should the church budge on "little things" like the ordination of female ministers and gay marriage if doing so would lead to more converts? There are a million more questions that can arise from this type of thinking, but one answer for the moment has satisfied me.

It seems that these issues of tolerance, peace, unity, and rainbows generally arises when we live as pleasers of men. But I would wager my soul that our focus will clear up if we would live for an audience of one. We have little to lose by trying.

If you are like me and tire of thinking hard , relax by listening to Alexi Murdoch's Orange Sky

the true alchemy!

There are few things I love to read more than the personal letters of my favorite Christian heroes. Rutherford's letters, Lewis's letters, Spurgeon's letters, now add John Newton's letters to that list.

Gracegems.org is a great site that has writings of a whole bunch of puritans and generally awesome dudes. I recommend this letter from John Newton on walking with God daily. http://gracegems.org/Newton/48.htm

"Doing all to the glory of God, is the true alchemy which turns everything to gold"

"Most of our perplexities arise from an undue, though perhaps unperceived, attachment to self"

wise words

looking for music?

I am not a guy who pretends to be in the know about music. I survive solely off the recommendations of other people. This is why Said the Gramophone is so amazing!

http://www.saidthegramophone.com/

Basically, it's three Canadian dudes with interesting music tastes allowing you to listen and download songs they deem worthy of your ears. We uncultured may fear no more

Cowper: A man of struggle and grace

William Cowper wrote my favorite hymn, here are the lyrics

1. There is a fountain filled with blood,
   Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
   And sinners plunged beneath that flood
   Lose all their guilty stains.
2. The dying thief rejoiced to see
   That fountain in His day;
   And there have I, though vile as he,
   Washed all my sins away.
3. Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
   Shall never lose its pow’r,
   Till all the ransomed church of God
   Are safe, to sin no more.
4. E’er since by faith I saw the stream
   Thy flowing wounds supply,
   Redeeming love has been my theme,
   And shall be till I die.
5. When this poor, lisping, stamm’ring tongue
   Lies silent in the grave,
   Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
   I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save.

Here is an intriguing upcoming film.

I have a soft spot for movies like this. Who doesn't? Along the lines of Juno, Away We Go is chock full of honesty. It is always refreshing to see people who aren't trying to be perfect as they go through hard issues. Yet they will go through them, and not around. Isn't humility is the floor on which many fallen faces have found grace?

I hope this one turns out to be good

For those of us who need a reminder to avoid pride

Firsts!

first post of Re-Vived.

Restored, Revived, Repented, Renewed

Look back on the store, the life, the pentance, and the new

With joyful thoughts, because all they lost

was Restored, Revived, Repented, and Renewed