Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
Chocolate Therapy: Crockpot Chicken Tacos
An Urban Cottage: Tom Ka Soup
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
A Prayer for Living as Good Citizens to God's Glory
Well Worth sharing!!
A Prayer for Living as Good Citizens to God’s Glory Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. 1 Pet 2:11-17
Dear heavenly Father, it’s the morning after we Americans have cast our votes. A president, along with many other public officials, have been elected, or re-elected. For some of us, there is great elation and relief, for others, there is tremendous disappointment, even despair.
For all of us, there is a need to hear from you—to still our hearts and know that you alone are God; to affirm that you are no less sovereign this morning that you were before the polls closed yesterday afternoon; to remember that your purposes will stand, your kingdom will come, your glory, one Day, will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Indeed, Father, our confidence is not in horses, chariots or men; nor in political parties, sitting presidents or supreme court justices; nor in the Dow Jones average, lower taxes, or bigger barns; nor in public policy or in private enterprise. Our hope and trust are in you.
In this Scripture, we hear you say, and we affirm, that you’ve called us to live good lives among our neighbors and in our culture—to be commendable citizens, not disengaged cynics; for your sake, to submit to authorities, governors and the king (president), for they are your providential servants (Rom. 13:1); to use our freedom in Christ “to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people,” not to add more godless chatter to the public conversation; to live respectfully of all people, not resentfully of any. By the power of the gospel, help us to do so.
Lastly, Father, may we fear you 1000 times more than we are either excited this morning or are quite disappointed by the outcome of the election. You alone are God; you are in the heavens and you do whatever pleases you. As your servants, may we prove the wonders of Jesus’ love this very day, and tomorrow, and the next, far as the curse is found. So very Amen we pray, in the exalted and triumphant name of Jesus.
Scotty Smith
Founding Pastor
Christ Community Church
http://www.christcommunity.org/NewsResources/Blogs/tabid/93/ID/3503/A-Prayer-for-Living-as-Good-Citizens-to-Gods-Glory.aspx
A Prayer for Living as Good Citizens to God’s Glory Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. 1 Pet 2:11-17
Dear heavenly Father, it’s the morning after we Americans have cast our votes. A president, along with many other public officials, have been elected, or re-elected. For some of us, there is great elation and relief, for others, there is tremendous disappointment, even despair.
For all of us, there is a need to hear from you—to still our hearts and know that you alone are God; to affirm that you are no less sovereign this morning that you were before the polls closed yesterday afternoon; to remember that your purposes will stand, your kingdom will come, your glory, one Day, will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Indeed, Father, our confidence is not in horses, chariots or men; nor in political parties, sitting presidents or supreme court justices; nor in the Dow Jones average, lower taxes, or bigger barns; nor in public policy or in private enterprise. Our hope and trust are in you.
In this Scripture, we hear you say, and we affirm, that you’ve called us to live good lives among our neighbors and in our culture—to be commendable citizens, not disengaged cynics; for your sake, to submit to authorities, governors and the king (president), for they are your providential servants (Rom. 13:1); to use our freedom in Christ “to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people,” not to add more godless chatter to the public conversation; to live respectfully of all people, not resentfully of any. By the power of the gospel, help us to do so.
Lastly, Father, may we fear you 1000 times more than we are either excited this morning or are quite disappointed by the outcome of the election. You alone are God; you are in the heavens and you do whatever pleases you. As your servants, may we prove the wonders of Jesus’ love this very day, and tomorrow, and the next, far as the curse is found. So very Amen we pray, in the exalted and triumphant name of Jesus.
Scotty Smith
Founding Pastor
Christ Community Church
http://www.christcommunity.org/NewsResources/Blogs/tabid/93/ID/3503/A-Prayer-for-Living-as-Good-Citizens-to-Gods-Glory.aspx
Monday, November 5, 2012
Partakers of His Suffering by Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, “Oh, I can’t deal with that person.” Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered “according to the will of God” (1 Peter 4:19), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the “long road home.”
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— “God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!”
Partakers of His Suffering
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered “according to the will of God” (1 Peter 4:19), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the “long road home.”
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— “God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!”
Friday, October 26, 2012
A Prayer about God working in Hard Providences and Pain
Scotty Smith posted on October 17, 2012 06:53
A Prayer about God Working in Hard Providences and PainFor I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jer. 29:11
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[a] who[b] have been called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28
Heavenly Father, there’s simply no other god as merciful, gracious, and engaged as you. Your forbearance is immeasurable; your kindness is inexhaustible; your plans are irrepressible—though, sometimes, it doesn’t seem this way to us.
When your people received these words of encouragement from Jeremiah, they were in exile in Babylon—cut off from their homeland and all hope. How could they not feel bereft, bewildered, even betrayed by you? And there are times when our circumstances seem to say you don’t really care and aren’t really present…
Yet we know, by the truth and promises of your Word, that when you lead us into difficult seasons, it’s not to punish us but to prosper us; when you send hardships, it’s not to bring us harm but to give us hope; when you discipline us, it’s not to send us into the “doghouse” of your displeasure but to guarantee the wonder of our future.
It’s comforting to remember that you always know exactly what you are doing with your people, and everything else in the world. You know the plans you have for us—individually and corporately. There’s no happenstance in heaven. You don’t make up things as you go along. You’re not a God who reacts out of irritation, but one who always acts out of great affection. There are no coincidences, just providences. “Stuff” doesn’t just happen; sovereignty is always happening.
Father, this way of thinking would be utter madness if you never sent Jesus—a big-time spitting into the wind; the spin of all spins; delusional at best, demonic at worst. But Jesus is the “yes” to every promise you have made. His life, death, and resurrection have secured for us the riches of the gospel, a living hope and a most glorious future. Apart from Jesus there is only unimaginable hopelessness; but, because of Jesus, we have joy unspeakable.
So bring the truth, grace, and power of this gospel into our current situations, into our personal stories of pain, into the brokenness our local churches, and into the needs of our communities.
Turn our sighs into songs, our cynicism into servanthood, and our grumblings into the rumblings of a kingdom that has come and is coming in fullness. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ triumphant and compassionate name.
Search Me, O God
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
(Psalm 139:23-24 ESV)
What tangles us up in temptations and gets us into serious trouble has less to do with the world out there than the world inside of us.
We fail and fall because of our own hearts, and since the problem is
internal and universal we see the damage done in all people.Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
(Psalm 139:23-24 ESV)
I say that you can hardly turn to a single character, among the holy men described in the Bible, who did not, to his own horror and dismay, fall at one time or another. Noah planted a vineyard, and was one day found drunken. David committed adultery with the wife of Uriah. Peter denied his Lord thrice. What does this prove? It proves beyond a question that the most excellent of the earth have found that the root of all their sinfulness is within them; they never boasted of the purity or goodness of their hearts, they have all placed upon record the truth that, although Satan does much and the world does much, still after all the great enemy is always within us!From the heart “flow the springs of life,” Solomon tells us. This is why he also says it is paramount that we “keep it.” If we do not take care of our hearts disaster awaits. A life of external discipline may give the appearance of strength, but it will not bear the fruit of faith. The heart, when left unchecked, can become the very thing that sinks us.
- J.C. Ryle, A Bad Heart
The heart is ready to be destroyed by its own passion, just as a ship is ready to be overturned by its sail. The heart sometimes sinks in sorrow, swells with anger, and abounds excessively with carnal joy. Passion transports beyond the bounds of reason; it is a kind of temporary madness which possesses a person. Lay the bit of restraint upon your passions—or your heart will run wild in sin; take heed of inflaming your spirits. Cut off all occasions that may awaken this fury. Take away the fuel which feeds this fire! When this viper of passion begins to gather heat, pray it down. Luther said that prayer takes down the swelling of the soul—and abates the heat of inordinate affections. How dangerous these fiery passions are! In a passion, Moses spoke unadvisedly with his lips (Psalm 106:33). A man in a rage is like a ship in a tempest—which has neither pilot, sails, or oars to help—but is exposed to the waves and the rocks. How many have lost their souls in such a storm!How do we “restrain” our passions, take away the fuel which feed the fire, and “pray down” this unrighteous heat in our hearts? I’m eager to talk about all of this at this weekend’s Porterbrook Kansas Gospel Immersion Seminar. For now let me just point you to my favorite work on the subject. John Flavel’s Keeping the Heart. You can read it online for free, or purchase a hard copy from WTSBook
- Thomas Watson, The Spiritual Watch
By Grace You Can from Joethorn.net
I find that some Christians have a good
understanding of the extent of our human depravity, but an
underdeveloped view of God’s vivifying grace. Many seem to believe that
because sin continues to cling to and corrupt all our works this side of
the resurrection that even as believers we remain fruitless in
godliness–incapable of obeying God. But man’s total depravity doesn’t
leave us pessimistic in piety because God’s sovereign grace in salvation
gives us life, overcomes our weaknesses, and produces a transformed
character. By grace we can obey God. I was reading Sibbes today (as we all should), and he said it better than I can.
Beloved, it is part of the new covenant, that whatsoever our duty is, we shall have ability to perform it by the Spirit of Christ; for all the gracious promises of the gospel are not only promises upon condition, and so a covenant, but likewise the covenant of grace is a testament and a will (a will is made without conditions; a covenant with conditions), that as he hath made a covenant what he would have us to do , so his testament is, that we shall have grace to do so; he will put his Spirit into us, and circumcise our hearts, or else, beloved, there would be no more strength of the covenant of grace than there was of that of nature in Adam. Why did Adam fall? He had not the Spirit to uphold him, nor had the promise of it to keep him that he should not fall. Therefore the covenant of works was frustrate. If God should not make good our part as well as his, we should not be saved. Therefore, now in the covenant of grace we may boldly go to God and Christ; and allege unto him, when any duty is pressed upon us, and when we are about to perform any duty, and find want of strength, ‘Lord, thou knowest I have no strength of myself, I am a barren wilderness; but thou hast entered into a covenant of grace with me, which requirest, Lord, in the use of means that thou hast ordained; in attending upon thee, and looking up to thee, I desire that thou wouldst give me strength to submit to thee, to live and die to thee, to direct my course as I should.’ This should be the course of a Christian, and not to set upon things in his own strength; but when duty is discovered, look to the promise of grace and of the Spirit, and put them into suit, and allege them to Christ in the use of sanctified means, as reading, hearing, holy conference, and the like; and he will enable us to do that that is our duty.
Therefore a man may know who is indeed under Christ’s government by this, for he that is actually under Christ’s government and acknowledgeth him to be his Lord, he hath ability to live and die to him in some comfortable measure; to deny himself, to go out of himself, to live and to die to the glory of God. The Spirit of God hath given him this victory and triumph over his own heart.
- Richard Sibbes, Christ’s Exaltation Purchased by His Humiliation: The Second Serm
Beloved, it is part of the new covenant, that whatsoever our duty is, we shall have ability to perform it by the Spirit of Christ; for all the gracious promises of the gospel are not only promises upon condition, and so a covenant, but likewise the covenant of grace is a testament and a will (a will is made without conditions; a covenant with conditions), that as he hath made a covenant what he would have us to do , so his testament is, that we shall have grace to do so; he will put his Spirit into us, and circumcise our hearts, or else, beloved, there would be no more strength of the covenant of grace than there was of that of nature in Adam. Why did Adam fall? He had not the Spirit to uphold him, nor had the promise of it to keep him that he should not fall. Therefore the covenant of works was frustrate. If God should not make good our part as well as his, we should not be saved. Therefore, now in the covenant of grace we may boldly go to God and Christ; and allege unto him, when any duty is pressed upon us, and when we are about to perform any duty, and find want of strength, ‘Lord, thou knowest I have no strength of myself, I am a barren wilderness; but thou hast entered into a covenant of grace with me, which requirest, Lord, in the use of means that thou hast ordained; in attending upon thee, and looking up to thee, I desire that thou wouldst give me strength to submit to thee, to live and die to thee, to direct my course as I should.’ This should be the course of a Christian, and not to set upon things in his own strength; but when duty is discovered, look to the promise of grace and of the Spirit, and put them into suit, and allege them to Christ in the use of sanctified means, as reading, hearing, holy conference, and the like; and he will enable us to do that that is our duty.
Therefore a man may know who is indeed under Christ’s government by this, for he that is actually under Christ’s government and acknowledgeth him to be his Lord, he hath ability to live and die to him in some comfortable measure; to deny himself, to go out of himself, to live and to die to the glory of God. The Spirit of God hath given him this victory and triumph over his own heart.
- Richard Sibbes, Christ’s Exaltation Purchased by His Humiliation: The Second Serm
Friday, October 19, 2012
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