Our beloved Hannah

Hannah's been asking us some deep and crucial Q's about eternal security and assurance these days.

We praise God for the Spirit's continued working in her heart. Just yesterday, Hannah came out and confessed some lieing and deceit from almost a yr ago and confessed her sin.

One morning, after her own reading of the account where Samuel rebukes Saul's disobedience, we talked about obeying God supremely above our own desires, esp in light of Saul's departing the faith.

This, in conjunction with the 3 excommunications in our church the past year and a half, has really got her attention. And I'm so grateful for this.

Mommy, in one bedside heart-to-heart one night was encouraging Hannah in the assurance of Christ's salvation for her. This is one beautiful moment in the conversation:

"Hannah, do you see how your head is resting on your pillow right now? That is how you can rest in Jesus' grace in salvation for you."

Hannah, when hearing this, welled up with tears...

Way to go Mom!

And Praise be to God for his working in Hannah by His Spirit to ask these Q's.

We're about to start a little I JN. Bible study with Hannah and Abigail in conjunction with all this and Pastor Joost's preaching through the book.

Clear Light

"The best light comes in through the clearest glass: too much paint keeps out the sun." Spurgeon

Live in the Light.

Live in faithful, honest confession.

"The lamp of the body is the eye."

If your heart isn't clear then your life will not be clear.

Don't try to paint and embellish God's too clear truth.

This little piece will bless your day and beyond, esp. in Easter time

"What is the chief end of man? What is the greatest calling of every subject of the Kingdom of God? Your central purpose from beginning to end, first to last, your greatest task and privilege is the worship and glory of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This being the case, the central purpose of education is the training of Christian worshipers. The reason you are reading this essay is so that you might chant, sing, clap, pray, kneel, raise hands, listen, eat, drink and shout with understanding, reverence and joy to the end that the God of heaven and earth will send justice like summer rain and mercy like a downpour on the earth. The reason you study math, science and art is so that your imagination will be filled with wonder and awe at the Creator of the most mind blowing project ever: the world. And whether you are learning to read music or playing an instrument, whether your hand is holding a pencil or gesturing in the theater, you are training yourself for the warfare of worship. You are teaching your body gratitude; you are teaching your soul thanksgiving. There is hardly an adequate evaluation of your progress, but the best grade you can receive is the outworking of a thankful heart. If you have truly learned Algebra, if you have mastered the story of Western Civilization, if you can tell me the names of the constellations that whirl about our heads, then you will do it with laughter in your voice, you will do it with joy in your heart and gratitude in your bones. Worship is the point of learning because worship is the point of life. And worship is the point of life both because this is the chief honor of every faithful subject in the Kingdom of God and because it is the head of many waters, the council chambers of the King of all the earth. From the world gathered at the table of the Lord issues the great judgments of the King.
Hitler’s world is the story of eternal collision, unending struggle and violence. In that world blood and genes are the fundamentals of life, and pure Aryan blood is Hitler’s absolute best. But the Christian story scoffs at the small-mindedness of German nationalism even as it scoffs at American imperialism. The Lord of Heaven derides Hitler’s arrogant racism and sickening genocide as much as He abhors the slaughter of the unborn in our own country. But this is all the inevitable end of evolutionary thought. If the world is a galactic mosh pit, then bigger is better, might does make right. However, history tells the story better. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. But blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. And the sons of God are welcome at His table. The gospel declares the pure and undefiled blood of Jesus Christ, whose blood purifies every nation of the world. Hitler was right: pure blood will conquer the world. But ironically (for Hitler) that blood is the blood that was shed by an innocent Jewish man two thousand years ago. The sons and daughters of the Most High are family through the blood of Christ and are therefore invited to the family meetings. The Christian faith encompasses all of life, visible and invisible. Forgiveness cleanses the soul, and fruit proceeds out of the heart. In a mystery, the visible and invisible mingle and mix. In a wonderful glory God adopts us into His family with water and faith, He feeds us with His word and bread and wine. And we bless one another with words and smiles and hugs. Joy makes bones strong, and wisdom gives long life. We live in the world that God made, a world where heaven and earth touch, for we have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God. In Christian worship we ascend into the throne room in heaven to ask the Father for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Fate speaks, destiny beckons and all of the scrapings of Hitler are like sand in the wind. But the Lord speaks, the Triune God beckons and the prayer of the righteous man avails much."

Toby Sumpter

Toby is pastor of Trinity Reformed Church in Moscow, ID and has three little ones-River, Felicity, and Tovia.

For the rest of the absolutely amazing article go here: http://resources.veritaspress.com/Sep06_epistula.htm It is the "feature article." It's not that much longer.

Wake up and smell the grace...

"Each morning that greets me is full of hope

Not because I am successful at what I am doing,

Or because the people near me appreciate me,

Or because circumstances are easy,

But because God is, and he is my Father.

To look at the morning any other way

Is to believe a lie.

To live in hope is to live in truth;

To live in truth is to bring him glory;

To bring God glory in my daily living

Is the highest form of worship."

How People Change

Presbyter Porter special brew for 2010 Knox Presbytery

Tolkien was right, trees are worthy of poetry

The theology of trees

The Bible has a lot to say about trees. Fig trees being cursed, righteous men referred to as trees, lust-filled Israel provoking the LORD under trees, the trees of the knowledge of good and evil and of course, the tree of life.

Jesus died on a tree, and He became the tree of life.

In the end there will be a tree. "On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." This is fulfilled from Ezek 47 and many other passages.

The righteous are to be "like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither Ps 1:3.

In fact, certain trees are associated with various stages in redemptive history:

Period: Arboreal Imagery:

Eden-- Trees of life and of the knowledge of Good and Evil
Noah-- "Gopher" wood for the Ark
Abraham-- Terebinth or Oak trees
Wilderness-- Acacia for the Tabernacle
Settlement-- Palms
David-- Cedar
Temple-- Olive, Cedar, Cypress
Kingdom-- Fig
Restoration-- Myrtle
New Covenant-- Mustard, Olive *James Jordan

Trees are more important than you think... Trees are like ladders to heaven. Jacob sees a ladder and angels ascending and descending. Jesus spoke to Nathaniel, "You shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man," fulfilling Jacob's vision of the promised Messiah- John 1:51. The most famous counterfeit tree was the tree/ladder of Nebuchadnezzar. He saw himself as the tree of life, the king of this world. "God ordered that this presumptuous Tower of Babel Tree be cut down, with only a stump remaining (Daniel 4:14,15). This meant that Nebuchadnezzar would be bestially insane for seven years, to teach him not to play god (Daniel 4:16, 20-33)." James Jordan~Through New Eyes p. 87

"I am in the market for some present tense....I want to think about trees. Trees have a curious relationship to the subject of the present moment. There are many created things in the universe that outlive us, that outlive the sun, even, but I can't think about them. I live with trees. There are creatures under our feet, creatures that live over our heads, but trees live quite convincingly in the same filament of air we inhabit..." Annie Dillard

Trees are rich, beautiful, profound symbols of God's world and our humanity.

We grow like trees. We mature like trees. May God make us like mighty oaks whose branches and leaves provide shade, shelter, and security for generations..because of that tree.

..."They alone seem to unite the earth and the sky-the known, invadable world with everything that is beyond our grasp and our power." Diane Ackerman

Consider what the Ten Commandments are all about

This will be worth your time! I ran across this in How People Change ~a fantastic book.

"The first three commands focus on what or whom you worship. They command us to make the one true God our God, and condemn making a god of anything else. The order of the commands is important, because the commands begin by focusing on our heart tendency toward idolatry."

Deut 6:4,5 is key here: "These two verses capture the essence of the first three commands." It's all about worship.

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

"The reason we fail to keep commands 4 through 10 is because we have failed to keep the first three. If you break commands 1 through 3, you will break commands 4 through 10. Your...sinful responses to life grow out of a heart that has defected to worship something else.

'Remember the Sabbath' At the heart of the fourth commandment is the call to honor and obey God in your worship, work, and rest. But when commands 1-3 are broken, I worship and serve myself and use my time for my own self-interest. I make work my god and define myself through my career. I elevate personal peace and comfort above God.

'Honor your father and your mother' At the heart of the fifth commandment is the call to honor and obey God by respecting those in authority. But when commands 1-3 are broken, my will and honor become primary.

Are you picking up on the pattern here? With every command you can ask yourself, "at the heart of this one is the call to honor and obey God by....

So, with the sixth command (Do not murder) "honor and obey God by loving, serving, and forgiving others. But when commands 1-3 are broken, I demand to be loved and served by others. When I am wronged, I demand revenge."

Are you picking up that pattern too? When we begin to displace our utmost affection for God, (commands 1-3) then we will break commands 4-10.

Seventh: Do not commit adultery. "We honor and obey God by remaining sexually pure and by keeping my promises to others." But when we worship ourselves, our pleasures rule.

Do not steal: "...by freely and joyfully sharing my resources with others." It's opposite: "I want things for myself."

Do not bear false witness: "...by speaking truthfully, in ways that build up." Opposite: "my words are used to make me look good and you look bad."

Do not covet: "...by rejoicing in the blessings of others." Opposite: "I want what you have, and I don't want you to have it!"

Abortion

Standing outside an abortion clinic today...

Many angry drivers passing by..

One yells out his car thinking he's gonna really bring it saying, "GET A LIFE!"

HHmmm.. Maybe we should have signed him up for the rally too..

Chronicles of Narnia

So what is everyone's favorite Chronicles of Narnia passage?

Mine is the unscaling of Eustace in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader on pp's 104-through the top of p. 111.

John Newton and Doug Wilson

Newton-
"And I am afraid there are Calvinists, who, while they account it a proof of their humility that they are willing in words to debase the creature, and to give all the glory of salvation to the LORD, yet know not what manner of spirit they are of. Whatever it be that makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit. Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines, as well as upon works; and a man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox notions of the unworthiness of the creature and the riches of free grace."

Wilson-
"The Pharisee who went down to the Temple to pray actually began his prayer with one of the solas-Soli Deo Gloria. 'I thank Thee, God...' Perfectly orthodox. And he went home unjustified to boot."

New Covenant succession

Reading I Kings 12 this am.

It is staggering to see how much apostasy took place in the OT. How could the most eminently wise King Solomon have such a foolish son-Rehoboam? Yet he failed to secure proper covenant succession and so many great men in the older covenant did fail in this way.

Adam with Cain

Noah with Ham

Abraham had Ishmael.

Isaac had Esau

Jacob had several sons that were downright wicked.

David's failure as a father is infamous.

And now Solomon is perpetuating the iniquities of the fathers from generation to generation.

But a part of the blessing in the New Covenant is a reversal of this trend..

I believe this is a part of what Jer 31:33,34 says.

The beauty of family

Give Praise

Merry Christmas

May all the glory, wonder and joy of Christmas be yours,
Sincerely,
Benjamin's Tribe

A gem from C.S. Lewis

Here is a small line from one of those classic and meaty dialogues in the Chronicles of Narnia. This one from Prince Caspian:

Trumpkin the dwarf says, "You are my King. I know the difference between giving advice and taking orders. You've had my advice, and now it's the time for orders."

Then King Caspian said, "I will never forget this Trumpkin."

Knowing one's place with authority irregardless of their respectability is truly one of the most tell-tale signs of Christian fruitfulness and maturity.

For all of the Institute in Basic Life Principles legalism and problems (Bill Gothard's group) most of their material on authority is really good. Submission to authority is one of their seven principles.

Truly, how a man relates with his authority reveals ample material about his own heart.

Not sure if this is encouraging or discouraging

"Life's tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid."

~John Wayne

The real amount~ rip off!

And my beautiful model demonstrates how mamy chips are really in the bag

Look at all that room!

What you call a rip off

Has anyone ever had Kettle brand chips? They're pretty good but I think the package they come in is completely ridiculous. In the next two pics I am going to illustrate how little chips you actually get in a big bag. "Oh, they do that because the bag needs air filling so the chips don't get smashed..." They don't need that much air!!