3801 Lancaster Video about Kermit Gosnell Abortion Clinic

Posted on April 19, 2013 by PS

Watch this video from 3801 Lancaster to learn the truth behind Kermit Gosnell’s abortion practice:

For more on the topic see the articles How Planned Parenthood is Different from Kermit Gosnell and Christian view of abortion

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Watch Me – DA Carson Video

Posted on April 6, 2013 by PS

This is a great short video about how we should be imitators of Christ, so that others can imitate us and grow in His likeness.  It has audio from a DA Carson sermon encouraging us to be mentors in the discipleship of others.

Check out the Discipleship Resources page for ideas of how to strengthen your faith or learn more about the value of imitating mature Christians.

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Sacrifice of the Son – Jesus

Posted on March 28, 2013 by PS

Several thousand years ago, Abraham brought his son to a mountain top to be sacrificed in obedience to God’s command.  Abraham came close to drawing blood, but God provided a substitute to sacrifice in his place. Yet, a principle was established – the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22).  Fast forward several thousand years, where another sacrifice was made.  This time it was God’s own Son, Jesus, who was called upon to die and there was no last minute substitute for Him.  The Father made the greatest sacrifice possible by allowing Jesus to die on the cross.  Jesus wasn’t guilty.  He was sinless, yet He received the penalty for our sins (yours and mine), for our breaking of God’s perfect law, for our lack of love for God above all things.  We are guilty before God and deserve to die (Romans 3:23), but Jesus took the punishment for us.

But He didn’t stay dead because in three days He rose from the grave.  He showed Himself to His disciples and explained how the Scriptures had long foreseen His ultimate act of love.  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13).  God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Life is not about trying to be good enough for God.  We cannot overcome our breaking of the law through prayers or acts of service.  For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it (James 2:10).  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).  We deserve death, but God offers life if we repent of our sin, admit we can’t be good enough for God and trust in Jesus’ completed work on the cross. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Give up trying to win God’s approval.  Accept the gift the Jesus offers and have peace that you will live with God for eternity.  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).

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The Importance of a Christian Mind in the Bible

Posted on March 5, 2013 by PS

The mind is the center of our thinking.  It drives our decision making – for good or evil.  If our mind is focused on honorable things, sinful thoughts are kept out.  The Bible has a lot to say about the mind of  Christian.  Before looking at the Scriptural references, Strong’s provides this definition.  The mind comprises the faculties of perceiving, judging and determining:

  1. the intellectual faculty, understanding
  2. reason in the narrower sense, as the capacity for spiritual truth, the higher powers of recognizing goodness and of hating evil
  3. the power of considering and judging

Use of our mind in the Bible

  • What the mind does and is:
    • Creates plans (Proverbs 19:21) and has desires (Ephesians 2:3)
    • It can be hardened (2 Corinthians 3:13-15), be darkened and futile (Ephesians 4:17), blinded by the god of this world (unbelievers) (2 Corinthians 4:3-5), defiled in unbelievers (Titus 1:15-16) and is double-minded and unstable when not trusting God (James 1:5-8, 4:8)
    • It’s foolish to trust in our own mind (Proverbs 28:26, 14:12)
    • However, the mind can be renewed (Ephesians 4:24) and repentance is of the mind (1 Kings 8:46-51)
  • God’s relationship to the mind:
    • God sees (Jeremiah 20:10), searches (Revelation 2:23) and tests the mind (Psalm 7:9, Jeremiah 11:20, 17:10)
    • He puts law in the mind (Hebrews 8:10) and provides peace to guard it (Philippians 4:6)
    • God blesses some with gifts of the mind
      • He gave Solomon a ‘wise and discerning mind’ (1 Kinds 3:8-12, 10:23-24)
      • He gave the craftsmen of the tabernacle skill (Exodus 36:2)
      • Wise and understanding mind from God (Job 38:35-37)
      • Opens the mind to understand Scripture (Luke 24:44-46)
    • God gives up the debased mind to sin (Romans 1:28)
  • What we should do with our mind:
    • Have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:15-16)
    • Be sober-minded (1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Peter 4:7, 5:8), be mature in thinking rather than childish (1 Corinthians 14:20), be prepared for action (1 Peter 1:13) and be humble (1 Peter 3:8-9)
    • Be prepared to suffer like Christ (1 Peter 4:1)
    • Love God with all of our mind (Matthew 22:37), serve God with a willing mind (1 Chronicles 28:8-10, Romans 7:22-25) and honoring God and give thanks to Him (Romans 1:21)
    • Sing and pray with an actively engaged mind (1 Corinthians 14:14-16)
    • Be united in mind with other Christians, so there is no divisions (1 Corinthians 1:10, Philippians 2:1-8, 1 Peter 3:8-9)
    • Be transformed by the renewal of our mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect rather than being conformed to this world (Romans 12:2)
    • Think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned rather than thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3)
    • Think about/set our mind on
      • Things of God rather than the things of man (Matthew 16:23)
      • Things of the Spirit, which are life and peace, and not on the things of the flesh, which leads to death because it is hostile to God (Romans 8:5-8)
      • Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise (Philippians 4:7-9)
      • Heavenly rather than earthly things (Colossians 3:1-3)
    • Not think about…Do not covet others’ things (Exodus 20:17)
      • Put to death covetousness (Colossians 3:5)
      • Guard against covetousness because life does not consist of an abundance of possessions (Luke 12:15)
      • Fighting and quarreling is a result of covetousness (James 4:2)

Summary

The mind is central to the whole Christian life – prayer, singing, speaking – and critical to our maturation in Christ.  It determines what we think about God and whether we obey Him.  Our thinking should therefore be distinctive from non-Christians who have their mind blinded and do not understand spiritual ideas.

  • The mark of the Christian mind is that it cultivates an eternal perspective.  That is to say, it looks beyond this world another one. It is supernaturally orientated, and brings to bear upon earthly considerations the fact of Heaven and the fact of Hell. – Harry Blamires
  • Loving God with the mind means that our thinking is wholly engaged to do all it can to awaken and express the heartfelt fullness of treasuring God above all things.  Treasuring God is the essence of loving Him, and the mind serves this love by comprehending the truth and beauty and worth of the Treasure. It is an expression of cherishing, delighting, admiring and valuing Him.  Love for God is an affair of the affections.  We can’t love God without knowing Him and Jesus is the fullest revelation of God.  If we truly know Him, we know God.  – John Piper (Think, Chapter 5 & 6)

Application

We must:

  • Audit our thoughts – The mind reveals our priorities, affections and concerns.  Consider what you thought about most today or this week and what topics your thoughts drift off to.  What does this tell you about yourself and how you need to change.
  • Manage our intake
    • Filter our mind – protect the eye and ear gates because they feed the mind, do not covet God’s blessings on others.  This may mean changing the media you consume or activities you do
    • Fill our mind – set your mind on things above.  The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. – Proverbs 4:7.
  • Change our mind (Be transformed in thinking) – love God by having the mind of Christ.  Christ sees everything differently than we’re trained to see.  He said, “You have heard it said, but I say unto you…”  We must immerse ourselves in study and prayer to see the:
    • From earthly to heaven focus (Store up treasures, do not be anxious about…)
    • From external to internal judgment (God looks at the heart)
    • From prioritizing self to others (last to first)
    • From obeying others to God (fear not who is able to kill the body,…)
    • From dependence on self to God (save life by losing it, works to faith)

 

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Hinderances to Prayer – Charles Spurgeon

Posted on February 14, 2013 by PS

The Free Grace Broadcaster has a great article by Charles Spurgeon about hindrances to our prayer life.  He provides four point that hinder us 1) lukewarmness 2) busyness with the world 3) busyness with the church and 4) a lack of organization or planning.  Spurgeon’s thoughts are worth meditating on along with reading the full article.

Our prayers may be hindered by falling into a generally lax, lukewarm condition in reference to the things of God. When a man becomes cold, indifferent, and careless, one of the first things that will suffer will be his devotion. When a sick man is in a decline, his lungs and his voice suffer; so when a Christian is in a spiritual decline, the breath of prayer is affected, and the cry of supplication becomes weak. Prayer is the true gauge of spiritual power. To restrain prayer is dangerous and of deadly tendency. You may depend upon it that, take it for all in all, what you are upon your knees you really are before your God…If you are a man of earnest prayer, and especially if the spirit of prayer be in you, so that in addition to certain seasons of supplication your heart habitually talks with God, things are right with you. But if this is not the case and your prayers be “hindered,” there is something in your spiritual system that needs to be ejected or somewhat lacking that ought at once to be supplied.

Prayers may be hindered, next, by having too much to do. In this age, this is a very common occurrence. We man have too much business for ourselves. The quiet days of our contented forefathers are gone, and men allot to themselves an increasing drudgery. Not content to earn as much as is necessary for themselves and families, they must have much more than they can possibly enjoy for themselves or profitably use for others…Many a man who might have been of great service to the church of God becomes useless because he must branch out in some new direction in business, which takes up all his spare time. Instead of feeling that his first care should be, “How can I best glorify God?” his all-absorbing object is to “stretch his arms like seas and grasp in all the shore”…The rich man in the parable had no time for prayer, for he was busy in planning new barns wherein to bestow his goods. Yet, he had to find time for dying when the Lord said, “This night shall thy soul be required of thee” (Luk 12:20). Beware, I pray you, of “the lusts of other things” (Mar 4:19), the [cancer] of riches, the greed insatiable that drives men into the snare of the devil. If it works you no other ill, it will do you mischief enough if thereby your prayers are hindered.

We may even have too much to do in God’s house, and so hinder our prayers by being like Martha, cumbered with much serving. I never heard of anyone who was cumbered with much praying. The more we do, the more we should pray, and prayer should balance our service, or rather, it should be the life-blood of every action, and saturate our entire life…I fear that some of us would do far more if we attempted less and prayed more about it. I even fear that some allow public religious engagements to override private communion with God: they attend too many sermons, too many conferences, too many Bible readings, too many committees, aye, and too many prayer meetings— all good in their way, but all acting injuriously when they cramp our secret prayer…Praying is the end of preaching, and woe to the man who, prizing the means more than the end, allows any other form of service to push his prayers into a corner.

Some people hinder their prayers, again, by a [lack] of order. They get up a little too late, and they have to chase their cork all the day and never overtake it, but are always in a flurry, one duty tripping up the heels of another. They have no appointed time for retirement, too little space hedged about for communion with God; and, consequently, something or other happens, and prayer is forgotten.— nay, I hope not quite forgotten, but so slurred and hurried over that it amounts to little and brings them no blessing. I wish you would each keep a diary of how you pray next week, and see how much or rather how little time you spend with God out of the twenty-four hours. Much time goes at the table; how much at the mercy seat? Many hours are spent with men; how many with your Maker? You are [to some extent] with your friends on earth; how many minutes are you with your friend in heaven? You allow yourself space for recreation; what do you set apart for those exercises that in very truth re-create the soul?…

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The Race: Its Mission, Manner and Motives – Joel Beeke

Posted on February 11, 2013 by PS

Joel Beeke has a good sermon called Endurance: Running the Race on running the race of the Christian life using the frame work of our mission, manner and motives. Mission answers the question ‘what are we to do?’.  Manner answers ‘how are we to do it?’. Motives answers ‘why are we to do it?’.

Our mission: The mission of the Christian life is to run our Christian race to its end with
patience looking to Jesus.

Our manner: Negatively, we must rid ourselves of sin and hindrances.  Positively, we must look to Jesus for the strength to lay sin aside and looking to Jesus to endure and to run the race

Our motives:

  • Jesus’ example: Jesus endured on the cross.  Jesus rejoiced in the glory and reward that He would receive after the cross and we should look to the joy of heaven. Jesus despised the shame of sin imputed to Him and so must we despise our sin and run from it
  • A great cloud of Biblical and present day witnesses who encourage us by being faithful in life and finishing the race
  • Our own strength and peace of mind

A complete transcript of Beeke’s message can be found here

 

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Bible Verses about Obedience

Posted on February 4, 2013 by PS

Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘Why won’t my children just obey?  It’s better for them.  It’s easier on me.  I love them.  I want the best for them.  I’ve made more mistakes than they have.  Can’t they just do what I tell them?’.  God feels the same way.  He’s revealed His will to us and declared what makes Him happy and what makes Him upset.  He does this out of love because He knows what’s best.  Yet, we, like our children, run off and follow a different path as if we know more than the creator of the universe.

The theme of obedience is universal through out the Bible.  It’s in the historical books, the wisdom books and the prophets.  You find it in the words of Jesus in the Gospel, and the writings of Paul, Peter and James.  The dominance of the idea is impossible to avoid.  The following list is a brief sampling of the verses on the topic.

Who is to obey?

  • Children: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right – Ephesians 6:1
  • Employees: Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. – Ephesians 6:5-8
  • Christians: Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. – Hebrews 13:17
  • Jesus: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:5-8

Why are we to obey?

  • Result of election:  To those who are elect…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood – 1 Peter 1a-2
  • Sign of conversion : Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 7:21
  • A testing: For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. – 2 Corinthians 2:9
  • More important than symbolic acts of worship: And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. – 1 Samuel 15:22
  • Sign of love: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. – John 14:15, 21-24
  • Shows whom our master is: Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? – Luke 6:46
  • Shows whom we obey: Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? – Romans 6:16
  • Fulfills our justification: You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. – James 2:24

How do we obey?

  • Not deviating: if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. – Deuteronomy 28:14
  • Consistently: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, – Philippians 2:12
  • Response to hearing: But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” – Luke 11:28
  • Pray for: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! – Psalm 143:10
  • With our mind: We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, – 2 Corinthians 10:5
  • With our heart: But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed – Romans 6:17
  • Building on Jesus: Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. – Matthew 7:24-25
  • Through Jesus’ example: Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, – Hebrews 5:8-9

What are some results of obedience and disobedience?

  • Blessing – I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” – Genesis 22:17-18
  • Prosperity – This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. – Joshua 1:8
  • Inheritance – “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. – Deuteronomy 4:1
  • Punishment – and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” – Numbers 20:7-12
  • Punishment – For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. – Joshua 5:6

How do we best sum up the Bible’s view of obedience?

  • Our ultimate end of good works – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:8-10
  • Solomon’s wisdom on life – The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  – Ecclesiastes 12:13

For more verses on the topic of obedience along with a list Biblical saints who exemplified obedience see Obedience to God

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Disney’s Paperman Short Film

Posted on January 30, 2013 by PS

Disney produced a short film called Paperman about two people meeting at the train station.  It’s a cute story about found, lost and recovered love told in six minutes.

After watching, find what true love is…

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Les Miserables – Focus on the Family Radio Theater

Posted on January 25, 2013 by PS

Focus on the Family Radio Theater’s Les Miserables brings the characters from Victor Hugo’s classic book to life.  The drama and sound effects are well done and help the listener to follow the life of Jean Valjean, his encounters with Javert’s ‘justice’ and his love for Cosette.  You encounter Jean Valjean’s repeated sacrifice for others throughout the story and grasp the redemptive nature of the message carried throughout the book.

The story is highly abridged and condensed into about three hours.  Some purists may find that the drama cuts out key elements of the plot, but given the abbreviated nature of an audio book drama, the producers did a good job.  The only thing missing was the classic sound track from the play, which likely was cost prohibitive to license.

Note: I received a free copy of the CDs from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review

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Tests of Spiritual Mindedness – John Owen

Posted on January 17, 2013 by PS

As the nature of earth is judged by the grass which grows on it, so the heart may be judged by the thoughts produced by it. If those thoughts are spiritual, the man is spiritual. If they are worldly, then the man is worldly…so the thoughts of the heart reveal the real truth about a person.

How do we know if we’re spiritually minded?

  • We must call upon God’s help to examine ourselves (Psalm 139:23-24) to ensure that we have true faith, love and delight in God.  When these are sincere, prayer and other spiritual disciplines will arise naturally.  However, we should take care in our examination not rely on our spiritual gifts/eloquence, a sense of duty, wrong motives (James 4:3), to be thought well of by others (Matthew 6) or fervency driven by natural love or fear (Psalm 78:34-35).

Seven tests of spiritual mindedness – frequency, priority, time, satisfaction, disappointment, prompting and zeal

  • Frequency: Are our thoughts about God abundant rather than infrequent?
  • Priority: Are the first thoughts that come to mind when we are free to think, about God, or topics of lesser priority?  When a person is relaxed and free from all cares and worries, and his mind is free to think as it pleases we can see what thoughts are natural to it.  If these are useless, foolish, proud, ambitious, lustful or degrading, then such is the true nature of the heart and the person.  But if they are holy, spiritual, and heavenly, so is the heart and the person.
  • Time: Do we spend a significant amount of time thinking about spiritual things rather than other things (Matthew 6:21)? All our worldly worries mainly revolve around three things: food, drink and clothes. About these things Christ forbids us to take thought. He does not forbid us ever to think about these things, but that we should not allow our minds to be filled with anxiety and worry about them, and that we should not allow our minds to be wholly taken up with them. Worry and anxiety about these things shows lack of faith in our heavenly Father’s care and in the providence of God. Christ teaches us that our chief concern should be to ‘seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.’ (Matthew 6:33)
  • Satisfaction: Do we receive spiritual refreshment, satisfaction and peace in prayer and delight in other spiritual disciplines rather than going through the required motions out of duty?  We pray, not because of duty, but because we cannot live without it; like breathing or eating. That is, we cannot live without drawing near to God as our source and center of spiritual refreshment (Psalm 36:7-9).  We are growing in this area when we find ourselves more holy, humble and watchful over our spiritual condition.  As we pray, we will make every effort to live as we ought.  We cannot pray earnestly and live carelessly (in sin).  If we become careful and watchful to live as we prayed, then prayer is from God rather than duty.  However, if we only pray and don’t act, we should question the value of the prayers (James 1:27, Acts 10:31).
  • Disappointment: Are disappointed if we don’t have time for spiritual meditation?
  • Prompting: Are your thoughts natural and internal rather than prompted externally?  Thoughts which are voluntary, unforced and which arise naturally – because they are delighted in and bring satisfaction to the mind – these are the thoughts which sow us the real truth about ourselves. Jesus describes the regenerate heart as ‘bubbling up’ naturally with holy thoughts from a spiritual spring of living water from the Holy Spirit. (John 4:10,12 – living water).  Spiritual thoughts are steady and constant unless distracted by work or temptation.  They are our spiritual fruit (Matthew 12:33).  They don’t need external forces to temporarily make us think of God such as during a sermon, trial or illness.  These thoughts are soon dried up once the pressure causing them eases.
  • Zeal: Are we becoming more zealous like the saints who hungered after God or remaining remaining stagnant?.  If we do not have the same delight in God as they had, the same spiritual mindedness as they, then we can have no evidence that we please God as they did or shall go to that place where they have gone.  The holy men of God, who obtained this testimony, that they pleased God, did not walk before God in a corrupt, earthly manner.  Their obedience was not half-hearted.  They meditated continually on the law; they thought of God at every moment and their minds were free from other things; they delighted in God and ‘followed hard after Him’.  We cannot make ourselves like these saints, but the Holy Spirit can if we put ourselves under His power and influence

Source: Summary of first four chapters of Spiritual Mindedness by John Owen

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