Thankful!

"In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." (Galatians 4:3-7)

ADOPTED: Sons & Daughters

In light of the Adoption series which begins this Sunday, you might want to check out the album Sons & Daughters by the ministry of Sovereign Grace Music.

I Am His and He Is Mine

This Sunday our pastor will begin a series called Adoption Q & A. The series is planned along these lines...

• Sunday, November 28 - Why Should Believers Pursue Adoption? (And No, It's Not JUST Because the Bible Says So!)
• Sunday, December 5 - Is Trans-racial Adoption Wrong? (Red, Yellow, Black and White - Are They Precious In Our Sight?)
• Sunday, December 12 - If Jesus Loves All the Little Children, Why Are There 147 Million Orphans? (The Fall, Satan, and Demonic Hatred of Little Babies)
• Sunday, December 19 - Was Jesus REALLy Adopted and Why Does It Matter? (Looking at the Christmas Story Through the Lens of Adoption)

We'll be singing a hymn entitled I Am His and He Is Mine. Here are the lyrics written by George W. Robinson.

I Am His and He Is Mine

Verse 1

Loved with everlasting love

Led by grace that love to know

Gracious Spirit from above

Thou hast taught me it is so

O this full perfect peace

O this transport all divine

In a love which cannot cease

I am His and He is mine

Verse 2

Heav'n above is softer blue

Earth around is sweeter green

Something lives in every hue

Christless eyes have never seen

Birds with gladder songs over flow

Flowers with deeper beauties shine

Since I know as now I know

I am His and He is mine

Verse 3

Things that once were wild alarms

Cannot now disturb my test

Closed in everlasting arms

Pillowed on the loving breast

O to lie forever here

Doubt and care and self resign

While He whispered in my ear

I am His and He is mine

Verse 4

His forever, only His

Who the Lord and me shall part

Ah, with what a rest of bliss

Christ can fill the longing heart

Heav'n and earth may fade and flee

Firstborn light in gloom in decline

But while God and I shall be

I am His and He is mine

How the Auburn University Football Team's Undefeated Season and Subsequent Debacle Over Possible NCAA Violations Regarding Their Heisman Hopeful Quarterback Helps Reveal the Sinfulness of Man, the Fleeting Pleasures of Life, and the Deep Need for the Soul-Satisfying Joy that Comes Only from God through His Son Jesus Christ

Let me say at the outset, I am an unabashed Auburn fan. There are very few, and I mean VERY FEW things that I have loved as long, or as much, as the Auburn Tigers. For that reason, it is a bit painful to rehearse the cause of this article. However, it is because of the pain related to this specific issue, that I am able to reevaluate my own weakness, my all too frequent pursuit of fleeting pleasures, and the real joy that is available to me in Christ.

In case you missed it, here are the facts. Auburn is 10-0. They are ranked #2 in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Poll. Their quarterback is on track to win the most lop-sided Heisman race in history. And they are three games away from securing a spot in the national championship game. These are the facts. They are undisputed. But here's the rub; there looms on the horizon a dark cloud of Eeyore proportions. You see, allegations of possible NCAA violations regarding the previously mentioned Heisman contending quarterback are growing louder by the day. At best, at least from my vantage point, these allegations will be proven false. Auburn will be vindicated. Their quarterback will leap the final tall buildings of the season, fly happily into the sunset, and leave the cheering Auburn throngs with an undefeated and unblemished national championship. Worst case, the allegations will prove true, leaving the 2010 football season in shambles, the future of Auburn football uncertain, and the hearts of Auburn people everywhere broken.

So where does that leave us, those who love the Auburn Tigers, those who despise them, and those who couldn't care less? As I've reflected on the current situation, I've been reminded of three things. First, human beings everywhere are bent toward wrong. Whether it is deceiving and cheating to get ahead or slandering someone else in order to bolster our own appearance or standing, humans will not only find a way, it is our way. Our actions and attitudes are reprehensible because we are corrupt by nature. We sin because we are sinners. Second, human beings will consistently and constantly strive to fill their lives with peace and happiness by means of things that were never meant to fulfill them, and are incapable of producing anything but a momentary high or escape. We know it to be true, yet we all struggle to put to rest the chasing of the wind. Finally, the reason human beings are left empty, in spite of our deception and striving, is because soul-satisfying joy can only be produced by God through His Son Jesus Christ. Because we are broken and undone, only intervention by an outside source can cause us to experience real life. The first few verses of Ephesians 2 say it like this, "And you were dead in the trespass and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

I deeply hope the rumors surrounding my beloved Auburn Tigers are untrue. But, as the mill churns them out, and I am reminded of the sinfulness of man and my own pursuit of fleeting pleasures, my confidence grows with the knowledge that my deliverance, my standing, my future, and my joy have been secured in Jesus Christ.

O How the Grace of God Amazes Me

At the recommendation of our pastor, I have begun reading the book By Grace Alone by Sinclair Ferguson. The book is a biblical exploration on the subject of grace by means of a little known hymn entitled O How the Grace of God Amazes Me. The hymn was written by Emmanuel T. Sibomana. Sibomana (1915-1975) was a pastor in the African nation of Burundi. Each chapter of Ferguson's book takes one stanza of the hymn and examines a different angle, or facet, of God's grace. The jacket of the book ask, "Are you truly amazed by God's grace? Or have you grown accustomed to it?," "If I am not amazed by God's grace, can I really be living in it? Can I really be tasting , and savoring, and delighting in it?" I've only completed the Foreword, Preface, and first chapter, but have already been struck again at the beauty of God's grace.

Here are the words to Sibomana's hymn, around which the book is structured...

O how the grace of God amazes me!
It loosed me from my bonds and set me free!
What made it happen so?
His own will, this much I know,
set me, as now I show, at liberty.

My God has chosen me, Though one of nought,
to sit beside my King in heaven's court.
Hear what my Lord has done,
O, the love that made Him run
to meet His erring son! This has God wrought.

Not for my righteousness, for I have none,
but for His mercy's sake, Jesus, God's Son,
suffered on Calvary's tree;
Crucified with thieves was He;
Great was His grace to me, His wayward one.

And when I think of how, at Calvary,
He bore sin's penalty instead of me,
Amazed, I wonder why He,
the sinless One, should die
for one so vile as I; My Savior He!

Now all my heart's desire is to abide
in Him, my Savior dear, In Him to hide,
my shield and buckler He,
cov'ring and protecting me;
from Satan's darts I'll be safe at His side.

Lord Jesus, hear my prayer, Your grace impart;
When evil thoughts arise through Satan's art,
O, drive them all away
and do You, from day to day,
keep me beneath Your sway, King of my heart.

Come now, the whole of me, eyes, ears, and voice.
Join me, creation all, with joyful noise:
Praise Him who broke the chain
holding me in sin's domain
and set me free again! Sing and rejoice!

It's November (and Christmas is coming)

By now, everyone knows the mall's routine; September - the Fall stuff goes up, October - time for Halloween and a dose of Thanksgiving, by November 1 it's all about Christmas. Garlands, wreaths, trees, Santa, the whole thing turns to Christmas. In light of that change, and because twenty-four hour a day Christmas music is just around the corner, I'd like to make a recommendation. You might even consider it a Christmas challenge.

Around ten years ago Andrew Peterson released his Christmas project, Behold the Lamb of God. I was familiar with the work of Peterson and was interested in what he'd done. I could not have predicted how this recording would affect me. One particular year it is the only CD I listened to in my car from September through December. My focus that Christmas was different. My heart was filled with thanksgiving for the incarnation like never before. I know, it sounds like I'm overstating my case, like maybe I get a kick-back from the sales of the CD. I'm not, and I don't. Andrew Peterson is one of the most gifted song writers of this generation, and Behold the Lamb of God is the most beautiful presentation of humanity's dilemma, God's provision, and our deliverance I have ever heard.

So here's the challenge...
Buy Behold the Lamb of God. Listen to it. Listen to it again and again. (Once is not enough, it's too rich.) Dwell on it. Read its message from God's Word, and behold the Lamb of God Who takes away our sin.

Global Impact Conference 2010

Thank you so much for your leadership during GIC. You did a GREAT job!!

Light

Candle.
Flashlight.
Torch.
Spotlight.
Bonfire.
Lamp.
Smartphone app.

LIGHT.

Different.
Same.

Different places.
Different gifts.
Different backgrounds.
Different personalities.
Same calling.

LIGHT.

Read here for an example of someone using their gifts and influence as light.
A person simply being who God made them and remade them to be.

What about you and me?

LIGHT?