This morning I finished a book that at first I was not sure I was going to complete. It is said that A.W. Pink was one of the deep thinkers of his day, and The Doctrine of Sanctification proved to support that claim. However, the more I read, the more I was able to see his commitment to Scripture and depth of knowledge. It was a powerful and challenging book on a subject with which I find even greater interest.

The closing chapter of the book was focused on the role of faith in sanctification. Two paragraphs stood out as extremely powerful, especially for those who struggle with assurance of salvation. I wanted to share them here

O my Christian reader, what a difference it would make were you to steadily realize the truth that, every temptation you encounter, every defeat you suffer, ever distressing experience you pass through, is a call and a challenge for the exercise of faith. You complain that you are still the subject of sin, that it cleaves to you as the flesh does to your bones, that it mixes with your duties and defiles every act you perform. You often feel that you are nothing but sin. When you attempt to walk with God, inward evil rises up and stops you. When you read His Word or endeavour to pray,unbelieving thoughts, carnal imaginations, worldly lusts, seek to possess your soul. You strive against them; but in vain. Instead of improvement, things grow worse. YOu beg of God for humility, and pride rises higher; you cry to Him for more patience, but apparently His ear is closed. Ah, you are no learning the painful truth that in your flesh there dwelleth 'no good thing'....Nothing but faith in the sure Word of God can keep him from sinking into abject despair. This is the very time for him to maintain his trust in the sufficiency of Christ's blood and the excellency of his imputed righteousness.

I am grateful for Scripture. Not because I am a preacher. I am thankful because there is a supernatural comfort that comes when we least expect it. I am thankful because God still speaks through it to calm, comfort, and convict us. Sometimes when we least expect it.

When we are putting the boys to bed and are praying, we often thank Jesus for the Bible. I feel that so deeply this morning. The gift of the Word is beyond precious. May I never treat it any less.

"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward."
Psalms 19:7-11

Ever have one of those days? You know the kind where you want to go back to bed around 10 in the morning in hopes that it will all just go away? Yeah...that was my day yesterday. While I will spare you all of the details, I will give you a few:

Right before lunch I arrived at Caleb's dayschool to find he is in time out while everyone else is on the playground. It seems he and another little boy refused to listen to his teacher and were running around pushing and shoving. He and I had to have a "conversation" when we got home.

After work we drove out to a nearby town to pick up a swing for our backyard that we found on Craig's list. Really good deal. That is until we got there and I noticed the fluid coming out from the engine of my truck. The truck had overheated the day before and I spent all night fixing it, or so I thought. We loaded the swing and headed home. We didn't make it. So Carrie, Noah, Caleb, and myself were stranded at the Catfish Den in Hiram, Georgia. To make things worse, none of us had eaten.

God sent a Good Samaritan to help us (thanks Brian!) and our good friend Eric came out to follow us home. Its a good thing he did since we made it about 3 miles from home where the truck sounded like it was going to explode. Thankfully it didn't. It was nine o'clock and the boys are hungry and starting to melt down.

We loaded into Eric's car and pulled into McDonalds. It's closed for repairs. We drove to Wendy's which had large orders because McDonalds is closed. We finally got home around 9:15 and Eric and I took some water to the truck in order to limp it home.

That's when Reggie showed up. Reggie is a good friend from church who came to look at our computer. Yeah it was dead too. But Reggie is the man and he fixed it. That part wasn't so bad. In fact, that's kind of why I decided to post this.

I woke up this morning. That's good.
My coffee pot is working. That's good.
I have a great family and a warm home. That's good.
I have my Bible. That's really good.
My bad days have no bearing on God's goodness, love, mercy, grace, justice, righteousness, faithfulness, and overall disposition towards me. That's so good, good, good.

I don't like bad days. But I do love God. And even in the bad days I can say "Your steadfast love is better than life so my lips will praise You!" (Psalm 63:3)

This post is the third so far in a series about loving God with your mind. You can read the first one here and the second here. As I have continued to pontificate on this matter there seems to be an interesting facet of loving God with your mind. We must use our mind to sort through what is true and what is false teaching.

There are so many things in our culture that are labeled Christian. Everything from best-sellers to television pastors are easily accessible to someone who take even a few seconds to look. And many of these things are extremely popular. Yet the question I have is this: how many believers actually take the time and think through what is being placed before them. Just because a book is being read by thousands of people, do we need to take it's message as authentic and godly? Just because there is a cross or a fish on the cover, does it mean the person who put it out holds to the truth of Scripture?

There are a few passages that come to mind:

Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 24:24

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
Acts 17:10-12

This morning I brewed the last of the coffee I brought home from my trip to Ethiopia. It made me think of all of the people I met there, especially a man I have come to greatly respect. Afework Debebe is someone that has my utmost respect and admiration. Affectionately called "The Godfather," Afework is the planter of a house church network in Ethiopia. My friend Matt Setliffe who works regularly with Afework called him "a modern Ethiopian Paul" and in my opinion it is a perfect description. He wants people to know Jesus. It was amazing to see his love for the people, pastors, and churches. The pastors there look up to him and rightly so. Please take a moment and pray for a man you probably have never met. Thank God for men like Afework and pray that he and the believers in Ethiopia would hold high the glory of Christ for all to see. If you are interested, here is a video from the trip we took in November.



On a completely different note, I would like to share a quote from one of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer. I read this yesterday and it was extremely challenging. I hope it helps you as you think about what hinders your worship and service of God.

It is only when we introduce our own will into our relation to God that we get into trouble. When we weave into the pattern of our lives threads of our own selfish desires we instantly become subject to hindrances from the outside. If I mingle some pet religious enterprise of mine with the will of God and come to think of them as one, I can be hindered in my religious life. Then I'll begin to blame whoever stands in my way and excuse my spiritual breakdowns as being caused by someone or something that is working to "hinder" me. A.W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous, p. 148