This Momentary Marriage~ The Story of Ian & Larissa

Ian and Larissa have a precious story of what love is really about!  This couple are an inspiration and wonderful example!  Her selfless love and his joyful contentment mixed together with their faith in God and belief in God doing all things well, is beautiful and challenging!  This is an introduction letter by John Piper about Ian and Larissa and their story!

Dear Friends,
Desiring God exists to help people everywhere understand and embrace the truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. And I would add, especially in suffering.
Being satisfied in God (or anything) always seems easier when all is going well. But when things you love are being stripped out of your hands, then the test is real. If God remains precious in those moments, then his supreme worth shines more brightly. He is most glorified.
The most meaningful testimonies I receive are when people tell me that it was a vision of the sovereignty and goodness of God that got them through the most difficult times of their life.
Here is one of those testimonies. I tremble with the glad responsibility of introducing you to Ian & Larissa Murphy in this video. Tremble, because it is their story and so personal. So delicate. So easily abused. So unfinished. Glad, because Christ is exalted over all things.
We have a big vision at Desiring God: we want to reach as many people as possible with our message of Christian Hedonism—the gladness of God in being God and in making people glad in him. We have at our disposal the amazing power of the Web. That is our main way of spreading.
But internet statistics can conceal as well as reveal. These are people. Each Website visit represents a real person with an eternal soul. What a responsibility! Pray for us that we would steward our influence well. And thank you for your partnership to make this ministry possible.
Love Ian and Larissa as you watch this amazing story. Pray for them. And us.
Your partner in the greatest cause,
John Piper
with Josh Etter

I can't share the video on here because it is a Vimeo video.  So, PLEASE click here to watch the video and hear them share their precious and inspirational story!
Also, it is well worth your time to read:
Part 1: Why We Got Married
Part 2: Learning Contentment in Suffering
Part 3: A Daily Disabled Life

How the American Church Paved the Way for ObamaCare.- by Scott Brown

The United States Government has done it again! With the recent Supreme Court validation of ObamaCare, it has usurped the role of individual citizens to care for themselves and will punish them through taxation if they try. The “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave” has taken another giant leap towards the “land of the oppressed and home of the coward.” However, hope for America does not depend on Republican control of the White House and Congress, but instead in the rising awakening of churches and families to stand up for truth and right in our land.
First, let’s examine what just happened. The Supreme Court’s validation of the Affordable Care Act can seem confusing, but it boils down to a simple fact. Under the Constitution, Congress cannot compel you to buy something, but it can tax you for not complying. Passing this law means that the Court creatively justified something that is wrong in principle. They used the Constitution to abuse the Constitution.
But all of this is nothing new!

Photo from whatifpost.com

Government healthcare is logically consistent with our headlong sprint toward socialism in America. We are systematically surrendering every personal responsibility we have been given by God to be pampered and coddled by a doting Government. We have surrendered the role of parents to educate their children to the public school system. We have surrendered the role of families and churches to care for orphans and widows to Government assistance programs and welfare. The menagerie of further Government control and oversight being proposed should not surprise us. From the bizarre suggested ban on buying a 44 oz coke in New York, to the outright attack on biblical family life with the Delaware legislative attempt to penalize disciplining children – all of these moves are consistent.
This isn’t what the founders of America envisioned is it? Doesn’t the Constitution of the United States forbid giant government from taking over every area of life in America? That is absolutely right! Then how did we get here? We got here by increasingly considering the Constitution as outdated, by comprehensively abandoning the Word of God as a standard, and by “reimagining” government with enlightened, postmodern minds freed from the shackles of the old and dusty “rules.”

Photo Courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/allanswart

But before we simply point fingers at the Government we need to stop and take a hard look in the mirror. The church is supposed to be a “beacon on a hill” setting an example of obedience to God’s word and faithfulness to “His ways.” But in my own lifetime, I have seen the church “re-imagine” itself every few years and furiously work to leave behind the old dusty “rules” in favor of enlightened, modern approaches that appeal to the needs of our postmodern world.
The Government is simply doing what pastors and churches do all the time. The church in America has come to do what it wants based on pragmatism by saying, “I am under grace not law.” Churches often grow by ignoring the clear teaching of Scripture in order to achieve pragmatic objectives and then justifying the advances. The church has freely set aside the biblical language of church government, church offices, and church practices. It has disregarded simple and clear statements about sexuality, manhood, and womanhood and rejected the clear teaching of Scripture on the matter of educating children. Like the Government, the church has become comfortable throwing off all restraint if it can find an excuse. We do not want to be restrained, but the truth is that Scripture restrains. The truth is the Constitution restrains. They were designed to restrain evil, abuses of power, and inappropriate creativity.
What does a lawless church have to do with a lawless court? Everything! As the family goes, so goes the church. As the church goes, so goes the nation. In this case, home life and church life are reflected in court life. This is how the church paved the way for ObamaCare.
Revelation 1:5 says that Jesus Christ is “ruler over the kings of the earth.” But we are in no position to demand that our Government honors Christ as King or that it constrain its actions to honor the Constitution, until first we honor Christ as the ruler of our families, churches, and personal lives by constraining our actions according to His revealed Word!
So in the wake of this devastating Supreme Court decision, my heart is actually full of hope. Contrary to the culture at large and unlike lawless churches and homes that have thrown off “the old paths” and paved the way for today’s ObamaCare, I see a rising remnant of families and churches returning to God and His Word. They are raising up a new generation of sons and daughters who love and honor the Word of God and who honor the Constitution of the United States. And in time, I believe this will produce a new generation of leaders, even Supreme Court justices and congressmen, who have grown up in churches that model submission to God’s Word, and who have seen their fathers and mothers constrain their lives by the Word of Life! This gives me great hope for the future of America.
Do you think the church is to blame for ObamaCare?

Article written by Scott Brown, posted on Scott Brown Online

What is the Heart of Conversion and Christianity?

(Archibald Brown)

Christianity is all centered in a person.

Conversion is not a mere change of human opinion; it is the devotion of heart to a person. A converted man is not a man who just changes his views concerning certain facts, or theories, or doctrines--but he is a man whose heart has become devoted to a living Christ. All of your religion, if it is worth anything, will just be centered in a living personal Jesus.

Are you dedicated and contented in your calling?

“Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.”
- 1Corinthians 7:20

Some persons have the foolish notion that the only way in which they can live for God is by becoming ministers, missionaries, or Bible women. Alas! how many would be shut out from any opportunity of magnifying the Most High if this were the case. Beloved, it is not office, it is earnestness; it is not position, it is grace which will enable us to glorify God. God is most surely glorified in that cobbler’s stall, where the godly worker, as he plies the awl, sings of the Saviour’s love, aye, glorified far more than in many a prebendal stall where official religiousness performs its scanty duties. The name of Jesus is glorified by the poor unlearned carter as he drives his horse, and blesses his God, or speaks to his fellow labourer by the roadside, as much as by the popular divine who, throughout the country, like Boanerges, is thundering out the gospel. God is glorified by our serving him in our proper vocations. Take care, dear reader, that you do not forsake the path of duty by leaving your occupation, and take care you do not dishonour your profession while in it. Think little of yourselves, but do not think too little of your callings. Every lawful trade may be sanctified by the gospel to noblest ends. Turn to the Bible, and you will find the most menial forms of labour connected either with most daring deeds of faith, or with persons whose lives have been illustrious for holiness. Therefore be not discontented with your calling. Whatever God has made your position, or your work, abide in that, unless you are quite sure that he calls you to something else. Let your first care be to glorify God to the utmost of your power where you are. Fill your present sphere to his praise, and if he needs you in another he will show it you. This evening lay aside vexatious ambition, and embrace peaceful content.

-Spurgeon's Evening Devotional

Christ Is Our Treasure, Not Our Homes

 

by Christine Hoover

The home exists for Christ. Our marriages, our children, our physical spaces — all these are means of joyful response to Him. Through the home, we treasure Christ and show others how to treasure Him also (Titus 2:3–5; Proverbs 31:10–31).
Too often, however, we treasure the home more than we treasure Christ. As a result, what He has given as a blessing and an avenue of sanctification becomes a means of achievement or accomplishment, where our well-behaved children or our organizational abilities are an indication of our value and our righteousness. Our homes become a matter of pride, self-elevation, or comparison. And we cling to our treasure, thinking that the home is under our control, that it’s ours to possess, that we have somehow created and cultivated something special.
The temptation to treasure the home is especially intense on good days, when our children are playing nicely together, when we’re unified with our spouse, or when the house is bright and clean and everything is in order.
But on bad days? When a child throws a fit or disrespects another adult, or when communication is crossways? When the dishwasher leaks all over the kitchen floor or an appointment is forgotten? When a harsh word is spoken or priorities have been shoved aside? What about the days when life is thrown wildly off-kilter?
When the home is the treasure above Christ and our value is entwined with the circumstances of our home, the bad days are unsettling, even devastating.
On the bad days, we recognize the home acting similarly to the Law:

• Our treasure, the home, speaks urgent, ever-changing, and unending demands for perfection that can never be fulfilled. (Galatians 3:10)
• Our treasure, the home, causes us to value and conform to what pleases others or earns their respect rather than what pleases God. (Colossians 2:20-22)
• Our treasure, the home, with its perfectionistic, image-maintaining urgencies, cannot bring life to our hearts and our families. (Galatians 3:21)

If we treasure our home as our righteousness, we subtly teach our children that behavior matters more than the attitudes of the heart, that a clean home matters more than relationships, that we are superior to others, or that we must cling to and control the things we love rather than trust God with them.
The good news is that even when we treasure our home more than we treasure Christ, our failings act as a tutor to bring us to Christ, the true Treasure, and to show us that we are incapable of righteousness apart from Him (Galatians 3:24). We recognize in our failings that we need something apart from ourselves to make a home as God intended, that something being the grace and power of Christ.
When Christ is our treasure, our homes consist of love, grace, and utter dependence on the Holy Spirit. We don’t chase self-righteousness, and we don’t cling to treasures that, despite all their goodness, can still be lost. We cling tightly to the only Treasure that cannot be stolen or tarnished, Christ Himself.

Posted on Desiring God Blog

A Staircase to Heaven

And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. (John 1:51)

Yes, to our faith this sight is plain even at this day. We do see heaven opened. Jesus Himself has opened that kingdom to all believers. We gaze into the place of mystery and glory, for He has revealed it to us. We shall enter it soon, for He is the way.
Now we see the explanation of Jacob's ladder. Between earth and heaven there is a holy commerce; prayer ascends, and answers come down by the way of Jesus, the Mediator. We see this ladder when we see our Lord. In Him a stairway of light now furnishes a clear passage to the throne of the Most High. Let us use it and send up by it the messengers of our prayers. We shall live the angelic life ourselves if we run up to heaven in intercession, lay hold upon the blessings of the covenant, and then descend again to scatter those gifts among the sons of men.
This choice sight which Jacob only saw in a dream will turn into a bright reality. This very day we will be up and down the ladder each hour: climbing in communion and coming down in labor to save our fellowmen. This is Thy promise, O Lord Jesus; let us joyfully see it fulfilled.

Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook, June 25th

Morning Meditation by Charles Spurgeon

"Get thee up into the high mountain."—Isaiah 40:9.

  Our knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the base you see but little: the mountain itself appears to be but one-half as high as it really is. Confined in a little valley, you discover scarcely anything but the rippling brooks as they descend into the stream at the foot of the mountain. Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and widens beneath your feet. Go higher, and you see the country for four or five miles round, and you are delighted with the widening prospect. Mount still, and the scene enlarges; till at last, when you are on the summit, and look east, west, north, and south, you see almost all England lying before you. Yonder is a forest in some distant county, perhaps two hundred miles away, and here the sea, and there a shining river and the smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, or the masts of the ships in a busy port. All these things please and delight you, and you say, "I could not have imagined that so much could be seen at this elevation." Now, the Christian life is of the same order. When we first believe in Christ we see but little of Him. The higher we climb the more we discover of His beauties. But who has ever gained the summit? Who has known all the heights and depths of the love of Christ which passes knowledge? Paul, when grown old, sitting grey-haired, shivering in a dungeon in Rome, could say with greater emphasis than we can, "I know whom I have believed," for each experience had been like the climbing of a hill, each trial had been like ascending another summit, and his death seemed like gaining the top of the mountain, from which he could see the whole of the faithfulness and the love of Him to whom he had committed his soul. Get thee up, dear friend, into the high mountain.

Three looks at Jesus!

(J.C. Ryle)

Reader, remember these three looks at Jesus: backward, upward, forward; and make use of them every day.

The first is the secret of peace of conscience: no peace unless we look backward at the cross of Christ!

The second is the secret of real daily strength and comfort in our walk with God: little solid comfort unless we look upward to Christ's intercession!

The third is the secret of bright and cheerful hope in a dark world: no bright prospect unless we look forward to Christ coming again!

Backward, upward, forward--these are the three ways in which we should look at Jesus.
The person that looks at the cross is a wise person;
the person that looks at the cross and the intercession also, is wiser still;
but those who look at all three, the cross, the intercession, and the coming of Jesus--they are wisest of all.

The best preacher of the gospel

(Theodore Cuyler, "Wayside Springs from the Fountain of Life" 1883)

Let us go down to the core. The only basis of good character, is a renewed heart--a heart in which Jesus Christ lives, a heart which is in the habit of obeying Christ's commandments. Such a man draws his motives of action from his deep, abiding love to Jesus. Up from the very roots--comes his daily devotion to those things which are pure and honest and lovely and of good report. Rooted into Christ, he is not easily shaken. He does not bend to trickery or yield to temptation. The world cannot move such a man. What does he care for its changing, frivolous fashions; his fashion is to do the will of his holy Master.

An honest, consistent, godly character, is a sermon all the week. The godly Christian--pure of heart and unspotted by the world--is the best preacher of the gospel. The revival which is most urgently needed, is a revival of practical godliness. Sunday preaching is not enough; we need more "sermons all through the week."

Refiner's Fire

 

(Archibald Alexander, "Thoughts on Religious Experience" 1844)

 "I have refined you in the furnace of suffering." Isaiah 48:10

One of the reasons why God uses afflictions, is to prevent Christians from backsliding. In times of prosperity. . .
pride is apt to rise and swell;
carnal security blinds their eyes;
the love of riches increases;
spiritual affections are feeble;
eternal things are viewed as far off, and concealed by a thick mist.
These circumstances are, indeed, the common precursors of backsliding.

But to prevent this evil, and to stir up the benumbed feelings of piety--the believer is put into the furnace! At first he finds it hard to submit, and is like a wild bull in a net. His pride and his love of carnal ease, resist the hand that smites him; but severe pain awakes him from his spiritual sleep. He then finds himself in the hands of his heavenly Father--and sees that nothing can be gained by murmuring or rebelling. His sins rise up to view, and he is convinced of the justice of the divine dispensations. His hard heart begins to yield, and he is stirred up to cry mightily to God for helping grace. Although he wishes and prays for deliverance from the pressure of affliction--yet he is more solicitous that the affliction should be rendered effectual . . .
 to subdue his pride,
to wean him from the love of the world,
and to give perfect exercise to patience and resignation
--than that it should be removed. He knows that the furnace is the place for purification. He hopes and prays that his dross may be consumed, and that he may come forth as gold which has passed seven times through the refiner's fire!

When Should One Get Married???

This is a must see! Only 4 minutes long.

He may lose all that the world calls great and good.

It is to be deeply deplored, that the world has made such sad inroads into the territories of the visible church.
The love of ease,
the love of splendor,
the love of worldly distinction,
the love of family comforts--
have greatly destroyed that spirit of self-denial which should practically operate in every believer in Jesus. Every Christian should be ready to leave all, and sacrifice all--for Christ.
Many will venture their all in some profitable financial speculation, which promises a large increase of worldly prosperity. But happy indeed, is that man who can venture all for Christ in faith and love. He may lose all that the world calls great and good; but he shall receive, through the merits of the Redeemer--an unfading crown of glory!

 (Thomas Reade, "On True Religion")

His chastising hand!

"I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that You have afflicted me in faithfulness." Psalm 119:75

Christian, cherish high thoughts of God in all of His dealings towards you. Should your trials be great--still hold fast your confidence, and yield not to a complaining or desponding spirit. Remember that it is for the profit of His people, that God afflicts them. However hard to be borne at the time, they have been brought to see at length, that they had cause to reckon their severest sorrows--as the chief of their mercies! By afflictions:
  they were weaned from the world;
  their affections were more ardently fixed upon heavenly things;
  their souls were purified, even as gold in the fire;
  the preciousness of Christ was realized as it had never been before;
  they were led to live, not merely nearer to Him--but more entirely upon Him, and also much more for Him!

May our afflictions produce such happy results! We shall then have abundant reason to bless God for His chastising hand.

"God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness." Hebrews 12:10

 (John MacDuff, "The Christian's Pathway" 1858)

Greater Trials = Greater Praise

"The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad."—Psalm 126:3.

OME Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help which God has vouchsafed them. But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state, will come forward joyously, and say, "I will speak, not about myself, but to the honour of my God. He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings: and He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad." Such an abstract of experience as this is the very best that any child of God can present. It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully do we know this, but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Saviour, who overcomes these corruptions, and delivers us from their dominion. In looking back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond, and have crept along the Valley of Humiliation, but it would be equally wicked to forget that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us "out into a wealthy place." The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God, who has led us through all, and preserved us until now. Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise, we reckon them to be the bass part of our life's song, "He hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad."

June 9th Morning devotion by Charles Spurgeon from Morning and Evening Devotional

How Jesus Frees Us From Fear (4-Minute Video with French Fries)

 

"How Jesus frees us from fear
What can you do when you are gripped by fear?
There’s good news — Jesus Christ can free us from fear.
But how does He do that?  And what’s my part?
Here’s an illustration that’s helped me understand –

• why we feel fear,

• how Jesus frees us from fear,

• and what’s our part in the process."

 For more encouragements in living a life of faith by trusting in Jesus as our all satisfying Treasure, please visit Steve Fuller's blog, "Living By Faith Blog", which has been very helpful and challenging to me, as I hope it will be to you as well!  :-)

Faith is Able to Do All Things

Faith is an appropriating grace.

Faith looks upon God, and says with David,
"This God is my God forever and ever!
 He shall be my guide unto the death!"

Faith looks upon Christ, and says with the spouse,
"I am my Beloved's--and my Beloved is mine!"

Faith looks upon an immortal crown, and says
"Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of glory."

Faith looks upon the righteousness of Christ,
and says, "This righteousness is mine to cover me."

Faith looks upon the mercy of Christ, and
says, "This mercy is mine to pardon me."

Faith looks upon the power of Christ, and
says, "This power is mine to support me."

Faith looks upon the wisdom of Christ, and
says, "This wisdom is mine to direct me."

Faith looks upon the blood of Christ, and
says, "This blood is mine to save me."

Faith has a kind of omnipotence in it;
it is able to do all things.

 (Thomas Brooks, "Heaven on Earth" 1667)

Song: Come, Holy Spirit, Come

Click here to listen to song

"This song is intended (as a) plea for the Holy Spirit to bring His divine light to three areas: our personal spiritual growth, our ministry to the poor and needy, and our evangelism and missions work. Too often songs calling for the Spirit’s presence and power stop at the first area, our personal affections and holiness. While that is certainly an important work of the Spirit, without which we would be left to our own cold-heartedness and indifference to spiritual things, the Spirit must also empower our outreach as well. Acts 1:8 says “you [disciples] will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” We see that the purpose of the Spirit’s power in this instance was given in order to send them out to the mission field and make their gospel labors effective. May the people of God today cry out for the Spirit’s presence and power to animate and enliven every aspect of her ministry!"

~Music and song description from: Reformed Praise

"My grace is sufficient for you."

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me!" 2 Corinthians 12:9

God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. This means that the Divine power is most conspicuous--when our weakness is the most thoroughly felt. We have got first to be emptied of all self-conceit and self-confidence. A bucket cannot hold air and water at the same time. As the water comes in--the air must go out. The reason of some hard trials--is to get the accursed spirit of SELF out of our hearts! When we have been emptied of self-trust--we are in the condition to be filled with might in the inner man, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A Christian must not only realize his own utter feebleness--but he must give up what worldlings rely on, and admit that "vain is the help of man." That poor woman who had tried all the doctors in her neighborhood, and had only grown worse in body, and poorer in purse--is a touching illustration of our invalid souls. She, having despaired of human help--came crouching to the feet of the Son of God. One touch of His garments sent a new tide of health through her veins. Just so, contact with Christ brings currents of the Divine power into our souls--so that we can do all things through Christ who strengths us!

This is the real office of faith. It is simply the linking of our utter weakness--to the omnipotence of Christ! We furnish the weakness--and He furnishes the strength--and that makes the partnership! The baby furnishes a hungry little mouth--and the mother furnishes the nourishing milk. The mother is happy that she can give the full supply--and the rosy darling is happy as it draws in the sweet contentment. What a beautiful picture of my poor, weak, hungry soul--resting on the bosom of the Infinite Love! There is no danger that the supply will ever give out, for my Lord, my Feeder, my Supporter--is constantly saying unto me, "My grace is sufficient for you." In this way we are strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power.

(Theodore Cuyler, "God's Light on Dark Clouds")

Depraved Indifference

Will we rescue these little ones for our King and His glory?  This is a powerful message!

A Sweet Little Treat!- McDonalds Coupon

Thought some of you might enjoy this coupon! Just click on the picture or the link!  :-)

http://custom.serving-sys.com/hosting/OMD/mcd_en.html

This life is a valley of tears!

"In the world you have trouble and suffering." John 16:33

This life is a valley of tears!

Have I mistaken this thorny wilderness--for a garden of flowers?
Have I mistaken this place of danger--for a palace of delight?
Have I mistaken this waste howling desert--for an enchanting grove?

If the world has joys, it has none for me--they are carnal or unlawful. My joys must be pure and spiritual. If the creature affords pleasures, they cannot suit my soul--
  its honey is mixed with gall,
  its sweet with wormwood,
  its wine with water,
  its gold with dross,
  and all are mixed with poison!

The pleasures I should seek are such as my soul may . . .
   feed on without danger,
   feast on without excess,
   and rejoice in without sin.

Again, why do I expect comfort in this world? Can I hope, or even desire, to go through the valley of tears--with singing? Can I hope to dwell in the house of mourning--with joy?

This sinful world is too barren a soil to bear true joy.

This is the night of weeping; and though weeping endures through the night of time, yet joy comes in the morning of eternity!

 ("Solitude Sweetened" by James Meikle, 1730-1799)

While we mourn over our many maladies

(Henry Law, "Family Prayers")

"This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4

While we mourn over our many maladies--we see that increase of faith would be the grand remedy! Our hearts are often . . .
  the cage of every unclean bird,
  the fount of every loathsome desire,
  the deadly fruit of every poisonous tree,
  the open wayside of every earthly lust and passion.
This is because our faith sleeps. Awaken it, good Lord--give it more strength, until all impurity is cast out!

We now go forth to intermingle with the world. This foe is artful to entrap us. It will approach in an enchanting guise. It will extend many a gilded bait, and will present many a poisoned cup. Lord, increase our faith--and we shall scorn every painted bauble, and trample down every bewitching snare! We shall then be more than conquerors, for this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith!

May our hearts be entirely weaned from the world, dead to its outward enticements, and wholly consecrated unto You. Help us by Your grace--that we may live with You, and to You, during the little speck of our earthly sojourn.

Oh! hear the cry of our anxious hearts, and increase our faith, through the merits and for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Paul Washer's Testimony

I LOVE TESTIMONIES! To hear the wonderful works of God is just well . . .AWESOME!!! Our family has listened to hundreds of Paul Washer sermons. His testimony is so encouraging. Actually, everyone's testimony is encouraging! Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I am found, was blind but now I see!

Nothing But the Blood!

"I read a news clip tonight about a Syrian boy who escaped being shot in a massacre.  How?  He soaked his clothes with his brother’s blood while the gunmen shot the rest of his family.  So, how can we escape the righteous anger of God toward us?  How can we escape the second death which is hell?  We must be soaked in the blood of God’s Lamb, that is, I must trust entirely in the shed blood of Christ as a payment for sins, even mine.  Soaked!  Nothing but the blood!  Don’t suppose that church membership, baptism, good deeds or good intentions will merit you anything before God.  God’s death angel ‘passed over’ the children of Israel (like a tornado that did not touch down).  Why?  Exodus 12:13b  when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.  By sincere faith, sprinkle your soul with the blood of the Lamb of God.  These only will be left standing in the end, Revelation 7:14b, 15a  These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation (this life, Acts 14.22) , and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  For this reason, they are before the throne of God.  This is the essence of the good news, the gospel.  Saved by the blood of the Crucified One!"
- Bob Jennings Journal