- John Calvin, Commentary on John

from: here

hi Drew,
Pami and i took 3 out of 4 of our girls to the Rio. We picked up the girls and headed over for hot chocolate and board games for a couple of hours. We also brought snacks and I made some pumpkin bread for their families to bring back with them. Initially the girls were a little quiet, but that was completely different within 1/2 hour. They laughed a ton, were lots of fun and HILARIOUS. All four girls seem to get along real well and are good friends. At one point they wanted to refill their hot chocolate with soda and just went up to do that, we stopped them and wanted to encourage them to be honest and just got them cups for soda. I just thought that was a good opportunity.
Thanks,
Danielle Aguirre

“The doctrine of the personality of the Holy Spirit is also of highest importance from the practical standpoint. If we think of the Holy Spirit only as an impersonal power or influence, then our thought will constantly be, how can I get hold of and use the Holy Spirit; but if we think of Him in the Biblical way as a divine Person, infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely tender, then our thought will constantly be, ‘How can the Holy Spirit get hold of and use me?’”

- Braden

“Theology is meant to lead to doxology.”

In other words, our growing knowledge of God (theology) is meant to lead to praise (doxology).

When you study the character and nature of our great God, do you practice your theology through praise and awe and worship?

- Braden

HT: Justin Taylor

I am at my hotel on Monday morning in London.  The African part of the trip is finished.  Friendships were made with both the fellow countrymen from America who formed our work team and the Sudanese nationals and the few Ugandans who I met.  While doing the construction we worked with five Sudanese…These folks touched my heart and will have a place in it for a long time to come.  One of them is a 25 year old guy named James…We hugged one another when it was time for us to depart.  He liked my camera so at that time I took it from my neck and placed it around his neck. 

The work we did went well.  We made trusses for the building expansion and with the help of the translators got them on top of the building and in the right place.  According to Matt, the man in Juba who ran the project we exceeded what he expected to get done. 

...My time on this computer is about up.  Assante to everyone who prayed for me and donated money for the trip.  Assante is a Swahilli word for thank you.

Robert Johnson

C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, Psalm 63:7a

a bruised reed shall he not break,
and the smoking flax shall he not quench; Isaiah 42:3 KJV

“Truly I am also fit to be likened to ‘the smoking flax’ whose light is gone and only its smoke remains. I fear I am rather a nuisance than a benefit…Jesus will not quench me; therefore, I am hopeful.” 
CH Spurgeon from Chequebook of the Bank of Faith September 8th entry

“Work in your hearts a hatred of sin… If a man had killed your friend, or father, or mother, how would you hate him! You would not endure the sight of him, but follow the law upon him. Send out the avenger of blood with a hue and cry after thy sin; bring it afore God’s judgment seat, arraign it, accuse it, spit on it, condemn it and thyself for it, have it to the cross, nail it there, if it cry I thirst, give it vinegar, stretch the body of sins upon his cross, stretch every vein of it, make the heart strings crack; and then when it hangs there, triumph over the dying of it, show it no pity, laugh at its destruction, say, Thou hast been a bloody sin to me and my husband, hang there and rot. And when thou art tempted to it [sin], and art very thirsty after the pleasure of it, say of that opportunity to enjoy it, It is the price of Christ’s blood, and pour it upon the ground. … Shall I live upon that which was Christ’s death? Shall I please myself in that which was his pain? Shall I be so dishonest, so unkind, as to enjoy the pleasure for which he endured the smart?”

—Thomas Goodwin (1600—1679), Christ the Mediator in The Works of Thomas Goodwin (RHB), 5:294.

So often we are seeking our own glory.  And do you know something? We hardly ever give thanks to God when we are seeking our own glory.  They are contrary to one another. 
The person that gives thanks to God is one that has a heart that overflows with a gratefulness for all that God has done.  They want God to receive the glory he deserves.
The person who withholds thanks to God is one that has a heart that overflows with a desire to see their self glorified.

Braden

Process-fill out the Youth Mentor Application and YM Background Check
Commitment-1 year, minimum of 4 hrs a month interacting with kids, helping out with activities

Over the past few months I have been deeply provoked and consistently entertained by reading “George Whitefield: The Life and Times”, by Arnold Dallimore http://tinyurl.com/qoeyrw.  You can also listen to a biographical sermon given by John Piper on Whitefield here: http://tinyurl.com/cnwn28.

John Foster wrote, “…if a list could be made from the experience of all nations and ages, of the twenty men that have produced the greatest effects, by means of their single personal influence, it is highly probable that the name of Whitefield must there hold a place.”

D. M. Lloyd-Jones has said, “…wherever he went he moved others to greater zeal and activity. His whole personality conveyed the impression of a man who knew his God and at the same time had a loving concern for the souls of men.”

Whitefield has left me with a deeper zeal and love for God every time I have read about him. I trust that God will do the same for you as you read of this giant in the faith.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” Psalm 14:1

Now I don’t have explicit biblical testimony to back this up, but consider all the evil ways that come from not believing that there is a God who is holy and who will call each of us to give account on the last day.  The awareness of the fierce love and fierce wrath of God drives out foolishness like nothing else.

Now for those of us who do believe in the God of the Bible, let that permeate every facet of your life—let the reality of God and his future return drive out foolishness from your life.  Live as if God exists and that he is holy and loving and that he will one day return to judge and to rescue.

- Braden

My goal with the OT is to read through it once a year, but I approach the NT differently. I’ve adopted John MacArthur’s plan of reading small sections of Scripture for 30 days. So for Romans I’m going to read 3 chapters each day for 30 days until I’ve reached the end. I have found this method of reading to be particularly helpful in knowing and internalizing the Scriptures.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is personally walking me through the letter with his commentary set. He writes, “Romans has, possibly, played a more important and a more crucial part in the history of the church than any other single book in the whole of the Bible.” That’s a strong statement. He shows how it was instrumental in some of the giants of the faith: Augustine, Luther, Bunyan, and more. I would highly recommend you buy it here.

- Jon

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian who died opposing Hitler, wrote the following in his book Life Together:

The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus.

The psychiatrist views me as if there were no God. The brother views me as I am before the judging and merciful God in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

- Braden

It’s a digital album that you can preview here.

Or you can purchase it on Amazon or on iTunes. Type in “a theist” in the search bar.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been getting to know God better with my wife and a number of guys in our ministry. It’s pretty simple. The goal is to grow in our knowledge of God by memorizing particular attributes of God. To this end we are memorizing definitions from Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, and some of the verses that have shaped these definitions.

This past week was the eternity of God: God does not have a beginning, end, or succession of moments in His own being. God sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time.
We memorized Psalm 90:2, Ex 3:14, 2 Peter 3:8, and Galatians 4:4-5.

The omnipresence of God is next and we’re going to memorize Psalm 139:7-10 and 1 Kings 8:27.

Look for more attributes here on the blog in the future.

- Jon

When Satan’s will is thwarted we are doing spiritual warfare. Notice the methods given to us in this passage for spiritual warfare.  Perhaps a bit different than we normally think of spiritual warfare!  And it has to do with the liberating power of the truth…the Gospel!

- Braden

Check it out so that you can “be prepared to make a defense to anyone who
asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3.15).

- Jon

We can abound in the word of the Lord and know that it will be worth it.  It will last.  You won’t regret it.

- Braden

- Braden

In an extended teaching on the right use of the spiritual gifts in the gathered church, Paul, having established that love is the motivation to use the gifts in chapter 13, now gives flesh to the bones of love and says that we are to strive for something.  Our love for Christ and his body leads us outward towards the church and we are called to ‘strive to excel in building up the church’.  We are to use our gifts and our energies to build up the body of Christ which he bought with his own blood (Acts 20:28).  What are you striving for these days?  Career?  Comfort?

A career is where we fulfill a large part of our calling in this world to serve.  But it is not our entire calling.  It is not our identity.  We are part of a lasting city.  We are part of the church that Christ spilled his blood for.  When we strive to excel in building up the church, we are striving for something that Christ strives for and something that will last.  Work hard at your job, but set limits.  You are a finite creature and have limited capacity to strive.  Save much strength for the body of Christ—to build it up.

Comfort can be good. We all need rest.  But it can also be the thing that saps us of energy to serve in the kingdom.  Many of us probably need to set aside our own comforts and strive for something greater. I know I do.

Let’s strive for what Christ strives for—his church—the current members and those he has yet to save.

-Braden

Braden

Wow.  The will of the Lord is whatever he pleases.  So, if I understand this rightly, in the trials that I face it pleased the Lord not to withold them from me.  There is something about seeing me press in to his power during the trial that is more pleasing to him than a comfortable life.  As I meditated on this verse this morning, I was strengthened to remember that whatever comes my way, God has willed it and will cause it to work for my good (Rom 8:32).  We serve a God who is so much greater than us in all his ways.

Click here to find a recommended reading guide from Monergism. It’s
outstanding! Print it out, give it out, buy the books, read the books, and
apply the books.

Jon