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"Sin will keep you from this Book,

or this Book will keep you from sin."

John Bunyan

The Lord's Day, July 27, 2014

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

By: Charles Wesley

 

Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.

 

Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.

 

Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall—Lo! on Thee I cast my care;
Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold, I live.

 

Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.

 

Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.

What Would Jesus Say And How Would He Say It?

"Christians today sometimes seem more concerned about the tone of what they say than the truth of it. Many a twenty-first century church leader apparently thinks he is obliged to yield quietly to majority opinion on moral issues - while carefully observing all the rules of postmodern propriety.

 

Jesus was not like that. We was no domesticated clergyman with a starched collar and genteel manners; He was a bold prophet who regularly challenged the canons of political correctness.

 

The first word of Jesus' first sermon was repent - a term that was no more welcome then than it is today. Those without any sense of personal guilt - including the vast majority of religious leaders - were of course immediately offended. They were convinced that they were good enough to merit God's favor. Who was this man to summon them to repentance? They turned away from Jesus in angry unbelief.

 

The first act of Jesus' public ministry touched off a small riot. He made a whip of cords and chased money-changers and merchants out of the temple. That initiated a three-year-long conflict with the religious leader. They ultimately handed Him over for crucifixion while crowds of lay people cheered them on.

Would He receive a warmer welcome today from religious leaders, the media elite, or the political gentry? Anyone who has seriously considered the New Testament knows the answer. Postmodern culture is devoted to relativism. The average person is contemptuous of all absolute exclusive truth-claims, convinced that self-love is the greatest love of all; satisfied that people are fundamentally good; and desperately wanting to believe that each of us is endowed with a spark of divinity.

 

To such people's ears, Jesus' message strikes a discordant note. He said: "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?" (Luke 9:23-25) and, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (14:26).

 

How would Jesus contextualize that message for a pluralistic, tolerant, self-indulgent society like ours? I'm convinced His approach today would be the very same that we see in the Bible. To smug, self-satisfied, arrogant sinners (including multitudes on church rolls), His words would sound harsh, shocking, provocative. But to "the poor in spirit" (Matt. 5:3) - those who are exhausted and spent by the ravages of sin, desperate for forgiveness, and without any hope of atoning for their own sin - Jesus' call to repentant faith remains the very gateway to eternal life."

 

Dr. John MacArthur is pastor of Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif., and president of The Master's College and Seminary. He is author of Twelve Ordinary Men and One Perfect Life.

This article taken from Tabletalk Magazine, July, 2014

The Lord's Day, July 20, 2014

C.S. Lewis

The Lord's Day, July 13, 2014

 

 

 

Psalm 65

(Photo taken in Ireland by Gilbert Lennox 2014)

 

"Who establishes the mountains by His strength,
Being girded with might;
Who stills the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the tumult of the peoples....
They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;
You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy."

-Psalm 65:6-7

The Lord's Day, July 6, 2014

July 4, 2014

 

May this Independence Day
be blessed for each of us.

 

Some things to think about ...