The Only Teacher - Chapter One

A friend gave me the book "With Christ in the School of Prayer" by Andrew Murray. It has been encouraging to read, and pick up off and on through the year. Here's some excerpts from the 1st chapter:

"And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, 'Lord, teach us to pray.' " - Luke 11:1

Prayer is a fellowship with the Unseen and Most Holy One. The powers of the eternal world have been placed at prayer's disposal.
It is to prayer that God has given the right to take hold of Him and His strength. It is on prayer that the promises wait for their fulfillment, the Kingdom waits for its coming, and the glory of God waits for its full revelation.
Nothing delights Him more than to find those whom He can take with Him into the Father's presence, clothing them with power to pray down God's blessing to those around them, training them to be His fellow-workers in the intercession by which the Kingdom is to be revealed on earth.
By His Holy Spirit He has access to our hearts and teaches us to pray by showing us the sin that hinders the prayer, or by giving us assurance that we please God.
What do you think my beloved fellow-disciples? As we meditate on the words He spoke on earth, let us yield ourselves to His teaching the fullest confidence that with such a Teacher, we will make progress. Let us take time not only to meditate, but to pray, to sit at the foot of the throne and be trained for the work of intercession.

Lord, teach us to pray.

Lord Jesus! Enroll my name among those who confess that they don't know how to pray as they should, and who especially ask You for a course of teaching in prayer. Lord! Teach me to be patient in Your school, so that You will have time to train me. I am ignorant of the wonderful privilege and power of prayer, of the need for the Holy Spirit to be the spirit of prayer. Lead me to forget the thoughts of what I think I know, and make me kneel before You in true teachableness and poverty of spirit.
Fill me, Lord, with the confidence that with You for my Teacher, I will learn to pray

Goals to Concentrate from Philippians 1

This week, our discipleship group meet, and after discussing Philippians 1, along with the commentary from D.A. Carson's Basics for Believers, we came up with some goals together to mature spiritually.

Here the are:

1. Quality Time in the Word
2. Meaningful Prayer
3. Dependence on God
4. Intentional Opportunities Sharing the Gospel
5. Discipline with Time / Less Selfish with Time

Readings and Thoughts from Today

This was a part of my reading for today. It was a good humbling passage to rejoice in. Sometimes being humbled can bring a breath of fresh air. In this world, our 'priorities' can be so skewed to filling our "desires" and "needs" that it can start to get away from us. These things are never fulfilling as Christ and the Word can be. We, I, need the prayer of belief in the Word, and that is supercedes any faith of what joy can be found in this barren world, as compared to His promises.

Matthew 20:25-28

25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

More A.W. Tozer

God is God, always, only, fully God, and can never be other than He is.

The Justice of God

Our Father, we love Thee for Thy justice. We acknowledge that Thy judgments are ture and righteous altogether. Thy justice upholds the order of the universe and guarantees the safety of al who put their turst in Thee. We live because Thou are just - and merciful. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, righteous in all Thy ways and holy in all Thy works. Amen.

The Mercy of God

Holy Father, Thy wisdom excites our admiration, Thy power fills us with fear, Thy omnipresence turns every spot of earth into holy ground; but how shall we thank Thee enough for Thy mercy which comes down to the lowest part of our need to give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and for the spirit of heaviness a garment of praise? We bless and magnify Thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

- A.W. Tozer - The Knowledge of the Holy

Good Friday - 1533

text - John 19:13-30

Today we are considering the events of the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we confess in the creed, "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord... who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried." Christians really should have the suffering and death of Christ always in mind an on their lips every day. However, this day is especially devoted to considering and preaching about Christ's suffering, in order that we realize all that happened to Christ on this day, namely, in the Garden, at the house of the high priest, Caiaphas, in the judgment hall before Pontius Pilate, and on the cross. Under God's gracious guidance we shall speak of these events at some length.

In recording the events of the suffering of Christ, the Evangelists always repeat these words, "These things happened so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled," for everything that Christ suffered happened in accord with Holy Scripture. For that reason the Evangelists not only record the events of Christ's suffering, but also repeat, "This happened that Scripture might be fulfilled." As though they wish to say, Ask the prophets about it; they will tell you why Christ suffered. Great and severe is His suffering, His martyrdom, and the cross; but great also is His love, compassion, ardor, and all-encompassing grace toward us, in that the devout Lord and Saviour with His suffering and death fulfilled the Scriptures for our sake.


And that is the paramount significance of the passion, that we realize and consider how Christ suffered in obedience to His heavenly Father and in our behalf to benefit us, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. It is well that we consider the true price of the redemption with which Christ redeemed us. It was not the exodus form Egypt. The redemption is nothing temporal, but rather, eternal, from sin, death, and hell. It is also well to consider the price paid for our sins, namely, that Christ did not pay gold or material goods, but rather His body and life, Himself the offering for our sins, as St. Paul exults (Gal 1:4, Eph 5:2, Titus 2:14). At the same time one should bear in mind what great agony He suffered for us and how excruciating it was for Him; how His sweat was as great drops of blood; how He was mocked, crowned with thorns, spit upon, scourged, nailed to the cross, and pierced for our sake. But this is the greatest and noblest consideration, that Christ had to suffer in order that He might fulfill the Scriptures.

We should diligently ponder all this, in order that we might not only recognize the greatness of the redemption, the price and the martyrdom, but also discern the love and good will toward us; how deeply concerned He is about us, and how His great heart, love, and compassion motivated Him to give Himself for us. That is why we should lovingly esteem both Him who suffered such martyrdom for us and also the heavenly Father who ordained this and placed this martyrdom upon Him. Such love should generate within us the realization of His goodwill toward us which prompted His voluntary martyrdom and suffering in our behalf.

What should our response be when God's Son is given for our sakes and endures sin, death, and hell? Should we not respond, My Lord Jesus Christ suffered for me; therefore, n return, I will love Him, gladly preach, hear, and believe His Word, be obedient to, and follow Him. If we do not do this, we are a thousand times more malicious than the people of the world.

We need to study the passion of Christ, in order that we might remember that it happened for our good and for our eternal benefit. I must have regard for His bloody sweat, His agony, and His crucifixion, and say, That is my help, my strength, my life, my joy. All this happened for our sakes and for our benefit. We must believe this and thank Him form the bottom of our hearts. Whoever does that and views the suffering of Christ in this way is a Christian.

He has shown us great kindness and we should never forget it, but always thank Him and find comfort for ourselves, confessing, His pain is my comfort; His wounds, my healing; His punishment, my redemption; His death, my life. No one can preach it sufficiently; no one can be sufficiently amazed that so great a person came from heaven, stepped into our place, and suffered death for us. We have been visited graciously and redeemed with a great price. We should hold firmly to our Saviour and sacred Head, Jesus Christ, who for our sins was crucified and died. To this end may the gracious God help us. Amen.

excerpts from Martin Luther sermon

The Immutability of God

Change and change are busy in our little world of nature and men, but in Thee we find no variableness nor shadow of turning. We rest in Thee without fear or doubt and face our tomorrows without anxiety. Amen

To say that God is immutable is to say that He never differs from Himself.

"All that God is He has always been, and all that He has been and is He will ever be." Nothing that God has ever said about Himself will be modified; nothing the inspired prophets and apostles have said about Him will be rescinded. His immutability guarantees this.

The immutability of God appears in its most perfect beauty when viewed against the mutability of men. In God no change is possible; in men change is impossible to escape.

And all things as they change proclaim
The Lord eternally the same.

- Charles Wesley

In this world where men forget, change their attitude as their private interests dictate, and revise their opinions for the slightest cause, is it not a source of wondrous strength to know that the God with whom we have to do changes not? That His attitude toward us now is the same as it was in eternity past and will be in eternity to come?

What peace it brings to the Christian's heart to realize that our Heavenly Father never differs from Himself. In coming to Him at any time we need not wonder whether we shall find Him in a receptive mood. He is always receptive to misery and need, as well as to love and faith. He does not keep office hours nor set aside periods when He will see no one. Neither does He change His mind about anything. Today, this moment, He feels toward His creatures, toward babies, toward the sick, the fallen , the sinful, exactly as He did when He sent His only-begotten Son into the world to die for mankind.

Fountain of being! Source of Good!
Immutable Thou dost remain!
Nor can the shadow of a change
Obscure the glories of Thy reign.

Earth may with all her powers dissolve,
If such the great Creator will;
But Thou for ever art the same,
I AM is Thy memorial still.

From Walker's Collection

from A.W. Tozer - The Knowledge of the Holy

Never Changing God

God does not change! That is great news to us, leaning upon the Rock. Here is a quote from A.W. Tozer about the immutability of God, who he can't and doesn't change. More to follow.

"For a moral being to change it would be necessary that the change be in on of three directions. He must go from better to worse or from worse to better; or, granted that the moral quality remain stable, he must change within himself, as from immature to mature or from one order of being to another. It should be clear that God can move in none of these directions. His perfections forever rule out any such possibility.
God cannot change for the better. Since He is perfectly holy, He has never been less holy than He is now and can never by holier than He is and has always been. Neither can God change for the worse. Any deterioration within the unspeakably holy nature of God is impossible. Indeed I believe it even to think of such a thing, for the moment we attempt to do so, the object about which we are thinking is no longer God but something else and someone less than He. The one of whom we are thinking may be a great and awesome creature, but because he is creature he cannot be the self-existent Creator.
As there can be no mutation in the moral character of God, so there can be none with the divine essence. The being of God is unique in the only proper meaning of that word; that is, His being is other than and different from all other beings. We have seen how God differs from creatures in being self-existent, self-sufficient, and eternal. By virtue of these attributes God is God and not some other being. One who can suffer any slightest degree of change is neither self-existent, self-sufficient, nor eternal, and so is not God."

from "The Knowledge of the Holy" A.W. Tozer

"My Personal DNA"

Reserved Analyst

This is my "Personal DNA" from a personality test on internet. It was very interesting. I think some of my Biblical views of depravity affected my empathy and trust in others. Maybe I do need to grow in those, but I also think that my base beliefs of the incorrectness of "everybody is honest" and "everybody is good" might affect that a little bit in the test.

Pierced by the Word - a prayer

Oh, how we love Your Word, Father!
It is precious beyond all earthly treasures.
Incline our hearts to this Word,
and break our bondage to other things.
Let us see wonders in it.
Pierce through our soul and waken spiritual life.
Confirm the marrow of our faith and make us real,
through and through. Forbid that we would be false to Your
faithfulness, and make us mighty in the Spirit.
Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

God is the Gospel

Jonathan Edwards:

The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God Himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life, their dwelling place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honor and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God, he is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and s the "river of the water of life" that runs, and the tree of life that grows, "in the midst of the paradise of God." The glorious excellencies and beauty of Godl will be what will forever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what what will be seen of God in them.

- excerpt from "Pierced by the Word" - Ch.2 God is the Gospel

Sunset, Pt II

Sunset 1
Originally uploaded by Josh Blinson.

Again, more or the brilliant skies.

Sunset, Pt I

Sunset 2
Originally uploaded by Josh Blinson.

Beautiful Sunset taken from our visit to Topsail Island in late October during our honeymoon.

Waves

Waves
Originally uploaded by Josh Blinson.

The scenic beach at Topsail Island

"Christian Exodus" to SC

Now here's an interesting article. There's a conservative group named "Christian Exodus" who are recruiting Christian conservatives to move to South Carolina, a state they picked because of their similar conservative, Christian ideals. By recruiting those to SC, they can hope to back Christian ideals and influence the regions laws to be more Christian-like. Very Interesting.

USA Today article

So far only 20 people have moved, but 1,200 have signed up on the website as intending to move to SC.

Turkey Trip #1 - Chicago

Very early this year, we had the opportunity to visit Turkey. One the way there, there was an 8-hr layover in Chicago so we decided to take a brief visit of the town of Chicago. We got to walk the streets a little (it was a very foggy day), eat some deep dish Chicago pizza, and visit Garrett's for delicious popcorn, some of the best ever.

Chicago's streets

Getting some pizza

The Sears Tower and the Old Water Tower

Riding the Subway

Make Your Own PDFs Free

Here's a useful link I found. PDF Online. You can submit your own files and they automatically get encoded into a PDF format. You submit your file online and it will be emailed to you with 3-5 minutes. It works for Word, Pictures etc.

Brain Teaser From Japan

I've heard this is a brain teaser from Japan, it's used to test applicants about logical solving supposedly. It's tricky! It took me about 20 minutes to solve, and 20 minutes to figure it out again the next day because I'd forgotten! It's one of those sequence tests. Click on the blue dot to begin the test. Let me know how you did.

Objective: To get everyone across the river.
Everyone: Mother, 2 daugthers, Father, 2 sons, Policeman, Criminal

Rules of the Game:

• Only 2 people at max can cross the river at the same time on the raft.
• Only the Father, Mother, and Policeman can operate the raft.
• The Criminal cannot stay with any member of the family without the Policeman.
• The Mother cannot stay with the sons without the Father's presence.
• The Father cannot stay with the daughters without the Mother's presence.
• That means left with a child of opposite gender, transporting a child, or arriving at the other side alone with a child.
• Click on the people to move them.
• Click on the red lever to move the raft.

It can be frustrating, I almost gave up, so it's ok. Have a good time!

Click Here to begin.

PALM SUNDAY - Martin Luther

John 12:12-19

We call this day Palm Sunday - the day our dear Lord Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem, thereby fulfilling the word of the prophets who foretold that He would thus ride into the city on a donkey.

It could just as fittingly be called the day of Christ's triumphal entry.

All of this, I say, was announced and written about long ago by the prophet Zechariah, so that the Jews would never gawk and gape for a parade of worldly power, external pomp, and splendor. He will ride into Jerusalem in this humble manner, and will then weep over a city which did not accept him.

This was, of course, foretold beforehand also for us, and is preached to us year after year, so that we might learn the difference between Christ's kingdom and the kingdoms of the world, between our Christ-King and other earthly kings.

In His kingdom and by His Word Christ not only teaches us that we are poor lost sinners, condemned to death and in the devil's clutches, but also that through His death and blood, He has redeemed us from all sins, from death and the power of the devil, so that by faith in Him we are righteous and blessed forever. What wonderfully different teachings, wisdom, and insight this is compared with what is offered by human reason, legal experts, and the wise of this world - namely how to live here and now, managing house and home, acquiring goods, and protecting land and people. Even if we do live here a long, long time, finally and eventually we still have to depart and leave it all behind.

This is the reason why Christ entered Jerusalem as He did, without worldly pomp, meekly riding on a donkey. Thereby He not only wanted to fulfill the words of the prophet, but also to point out the manner and character of His kingdom, so that we may never be deluded into thinking that He came to earth to help us become rich and heap up treasure, when actually He came so that we might be delivered from sin, death, and the devil, and become truly rich in the life beyond. To sum up, this then was His true purpose in coming to earth, His kingdom's true nature and power and fruit, namely, that we may one day escape this wretched, mortal decaying existence and enter that happy, glorious, eternal life beyond.

It was just such a King that God promised through His prophets. Had God intended Him to be an earthly king, reigning in worldly fashion, there would have been no need for Him to be especially promised. Because God made a very particular promise about Him, there was no way He could have come as an ordinary king, ruling in the usual royal style. David and other kings reigned in that traditional manner, over territory and people, and thereby also gathered treasure. This King, however, is a very extraordinary King, especially promised by God; He set up a spiritual, eternal kingdom, over which He holds sway with unique power and might - His Word and the Holy Spirit.

But the Jews simply didn't want this kind of King - even though He came to them exactly as their prophet Zechariah had said: a righteous helper with eternal, heavenly blessing. ... they paid little attention.

We Christians, however, should get really well acquainted with this Christ-King, and place all our hope boldly in the life which is to come, where we will be forever happy, free of all sin and infirmity. It's for that reason that Christ came, and was crucified, died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven to occupy His kingdom. That's how He overcame sin, death, and the devil for us, and by His blood and Holy Spirit swept us clean of all filth, so that all who believe in Him are righteous and blessed, and will someday pass through temporal death into His eternal, heavenly kingdom.

A Christian, you see, has not been baptized, so that he may collect treasure and get rich here on earth - all of which he can do as well without the gospel and baptism; instead he was baptized so that through Christ he may attain eternal life. To reach that life is why we should faithfully use the gospel and our baptism. I am a baptized Christian so that I may inherit and attain Christ's kingdom. And if I'm also blessed with possessions, I use these for my physical needs - certainly not to lift myself up into heaven!

We should, therefore, mark all the difference between Christ's kingdom and worldly powers, as He Himself clearly showed by His extraordinary entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, without a saddle, the animal a borrowed one at that! All of which made it crystal clear that He was in no way like the worldly rulers who have amassed a lot of treasure and property for the purpose of displaying worldly pomp and circumstance for their public appearances. Christ was no such earthly king; on the contrary, He is an eternal King, with an everlasting kingdom where one needs neither gold or silver, and yet will never suffer any want or need in all eternity.

After all, we must in the end depart and leave behind the goods of this earthly life; that should help us remember where we really want to be, namely with Christ, our eternal King. For if we accept Him here, that is, believe in Him and heed His gospel, He will also receive us over there, saying to us, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'

This, then, is what our dear Lord Jesus Christ meant to show by His entrance into Jerusalem, so that we might truly understand Him and His kingdom. On the left hand, as it were, we still live here in the kingdom of this world, but always on the right hand we reach forward and upward to His kingdom everlasting in the world to come. It was for that future life that we were baptized. May God grant us His grace so that we may joyously welcome and accept this King and remain with Him forever. Amen!

- excerpt Complete Sermons of Martin Luther 5:366-371

God Enjoyed

Thou incomprehensible but prayer-hearing God,
Known, but beyond knowledge, revealed, but unrevealed,
my wants and welfare draw me to thee, for thous has never said, 'Seek ye me in vain'.
To thee I come in my difficulties, necessities, distresses;
possess me with thyself,
with a spirit of grace and supplication, with a prayerful attitude of mind,
with access into warmth of fellowship,
so that in the ordinary concerns of life my thoughts and desires may rise to thee,
and in habitual devotion I may find a resource
that will soothe my sorrows, sanctify my successes,
and qualify me in all ways for dealings with my fellow men.
I bless thee that thou hast made me capable
of knowing thee, the author of all being,
of resembling thee, the perfection of all excellency,
of enjoying thee, the source of all happiness.
O God, attend me in every part of my arduous and trying pilgrimage;
I need the same counsel, defence, comfort I found at my beginning.
Let my religion be more obvious to my conscience, more perceptible to those around.
While Jesus is representing me in heaven, may I reflect him on earth,
While he pleads my cause, may I show forth his praise.
Continue the gentleness of thy goodness towards me,
And whether I wake or sleep, let thy presence go with me, thy blessing attend me.
Thou has led me on and I have found thy promises true,
I have been sorrowful, but thou hast been my help,
fearful, but thou hast delivered me,
despairing, but thou hast lifted me up.
Thy vows are ever upon me, and I praise thee, O God.

- The Valley of Vision

Some 'Cross Centered' Principles

• "We never move on from the cross, only into a more prolonged understanding of the cross." - David Prior
• "The message of the cross is the Christian's hope, confidence, and assurance."
• "The Spirit does not take his pupils beyond the cross, but even more deeper into it." - J.Knox Chamberlain

In Mahaney's writings, he encourages to always remember the cross, never move on from it. 'The cross is still at the center." "The gospel isn't one class among many that you'll attend during your life as a Christian - the gospel is the whole building that all classes take place in!" It is our foundation in Christian life, we can never truly move on from it, if we do our whole structure of life would collapse. "This book talks so much about what it takes to keep the gospel central." In his book, He attacks 3 world views that draw our hearts away from keeping the gospel central, they are:

1. "Legalism, which means basing our relationship with God our own performance."
2. "Condemnation, which means being more focused on our sin than on God's grace."
3. "Subjectivism, which means basing our view of God on our changing feelings and emotions."

We have to know and preach the gospel to ourselves to move past these world views, and keep it central. Ways we can get better at this is: memorize, pray, sing, reviews its changing effect, and study the gospel.

"Every day of our Christian experience," writes Jerry Bridges, "should be a day of relating to God on the basis of His grace alone. We are not only saved by grace, but we also live by grace every day."
May the truth that saved you always be the dearest truth of your life. As Martin Luther reportedly said, "I feel as if Jesus had died only yesterday." May the reality of Christ's death for you be that near your heart.
Never move on from it.
Jesus died for your sins. May your every day be live by His grace alone. May you know the joy and peace of the cross centered life.

Store Wars

I have posted a lot of thinking posts. Here is a pure fun one. Visit this site for Grocery Store Wars. You will watch Cuc Skywalker learns the ways of the Farm, teams up with Ham Solo and confronts Darth Tater. Sound funny or ridiculous, well it is.

Organize your Projects

A cool site I came across was www.backpackit.com. This site allows you to set up your own web pages to organize projects, create to-do lists, post notes, post files and pictures (well, these two you have to pay for) all together. It's would be ideal for school projects because multiple people can access it and check off or post notes. Or to-do list to remind yourself things. You'll have to check out the site, the have a lot more great examples of what you can do.

A Good Read

Another book that I really recommend is C.J. Mahaney's 'The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing'. A good friend of ours gave this to Meg and I during our engagement. We actually read this together on our honeymoon too. It's been a really great reminder of how important the gospel is in our lives. The most important thing. And how we need to come back to this central point in our lives continually. I just picked it up again tonite and was re-reading a couple parts of finishing a couple last sections. It's a good read.

www.multnomahbooks.com

2 Corinthians 5:21 - "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

Praise Jesus!