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Why I was disappointed at church Easter morning:

During the preaching of the Word and sacrement of Baptism my theological radar was set too high. I found it hard to put away my reformed six-shooter and rejoice in the gospel. I was looking too hard through my scope to find an enemy to see how the Holy Spirit was moving.

Said theological underpinnings became useless because the foundation that the Scriptures lay out are meant to support joy, not squash it.

I think there's a helpful medium. I pray, by God's grace, that I get there soon.

Sweet spot? The Bible by Chapter 3, Verse 16

Your favorite album, your second favorite album, and that album that you really hate for the most part has a sweet spot in it. If you haven't already noticed, it's track 8. Track 8, 94% of the time, is the sweet spot. I was noticing that the Scriptures have an interesting - not too serious similarity. Of course I hold to 2 Tim 3:16, but the third chapter, 16th verse of each book (where possible) seems to be quite the sweet spot. In other words, verses that we hold quite dear.

Hopfully this post will have you dig further into those passages. For a verse alone is only part of a whole idea being communicated. So, dig in, drink deep and be satisfied. Enjoy!
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Genesis
 To the woman he said,

"I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; 
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you."

Exodus
Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt,

Leviticus
And the priest shall burn them on the altar as a(A) food offering with a pleasing aroma.(B) All fat is the LORD’s.

Numbers
So Moses listed them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded.

Deutoronomy
and to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, the border of the Ammonites;

Joshua
the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.

Judges
1And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes.

Ruth
And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, "How did you fare, my daughter?" Then she told her all that the man had done for her,

1 Samuel
But Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." And he said, "Here I am."

2 Samuel
But her husband went with her, weeping after her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go, return." And he returned.

1 Kings
Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.

2 Kings
And he said, "Thus says the LORD, 'I will make this dry streambed full of pools.'

1 Chronicles
The descendants of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son;

2 Chronicles
He made chains like a necklace and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains.

Ezra (3.13)
...so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Nehemiah
After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men.

Esther (3:15)
The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

Job
Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child,

as infants who never see the light? 

Psalm (3:8)
Salvation belongs to the LORD;
your blessing be on your people!
Selah 
 
Proverbs
Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.
 
Eccelesiates
Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.

Song of Solomon
Go out, O daughters of Zion,

and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart. 

Isaiah
The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty

and walk with outstretched necks,
glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
tinkling with their feet, 

Jeremiah
And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, "The ark of the covenant of the LORD." It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again.

Lamentations
He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes; 
 
Ezekiel
And at the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me:

Daniel
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.


Hosea (3:5)
Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.

Joel
The LORD roars from Zion,

and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the LORD is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel. 

Amos
I will strike the winter house along with the summer house,

and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses shall come to an end,"
declares the LORD. 

Obadiah (1:16)
For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,

so all the nations shall drink continually;
they shall drink and swallow,
and shall be as though they had never been. 

Jonah (3:10)
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Micah (3:12)
Therefore because of you

Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

Nahum
You increased your merchants

more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust spreads its wings and flies away.

Habakkuk
I hear, and my body trembles;

my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.

Zephaniah
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:"Fear not, O Zion;

let not your hands grow weak.

Haggai (2:16)
How did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty.

Zechariah
In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree."

Malachi
Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.

Matthew
1And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold,(A) the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;

Mark
He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);

Luke
John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

John
"For God so loved(B) the world,[a](C) that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not(D) perish but have eternal life.

Acts
And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Romans
in their paths are ruin and misery,

1 Corinthians
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?



2 Corinthians
But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

Galations
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ.



Ephesians
that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

Phillipians
Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Colossians
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

1 Thessalonians (3:13)
so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

2 Thessalonians
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

1 Timothy
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

2 Timothy
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Titus (3:15)
All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.



Phelemon (1:16)
no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 

Hebrews
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?

James
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.


1 Peter
having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

2 Peter
as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

1 John
By this we know love, that(A) he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 

2 John (1:13)
The children of your elect sister greet you.

3 John (1:15)
Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, every one of them.


Jude
Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Revelation
So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
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Ladies and Gents, Tommy Emmanuel

This morning's Scripture: Proverbs 1

The Beginning of Knowledge
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4 to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Enticement of Sinners
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
9 for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.
11 If they say, "Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
N let us ambush the innocent without reason;
12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we shall find all precious goods,
we shall fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse"—
15 my son, do not walk in the way with them;
R hold back your foot from their paths,
16 for their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is a net spread
in the sight of any bird,
18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
they set an ambush for their own lives.
19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
25 because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
27 when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
30 would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
32 For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."

Fighting the Accuser

From Ray Ortlund's blog:

“When the devil accuses us and says, ‘You are a sinner and therefore damned,’ we should answer, ‘Because you say I am a sinner, I will be righteous and saved.’ ‘No,’ says the devil, ‘you will be damned.’ And I reply, ‘No, for I fly to Christ, who gave himself for my sins. Satan, you will not prevail against me when you try to terrify me by setting forth the greatness of my sins and try to bring me into heaviness, distrust, despair, hated, contempt and blasphemy against God. On the contrary, when you say I am a sinner, you give me armor and weapons against yourself, so that with your own sword I may cut your throat and tread you under my feet, for Christ died for sinners. . . . As often as you object that I am a sinner, so often you remind me of the benefit of Christ my Redeemer, on whose shoulders, and not on mine, lie all my sins. So when you say I am a sinner, you do not terrify me but comfort me immeasurably.’”




Martin Luther, commenting on Galatians 1:4, “. . . the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins.”

Thoughts while mopping from 1 Cor 7:17

1 Cor 7:17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.

My permaresolution, if I may make up words, this year and those to come is to strive to live in this: to live in the kaleō, or calling, or vocation that God has merizō, or apportioned, or dealt to me.

Now, I think I find this an easier task than some because He has apportioned to me a beautiful wife and two mighty sons. Ok, well, they aren't yet mighty in the way I'd most like, but that's the process isn't it?

I resolve to not try to be something that the Lord as not called me to be. I'm not a famous man. Not a virtuoso guitarist. Not a multimillionaire. Not some revolutionary theologian.

I am a husband and father, a redeemed sinner, a working man, a small-time musician, a theologian in desperate need of grace.

There you have it. My first post for the year. I'm getting a bit slow to post on this blog, but I'm sure it ramp up eventually. I've got to have some time, sometimes. Right? We'll see...

Lloyd-Jones (and more) on Fighting Spiritual Depression:

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression, p. 35:

Would you like to be rid of this spiritual depression?

The first thing you have to do is to say farewell now once and forever to your past.
Realize that it has been covered and blotted out in Christ.
Never look back at your sins again.
Say: ‘It is finished, it is covered by the Blood of Christ’.
That is your first step.
Take that and finish with yourself and all this talk about goodness, and look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is only then that true happiness and joy are possible for you.
What you need is not to make resolutions to live a better life, to start fasting and sweating and praying.
No! You just begin to say:

I rest my faith on Him alone
Who died for my transgressions to atone.

(HT: David Mathis)

Here’s the “one thing” Paul wanted to do: “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14).

Also remember this rule from Robert Murray M’Cheyne:

For one look at yourself,
take ten looks at Christ!

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Did Christmas Happen, what does it mean? The Scriptures vs culture:

Check out this short film by St. Helen's Bishopgate in London. It has cliips from NT Scholar Paul Barnett describing the solid foundation laid by the gospels. And it contrasts the gospel account against street interviews about the meaning of Christmas.



That's Christmas (Short Film) HD from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

HT: Justin Taylor