In our last post we began to outline the wonderful ways God illustrates His redemption of sinners in Psalm 107. This is a great psalm, designed to inspire thanks and praise to God “for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men” (v. 8, 15, 21, 31). Remember that we stated the purpose and goal of the psalmist like this:

We must thoroughly consider the everlasting lovingkindness of the Lord, and give thanks.

In order to help us do just that, through illustration and instruction, the psalmist gives FIVE REASONS the redeemed must give thanks for God’s lovingkindness.

Last time we saw the first two. In this post we will look at the next three. Hopefully when we’re done our hearts will be filled with thanksgiving, having been reminded by the psalmist of all the wonderful things God has done for us because of His lovingkindness.

Click here to read the entire post.

We are exhorted by the Psalmist to give thanks to God, and that those who are redeemed should be singing a refrain of thanksgiving to God (Psalm 107).

Psalm 107:1-3 - Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary, And gathered from the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.

If we are going to be faithful children of God, and live the redeemed life, then we must be characterized by thankfulness and praise to God for what he has done for us by redeeming us from sin and death and hell. It is because of God’s mercy and lovingkindness that our hearts are turned away from self, and toward Him. Psalm 107 reminds us of that fact by painting beautiful word pictures of this so great salvation that is ours, and then encouraging us to give thanks in response.

Read the entire post to see how and why we are encouraged to do so in Psalm 107.

A few weeks back, in our study of Matthew’s gospel, we discussed the topic of fasting. With a little help from John Piper (A Hunger for God), Donald Whitney (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life) and a couple of others, I have tried to outline the biblical occasions for fasting. Here is the fruit of that study.

I have four broad categories, and a few different expressions of each. It isn’t exhaustive, but it should “grease the wheels” of your desire and determination to practice this spiritual discipline.

Read on…

I have seen some disturbing claims by some Christians claiming to have some kind of direct understanding of the mind and heart of God regarding Haiti. Needless to say, it is presumptuous at best and grossly arrogant at worst, to claim to know the mind of God on an issue He has not spoken to directly. He has not, and will not, be granting any direct revelation about Haiti or the tragedy that has happened there.

At the same time, there is much that can be said about God’s character and ways with the the sons of men, and even nations in general. Albert Mohler comments on the situation in his usually insightful way on his blog. Here is an excerpt from the entire article, which I encourage you to read as a warning against the kind of sinful presumption some Christians are displaying in their comments about the situation there.

Does God hate Haiti? That is the conclusion reached by many, who point to the earthquake as a sign of God’s direct and observable judgment.

Click on the title above or right here to read the rest of the excerpt from Mohler.

Just here to pointout an insightful comment by John MacArthur on how stiflingly frustrated Jesus was able to make the scribes and Pharisees. In their usual fashion, they were following Jesus around in Luke 6, looking for a good reason to accuse him of doing something wrong on the Sabbath. Here is how Luke records the events in Luke 6:6-11.

Luke 6:6-11 - On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

John MacArthur comments in his study bible:

Filled with rage. A curious response in the face of so glorious a miracle. Such irrational hatred was their response to having been publicly humiliated — something they hated worse than anything (cf. Matt. 23:6, 7). They were unable to answer His reasoning (vv. 9, 10). And furthermore, by healing the man only with a command, He had performed no actual “work” that they could charge Him with. Desperately seeking a reason to accuse Him (v. 7), they could find none. Their response was blind fury.

Is there a “gay gene”? Is our “sexual orientation” determined by biology? Most people today would probably say “yes” to those questions. But is it supported by reliable scientific research? And regardless of the answers to those questions, what should our attitude and response be toward the homosexual community?

We live in a part of the country where we cannot ignore the very public nature of homosexuality and gay marriage. Rarely does a week go by that I do not see or speak with someone who is either part of this community, or is interacting with someone who is. Even more frequent is the barrage of information and opinions about this social phenomena from the various forms of media that so directly influence society — we are talking about television, movies, radio and our various news outlets.

We need to be careful to have a discerning spirit as we listen to this information. And we need to be even more diligent to maintain a thoroughly loving and Christian attitude as we interact with others about it. In an effort to help you be discerning, careful and loving in your evaluation and interaction about this often biased information, I want to pass along some information and articles that will both inform your understanding, as well as help shape your attitudes toward others who may not agree.

Click here to read the entire post!

Can we think of Christianity, or the work of God’s Kingdom, without thinking of it in terms of the local church. Today many Christians are just as content to serve and advance the cause of a parachurch ministry than serve or contribute in their local church (in some cases, more so). We have written and spoken much on matters regarding the local church. We are not alone in our commitment to the local church and its biblically defined priority in the work of God’s kingdom.

In a post on The Gospel Coalition website titled, “My Church or the Kingdom?” Ray Ortlund makes this insightful comment.

“My passion isn’t to build up my church. My passion is for God’s Kingdom.”

Ever heard someone say that? I have. It sounds large-hearted, but it’s wrong. It can even be destructive.

Suppose I said, “My passion isn’t to build up my marriage. My passion is for Marriage. I want the institution of Marriage to be revered again. I’ll work for that. I’ll pray for that. I’ll sacrifice for that. But don’t expect me to hunker down in the humble daily realities of building a great marriage with my wife Jani. I’m aiming at something grander.”

If I said that, would you think, “Wow, Ray is so committed”? Or would you wonder if I had lost my mind?

If you care about the Kingdom, be the kind of person who can be counted on in your own church. Join your church, pray for your church, tithe to your church, participate in your church every Sunday with wholehearted passion.

We build great churches the same way we build great marriages—real commitment that makes a positive difference every day.

Thank you Ray Ortlund for this poignant and insightful reminder and practical admonition to be about the work of the kingdom by being committed to local church ministry.

I often get questions about this topic of whether the activity and presence of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament age was the same or different than in our age. Some have worded it, “How has God’s activity among us really changed since Pentecost?” There are a number of ways to ask the same thing.

Here is a short article that answers that very difficult question in a way that is faithful to reconcile biblical passages that seem to indicate major differences, even though we know the Spirit was working in OT saints. I believe a thorough study of other passages would confirm this author’s conclusions. In the past I have described the transition in the Spirit’s activity at Pentecost as “different in degree, but of the same kind.” Here is how this author states his conclusion.

Both the OT and NT present the Holy Spirit as the only regenerating agent in the plan of redemption, the sole agent of sanctification—working in the hearts of OT and NT believers, convicting them of sin and producing genuine God worshippers—and as the only agent of empowerment, enabling the saints of both testaments to live holy lives which are acceptable to God. He continues to fulfill this role in us today as He had done from the beginning of time. The extent of His work in believers has increased, but He was always in believers and among believers.

Click on the link above to read the whole article. I think it will help you if you desire to have a clearer understanding of this issue.

Most honest readers of psalm 137 must admit that there are disturbingly graphic and frightening statements made. Most pointedly, there is a divinely inspired word regarding violent men, committing violent and lethal acts against little children, with an expectation that God will bless them anyway. Wow!

How are we to understand such things?

We studied psalm 137 together some months ago. It is called an imprecatory psalm because of the curse and judgment that is pronounced by the psalmist against others. Because there are many passages of Scripture that include such statements, I thought it might be helpful to review in summary fashion how we understood that psalm. This provides a pattern for understanding similar passages in Scripture.

Click here to read my attempt to understand a difficult passage, or you can click here to listen to the message as I preached it our church.

I ran across this interesting article by Beth Spraul (read it here), regarding the nature and potential dangers of “chick flicks.” Anyone who knows me well knows that I enjoy a good one, even sitting tirelessly with a satisfied grin on my face while watching the five-hour BBC version of Pride and Prejudice numerous times. How’s that for true confessions.

Regardless of my own tastes, I have often reflected on the ways these films can shape our views of romance and marriage in a way that is unbiblical, and therefore potentially harmful.

Read on for all of my comments, or click on her article above to read it first.