Tag Archives: the gospel

To My Siblings

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The herald stands in the city gate. 

His voice trembles and cracks at the wounds he bears for all to see. 

Sometimes reduced to a whisper for the constant use of his voice. 

Perchance one will stop to hear, of the thousands who pass him by.

He speaks of wounds, but they are not his. 

He speaks of great injury, but can blame no one. 

He speaks of a great calling, but who can hear? 

Who will bend his wicked head to lend a deafened ear?

Still he stands, without flinching. 

Still he proclaims despite the abuse. 

If one will hear, he has a brother. 

Though forsaken even by his mother , it’s a sibling he seeks.

What wounds do we bear that dare compare to the Holy marks on God? 

What trials do we face , as we work out The Faith, as we stand there all alone? 

It is to God we live. 

For the sake of Life and others. 

It is to “we” we are sent. 

Rest your head in peace, you who believe in the promise of God. 

The war will continue in the morning.

When morning comes you will take your place in the city gate. 

But now rest and know that He is God.

By His Grace

“Places Everyone!”

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Man is placed in a place remote.  For if his place were among the things of God, Man would try to dethrone Him.

This place of testing, this place of proving, this place of violence or love. 

This place of choices, this place of life or death, this place of time and decay. 

This place of anarchy, this place of treason, this place of hatred or faith.

They refuse to listen.  They despise the one who speaks.  And at every possible convenience, they turn away from knowledge. 

This place of filthy, this place of ludicrous, this place of blood and flesh.

This place of confusion, this place of pride, this place of accomplishment and humiliation.

Lest every man be utterly destroyed, God has set a place for rebellion.

This place of wondering, this hopelessness, place of vile distrust, this place of alienation and rare embrace.

Two doors exit this place.  One is wide to accommodate the masses.  The other is so narrow you cannot point it out.

One is proportioned for the violent fits which company the chaos of rebellion.  The other is only large enough for the soul.

We must all leave this place.  But we do not all arrive in the same Place. 

Every man who owns rebellion alone, will certainly find himself alone. 

But every man who has been stripped of rebellion, to a sort, that which remains cannot die.  Lessened, such men will find good company.

In all things, the endlessly spacious Place of God is utterly unlike ours.

Moment by moment, every man chooses his destiny.  But let us not think that the destiny of man is varied in context.  No!  There is either eternal inclusion, or eternal desperation.

Debate all these things, Oh wandering souls of men.  Or kneel before the Living God in faith.  Plead with him for understanding. 

All that belongs to Man is death.  All that belongs to God is Life in Christ Jesus His holy and Righteous Son.

By His Grace

Stunningly Cheap Luxury

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I am struck afresh, by the message of the Gospel.  Who is Man, in the fabric of eternity, that God would give us eternal life?  Something so perfectly vast, yet for a simple price; simply believe.

Yet, look at the cost of that price.  The great majority refuses to believe.  It is evidently too high a price to ask.

Again, I come to the conclusion that if God does not reveal faith to us, we cannot have it. 

What does it take to procure faith from God?  Read or hear the Gospel and respond with humility.

What an absolutely surprising cost.  How absolutely surprising to see how few can afford it.

By His Grace

Lordship Salvation

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I can’t afford a lengthy article, I don’t have the time nor the stamina.  But I just stumbled across the phrase “lordship salvation”.

I must be old.  I look at the possibility of a new debate and find myself too tired to care.

The gospel remains as it is.  The Holy Spirit Guides any who will humble themselves before God.  How much they are guided and to what they are guided depends on their willingness to obey.

I see the debate.  I understand the importance of the issues.  But I also see the many debates that consumed Christianity from the beginning until now.  And no number will surface as to how many souls died while the Christian Church debated among itself the proper words and terminology that should be used in following Christ.

Not a single gesture or word from me will stem the tide of confusion.  And this reality causes me a vapor of fear. 

Isn’t the more important question to do with the power of the Holy Spirit to save?  I fear many have leaned back into the power of men.  “If we don’t use just the right words, no one will ever be saved again!”  (that of course is tongue in cheek)

Maybe such arguments are from God, I can’t say for sure.  But I can know this for sure, I’m not about to involve myself in another argument over semantics.

God Himself saved me in Christ.  It will be God Himself in Christ who finishes salvation on that great day.  And since I am an old man, that day comes rather quickly for me.  And it causes me to take note that this bevy of arguments will continue long after my flesh cannot speak.

The gospel remains powerful forever.  The Spirit of God is on daunted by the confusion of men.  And regardless whether Christian’s attention is toward the lost or not, God is saving souls!

To all you wonderful scholars, forgive my apathy.

By His Grace

With Blazing Clarity

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What loss does he sustain who enters into full obedience to The Gospel?  Name it.

God.

By His Grace

Join Us!

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They have hated us for no reason; we who receive forgiveness of our sins, and the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus the Holy Son of God.  They look on us with hatred for we say we are free.  They refer to us as self righteous fools.  All the while, as they look in the mirror of their soul, they see an endless loss.

I was one of those who hated the people of Christ.  But God has had endless mercy on me to open my eyes of understanding.

If he can do this for me, he can do it for any man.

There is no need for jealousy.  There is no need for slanderous accusations.  We do not ask for pity.  We ask that you should join us.

1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
(Psalm 103)

By His Grace