Details at Christian Research Net.

“Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

I Peter 5:5-11

“We are desirous of seeing forth in our churches the true doctrine of God, and have no wish to adapt it to all tastes, or to deal in ambiguities; but, laying aside all carnal considerations, to transmit to posterity a true and explicit form of doctrine agreeable to the rule of the sacred writings; so that there may not only be set forth among all nations an illustrious testimony respecting our doctrine, delivered by the grave authority of learned and godly men, but that all posterity may have a pattern to imitate.”
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556)

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin . . . (Romans 3:9).

In England on July 4, 1653, during the era of British Puritanism, Oliver Cromwell convened the Barebone Parliament, described by one historian as,

The little band of stern, impassioned men hand-picked by Cromwell . . . with the set purpose of so remaking England’s constitution as to put into actual practice Mosaic law and the pristine principles of Jesus. On the Exchange, in the courts, in the markets, the Englishman was willy-nilly going to love his neighbor as himself. It was, says Lord Morely in his life of Cromwell, an attempt “to found a civil society on the literal words of Scripture . . . the high-water mark of the biblical politics of the time.”

But clashing with English property rights, the attempt of the Barebone Parliament was defeated, the eloquent and biblical oratory of Cromwell notwithstanding. The issue of private land ownership, perhaps even that of the Puritans themselves, forced recantation of the attempt to order English society after a biblical model. Does not the Puritans’ failed attempt at governmental and moral reform have a familiar ring about it? Sometimes those who espouse good laws are hesitant to practice the same, especially when they go against their vested self-interest, and in the cause of Christ hypocrisy is always self-indicting and self-defeating. As one critical historian notes, “The only trouble with Christian morality is that Christians on the whole, do not practice it.” From the get-go, it’s doubtful that efforts at a Christian reconstruction of and dominion over America would succeed. From the evident lifestyles of pan-evangelicals as revealed by surveys–bornagains are no different from non-bornagains–and the moral failures of a few high-profile but now disgraced leaders, there is every appearance that would-be reformers desperately need reforming.

Good laws cannot change bad people. Only grace can do that. The only end for wickedness is divine judgment. It was for Israel, and it will be for America. But beloved, don’t be discouraged by political ill fortunes of the present. Press on. Keep the faith. Live the right. Speak the truth. Be good neighbors and loyal citizens. Vote truth, right, and your conscience before God, all the while knowing that there will be no earthly utopia this side of the Lord establishing His rule on earth, a kingdom “wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). In the meantime, continue to pray, “Father . . . Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

Read all

Here’s a beautiful story of how one woman turned a would-be robbery into an opportunity to witness of her Savior, Jesus Christ.

HT: Puritan Fellowship

Here’s a good devotional teaching from A.W. Tozer:

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)

The contemporary moral climate does not favor a faith as tough and fibrous as that taught by our Lord and His apostles. The delicate, brittle saints being produced in our religious hothouses today are hardly to be compared with the committed, expendable believers who once gave their witness among men. And the fault lies with our leaders. They are too timid to tell the people all the truth. They are now asking men to give to God that which costs them nothing.

Our churches these days are filled (or one-quarter filled) with a soft breed of Christian that must be fed on a diet of harmless fun to keep them interested. About theology they know little. Scarcely any of them have read even one of the great Christian classics, but most of them are familiar with religious fiction and spinetingling films. No wonder their moral and spiritual constitution is so frail. Such can only be called weak adherents of a faith they never really understood. TIC076.

“Lord, send the Holy Spirit to renew within us a depth and seriousness again in our pulpits. Give us a boldness in our preaching. Amen.” (Tozer on Christian Leadership, May 20)

Here’s a helpful short devotional teaching using 2 Timothy 4:3-4 in its application.

In this devotional post, offering encouragement and comfort as to why we as Christians can fully trust God and HIs Words, you’ll also get a link to Christianity Today and their April 7, 2009 ”special” advertising Wolves R Us aka the Emergent Church.

This video is only about a minute long, but no more time is needed to make the point.

CrossTV

Well, it’s not exactly a faith message on a baby’s backside, but here’s a word of encouragement and exhortation in this difficult time.

CrossTV

Here’s the video of the lecture Phil Johnson gave at the recent Shepherd’s Conference discussing “contextualization” as well as other things. Thanks to Phil Johnson for allowing me to host this on my Youtube account.

Biblical churches grow harder and harder to find. In this devotion A.W. Tozer speaks of an inherent danger in offering encouragement to those shepherds to remain faithful under, often tremendous, temptation to compromise. Please take a moment today and pray for these pastors:

 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1-3)

Human nature being what it is, the man of God may soon adopt an air of constant piety and try to appear what the public thinks he is. The fixed smile and hollow tones of the professional cleric are too well known to require further mention.

All this show of godliness, by the squeeze of circumstances and through no fault of the man himself, may become a front behind which the man hides, a plaintive, secretly discouraged and lonely soul. Here is no hypocrisy, no intentional double living, no actual desire to deceive. The man has been mastered by the circumstances. He has been made the keeper of other people’s vineyards but his own vineyard has not been kept. So many demands have been made upon him that they have long ago exhausted his supply. He has been compelled to minister to others while he himself is in desperate need of a physician. GTM, 115.

“Lord, I pray for pastors everywhere today who are indeed exhausted and depleted. The task is so overwhelming and the demands so extreme. Come today with a fresh breath of Your Spirit to refresh, renew, and restore. Amen.”  (Tozer on Christian Leadership, March 2)

After seeing the destruction the enemy is wreaking with false churches today, I wanted to share something to encourage hearts. Here is a video of How Great Thou Art from tenor Phillip Webb, recorded at Dr. John MacArthur’s church. Phil was with us at VCY America for one of our Share-a-thon’s and it was a privilege to meet this humble man who has sung on the stages of some of the world’s most famous opera houses but uses his talent to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Apprising Ministries shares a few words of encouragement in this new missive about how God gave us the gift of prayer because He cares so much for His children.

Apprising Ministries with some words of encouragement in this short missive as we Christians negotiate our way through the “postmodern” pudding filling the visible church.

HT: James White’s Youtube Channel