Song of Mercy and Judgement

I recently purchased "William Cowper: The Man of God's Stamp" because I've been intrigued by Cowper's experiences with depression and anxiety, as well as the encouragement and discipleship he received from John Newton (BTW, it was Cowper that penned "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood").

Within the book is a poem called "A Song of Mercy and Judgement"; it's an autobiographical poem of Cowper's life and conversion. And it's really cool. And since it was cool, and had a nice rhythm and rhyme, I started strumming and found a melody for it - which may have made it somewhat less cool. But here it is anyway :)



The full lyrics can be found here . . .

Tossed About But Lifted Up

Well I've been slow to post this week as I've had several small threads of thought that I thought I might be able to weave into something larger but nothing has materialized completely. So since I've been in a musical vein lately, and a friend's post brought a song to mind, I'm going to simply give you some music.

The song is "The Love of God" by Rich Mullins. I've sung this song live with friends and only just barely made it through. When I listen to it by myself, I'm a complete wreck. It's beautiful, it's tender, it's powerful.



"There's a wideness in God's mercy
I cannot find in my own
And He keeps His fire burning
To melt this heart of stone
Keeps me aching with a yearning
Keeps me glad to have been caught
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God

Now I've seen no band of angels
But I've heard the soldiers' songs
Love hangs over them like a banner
Love within them leads them on
To the battle on the journey
And it's never gonna stop
Ever widening their mercies
And the fury of His love

Oh the love of God
And oh the love of God
The love of God

Joy and sorrow are this ocean
And in their every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all Hell could never close
Here I'm tested and made worthy
Tossed about but lifted up
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God"

Just Think About It For A Minute

I'm slowly working my way through John Owen's "The Mortification of Sin". It's taking a while not because I'm a slow reader or it's a large book or it's too obtuse. The reason is because I can only handle a few pages at a time. A person could read it in two sittings - or one, with enough coffee - but that would be like sprinting through the Louvre.

Owen constantly recommends that we know our enemy, and the following paragraph was, for me, a small epiphany. Although the thought is obvious, the angle is enlightening:

"Consider what an unclean thought would have; it would have thee roll thyself in folly and filth. Ask envy what it would have; murder and destruction are at the end of it. Set thyself against it with no less vigour than if it had utterly debased thee to wickedness. Without this course thou wilt not prevail. As sin gets ground in the affections to delight in it, it gets also upon the understanding to slight it."

Obviously, sin and sinful desires are not passive! They are set on destroying. James 1:14-15 personifies sin and teaches us plainly that our sinful desires drag, entice, conceive and give birth! What does a filthy though want? To make us more filthy! Does envy have a goal? Yes, to get us to kill and destroy!

So, from the outset, we should resist. As Owen says in another part of the book, "watch against all eruptions of thy corruptions."

The Song I Couldn't Sing

Stopped in my vocal tracks. It took my breath away. It was all I could do to not cry out loud.

The last three to four months have been very tough ones for me emotionally for a whole sack full of reasons. And when I arrived at the T4G conference early last week, I was overwhelmed by what God had in store.

Before one of our sessions, we sang "How Firm A Foundation" and I absolutely could not sing during the two middle verses:

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;

for I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,

and sanctify to thee, thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials they pathway shall lie,

my grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;

the flame shall not hurt thee, I only design

thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

Although I could vocalize nothing, my heart sang as my eyes wept and my hands were raised. I had been overcome by the bulldozer of Truth! Light had broken through the clouds and my God revealed His strong arm of salvation!

This Sunday I'll be leading this hymn as our church comes together for worship. I pray I can get through it, and I pray it opens up the doors of heaven for someone else in need of hope.

Stein and Sproul - Holy Cow!

This is a fabulous conversation between R.C. Sproul and Ben Stein about intelligent design and "Expelled", the documentary Stein narrated. It's intelligent, stimulating, powerful - but my favorite part is a minute from the end when Ben Stein shakes his head and says to Sproul, "Holy cow, you're smart!". Indeed. Make sure you listen to all three parts...

Don't Mess With The Shepherd King

Next to Christ, are there any Biblical characters that provide one rich lesson after another more than Moses and David? OK, admittedly, they do figure prominently in the Old Testament and with more stories comes more to learn.

In 1 Samuel 30, David and his band of warriors return home to Ziklag after being refused service under Achish. To their horror, they found their hometown raided and burned to ground. All of their belongings, livestock, and most importantly, every family member they had left behind, had been carried off by the Amalekites.

After seeking the LORD's counsel (which was David's constant practice) he and his mighty men set out to pursue the raiding party. Although there was significant attrition from the ranks due to exhaustion, there was some helpful information from an Egyptian that led David to his enemies. And when the Amalekite raiders were found, David attacked, fought and slaughtered for 24 hours, completely wiping them out except for 400 men who escaped on their camels.

The result? Not a single thing was missing or harmed among all that was carried off by the Amalekites. Men were joyfully reunited with their wives and no doubt they cried tears of joy to hold their little ones again - all this under the leadership of the soon-to-be shepherd king.

For me, this is a picture of the triumph of righteousness, the victory of Christ over all His enemies for His own glory and the good of His people. Resounding victory. Complete recovery. He wins every battle, He rescues all that are His. Hail the all-conquering Christ!

The (UN)Adjusted Gospel and A Stack of Books

Wow! I can say with completely confidence that this year's T4G Conference in Louisville, KY was the most enriching event I've ever attended. Jesus Christ was exalted continually!

I worshipped the Savior as I listened to R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, John Piper, Ligon Duncan, Mark Dever, Thabiti Anyabwile, C.J. Mahaney and Al Mohler expound on the true Gospel. If you have time, I recommend listening to the sessions from John Piper and John MacArthur. And if you have even more time, listen to them all!

I worshipped and wept every time all 7,000 (mostly) men sang powerful songs like How Firm A Foundation, Come Thou Fount and How Deep The Father's Love! I was filled up completely and still wanted more.

On top of all that, the leaders of this conference blessed each attendee with TWENTY FREE BOOKS. Every time we came in for another session, there was a stack of books in each seat. The retail value of the books was easily more than my registration fee. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to T4G 2012! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some reading to do...

T4G

In a few moments I'll be pointing my car eastward to make the trek to T4G.

I've been looking forward to this for months, because I'll have the chance to meet up with an old friend and hear teaching from men of God that I highly respect. I'm hoping (praying) to learn more about our holy God and the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ.

One of the men speaking this week will be R.C. Sproul. A quote from his book "The Holiness of God" kind of sums up so much of what I've been learning of late:

"When we encounter Him, the totality of our creatureliness breaks upon us and shatters the myth that we have believed about ourselves, the myth that we are demigods, junior-grade deities who will try to live forever . . . He is holy, and we are not."

Lead Me

I read this Scripture early this morning: “He will protect his faithful ones, but the wicked will disappear in darkness. No one will succeed by strength alone. " 1Samuel 2:9

Then I heard this song for the first time a little while later:


The Scripture . . . the song . . . struck me hard. God help me. I can't do this alone.

Three Things

I've just started reading Kevin DeYoung's "The Good News We Almost Forgot" and I'm really excited about it. The book is basically an exposition of the Heidelberg Confession and it looks to be enriching and encouraging. (I'm also looking forward to hearing Kevin in a session at the T4G Conference next week!)

The shortest summary of the Confession consists of three things: guilt, grace and gratitude. These three provide an all-encompassing and thorough perspective on Christian existence. DeYoung says "[i]f Christians would hold to all 'three things' and not just one or two, we would be saved from a lot of poor theology and bad ideas."

These three are actually part of the answer to the second question of this 16th century catechism:

Q. What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?

A. Three things: First, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.

We must admit our sin instead of excusing it.

We must trust another instead of ourselves.

We must live to give thanks instead of being thanked.

To The Thawing Wind

Not even three weeks ago snow covered the ground in my part of the world. Last night I mowed my lawn for the first time this year. The transition from Winter to Spring seems to happen so quickly around here. The first advances are made by the daffodils and tulips which sometimes actually brave the snow to send their green spears skyward before blooming. People are next to emerge like dandelions from their houses and once again they begin to populate the yards, garages and parks in my neighborhood. The sap is finally flowing in the trees and apparently in the people too.

I always think about Robert Frost's poem "To The Thawing Wind" at this time of year:

Come with rain, O loud Southwester!

Bring the singer, bring the nester;

Give the buried flower a dream;

Make the settled snowbank steam;

Find the brown beneath the white;

But whate'er you do tonight,

Bathe my window, make it flow,

Melt it as the ices go;

Melt the glass and leave the sticks

Like a hermit's crucifix;

Burst into my narrow stall;

Swing the picture on the wall;

Run the rattling pages o'er;

Scatter poems on the floor;

Turn the poet out of door.

True Love

The Sin Metaphor

The Savior, hanging above the earth, filthy, stinking, bleeding, agonizing, and becoming sin for me, demonstrated not only the lengths to which He would go to accomplish my salvation and rescue, but also in that Passion provided a visual metaphor of what sin does (has done, more properly) to the human soul. At the hands of sin (into which we willingly give ourselves up!) the soul is mercilessly shamed and stripped, beaten and torn, crushed and dessicated, pierced and drained and finally strung up to die.

If only all men could see themselves as they actually are, beyond clothing and form and flesh, they would realize that their souls resemble that picture of the Savior, decimated and suffering and succumbing to death on the cross.

Christ's suffering was horrible, but it had to be. And in it He showed me what He saved me from: what I used to be before I was clothed in His righteousness by God's unbelievable (but I must believe it!) grace.

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

If you have eighteen minutes, the following is a great summary of historical crucifixion as well as Christ's suffering and His substitutionary atonement: