Grace, grace!

(Thomas Brooks, "Heaven on Earth" 1667)

"That no flesh should glory in His presence." 1 Corinthians 1:29

God does not look for any goodness or merit in the creature to draw
His love--but He will justify, pardon, and save for His name's sake. All
the motives which move God to show mercy are in His own bosom.

Salvation is only from free grace, and not from anything good in us,
or done by us.

God is free to bestow His promises upon whomever He pleases.
He often steps over the rich, and chooses the poor;
He often steps over the learned, and chooses the ignorant;
He often steps over the strong, and chooses the weak;
He often steps over the sweet nature, and chooses the wicked nature;
He often steps over the noble, and chooses the vile; etc.,
that no flesh may glory, and that all may shout out "Grace, grace!"

"By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

Federal government bans religious references on ornaments for 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree

ADF attorneys send letter to federal, state officials after Arizona school children chosen to decorate D.C. tree, but told to keep religion out.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys sent a letter to federal and state officials, including Arizona Governor Janice Brewer Monday, calling for them to stop enforcing a requirement prohibiting the state’s schoolchildren from expressing religious viewpoints through Christmas themes while decorating ornaments for the 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree.

Arizona was chosen this year to present 4,000 handcrafted ornaments made by elementary, middle-school, and high-school students to decorate Washington, D.C.’s annual Christmas tree.

“Banning Christmas from the Capitol Christmas tree is just absurd. Christian students shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their religious beliefs,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs. “The First Amendment does not allow government officials to exclude schoolchildren’s ornaments for the capitol’s Christmas tree merely because they communicate a religious viewpoint.”

On behalf of a mother whose son strongly desires to submit three ornaments for the tree, ADF attorneys sent a letter to state and federal officials demanding that they abandon the prohibition of religious viewpoints so that the child may participate in the unique opportunity. One of the ornaments will read “Merry Christmas,” another will say “Happy Birthday, Jesus,” and the third will portray a manger scene with the baby Jesus.

Each of these ornaments will also honor Arizona, using as a theme the state’s history, geography, or motto, “Ditat Deus,” which means “God Enriches.” ADF attorneys indicate in the letter that they will take legal action if officials do not comply by October 4, the day before the deadline to submit ornaments for consideration.

“It is well established that expression of religious beliefs is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” the letter reads. “Religious expression is speech and is entitled to the same level of protection as other kinds of speech... Even expression that comes through symbols, such as ornaments…”

Read rest of story here

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The assault on Christmas continues in 2009!

The great Day of His wrath has come!

"For the great day of His wrath has come--and who shall be able to stand!" Revelation 6:17

Who may abide the day of His coming? Who shall stand when He appears? Oh, beloved! this is not the day of man's wrath! Men have had their day of reigning and raging, and despising God--but that day is over and gone, and now God's day has come! This is the day of His wrath--and woe to wicked, and woe to the whore of Babylon, for the hour of her judgment has come!

This will be a day of great ASTONISHMENT to the wicked and ungodly, "The Lord shall smite them with madness and blindness, and astonishment of heart!" Deuteronomy 28:28

This will be a day of great TERROR to those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus! Therefore, says the apostle, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." 2 Corinthians 5:11

This day of God's wrath will be a day of great DISTRESS to the wicked. "I in turn will laugh at your disaster! I will mock when calamity overtakes you--when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you!" Proverbs 1:26-27

This day of God's wrath will be a day of great CONTEMPT to the ungodly. "The Lord Almighty has purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth!" Isaiah 23:9

This day of God's wrath will be a day of great DESTRUCTION. "The wicked are reserved to the day of destruction; they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath!" Job 21:30

Oh, beloved! God's GREAT wrath will be very terrible to the wicked!

1. God's great wrath will tear them in pieces like a lion! "I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them!" Hosea 5:14. "Consider this, all you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue you!" Psalm 50:22

2. God's great wrath will consume them like fire! "The Lord Almighty says--The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed--roots, branches, and all." Malachi 4:1

3. God's great wrath will swallow up all His enemies! "You will capture all your enemies. Your strong right hand will seize all who hate You. You will throw them in a fiery furnace when You appear. In His wrath the Lord will swallow them up, and His fire will consume them!" Psalm 21:8-9

Oh! the wrath of the Almighty is called in the Scripture,
"The fierceness of His great wrath!" 2 Kings 23:26.
"The fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation!" Psalm 78:49.
"The fury of His wrath!" Revelation 16:19.

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“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

Gone to prison -

Please pray for me, my faithful evangelism partner and several hundred other evangelists as we head down to the Atlanta area prisons this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Pray that God is already at work and will reveal Himself to many folks. Pray that the Holy Spirit will convict people of their sins through the law and pray the Gospel will mend that heart with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Pray for the safety of the evangelists as they travel in from several parts of the country and for their families they left behind.

Pray that God will be glorified in everything we say and do.

Thank you brothers and sisters!

Blog Spotlight

I would to spotlight a great devotional blog that my pastor maintains.

The name of the site is drgeorgeanderson

Brother George brings a daily Scripture verse followed by words of wisdom for the Christian walk.

Bro. George is a passionate Gospel preacher who unashamedly brings the Word of God each week verse by verse. His gift of exegeting the Scriptures and boldly proclaiming Christ is becoming far to rare (even here in the Bible belt) in todays world of 'tickling the ears' preaching.

Dawg

Dose of Ravenhill

Boy, that’s a dirty thing to preach these days. Who preaches repentance? There is an old hymn that says, Repentance is
"to leave the sins I’ve done before,
and show that I in earnest grieve,
by doing them no more."

Repentance is more than saying, "I’m sorry." Repentance is mental. It’s something in my mind, I’m going this way and I turn that way.
When I’m going this way I’m saying,
"God is in the wrong and I am in the right."
When I turn around I say,
"God is in the right, if He sends me to hell He is in the right."

That is repentance. It’s not just repenting for the sin I’ve done, it’s repenting about the motive that made me do the sin. It’s going past the fruit to the root because if the root of corruption is there, there is going to be fruit coming out that is wrong.

Leonard Ravenhill

Origin into schools

Deeper!

I'm sure I won't be posting anything until at least Sunday. My oldest son and I will be heading down to Woodstock, Georgia to attend the Deeper conference tomorrow morning.

The conference itself will be awesome, but what I am really looking forward to is participating in the 500.

About 500 street preachers and evangelists will head down to Atlanta after the Saturday conference to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the masses. I will be on team #1 which will be stationed at the 'Four Corners' area that includes the Hard Rock Cafe and Hooters.

Please be in prayer for the 500. Pray that thousands will hear the Gospel and that God will save many for His glory.

Dawg

August 18th Town Hall meeting with U.S. Rep Brian Baird

Quote of the Day

Christ uncrowned Himself--to crown us!
He put off His robes--to put on our rags!
He came down from heaven--to keep us out of hell!
He fasted forty days--that He might feast us to all eternity!
He came from heaven to earth--that He might send us from earth to heaven!

There is no going to the fair haven of glory--without
sailing through the narrow strait of repentance.

~ William Dyer

The Cross of Christ

One of my greatest burdens is that the Cross of Christ is rarely explained. It is not enough to say that “He died” - for all men die. It is not enough to say that “He died a noble death” - for martyrs do the same.

We must understand that we have not fully proclaimed the death of Christ with saving power until we have cleared away the confusion that surrounds it and expounded its true meaning to our hearers - He died bearing the transgressions of His people and suffering the divine penalty for their sins: He was forsaken of God and crushed under the wrath of God in their place.

Paul Washer

What churchmen ought to be about.

I simply argue that the cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town’s garbage heap; at a crossroad, so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek...at the kind of a place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died for. And that is what He died about. That is where church-men ought to be and what churchmen ought to be about.

George MacLeod

Feeling strong in Christ!

Adoniram Judson (1788–1850), missionary to Burma, was privileged to see hundreds converted to Christ. Broken in health, he died while making a voyage to the Isle of Bourbon. Before he breathed his last, he said to those around him onboard the ship:

“I go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school, I feel so strong in Christ.”

So much for kindness

From Todd Friel at Wretched Radio

William Tyndale was firmly tied to the stake. The kindling was piled high. The match was about to be struck. Suddenly, as an act of kindness, the executioner approached Tyndale from the rear and graciously strangled him to death with a chain. Or so I thought.

William Tyndale was an English Roman Catholic priest whose passion was to see the Bible translated into the language of the people. The Catholic Church and King Henry VIII disagreed. They believed that only the priests should have access to Scripture. When a Catholic priest warned Tyndale to stop his endeavor to translate the Bible, Tyndale fired, "I will make it possible for a boy behind the plow to know more Scripture than you do."

Threatened with death, he fled England and lived incognito in Europe until a friend betrayed him and Tyndale found himself in a dank prison in Vilvorde prison in Brussels, Belgium.

I stood in the place where Tyndale was lit on fire for his "heretical" views. I was told it was an act of kindness that he was strangled before the flames melted him. I was told wrong.

It was not uncommon that when a great reformer was to be set ablaze, they would preach, pray and sing so fervently, that many souls were saved before the flames silenced their message. That is why Tyndale was strangled to death. Not to keep him from pain, but to keep people from hearing the Gospel. Tyndale's last words were, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." God granted that prayer. Henry VIII had a change of heart and ordered that the Bible be translated into the language of the people.

Whose translation did they use?

You guessed it: Tyndale's.

William Tyndale became a human torch so you and I could have the words of life. Are you and I willing to die like Tyndale so others can hear it?

Dose of Ravenhill

After the Athenian clash on Mars’ Hill, Paul poured contempt on the wisdom of this world, dying daily to the temptation to outwit and out-think the wise. His task was not that of getting over a viewpoint, but of overcoming the legions of hell!

Leonard Ravenhill