From John Piper

Putting My Daughter to Bed Two Hours After the Bridge CollapsedAugust 1, 2007 By: John Piper Category: Written Posts by John Piper, Current Events

At about 6 PM tonight the bridge of Interstate 35W over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed. I am writing this about three hours after the bridge fell. The bridge is located within sight of Bethlehem Baptist Church. Most of us who minister at the church cross this bridge several times a week. At this point I don’t know if any staff was on the bridge. Desiring God offices are about a mile from the bridge.

There are no firm facts at this point about the total number of injuries and fatalities. When we crossed the bridge Tuesday on our way out of town, there was extensive repair work happening on the surface of the bridge with single lane traffic. One speculates about the unusual stresses on the bridge with jackhammers and other surface replacement equipment. This was the fortieth anniversary of the bridge.

Tonight for our family devotions our appointed reading was Luke 13:1-9. It was not my choice. This is surely no coincidence. O that all of the Twin Cities, in shock at this major calamity, would hear what Jesus has to say about it from Luke 13:1-5. People came to Jesus with heart-wrenching news about the slaughter of worshipers by Pilate.

Here is what he said.

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Jesus implies that those who brought him this news thought he would say that those who died, deserved to die, and that those who didn’t die did not deserve to die. That is not what he said. He said, everyone deserves to die. And if you and I don’t repent, we too will perish. This is a stunning response. It only makes sense from a view of reality that is radically oriented on God.
All of us have sinned against God, not just against man. This is an outrage ten thousand times worse than the collapse of the 35W bridge. That any human is breathing at this minute on this planet is sheer mercy from God. God makes the sun rise and the rain fall on those who do not treasure him above all else. He causes the heart to beat and the lungs to work for millions of people who deserve his wrath. This is a view of reality that desperately needs to be taught in our churches, so that we are prepared for the calamities of the world.

The meaning of the collapse of this bridge is that John Piper is a sinner and should repent or forfeit his life forever. That means I should turn from the silly preoccupations of my life and focus my mind’s attention and my heart’s affection on God and embrace Jesus Christ as my only hope for the forgiveness of my sins and for the hope of eternal life. That is God’s message in the collapse of this bridge. That is his most merciful message: there is still time to turn from sin and unbelief and destruction for those of us who live. If we could see the eternal calamity from which he is offering escape we would hear this as the most precious message in the world.

We prayed during our family devotions. Talitha (11 years old) and Noel and I prayed earnestly for the families affected by the calamity and for the others in our city. Talitha prayed “Please don’t let anyone blame God for this but give thanks that they were saved.” When I sat on her bed and tucked her in and blessed her and sang over her a few minutes ago, I said, “You know, Talitha, that was a good prayer, because when people ‘blame’ God for something, they are angry with him, and they are saying that he has done something wrong. That’s what “blame” means: accuse somebody of wrongdoing. But you and I know that God did not do anything wrong. God always does what is wise. And you and I know that God could have held up that bridge with one hand.” Talitha said, “With his pinky.” “Yes,” I said, “with his pinky. Which means that God had a purpose for not holding up that bridge, knowing all that would happen, and he is infinitely wise in all that he wills.”

Talitha said, “Maybe he let it fall because he wanted all the people of Minneapolis to fear him.” “Yes, Talitha,” I said, “I am sure that is one of the reasons God let the bridge fall.”

I sang to her the song I always sing,

Come rest your head and nestle gentlyAnd do not fear the dark of night.Almighty God keeps watch intently,And guards your life with all his might.Doubt not his love, nor power to keep,He never fails, nor does he sleep.

I said, “You know, Talitha, that is true whether you die in a bridge collapse, or in a car accident, or from cancer, or terrorism, or old age. God always keeps you, even when you die. So you don’t need to be afraid, do you.” “No,” she shook her head. I leaned down and kissed her. “Good night. I love you.”

Tonight across the Twin Cities families are wondering if they will ever kiss a loved one good night again. Some will not. I am praying that they will find Jesus Christ to be their Rock and Refuge in these agonizing hours of uncertainty and even loss.

The word “bridge” does not occur in the Bible. There may be two reasons. One is that God doesn’t build bridges, he divides seas. The other is that usually his people must pass through the deadly currents of suffering and death, not simply ride over them. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (Isaiah 43:2).

They may drown you. But I will be with you in life and death.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life . . .
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-38)

Killed all day long. But not separated from Christ. We go through the river. Not over it. He went before us, crucified. He came out on the other side. He knows the way through. With him we will make it. That is the message we have for the precious sinners in the Twin Cities. He died for your sins. He rose again. He saves all who trust him. We die, but because of him, we do not die.
Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25)

Talitha is sleeping now. But one day she will die.

I teach her this. I will not always be there to bless her. But Jesus is alive and is the same yesterday today and forever. He will be with her because she trusts him. And she will make it through the river.

Weeping with those who weep, and those who should,
Pastor John

Psalm 71:20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again.

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/745_putting_my_daughter_to_bed_two_hours_after_the_bridge_collapsed/

He Grabbed the Horns

He Grabbed the Horns! - By Ray Comfort

Recently, Kirk Cameron and I finished a shoot for the third season of our television program. It was called, "Where Has the Passion Gone?" and looked at why we have lost passion in our preaching. The teaching is based on a portion of Scripture where King Saul threatened to cut a yoke of oxen in pieces. As we spoke, we stood behind a small bull that had a big hump on its back, and long horns on its head.

When the filming was over, for some reason, I asked the cowboy who was holding the animal if it could be ridden. Moments later, I quietly slipped onto its back. Suddenly the bull took off, and I instinctively grabbed the horns. The "ride" only lasted for a few seconds, but it was caught on camera. Both Kirk and I were still wired up for sound, and the amusing thing about the clip isn't me on a bull, but that Kirk was incredulous at what he had just seen. He kept saying, "He grabbed the horns! He grabbed the horns!" He said it four times.

My justification for taking the bull by the horns was that I had no choice. There was no rope around the beast's belly for me to grab, and the only other choice was its ears, and I'm not that stupid. Sure.

If you do an Internet search on the ten top fears of humanity, the odds are you won't find that bull-riding is up there. You will instead find fears of scientists regarding the changing climate, the top ten fears of salespeople, fears of job seekers, fears people have of the future, the fear of snakes, of spiders, heights, etc.

But there is one fear of which little is said. It is the "fear of man." There is one terrifying beast that is synonymous with that particular trepidation. It's called "evangelophobia." Just the thought of seeking the lost terrifies most of us. It makes our palms sweat, and our heart palpitate. If you have those symptoms, you are not alone.

Why did I (an intelligent clear-thinking human being) get onto the back of a bull? It was because I had been standing with it for about 30 minutes and I knew that I had some sort of authority over it. Strong though it was, when it got spooked a couple of times during filming, I was able to pull it back into position. So when I got onto the animal, I had that knowledge tucked into my mind. Of course, I could have been gored by its horns, but I didn't think too deeply about it, because if I wanted to ride the bull, I had to take the risk.

Okay, let's study the beast of evangelism. Let's see if you can master it. What are your fears? Are you afraid of being gored by an atheist, or being thrown by some question, and ending up bruised and humiliated? Here then is some knowledge for you to tuck into your mind. You can get on top of the animal. If you learn to do what Jesus did, and address the sinner's conscience, you will be in charge and steer the beast any way you want. To learn how to do this, you can either listen to free CD's on wwwlivingwaters.com or you can get the book, The Way of the Master.

While overcoming evangelophobia will give you a deep satisfaction, there is a far higher motive for doing so. People are going to Hell, and they must be warned. If there was no Hell, I wouldn't bother pouring my heart out to strangers I meet, and each Saturday afternoon passionately preaching open air at the base of the Huntington Beach pier. If there was no Hell, like the rest of this world, I would get on with my own life and the pursuit of happiness.

In our program script Kirk and I talk about the fact that the world speaks more about Hell than the Church. They casually use phrases like all Hell broke loose, like a bat out of Hell, there will be Hell to pay, just for the Hell of it, and someone being as mad as a Hell. When something is hopeless, they say, he doesn't have a hope in Hell. Then there's the road to Hell, which is paved with good intentions, come Hell or high water, until Hell freezes over. They casually speak of how sure Hell is, with as sure as Hell, and of course, when they are angry, they tell each other to go to Hell.

In contrast, most of the contemporary Church (which is commanded to "warn" every man) is afraid to even mention the word, for fear of offending the world.

Think about the rich man of whom Jesus spoke. Much to his horror, he died and found himself in Hell, and being in torments and anguish of soul he pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus to speak to his loved ones--"that he may testify to them, lest they come to this place of torment," (Luke 16:28). Imagine if Lazarus did actually go to the rich man's loved ones in answer to the rich man's prayer, but instead of warning them about the reality of a terrifying Hell, he avoided the subject and spoke of the purpose of the coming Savior as being one, not to save from wrath, but to give purpose, peace, love and fulfillment. What a terrible betrayal! Yet that's the message of most within the Church, and the result is that its hearers don't therefore repent to flee from wrath. That means that they will be false converts and end up going to Hell themselves.

Of late, in an effort to help awaken casual sinners, I have resorted to asking if they like it when their dentist's drill hits a raw nerve. No one does. I tell them that God is so angry at sin, He says that He will give them "tribulation and anguish," (Romans 2:9) forever. "Anguish" is a word we rarely use. The dentist's drill hitting a raw nerve is called "acute pain." It's not up there with "anguish." Forgive the dreadful analogy, but "anguish" is perhaps the word that would be used to describe the emotion of a loving parent who finds his beloved little daughter lying dead at the bottom of a swimming pool.

We live in an insane world. God offers them everlasting life through the Gospel, and they argue about it. They resist Heaven as though it was Hell itself. He offers them "pleasure forevermore," and they choose "anguish" for eternity. There is no analogy to describe such insanity. But if we love them, we must overcome our fears and plead with a sin-loving world to repent and turn to the Savior. If you call yourself a Christian... if the love of God dwells within you, you have no choice. Please, while there is still time--take a risk, and grab the bull by the horns.

Which is worse?

Killing babies in the womb or dog fighting?


It seems all the attention these days is on Michael Vick and his dog fighting indictments. Protesters by the hundreds are lined up outside the courthouse to voice their outrage over Vick on his monstrous evil inhumane sport of fighting dogs.


Is fighting dogs monstrous, evil and inhumane? Yup, you bet it is. If Vick is found guilty he should serve the max the law will permit.


But I'm almost willing to bet the mortgage (if I was a betting man) that the majority of the folks who are beside themselves over this practice of fighting dogs are the same ones who say its a 'womans right to choose' to murder her baby.


Where are our priorities folks??



God help us.

Soldiers of the Cross, Be Bold

From Mark Cahill -

“ Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life;that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. ” 2 Timothy 2:3,4

Soldiers of the Cross, Be Bold

As I write this, there was just an ambush in Iraq where numerous soldiers were killed and three soldiers were kidnapped. They have now sent out over 4000 soldiers to try and locate these three soldiers. The soldiers know that time is of the essence. They know what happens when you get kidnapped by the enemy. Being used for propaganda is possible. Torture is possible. Death is possible. Death by beheading is possible.Soldiers know that training is one thing, but being on the front lines is a whole other ballgame. That is when it gets the most serious and where all your training comes into play. I have met soldiers and pilots who wanted to be on the front lines and not back home, because they wanted to put all their training to use. They wanted to protect our country, and they wanted to be there with their friends protecting each other.

Now let’s ask ourselves a question. Do we as Christians want to be on the front lines, or do we want to be back “home” so to speak? Would we rather spend our time in the bar sections of our towns reaching the lost, or back at our churches hearing a sermon? Would we rather be on a college campus discussing eternal truth with students and professors, or would we rather be hanging out with another Christian at their house having “fellowship”?As a good soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ, we should want to be on the front lines. We should want to be out there reaching the lost. But there is danger on the front line. That is where you can be laughed at. That is where you can be mocked. That is where a co-worker might see you. That is where you can be spit at. That is where you can be arrested. But truthfully, that is where the excitement is. Soldiers will say the same thing. Training is one thing, but the adrenalin picks up a ton when you are right there with the enemy. And, by the way, you can’t be afraid of the enemy. You have to attack the enemy in order to win.Below are the lyrics to the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers.” Enjoy, and be challenged.

Onward Christian soldiers! Marching as to war,With the cross of Jesus, Going on before,Christ the royal Master, Leads against the foe;Forward into battle, See His banners go!Like a mighty army, Moves the Church of God;Brothers, we are treading, Where the saints have trod;We are not divided, All one body we,One in hope and doctrine, One in charity.Crowns and thrones may perish, Kingdoms rise and wane,But the Church of Jesus, constant will remain;Gates of hell can never, 'gainst that Church prevail;We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.Onward, then, ye people, Join our happy throng.Blend with ours your voices In the triumph song;Glory, laud, and honor, Unto Christ the King;This through countless ages, Men and angels sing.

I wonder if many of us can even utter a song like that. We are so comfortable in our current state of Christianity even as the world dies and goes to hell. How will I ever be able to look the bold saints of God in the eye when I won’t even get on the front lines where I live?

Isaiah 51:12 says,

“ I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; ”

We do not need to fear man as we serve the Lord. All the men that we are afraid of will die. They will go to the grave. They will have a one-on-one meeting with God. We do not need to fear men, but have a righteous fear of God. Make sure this is the boldest summer you have had yet in reaching the lost. We hopefully have our training from our churches, and now it is time to get on the front lines in your town wherever lost people are. Pray for our soldiers that are on the front lines. And if they can be on the front lines this summer in a war, so can we be on the front lines as a good soldier of Jesus Christ!

Until the nets are full,

Mark Cahill

13 Evangelistic Phrases that Produce False Converts

13 Evangelistic Phrases That Produce False Conversions, by Todd Friel

Churches divide over carpet color, building additions and budgets. In the meantime, our fellow church members are going to hell by the boat load.

A.W. Tozer said, “It is my opinion that tens of thousands of people, if not millions, have been brought into some kind of religious experience by accepting Christ, and they have not been saved.”

D. James Kennedy said, “The vast majority of people who are members of churches in America today are not Christians. I say that without the slightest contradiction. I base it on empirical evidence of twenty-four years of examining thousands of people.”

Friend, we argue over so many petty things. May I suggest we have lost sight of the most important debate of all, “What is salvation?” My theology teaches that salvation happens when a man repents and places his trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).

I would like to present thirteen ways that we have re-defined how a person becomes a true convert. Have we done this intentionally? Certainly not. We have simply created lingo that has a grain of truth in Scripture, but it is so open to interpretation that the un-converted understand it in ways that lead to false conversions.

1. Make Jesus your Lord and Savior. We cannot make Jesus our Lord and Savior, He is our Lord and Savior. We are living in rebellion to Him and He commands us to repent and trust Him.

2. Ask Jesus into your heart. Does Jesus come into our hearts? Yes He does. The question is, “How does He get in there?” It is not by simply asking Him in; it is by repentance and faith.

3. Just believe in Jesus. The demons believe and they tremble. We must repent and trust.

4. You have a God-shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it. We have far more than a hole that needs to be filled so we can feel complete; we have a wretched, deceitful, sinful heart that needs cleansing. Repentance and faith applies the blood of the lamb for that cleansing.

5. Accept Jesus. Whoa. We need to accept Jesus? This is entirely backward. We need Jesus to accept us–and He will, if we repent and trust.

6. Make a decision for Jesus. Decisional regeneration puts man in the driver’s seat of salvation. When we repent and trust, Jesus decides to save us. That puts Him in the driver’s seat…where He demands.

7. It is easy to believe. While the formula of repentance and faith sounds simple, a complete surrendering of self in repentance is anything but easy. It’s hard.

8. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. The only promises for the convert are trials, temptation and persecution. If that is how you define a wonderful life, fine. Otherwise we must command all men everywhere to repent and trust.

9. Come to Jesus just as you are. We should come to Jesus just as the sinners we are, but He also expects a broken heart and contrite spirit demonstrated in repentance and faith.

10. Come to Jesus and you will receive forgiveness of sins and ________________ (fill in the blank with money, health, a healed marriage). Jesus didn’t promise healed marriages; in fact He promised broken homes because we would divide when one member repents and trusts.

11. Come to Jesus and experience love, joy, peace. Do we get the fruit of the Spirit upon conversion? Yes. But if we come seeking the gifts and not the giver, we will receive neither. Instead, we must repent and trust.

12. Jesus is the missing piece. Um, no, the God of the universe is not the missing piece, He demands that He is the center of our lives when we repent and trust.

13. Jesus is better than fame and fortune. That is an understatement, and frankly, it is insulting. Saying Jesus is better than money is like saying that a steak dinner is better than eating a dung hill. He defies comparison and we trivialize the Son of God. Instead, we should be pleading with all men everywhere to repent and trust.

If I showed up at your door with a can of grapefruit juice and a roll of paper towels and offered to change your oil, you would say, “No thanks.” If we wouldn’t let someone mess with our car using the wrong method, why do we allow the Gospel to be presented so ambiguously?
Would you let a doctor operate on your child who was “sort of” accurate? The salvation of men is far more important than an appendix.

I beg you to consider how you share the Gospel. You and I know what we are talking about when we use these phrases, but do the unregenerate? Is it possible that we have so many backsliders today because they never slid forward in the first place?

Is it because they were never told that they must repent and trust?

If we are willing to debate shag verse plush in the fellowship hall, shouldn’t we be more concerned about an issue that has eternal consequences?