Prayer - John Newton

Indeed, a person who lives in the exercise of faith and love, and who finds by experience that it is good for him to draw near to God, will not need to be told how often he must pray, any more than how often he must converse with an earthly friend. Those whom we love, we love to be much with. Love is the best casuist, and either resolves or prevents a thousand scruples and questions, which may perplex those who only serve God from principles of constraint and fear. A believer will account those his happiest days, when he has most leisure and most liberty of spirit for the exercise of prayer.

John Newton

Time to Pray!

We're doing the Truth Project at our home on Wednesday nights, and this week it was about the history of America. Part of Abraham Lincoln's proclamation was on there, and so I went searching for it. This is what we need to be hearing from our politicians!


By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.
And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward, Secretary of State

What's So Great About Christianity

I highly recommend “What’s So Great About Christianity” by Dinesh D’Souza. Writing a book concerning the defense of Christianity is not something necessarily easy to do, unless you ignore all of the serious objections to Christianity. D’Souza manages, though, to address these objections and give reasonable, well thought out answers. I’m sure this won’t satisfy those who refuse to open their eyes to the possibility of truth within Christianity. But to any who are seriously searching, this book provides an excellent tool. It will also help Christians who are struggling with either answering these questions for themselves, or have a hard time formulating the answers to others who are questioning, and need some help. He doesn’t just seek to answer questions, but to lead readers who aren’t Christians to a walk with Christ. It is, as he says, “an invitation to convert.”

The book opens with some extraordinary chapters concerning the rise and spread of religion in general and Christianity in particular. Instead of taking the rather pessimistic view of many Christians in America, he sees Christianity in a global light. Chapter one begins with this; “God has come back to life. The world is witnessing a huge explosion of religious conversion and growth, and Christianity is growing faster than any other religion. Nietzsche’s proclamation “God is dead” is now proven false. Nietzsche is dead. The ranks of the unbelievers are shrinking as a proportion of the world’s population. Secularism has lost its identification with progress and modernity, and consequently it has lost the main source of its appeal. God is very much alive, and His future prospects look to be excellent. This is the biggest comeback story of the twenty-first century.”

He then goes on to show how and why this is happening. A very encouraging start to this book. He goes on to show how the atheist is trying to defeat this rise in Christianity through different avenues, particularly in the area of education. So this is where a lot of the book is heading.

D’Souza defends creation a lot in this book, though the one thing I really didn’t care for in found in this area. While he is defending creation, it is in the realm of theistic evolution. While I agree with what he is trying to do, defend Christianity, and show that it doesn’t contradict science, I have a hard time with how he does it. There was a growing frustration in me as he continued down this line for quite some time, arguing rather vehemently about his ideas of God “creating” the process of evolution, in contradiction to the Biblical story of creation.

However, the book once again turned to areas that I appreciated the authors’ views, as he turned to the philosophical arguments against God, and once again showed them to be erroneous. Again and again through this book he takes what he views as the strongest arguments against God, and demonstrates why they are false, and once again God is shown to be truth. Because I am certainly less knowledgeable in the realm of philosophy, it did me well to read these chapters.

The last few chapters deal with the questions of suffering and the nature of man, which are dealt with well, though he leaves some questions unanswered that I felt could have been answered. He ends with a call to Christ, defending briefly His life, death and resurrection. He shows why one would desire Christianity at all.

All in all, a good book, and again, one I would recommend, with just a couple of reservations, already mentioned. I recommend it to Christians and non-Christians alike; any who are seeking truth. And since I’m recommending this book alongside Ravi Zacharias, I feel like I’m in good company!

Marriage Explained...?

Hopefully this isn't the impression that Carlee gets!


The child was a typical four-year-old girl - cute, inquisitive, bright as a new penny. When she expressed difficulty in grasping the concept of marriage, her father decided to pull out his wedding photo album, thinking visual images would help.

One page after another, he pointed out the bride arriving at the church, the entrance, the wedding ceremony, the recessional, the reception, etc.

"Now do you understand?" he asked.

"I think so," she said, "is that when mommy came to work for us?"

Our Savior King

"The Lord will not save those He cannot command. He will not divide His offices. You cannot believe on a half-Christ. We take Him for what He is – the anointed Savior and Lord who is King of kings and Lord of lords! He would not be Who He is if He saved us and called us and chose us without the understanding that He can also guide and control our lives." - A.W. Tozer

Hand painting

Had these sent to me by a friend. Actually, this is only a few. There were many more. I just picked some of my favorites, and thought I would share. Enjoy!

Madame Blueberry

My two year old has recently discovered Veggie Tales! This has led to some interesting times around the house, and a lot of humorous times as well. Her favorite at this point is Madame Blueberry, the story of a woman(?) who has all she needs, but is not content. So she goes to the Stuff Mart to attempt to buy happiness, only to discover that with all they have, they cannot sell her a “happy heart.” This all, despite the fact that she was told “Happiness waits at the Stuff Mart.”

The story is, of course, geared at being content with what we have, and not being greedy for more. Happiness comes from inside, not from outside.

As I was watching this with my daughter, I was struck by the fact that here is a lesson every Christian needs to learn, not just about life, but about church. Churches have become so commercialized that the real question when looking for a new church is often “what can they give me,” as opposed to “what can I give.” I know, I know, churches need to fulfill needs, but what is a need? Is it new carpet, more comfortable seats (our church just redid our pews!) or better availability in childcare?

I’m not saying these things aren’t nice, or even necessary in some occasions, but the fact is that we have become far too worried about people finding happiness than we are with people finding God. That is, after all, what church is supposed to be about, right?

I recently read “Fool’s Gold,” which was edited by John MacArthur. There were some good things in the book. One chapter in it was titled “Choking on Choices: Combating Consumerism with a Biblical Mind-Set.” In it Kurt Gebhards said this;

“Instead of shopping for a church that fits our criteria, our desire, as God’s servants, should be to find a ministry that meets His standards. The question should not be, ‘Are my expectations met?” but rather, ‘Are God’s expectations met?” In spite of the market-driven culture around us, we should work hard to root out the self-centered perspective that American materialism breeds. Ultimately we must each as ourselves, ‘As we come to God’s house, what weighs more heavily on our hearts—His expectations for sacrificial service and worship, or our own expectations for personal fulfillment?’”

We in America, and much of the Western world, need to take the time to examine our motivations for life; whether we’re talking about our walk with God, how we view church, our relationships, our jobs, and a bunch of other things. What a blessing it would be if we would all take some simple lessons from a kids cartoon to heart, learning to thank God for what we have, and not look out so much for our own desires, but to please God by loving others and living lives of worship.