Firm As His Throne His Promise Stands

I'm Not Ashamed to Own My Lord
Isaac Watts, 1674-1748

I’m not ashamed to own my Lord,
Or to defend His cause;
Maintain the honor of His Word,
The glory of His cross.

Jesus, my God! I know His Name,
His Name is all my trust;
Nor will He put my soul to shame,
Nor let my hope be lost.

Firm as His throne His promise stands,
And He can well secure
What I’ve committed to His hands
Till the decisive hour.

Then will He own my worthless name
Before His Father’s face,
And in the new Jerusalem
Appoint my soul a place.

Old Truth, New Effects

Richard Baxter, the renowned Puritan pastor, spoke of his own conversion in the following way:

The same things which I knew before came now in another manner, with Light,and Sense and Seriousness to my heart.

It seems to me that this ought to be the sentiment of most believers who grow up in a Christian home and who are brought up in a church that preaches the gospel. It's not so much that in conversion they are learning new truth as it is that the truth they know affects them in a new and profound way.

A Generation that Listens with Its Eyes and Thinks with Its Feelings

"We have lost our ability to reason....Very few are able to think clearly anymore. I have often said the challenge of the truth speaker today is this: How do you reach a generation that listens with its eyes and thinks with its feelings?"

--Ravi Zacharias, from an address at the United Nations' Prayer Breakfast, 2007

Justice Smiles And Asks No More

Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder
John Newton, 1725-1807

Let us love and sing and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior’s Name!
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder,
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame.
He has washed us with His blood,
He has brought us nigh to God.

Let us love the Lord Who bought us,
Pitied us when enemies,
Called us by His grace, and taught us,
Gave us ears and gave us eyes:
He has washed us with His blood,
He presents our souls to God.

Let us sing, though fierce temptation
Threaten hard to bear us down!
For the Lord, our strong Salvation,
Holds in view the conqueror’s crown:
He Who washed us with His blood
Soon will bring us home to God.

Let us wonder; grace and justice
Join and point to mercy’s store;
When through grace in Christ our trust is,
Justice smiles and asks no more:
He Who washed us with His blood
Has secured our way to God.

Let us praise, and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high;
Here they trusted Him before us,
Now their praises fill the sky:
“Thou hast washed us with Your blood;
Thou art worthy, Lamb of God!”

Hark! the Name of Jesus, sounded
Loud, from golden harps above!
Lord, we blush, and are confounded,
Faint our praises, cold our love!
Wash our souls and songs with blood,
For by Thee we come to God.

Task Force Appointed to Study Prospective Name Change for the Southern Baptist Convention

Bryant Wright, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, announced Monday evening the appointment of a presidential task force to study the prospect of changing the name of America's largest Protestant denomination. He had two primary reasons why the study could prove helpful:

First, the convention's name is so regional. With our focus on church planting, it is challenging in many parts of the country to lead churches to want to be part of a convention with such a regional name. Second, a name change could position us to maximize our effectiveness in reaching North America for Jesus Christ in the 21st century.

There are four main questions he wants the task force to consider:

1) Is it a good idea, that is, is there value in considering a name change?
2) If so, what would be a good name to suggest?
3) What would be the potential legal ramifications of a name change?
4) What would be the potential financial implications?

Click here for the full story from Baptist Press.

A website, Pray4SBC, has been created for people to submit their opinions and possible name changes.

But Thou Art Something Better

From "Purification" in The Valley of Vision:

O God, the Eternal All, help me to know that
all things are shadows, but Thou art substance,
all things are quicksands, but Thou art mountain,
all things are shifting, but Thou art anchor,
all things are ignorance, but Thou art wisdom.

The Mysterious Providence of God

God Moves in a Mysterious Way
William Cowper, 1731-1800

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

Timothy George Preaching at FBC

Dr. Timothy George, founding dean of Beeson Divinity School (of which I am an alumnus), will be preaching this Sunday, September 18, at First Baptist Church. Dr. George is not only an esteemed historian and theologian, he's also a gifted preacher of God's Word.

We'd love to have you as our guest this Sunday. So join us for morning worship at 9:00am.

Prayer Is Humility in Action

Prayer Pondered
© 2011, M. Justin Wainscott

The vivid verbs of prayer –
yearning, longing,
hungering, thirsting,
asking, seeking,
beseeching, pleading,
needing, crying out –
along with the emotive actions of prayer –
weeping, wailing,
kneeling, bowing,
silence, shouting,
beating our breast
and clinching our fists –
should teach us all a truth about prayer:
It is humility in action,
evidence of our inadequacy.
Prayer reveals our weakness,
but it magnifies God’s strength.
It is the most earnest expression
of our faith and dependence.
We are poor beggars, ‘tis true,
but riches untold are at our disposal.
So keep longing,
keep yearning,
keep trusting,
keep crying, child of God.
You’re not an orphan;
your Father hears you,
and He will answer.

KJV400: Legacy and Impact

The Ryan Center for Biblical Studies at Union University will be hosting KJV400: Legacy and Impact this Thursday-Saturday (Sept. 15-17), a festival celebrating the broad cultural impact of the King James Version of the Bible in honor of its 400th anniversary.

Plenary addresses will be delivered by three prominent scholars: Timothy George, Leland Ryken, and John Woodbridge. Breakout sessions will be led by Union faculty from a variety of disciplines, and there will be celebrations of music, film, art, Shakespearean play, and dramatic reading.

In addition to the addresses, breakout sessions, and artistic expressions, there will be a one-of-a-kind historic Bible display - one of the best in all of North America. This display will be open to the public for free on Thursday afternoon and Saturday afternoon.

For more information, click here.

No Drop Remains of All the Curse

Jesus, Whose Blood So Freely Streamed
William Cowper, 1731-1800

Jesus, whose blood so freely streamed
To satisfy the law’s demand;
By Thee from guilt and wrath redeemed,
Before the Father’s face I stand.

To reconcile offending man,
Make Justice drop her angry rod;
What creature could have formed the plan,
Or who fulfill it but a God?

No drop remains of all the curse,
For wretches who deserved the whole;
No arrows dipped in wrath to pierce
The guilty, but returning soul.

Peace by such means so dearly bought,
What rebel could have hoped to see?
Peace by his injured Sovereign wrought,
His Sovereign fastened to a tree.

Now, Lord, Thy feeble worm prepare!
For strife with earth and hell begins;
Conform and gird me for the war;
They hate the soul that hates his sins.

Let them in horrid league agree!
They may assault, they may distress;
But cannot quench Thy love to me,
Nor rob me of the Lord my peace.

The Pain of Loss

The Rejected Husband
Wendell Berry, Given: Poems

After the storm and the new
stillness of the snow, he returns
to the graveyard, as though
he might lift the white coverlet,
slip in beside her as he used to do,
and again feel, beneath his hand,
her flesh quicken and turn warm.
But he is not her husband now.
To participate in resurrection, one
first must be dead. And he goes
back into the whitened world, alive.

Keller on the Sacrifice of Parenting

Tim Keller on the sacrifice required by parenting (and the disastrous consequences for children whose parents do not make the sacrifice):

When you have children, they're in a state of dependency. They have so many needs; they can't stand on their own. And they will not just grow out of their dependence automatically. The only way your children will grow beyond their dependency into self-sufficient adults is for you to essentially abandon your own independence for twenty years or so. When they are young, for example, you've got to read to them and read to them - otherwise, they won't develop intellectually. Lots of their books will be boring to you. And you have to listen to your children, and keep listening as they say all kinds of things that make for less than scintillating conversation.

And then there's dressing, bathing, feeding, and teaching them to do these things for themselves. Furthermore, children need about five affirmations for every criticism they hear from you. Unless you sacrifice much of your freedom and good bit of your time, your children will not grow up healthy and equipped to function. Unfortunately, there are plenty of parents who just won't do it. They won't disrupt their lives that much; they won't pour themselves into their children. They won't make the sacrifice. And their kids grow up physically, but they're still children emotionally - needy, vulnerable, and dependent. Think about it this way: You can make the sacrifice, or they're going to make the sacrifice. It's them or you. Either you suffer temporarily and in a redemptive way, or they're going to suffer tragically, in a wasteful and destructive way. It's at least partly up to you.

Behold A Never-Failing Store

Lord, We Adore Thy Boundless Grace
Anne Steele, 1717-1778

Lord, we adore Thy boundless grace,
The heights and depths unknown,
Of pardon, life, and joy, and peace,
In Thy beloved Son.

O wondrous gifts of love divine,
Dear Source of every good;
Jesus, in Thee what glories shine!
How rich Thy flowing blood!

Come, all ye pining, hungry poor,
The Saviour’s bounty taste;
Behold a never-failing store
For every willing guest.

Here shall your numerous wants receive
A free, a full supply;
He has unmeasured bliss to give,
And joys that never die.