Wednesday, November 30, 2011
This Christmas.
Christmas is coming soon. To be exact, Christmas is coming in precisely 25 days. This Christmas, let us remember our need for our Saviour; let us remember why Jesus had to come in the flesh, and hopefully grow to cherish and love Jesus Christ - to the point where we would want to share the real reason for the season with everyone possible.
Here are 3 sermons by John Piper, that helped me to remember. They might take awhile to listen to completely, but it is worth the time.
Why We Need a Saviour: Dead in Sins
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/why-we-need-a-savior-dead-in-sins
Why We Need a Saviour: Captive to an Alien Power, by Nature Children of Wrath
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/why-we-need-a-savior-captive-to-an-alien-power-by-nature-children-of-wrath
But God...
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/but-god
I hope listening to these sermons will stir up a passion within you for Jesus Christ, and lead you to use this season fully.
Remembering Christ, Seb.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Sanctification
Friday, September 9, 2011
I want to be in the light
This is "In the Light" by DC Talk. I am personally fond of this song for a few reasons:
- It hints that there is a fundamental problem with man.
- It does not keep dwelling on the fact that there is a problem. Instead, it goes on to say how this "confirms my suspicions: that I am still a man in need of a Saviour."
- It admits that the solution does not lie with "me", or that I can do anything about the problem at all.
- It suggests that the solution is in the "Lord" being "our light and our salvation".
- It is as much a declaration as it is a prayer of my heart's desire: to be in the light.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Reading & Thinking
Sunday, May 15, 2011
A Christian marriage is a beautiful one.
A little something from desiringgod.org on the topic of biblical man-/husband-hood, that made me realise that Christian marriages are so beautiful, and helped me understand why without Christ, a marriage simply cannot work.
Jesus—The Pattern for Manhood
The reason I am using the title “Lionhearted and Lamblike” to refer to the Christian husband as head of his wife is because the husband is called to lead like Jesus who is the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5) and the Lamb of God (Revelation 5:6)—he was lionhearted and lamblike, strong and meek, tough and tender, aggressive and responsive, bold and brokenhearted. He sets the pattern for manhood.
But it may not yet be crystal clear to some that the concept of headship involves leadership as its main meaning. That is what I think is the case. The key verse on headship here is Ephesians 5:23: “The husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.” So the husband is to take his unique cues in marriage from Christ in his relationship to his church. I take that to mean that the husband bears a unique responsibility for leadership in the marriage
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3. Leadership in Spiritual Protection
The spiritual dangers that beset the family today are innumerable and subtle. We need valiant warriors like never before. Not with spears and shields, but with biblical discernment and courage. First, husbands, pray for your family everyday, “Lead them not into temptation but deliver them from evil.” Fight for them in prayer against the devil and the world and the flesh. Pray the prayers of the Bible for them. Don’t grow weary. God hears and answers prayer for our wives and children.
Set standards for your wife and children. Work them through with your wife. Remember the path of leadership here is primary responsibility, not sole responsibility. Wives are eager to help here, but what frustrates them is when we don’t take any initiative and they are left to try to determine and enforce the standards alone. Take the initiative in thinking through what will be allowed on TV. What movies you and the children will go to. What music will be listened to. And how low your daughter’s necklines will be. I am tempted to preach a whole message on the relationship between dads and the way their daughters dress. Yes, mom is the key player here in helping a young woman learn the meaning of modesty and beauty. But dad’s role for both of them is indispensable both in celebrating what they look like and telling them when the way they dress means what they don’t think it means. Dads, you know exactly what I mean. What you need here is courage. Don’t be afraid here. This is your daughter, and she must hear from you what she is saying to men with her clothes.
One other example of leadership in spiritual protection: Paul says in Ephesians 4:26-27, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” In other words, one wide open door to the devil in your house is unresolved anger as you go to bed. In the children and in the marriage. Leadership means we must take the lead in reconciliation.
I don’t mean that wives should never say they are sorry. But in the relation between Christ and his church, who took the initiative to make all things new? Who left the comfort and security of his throne of justice to put mercy to work at Calvary? Who came back to Peter first after three denials? Who has returned to you again and again forgiving you and offering his fellowship afresh? So husbands, your headship means: Go ahead. Take the lead. It does not matter if it is her fault. That didn’t stop Christ. Who will break the icy silence first? Who will choke out the words, “I’m sorry, I want it to be better”? Or: “Can we talk? I’d like things to be better.” She might beat you to it. That’s okay. But woe to you if you think that, since it’s her fault, she’s obliged to say the first reconciling word. Headship is not easy. It is the hardest, most humbling work in the world. Protect your family. Strive, as much as it lies within you, to make peace before the sun goes down.
4. Leadership in Physical Protection
This is too obvious to need illustration—I wish. If there is a sound downstairs during the night and it might be a burglar, you don’t say to her: This is an egalitarian marriage, so it’s your turn to go check it out. I went last time.” And I mean that even if your wife has a black belt in karate. After you’ve tried, she may finish off the burglar with one good kick to the solar plexus. But you better be unconscious on the floor, or you’re no man. That’s written on your soul, brother, by God Almighty. Big or little, strong or weak, night or day, you go up against the enemy first. Woe to the husband—and woe to the nation—that send their women to fight their battles.
For God’s Glory and Our Good
When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and God came to call them to account, it didn’t matter that Eve had sinned first. God said, “Adam, where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). That’s God’s word to the family today: Adam, husband, father, where are you? If something is not working right at your house and Jesus comes knocking on the door, he may have an issue with your wife, but the first thing he’s going to say when she opens the door is, “Is the man of the house home?”
When a man joyfully bears the primary God-given responsibility for Christ-like, servant leadership and provision and protection in the home—for the spiritual well-being of the family, for the discipline and education of the children, for the stewardship of money, for holding of a steady job, for the healing of discord—I have never met a wife who is sorry she married such a man. Because when God designs a thing (like marriage), he designs it for his glory and our good.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/lionhearted-and-lamblike-the-christian-husband-as-head-part-2