Sunday, July 30, 2006 

In Prayer

O Lord,

In prayer I launch far out into the eternal world,

and on that broad ocean my soul triumphs

over all evils on the shores of mortality.

Time, with its gay amusements and cruel

disappointments, never appears so inconsiderate as then.

In prayer I see myself as nothing;

I find my heart going after thee with intensity,

and long with vehement thirst to live to thee.

Blessed be the strong gales of the Spirit

that speed me on my way to the New Jerusalem.

In prayer all things here below vanish,

and nothing seems important

but holiness of heart and the salvation of others.

In prayer all my worldly cares, fears, anxieties disappear,

and are of as little significance as a puff of wind.

In prayer my soul inwardly exults with lively

thoughts at what thou art doing for thy church,

and I long that thou shouldest get thyself a great

name from sinners returning to Zion.

In prayer I am lifted above the frowns and flatteries of life,

and taste heavenly joys;

entering into the eternal world

I can give myself to thee with all my heart,

to be thine for ever.

In prayer I can place all my concerns in thy hands,

to be entirely at thy disposal,

having no will or interest of my own.

In prayer I can intercede for my friends, ministers,

sinners, the church, thy kingdom to come,

with greatest freedom, ardent hopes,

as a son to his father,

as a lover to the beloved.

Help me to be all prayer

and never to cease praying.

–From The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. Ed. Arthur Bennett. (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1975), p. 146.


6:26 p.m. | |

Monday, July 17, 2006 

Augustus Toplady

Yesterday at my church, Grace Fellowship Church (http://gfcto.com) we had an Augustus Toplady night, in which we sang some great hymns written by Toplady. I always enjoys the words of great divines of the past. Unlike some of the songs written and sung today, which can be fluffy, feel-good and somewhat man centered (see previous post, Lend me your brains..song lyrics!) many of the great hynms are full and rich of scripture and tell us of many great theological truths. One of my favorite hymns of Toplady's is, O Fount of Never-Ceasing Grace. Here is another hymn of Toplady's called A Hymn of Soveriegn Grace.

Formed for thyself, and turned to thee,
Thy praises, Lord , I show;
No more, with sacrilegious pride,
I rob thee of thy due.

Divested of my fancied plumes,
I throw me at thy feet;
Nor, as a debt, thy favour claim,
But, as an alms, intreat.

Repentance, holiness, and faith.
By which to thee we live,
Are not conditions we perform,
But graces we receive.

Thy Spirit does not offer life,
But raises from the dead;
And neither asks the sinner's leave,
Nor needs the sinner's aid.

Thy power, before the fruit is good,
Must first renew the tree;
We rise, and work the works of God,
When wrought upon by thee.

Each grace of our celestial birth
From thy blest influence springs;
Which plants, and nourishes, and guards,
And to perfection brings.

Gardens of thine, enclosed and sealed,
Thou all our works hast wrought;
And wilt eternal peace ordain
For those thy blood hath bought.

Had not thy love laid hold on us,
We has not loved thee now;
Possess us quite, thou God of grace,
To whom our all we owe!


Soli Deo Gloria

7:33 a.m. | |

Thursday, July 13, 2006 

Long Have I Pondered the cross....

Long Have I Pondered

Long have I pondered the pain of the cross:
Wood soaked in blood, washed with tears,
drenched in sweat.
Whips, cruel nails, crown of thorns, countless cost:
Somehow this death is both promise and threat.
Cascades of suff’ring and love shrink my pride:
Silent I’m hushed by his spear-riven side.

Long have I pondered the shame of the cross:
Jeered by the troops, by authorities scorned.
Mocked by a brigand, society’s dross —
Christ is abandoned, rejected, ignored.
How can I focus on triumphs and things?
Here writhes my Maker, Redeemer and King.

Long have I pondered the curse of the cross:
Sinless, the Christ bears my guilt and my pain.
Thundering silence, a measureless cost —
God in his heaven lets Christ cry in vain.
Now I can glimpse sin's bleak horror, and worse:
Christ dies and bears the unbearable curse.

Long have I pondered the Christ of the cross:
Gone is the boasting when I’m next to him.
Loving the rebel, redeeming the lost,
Jesus’ pure goodness exposes my sin.
Self is cut down by this triumph of grace:
Christ’s bloody cross is the hope of our race.

Lyrics by D.A. Carson, Music by Mark Hopper
Copyright 1999 Christway Media, Inc.

6:02 a.m. | |

 

Letters of John Newton

I (Ken) have almost finished a little book by Banner of Truth called Letters of John Newton, and thought I would share a few quotes from it. Some of these letters include subjects about Communion with God, The right use of the Law, Temptation, Controversy and many others which I found really helpful. This is an excellent book. The chapters are usually quite short(3-4 pages), which makes for easier reading if you don't have a lot of time. Here they are:

"Once more: Temptations, by giving us a painful sensibility of the weakness of our graces, and the strength of our inward corruptions, tend to mortify the evil principles of self-dependence and self-righteousness, which are so deeply rooted in our fallen nature; to make Christ, in all his relations, offices, and characters, more precious to us; and to convince us, that without him we can do nothing."
(pg. 97-98)

"Lastly, Faith is of daily use as a preservative from a compliance with the corrupt customs and maxims of the world. The believer, though IN the world, is not OF it: by faith he triumphs over its smiles and enticements; he sees that all that is in the world, suited to gratify the desires of the flesh or the eye, is not only to a avoided as sinful, but as incompatible with his best pleasures. He will mix with the world so far as is necessary, in the discharge of the duties of that station of life in which the providence of God has placed him, but no further. His leisure and inclinations are engaged in a different pursuit. They who fear the Lord are his chosen companions; and the blessings he derives from the word, and throne, and ordinances of grace, make him look upon the poor pleasures and amusements of those who live without God in the world with a mixture of disdain and and pity; and by faith he is proof against its frowns. He will obey God rather than man; he will "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but will rather reprove them." and if, upon this account, he should be despised and injuriously treated, whatever loss suffers in such a cause, he accounts his gain, and esteems such disgrace, his glory."
(pg. 87)

5:05 a.m. | |

Monday, July 10, 2006 

Where wrath and mercy meet...

Where justice and mercy charge towards each other and meet with a kiss.

Do you want to see Gods mercy...look to the Cross!!

Do you want to see Gods Wrath...look at the Cross!!

Come and see, come and see
Come and see the King of love
See the purple robe and crown of thorns he wears
Soldiers mock, rulers sneer
As he lifts the cruel cross
Lone and friendless now he climbs towards the hill

We worship at your feet
Where wrath and mercy meet
And a guilty world is washed
By love's pure stream
For us he was made sin
Oh, help me take it in
Deep wounds of love cry out 'Father, forgive'
I worship, I worship
The Lamb who was slain.

Come and weep, come and mourn
For your sin that pierced him there
So much deeper than the wounds of thorn and nail
All our pride, all our greed
All our fallenness and shame
And the Lord has laid the punishment on him

Man of heaven, born to earth
To restore us to your heaven
Here we bow in awe beneath
Your searching eyes
From your tears comes our joy
From your death our life shall spring
By your resurrection power we shall rise

by Graham Kendrick

-taken from a sermon on Ezekiel by D A Carson.

8:22 p.m. | |

About me

  • I'm TwinsK&D
  • From Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Oh, this is about us...um...well theres two of us and we're twins. We both attend Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Canada. We love Jesus Christ and long to be more like Him and to desire Him above all things!
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