When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Resurrection Sunday has come and gone, yet I am still singing songs about the cross.  

This song in particular has captured me today, so I realized how beautifully fitting it would be to combine it with a few pictures I've taken the last couple of days. 

So few homes decorate with crosses, nails, and thorns during the Easter season.  

Mom and Aunt Faye have shared some of their collection of things so that I could make a small arrangement to display in my living room.  I'm soo very thankful!

Since I'm not ready to pack it away, I've realized how much more fitting it is to keep it before our eyes so we'll always remember! 

1 When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ, my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them through his blood.

3 See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all. 

Words: Isaac Watts, 1707

Click the link below to listen to a beautiful arrangement of this song, sung by Kathryn Scott... Enjoy! 

http://youtu.be/D-mKnY2HMXg

The Supremacy of Christ

"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!"

Abraham Kuyper

John Piper has this to share about The Supremacy of Christ, so please listen (transcript below).

Paul had this to say to the Church of Colossae...

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 

18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

21  And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 

23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Colossians 1, ESV

My prayer is that you will know, that you will press on to know the supremacy of Christ, the supremacy of his deity, equal with God the Father in all of his attributes, the radiance of his glory and the exact image of his nature, the supremacy of his eternality that makes the mind want to explode with the imponderable thought that Jesus Christ never had a beginning. He is simply there, absolute reality with which we reckon. We must rise to the supremacy of his eternality while all the universe including this building and your body and this earth and all the galaxies are fragile, contingent, like a shadow in comparison to the substance of Jesus Christ. 

We must know the supremacy of his never changing constancy. Oh, to have virtues that never change, a character whose commitment is constant yesterday, today and forever. Let us know the supremacy of his constancy and let us know the supremacy of his knowledge that makes the Library of Congress look like a matchbox and makes all the information on the internet look like a 1940s Farmer’s Almanac and makes all of quantum physics and everything that Stephen Hawking has ever dreamed look like a first grade reader. 

We must know the supremacy of the knowledge of our Lord. 

We must know the supremacy of his wisdom that has never been perplexed by any problem whatsoever nor can he be counseled by any person or any being in the universe. 

We must know the supremacy of his authority. All authority is mine in heaven and on earth and under the earth, no change. All authority. Changing times and seasons, removing kings, setting up kings, doing according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can stay his hand or say to him: What have you done? 

We must know the supremacy of his providence, without which not a single bird in the extended reaches of the Amazon forest has ever fallen off of any limb and without which not one hair turns white or black. 

We must know the providence of Jesus. 

We must know the supremacy of his Word which upholds the universe by the Word of his power. All the galaxies, molecules, atoms and sub atomic reality nobody has yet dreamed of down there where no one has yet looked. 

We must know the supremacy of his power to walk on water and cleanse lepers and heal the lame and open the eyes of the blind and open the ears of the deaf and cause storms to cease. And with two words to raise the dead: Lazarus, come forth. Or one word to raise the dead: In your blood I said to you: Live. 

We must know the supremacy of his power. 

We must know the supremacy of his purity. He never sinned He never sinned. He never had one millisecond of a bad attitude or a sinful lust. 

We must know the supremacy of his trustworthiness. He never breaks a promise. He always keeps his word absolutely without fail. 

We must know the supremacy of his justice. He will render all accounts settled in the end in the universe either on the cross or in hell. No injustice will remain when Christ is finished with this supreme justice. 

We must know the supremacy of his patience. He has endured you and me for decades. He has endured this city and brings the sun. Can you imagine why the sun rose on this city this morning, this wicked city, this world so full of us type sinners? And he makes paradise rise in the sky in Minneapolis. What kind of patience are we dealing with here? 

We must know the supremacy of his servant like sovereign obedience, kept every one of his Father’s commands, absolutely and in the end embraced the cross with total willingness. 

We must know the supremacy of his meekness and lowliness and tenderness. He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering flax. 

We must know the supremacy of his wrath. One day it will explode on this world from heaven such that all who have rejected him will call for rocks to crush their brain lest they have to face the wrath of the Lamb. 

We must know this. When I look at the beheadings and I hear someone ask: Where is your supreme Christ? My answer is really easy. He is in heaven storing up almighty wrath in fury to pour out on all those who commit such sins. That is where he is. And you better get right with him and repent or you will all likewise perish. It is not a hard question to answer biblically. 

We must know the supremacy of his grace which gives to the spiritual dead rebels like us life, wakens faith in hell bound haters of God, justifies the ungodly with his own righteousness. 

We must know the supremacy of his love, which dies for us while we are yet sinners and gives to the absolutely undeserving the ability of ever increasing joy in making much of him. 

And we must know the supremacy of his gladness in the fellowship of the trinity, infinite power, infinite energy, infinite joy rising, spilling over in the creation of a universe and becoming for you one day an inheritance for every struggling saint. 

We must know this is what we were made for. Press on to know the Lord. When you said last night, Al, if you are not reading substantial theology, how do you think you are fighting lust? Get the connection. We are made to know Christ. We are not made to do little diddly things. We are made to know this massive Christ. This world is little two seconds slice and then with him or not forever. It is what we are created to know and do and be about. And when we know him in those ways we have begun to know the outskirts of his supremacy for time would fail to speak of his supreme severity and invincibility and dignity and simplicity and complexity and resoluteness and calmness and depth and courage. If there is anything admirable, if there is anything worthy of praise in all the universe, it is summed up in Jesus Christ. 

He is always infinitely admirable in everything and over everything supreme, over all galaxies and endless reaches of space, over the earth from the top of Mount Everest 29,000 feet up to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, 36,000 feet down in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific rim. He is sovereign and supreme over all plants and animals from the peaceful blue whale to the microscopic killer viruses. He is supreme over all weather and all movements of the earth, hurricanes, tornadoes, monsoons, earthquakes, avalanches, floods, snow, rain, sleet. He is supreme over all chemical processes that heal or destroy, cancer, AIDS, malaria, flu and all the amazing grace of antibiotics and a thousand healing drugs that we do not deserve.

He is supreme over all countries and governments and armies. He is supreme over al Qaeda and the terrorists and the kidnappings and the suicide bombings and the beheadings. He is supreme over bin Laden and Al Zarqawi. He is supreme over all nuclear threats from Iran and Russia and North Korea. He is supreme over politics and elections and debates on Thursday. He is supreme over media and news and entertainment and sports and leisure. He is supreme over all education in universities no matter what they teach and he is supreme over all scholarship and science and research. He is supreme over all business and finance and industry and manufacturing and transportation and he is supreme over the internet and all informational systems.

As Abraham Kuyper, famously said—and many of you know: There is not one square inch on planet earth over which the risen Christ does not say: Mine and I rule it. I am supreme over it.

Photo credit:  Matthew, Neptune Beach; March25, 2016

Longing for Him

If we would fall out of love with all of our masked and painted lovers, then Christ would win and conquer to Himself a lodging in the inmost chamber of our heart. Then Christ would be our night-song and morning-song; then the very whisper of our Well-beloved's feet, when He comes, and His first knock or rap at the door, would be as news of two heavens to us. O that our eyes and our soul's smelling should go after a blasted and sunburnt flower, even this plastered, fair (on the outside) world: and as a result we have neither eye nor smell for the Flower of Jesse, for that Plant of renown, for Christ, the choicest, the fairest, the sweetest rose that ever God planted! Oh, let some of us die to smell the fragrance of Him; and let my part of this rotten world be forfeited and sold for ever, provided I may anchor my tottering soul upon Christ! I know that sometimes I murmur, "Lord, what will you have for Christ?" But, O Lord, can you be trifled with and propined with any gift for Christ? O Lord, can Christ be sold? Or rather, may not a poor needy sinner have Him for nothing?  If I can get no more, oh, let me be pained to all eternity, with longing for Him! The joy of hungering for Christ should be my heaven for evermore. 

Samuel Rutherford, 1637

The Sands of Time Are Sinking

We are learning a new hymn at our weekly Wednesday night Life Group Bible Study, and I absolutely LOVE it!!

I didn't grow up singing this hymn, but I learned of it a few years ago from reading one of Elisabeth Elliot's books.  The tune this hymn is most traditionally sung to is called Rutherford and it is very pretty.  

However, the tune we are learning to sing this hymn to was composed by Connie Dever in 2014, the same year she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.  WOW!  I wish I could hear her story behind this music composition.  She is known for writing music and curriculum for children. 

Please follow this link so you can listen to her beautiful arrangement...

I've numbered and bolded the verses below so you can follow and sing along with the the Media Player as you listen.  

Meanwhile, when you're able, read the words written by Ann Ross Cousin (1857), based on the letters of Samuel Rutherford. Public Domain. 

1. The sands of time are sinking, the dawn of Heaven breaks;

The summer morn I’ve sighed for—the fair, sweet morn awakes:

Dark, dark hath been the midnight, but dayspring is at hand,

And glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

3. O Christ, He is the fountain, the deep, sweet well of love!

The streams of earth I’ve tasted more deep I’ll drink above:

There to an ocean fullness His mercy doth expand,

And glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

Oh! Well it is forever, Oh! well forevermore,

My nest hung in no forest of all this death doomed shore:

Yea, let the vain world vanish, as from the ship the strand,

While glory—glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

There the Red Rose of Sharon unfolds its heartsome bloom

And fills the air of heaven with ravishing perfume:

Oh! To behold it blossom, while by its fragrance fanned

Where glory—glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

2. The King there in His beauty, without a veil is seen:

It were a well spent journey, though seven deaths lay between:

The Lamb with His fair army, doth on Mount Zion stand,

And glory—glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

Oft in yon sea beat prison My Lord and I held tryst,

For Anwoth was not heaven, and preaching was not Christ:

And aye, my murkiest storm cloud was by a rainbow spanned,

Caught from the glory dwelling in Immanuel’s land.

But that He built a Heaven of His surpassing love,

A little new Jerusalem, like to the one above,

“Lord take me over the water” hath been my loud demand,

Take me to my love’s own country, unto Immanuel’s land.

But flowers need nights cool darkness, the moonlight and the dew;

So Christ, from one who loved it, His shining oft withdrew:

And then, for cause of absence my troubled soul I scanned

But glory shadeless shineth in Immanuel’s land.

The little birds of Anwoth, I used to count them blessed,

Now, beside happier altars I go to build my nest:

Over these there broods no silence, no graves around them stand,

For glory, deathless, dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

Fair Anwoth by the Solway, to me thou still art dear,

Even from the verge of heaven, I drop for thee a tear.

Oh! If one soul from Anwoth meet me at God’s right hand,

My heaven will be two heavens, In Immanuel’s land.

I’ve wrestled on towards Heaven, against storm and wind and tide,

Now, like a weary traveler that leaneth on his guide,

Amid the shades of evening, while sinks life’s lingering sand,

I hail the glory dawning from Immanuel’s land.

Deep waters crossed life’s pathway, the hedge of thorns was sharp;

Now, these lie all behind me Oh! for a well tuned harp!

Oh! To join hallelujah with yon triumphant band,

Who sing where glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

4. With mercy and with judgment my web of time He wove,

And aye, the dews of sorrow were lustered with His love;

I’ll bless the hand that guided, I’ll bless the heart that planned

When throned where glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

Soon shall the cup of glory wash down earth’s bitterest woes,

Soon shall the desert briar break into Eden’s rose;

The curse shall change to blessing the name on earth that’s banned

Be graven on the white stone in Immanuel’s land.

5. O I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved’s mine!

He brings a poor vile sinner into His “house of wine.”

I stand upon His merit—I know no other stand,

Not even where glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

I shall sleep sound in Jesus, filled with His likeness rise,

To love and to adore Him, to see Him with these eyes:

’Tween me and resurrection but Paradise doth stand;

Then—then for glory dwelling in Immanuel’s land.

6. The Bride eyes not her garment, but her dear Bridegroom’s face;

I will not gaze at glory but on my King of grace.

Not at the crown He giveth but on His pierced hand;

The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel’s land.

I have borne scorn and hatred, I have borne wrong and shame,

Earth’s proud ones have reproached me for Christ’s thrice blessed Name:

Where God His seal set fairest they’ve stamped the foulest brand,

But judgment shines like noonday in Immanuel’s land.

They’ve summoned me before them, but there I may not come,

My Lord says “Come up hither,” My Lord says “Welcome home!”

My King, at His white throne, my presence doth command

Where glory—glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

I'm soo very thankful for our pastor and elders who choose hymns and praise songs that are rich and deep with meaningful, theological, and uplifting truths.

God's Sovereign Grace and Guidance

(Photo credit: SGBC website)

Tuesday, March 15, 2016 8:34 AM

Dear Larry,

It was a pleasure to meet you this past Sunday.
Thank you for showing an interest in our small congregation at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church.
I found your interest for coming to be very encouraging.  Thank you for being set apart to indulge an interest that is close to the heart of Mark and I, and especially to the hearts of our pastor and elders.

I am not sure if Mark shared the journey of our family with you or not, but I'll attempt to share a brief summary of it here.

We embarked on the path of seeking a church many years ago (2002) that would unify our family spiritually, and help equip us as parents to disciple our children.  We'd lost interest in the programs our church offered, unfortunately, because we found that having four children in different scripture memory programs, while they were each learning different hymns, became a challenge  for us.  It was easier with only two boys, but as our younger children came along and they were showing signs of being eager to memorize and sing, we began to wonder, "Wouldn't it be easier if the entire family were on the same page?"
Then as we began to see the Sunday morning, evening, and mid-week church programs interconnected in each grade, our children were being pulled in different directions, away from us as parents and towards their peers.  Our time together at church, esp'ly in the worship services, dwindled.  The children's award system became the focus and driving motivation for our children to attend church.
We were grieved, so we only knew to pray that we might consider how to steer our children back to a more unifying, biblical model of family worship and discipleship.
After much time in prayer, we uprooted our family from the only church our children knew, and sadly, from traditions we enjoyed and from our much loved extended family.  The grief was great, but our hearts were turned to our children, and we were confident if only for a season, we had to leave so our family could better learn the scriptural disciplines we longed for.
The Lord was soo very faithful to prove Himself to us during a long season of growth.  I liken that season to the wilderness journey the Israelites traveled to get to Canaan, the land God promised, where milk and honey flowed!  😊
I am grateful to say our family visited Sovereign Grace one Sunday in July, 2012. The Lord has helped us to maintain our children's hearts through the years, and He's also helped us to parent and grow spiritually together at SGBC.  Our journey has not been without trials and hardships, but I am thankful to say, we are still growing spiritually together.

We could not be more thankful for the personal interest our pastor and elders have taken in us!  We consider it a huge blessing to be lead personally and corporately in weekly Bible/discipleship studies.  Our spiritual leaders are our friends and counselors, and they have lead us well.  We could not be more grateful for a pastor and elders who love our congregation with scriptural responsibility.  They whet our appetites for God's word weekly, so we'll seek it more eagerly at home as a family.  Programs do not exist at SGBC to compete with the ultimate satisfaction we gain from sitting and learning to feast on God's Word! 
It wasn't long ago that one of our sons visited another church with a friend.  Honestly, we wondered whether he'd be tempted by the church's contemporary style of 'worship', music, and preaching.
Maybe you can imagine our JOY when he returned to tell us he likened his experience that morning to being fed cotton candy at a fair.  He walked away spiritually hungry and disappointed that they called that experience 'church'.

I share all this to encourage you to continue to labor in prayer and devotion for the families of your church.
Please know we will pray for you as you seek to be a faithful leader and disciple of the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep!

Please consider returning to Sovereign Grace when you are able.  We'd love for you to join us again.

If you'd like to join a few families who gather in our home on Wednesday evenings from 7-9 for Bible study, prayer, and fellowship, we'd love to have you. We are tight here sometimes, but we position ourselves as needed to comfortably hear God's Word taught.  We'd love to see you.

Lord bless and strengthen your love for God's Word, so that you may better encourage others to know Him better!
Karen
Wife of Mark
Mother of...
Mark, Jr.
Matthew
Katherine
John

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reply received the same evening at 7:39 PM

Thank you, Karen.

You show braveness on behalf of your children.  Your son's visit to another church certainly touches on Proverbs 22:6.

I have already contacted Elder Shane to increase my understanding.  This has been a model I've been advocating to my own church, but without much traction occurring.  Oddly, there are two families in my congregation which independently practice family discipleship.  Their children's understanding of the Bible surpasses many adults.  Such testimony proclaims a corporate change is needed, but it is strange territory to cross for most of our elders.  Your journey invigorates me to keep pressing on for change.

May God continue to bless your parenthood and your own walk in His ways.

Larry

Living, Eternal Spring of Water

Difficulties will be "...unbearable..." writes Martin Luther, "if you are uncertain that God is for you and with you."  

Today begins the third Monday in a row that we've had plumbing issues.  

Week 1 began with a clogged kitchen drain, so after a long day of snaking the vent from the upper roof, Mark was able to restore that drain to flow nicely by dusk.   

Week 2 began with a persistent overflowing washing machine.  After a long wet week, we begin again, and week 3 holds a greater resolve to overcome!  
Mark worked hard yesterday to isolate the problem that still causes our drain line to overflow.  He's had a puzzling time trying to figure out why water flows down and out of the drain freely when he puts the hose from the yard down the line, but when he reconnects the hose of the washing machine to the drain, it backs up and overflows... <sad face>!!  

It's easy to feel overwhelmed when we're doing our best to fix the problem.  As always, Mark is eager use the skills his father taught him, and the benefit of that is saving money.  However, we're frustrated, and we realize it's time to seek and expert's opinion to plumb the depths of this dilemma!  
I confess, I have grown a little weary of this lengthy wet set of circumstances!   

Lord willing, we'll soon see dryer days ahead!  

Meanwhile, ...
I just learned that H has relapsed and sought to quench his thirst with alcohol.  His life has been wrecked by it.  
I am mindful of his parents.  Their hearts are crushed!  They've literally poured their lives and faith into their son, but it seems his thrist has never been satisfied by the True and Living Water that flows and never ceases.  

Suddenly, my perspective of our wet circumstances has changed and I am meditating on the True and Living Spring of Water that wells up to eternal life.  
May H taste of this Living Spring, that his soul be quickly and eternally satisfied!      

13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

...

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's   testimony, "He told me all that I ever did."

40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 

41 And many more believed because of his word.

42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

John 4

Revive Our Hearts 30 Day Prayer Challenge

A few weeks ago, I started the Revive Our Hearts 30 day Praying For Your Husband Challenge.  I'm actually not only praying for my husband, but for my sons as well!  Lord willing, they'll be husbands too one day <smile>!  There are other prayer challenges, but I decided to begin with this one first.  I am so very grateful for the encouragement I receive almost daily from Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth as I listen to her podcasts.  Her spiritual maturity inspires me to have a more God-centered perspective about life.  I am also very blessed to have a church family that strives to support and strengthen me and my family to walk in a way that is worthy of our Heavenly Father's call on our lives.  Who wouldn't be grateful for that?  

On a daily basis, the affections of my heart and mind are tempted to make too many things my aim, which competes with that of seeking the Lord first regarding all that concerns me.  I'm more aware now than ever before that sin happens, relationships require work and some do not endure, and societies struggle due to their godless focus.  Believers, and unbelievers alike, are seldom satisfied with letting go of their own self-centered agendas. The Lord created us to enjoy Him forever, but sadly, man freely believes he can make it on his own!  

In an effort to inspire you and encourage my own heart again to pray, I am sharing the prayer I shared with my husband and sons this morning.  Please consider visiting Revive Ours Hearts and search for the link to pray 30 days for your family.  I use the daily prayers provided there as the basis from which I pray and add more personal thoughts and requests.  

"Today I am praying all of us will choose healthy, God-honoring activities. I pray we will not live in bondage to any questionable habits or hobbies, but will experience freedom in holiness as we do an inventory of our hearts and seek to give up what is destructive to our aim for God and our relationships/service to one another!  I pray we will yield to the Spirit’s control in our hearts and lives so we may return to reflecting His glory! (1 Cor. 6:12, 10:31; 2 Tim. 2:4) 

This week I have been heavy for what happens when one look 

becomes a gaze, and that gaze becomes a meditation, and that meditation becomes a habit, and that habit becomes a lifestyle!  I am asking the Lord to convict and cleanse our hearts of anything that competes for the time we spend with Him!  Our home relationships have changed since the first hand held device walked in the door.  We no longer consider staring at a device when someone is speaking to us disrespectful.  I am just as guilty!  We're addicted to self pleasure, and we're losing one another while we gratify ourselves! 

What will it take to change our hearts and our focus? 

Pls know I love you!  We need one another.  We need the Lord more!  ♥️."

"All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything." 1Corinthians 6:12, ESV

 "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."  1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV 

"No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him."
2 Timothy 2:4, ESV 

https://www.reviveourhearts.com/challenges/30-day-husband-prayer/