Audacity of prayer

Days I prayed, nights I prayed,
A price was calculated as my requests were laid
Before the throne of God.

The debt was raised, the debt was raised!
Who has such funds to pay,
That it might be just for God to help a man?

The Lamb was slain! His blood was bled!
The Son of God suffered God's wrath instead
Of men, so a just salvation might be pleaded.

Open up the storehouses. Let the blessing go forth.
For such blood is priceless in worth,
Paid in full to satisfy God to act in mercy and justice.

O the blood

As I grow to know the One Who brought me to be,
I can't help but despise the moments I was blind to His mercy,
And my praise will never match how worthy
He is, but I'll press forward in my thankfulness
And sin less as I'm perfected by the Sinless One to be conformed to His likeness.
One day we'll be fully dwelling in His brightness.
Without pain in the slightest, degree.
This is the power of God unto salvation for me.

All things connected to Him carry weight,
And by Him all things that are have been created.
No one else aided, and for Him that wasn't His full power paraded.
But on the cross Jesus satisfied God's wrath, full and unabated,
Whereas God had no other contender to oppose,
None but He alone could save men from His blows,
And so, He sent His only begotten Son to show,
That when it comes to His power of love all might know,
That love is not us toward God, but that for us His Son's blood flows.
Thus, God's power of love which displays His majesty
Saved me from a just Hell when I was still His enemy.
I had nothing within me to motivate Him,
But His own might to love,
Despite my complete lack was His motivation.

When I see, with honesty, the unworthy mess that I am.
I, can't help myself and cry, knowing I don't deserve the Lamb.
But He reminds me by His Spirit of the mighty grace of God,
And again I'm drawn from my tears to lift up holy hands and sing,
Mighty Mighty, is the Lord my King
Holy Holy, His greatness is beyond all knowing,
True and Truthful, All promises are yes in Him.
God is love, manifest when Jesus shed His blood.

I have returned from Brazil. I will post something or other in the next day or days.


God bless you my friends. Peace

To share the testimony

Like bitterness to my bones is my sin to me,
Like a scorching east wind does guilt condemn my memories.
Like a criminal held bound, justice becomes so threatening.
My loudest plea, without a sound, reveals my heart. It's deafening.

Where shall our help come from?
Is there any safe place?
We've heard of You, but have we ever seen Your face?

Where can we rest our heads,
Without fear of death?
Is there any hope, any salvation left?

Like struggling arms against tossing waves, is my makeshift peace.
Though even if the boat survived awhile, I could never bring the storm to cease.
As the words continue coming, my evasion proves too weak.
Angry I continued running, trashing tablets from mountain peaks.

Everything seems so wrong.
Judging by how we've lived,
Why should they all be spared? What more for me do you have to give?

Like a wicked people's salvation, planned before they knew.
To send a foreign prophet, of an enemy, to deliver them to You.
Like the meekest man alive, revealing every truth.
Only to know he's just as much in need of God to make his life new.

Every man is undeserving, but God's love is great and strong.
He finds His satisfaction in showing He's mighty, and why He willfully suffered so long.
Man has no other anchor to save him from death,
Besides the Lord of glory, powerful to hide men in the Rock's cleft.

Who can fathom as much:
Christ hanging on a tree.
Like Joshua's enemies, the Lord took that place for me.

And so what is my response to God, for I cannot repay
The grace that He's given me in Jesus, though I can surely relay,
The testimony of God's Righteous One, my Savior, the only Way.




There are some points I'd like to revise at some point, that just don't work well at this point at the moment...but until then.

Fake Money Gospel Tracts

Fake Money Gospel Tracts

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I always find the age-old argument about "Christian-tipping" a bit interesting for a several reasons. (I linked the post because of these thoughts, not to attack anyone)

1. As the total cost of the meal increases, does the value of the labor increase? (not referencing the size of the party, which undoubtedly would cause such an increase) Does the value of the labor matter?
2. Do people realize that tipping is uniquely a "western" activity? Should it be seen as a moral activity because it's the cultural norm in the U.S.? (It's not happening in Kenya, and in Brazil the 10% is added on automatically.)
3. Should we tip individuals in other work capacities with whom we share the Gospel? Why or why not?
   
4. Are the particulars of the situation important in tipping? Are there such categories as evangelistic tipping and non-evangelistic tipping? What makes evangelistic tipping different from non-evangelistic tipping?
   
5. Is tipping well attempting to be shrewd with our money? Should Christians be focused on evangelizing with their money more often?
   

Questions to ask yourself

What follows is a list of questions designed to probe your own heart:

1. Am I mad at people, or at the deceiver under whose deception they've fallen?
2. Am I just as easily deceived? What ways am I guarding my way according to His word?
3. Who do I find hardest to love? Why? How can I love them the next time I meet them or communicate with them.
4. Is there anyone I'm holding a grudge against? Do I consider this brother or sister better than myself?
5. Do I tell my heart that I am without sin? Do I perceive my iniquity as less abhorrent before God than others'.
6. How quickly have I been to praise God when good news of His power and work are told to me?
7. Am I self-conscious about my responses to others' in accordance with my own heart's desired perception, or in accordance with the truth of the Spirit's guidance as to how I should respond?

Let's remember. Let's not forget

Today while reading in the Psalms I was delighted by the summary history of Israel in Psalm 78 (I think it will be a memorized Psalm in a few years, after I finish 119 and the Gospel of John). The clarity and poignancy of the message struck my heart and compelled me to remember God's goodness. O that I would be a man who would desire the fruit and bounty of the Promised Land and the inheritance more than the captivity of Egypt. It's not just that the old land didn't have as good of bounty...but that the old land couldn't even stand against the King of the Promised land. The King of the Promised land plundered the old land and destroyed the strength of the old land and long-suffered some to survive because he's so gracious, but that's only for a time. While some might not find a problem with desiring trash over treasure, no one should ever desire to be slaughtered rather than saved. But that is what we do; we crave death and drink the wine of violence to ourselves when we dismiss God's faithfulness which endures to all generations. Unlike Abraham who believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (that he acknowledged that God had been true to His word and would be true to His word in the future showed that Abraham accepted God as Who He is and so would rely upon God for what he needed, including atonement for his iniquity), Israel did not believe God. They wanted to go back rather than trust God at His word. He had never been unfaithful, and so what evidence did Israel have to be uncertain in His promises? None. Such is the rebellious heart of man that denies the truth because he doesn't like it and he doesn't want it.

As my earlier post from John Owen's writings declares to such as us who need to "remember" God's faithfulness that we might not "forget" God's mercy and grace and long-suffering and steadfast love and faithfulness and forgiveness and justness: call out to God, flee to Christ, and look for Him and His deliverance, for He will surely supply the need.