Every thought captive...

Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Some time ago, God spoke with a man and told him to go to a country that He would show him. He told him that he would become great and that his descendants would number as the sand on the seashore. He promised that through him, all of the nations of the world would be blessed. We are later told that this man believed in the promise and that he was justified by his faith. “He staggered not at the promise of God in unbelief.”

The book of Hebrews gives us an account of some of the wonderful expressions of godly men and women who, like Abraham, believed in the promises of God. Their faith enabled them to perform great and mighty things, and while some were destroyed by wicked men for their efforts, the fact remained that the world was not worthy to receive them.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Churches abound in every city and in some cases, every block. Scores of professing saints flock into homes, old church buildings, cathedrals, warehouses, etc and claim that they believe the gospel and profess faith in God. I am always grateful when Christ is preached, and when he is preached, I rejoice, yea, and do rejoice. Yet, I judge their fruits and find that some of them are really odious. I am skeptical and sometimes irritated by much that I see in this army of God, for I fear that we have forgot what our ensign is. We have love sight of the banner. Banners and ensigns are kind of old relics, and we are told that we need to be relevant for postmodern minds, so we come up with purposeful schemes, flashy bands, and even coffee houses so that we can really be comfortable as we head out to battle. The world doesn't care much for the Man on the white house with the flashing eyes and the sword in His mouth. They prefer only the blue eyed man in the paintings with the soft expression in his eyes and the sheep on his shoulder. "Consider both the goodness and severity of God."

Without faith, it is impossible to please God. It would be difficult to leave our homes and to follow after a promise. Faith gives evidence to things not seen, and provides substance to things hoped for. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. But what can we hope in? We are perplexed daily by such questions Some say that the rapture cometh. Beware, and don’t polish the brass on a sinking ship. The wicked are waxing worse and worse. Some turn to the prayer of Jabez and others decided that they need to be filled with purpose. Many are buying into every religious fad and a few are chuckling as they run to the bank. The world looks on, points, and laughs. John the Baptist was to be feared. The king shook at the thought of him. John Knox feared not to pester the wicked queen. The courts was disturbed. The world today sighs and relaxes. “We need not fear them,” they think, “for they dwell among us. They have married our sons and daughters, buy our crummy music and watch our lewd films, and really seem a lot like of us. (Oh, they did vote for Bush, though. I guess they thing his party will save them)”

The church needs to be reunited with the gospel. We have hope in the glorious promises of the gospel. God has established his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The church is a mighty army, marching as to war. Sometimes, we are not like Abraham and we really do not believe that through the preaching of the gospel, that the whole world shall be blessed. We cannot grasp that God is building His Kingdom and that all honor and glory has been bestowed upon King Jesus, who reigns on His right hand waiting as His enemies are made His footstool. He has given His army weapons, but “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.” We need not trust in chariots and horses. Not even in helicopters and tanks. But our weapons are “mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.“


This is starting to sound exciting! Do you mean that we, the church, can by His grace and truth advance against the darkness of this world? Does this mean that we can truly be light and salt? Can the gospel of Christ truly overcome the wicked one? Can truth overthrow the idols? Christ has crushed the head of the serpent and He has conquered death. He has poured out His spirit among his chosen vessels and they are preaching a powerful gospel. Oh, there are some who have set it aside, for the gold is heavy and offensive. The fool‘s gold is bright and shiny, and is not nearly so heavy to carry. The iron pyrite does not nearly have such an impact upon us. It changes us little and we can be like them.

Some have not bowed the knee to Baal, and they are laboring in the gospel with delight. They carry the banner and ensign of their King and Savior. They acknowledge him as their Lord and they believe that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. They know there is much work to be done.

I think of the prophet who spoke of the water pouring out of the temple. It was only ankle deep. Rivers of life giving water are flowing from this temple that was destroyed, but in three days was rebuilt. Those that are drinking from this water never thirst again. The prophet travels a 1000 cubits, and another line is drawn. The water is now up to the knees, but still the prophet travels on. Another 1000 cubits and the water is now waste high. Finally, the water is deep. It’s covering everything and the prophet finds that he now has to swim. The Spirit of God is stretching flesh and sinew upon the very old and dry bones that are in the valley and they are worshipping God. The small rock that shattered the kingdoms of clay, brass, silver, and gold is becoming a great mountain in the earth. The saints of the Lord rejoice, and are glad.

I am not sure how deep the water is 2005, but I know that it is much deeper than when the disciples ran out of the garden. It is deeper than it was when Luther was writing some objections to the church. The light of the gospel is encircling the world. There is a lot of work to do, but I have faith in God and in the power of His Word. Finally, we are told that this gospel is “ bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” This gospel is casting down the strongholds and shredding the vain arguments. This gospel is even laying its grasp upon every thought. I trust that we love His Word and that we love our King. “If you love me, keep my commandments.” It is time that we ask the question, “How then should we live?”

We wish to cast down our pagan temples and we must begin considering how we should live in light of the Word of God. We must erect biblical screens through which we filter every aspect of our life. Let us take our instruction from the two testaments of the Scriptures and allow our subscriptions to “Fashion”, “Vogue”, and “The Wall Street Journal” to expire. I am not sure that we will find much help there. Let us bend the knee before our king and let us desire that our every deed, our every word, and our every thought be held captive to His will.

Christ is our King - and He shall do valiantly. Hear ye Him!

some wintry pics

Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?

(Note: For some reason the option of adding photos is not working - I'll try later on to include a couple....)

I believe this morning will mark the winter solstice and herald the beginning of the calendar winter. Even though I really do not endulge in many winter sports and activities, outside of shoveling, I have always enjoyed the winter months - and the colder and snowier the better. There is just something about the beauty of the snow and the sharp bite of a bitter cold air that creates in me an overwhelming desire to rejoice in what God has done.

It has been a pleasant winter thus far. While the past few winters have been very mild and dry, this month has thus far been one of the coldest and snowiest months that we have enjoyed for a few years. We've had temperatures below 0 twelve days this year and we had had nearly 18" of snow. In fact, as I type this, the mercury already has tumbled to -3.5.

The Scriptures are not silent about the snow. We see God's sovereign work in sending the snow as a blanket to cover the earth: "For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength."

God, in his series of questions put forth to Job, enquires: "Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow?"

Finally, David (who must have enjoyed God's creation much like I do) remarks: " He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:"

When I see the crystals sparkling like diamonds, I am reminded of God's marvelous handiwork in this world that God has made. Not only does this wintry landscape remind me of God's creative works, I am reminded of God's redemptive work by some of the metaphors that we read in the Scriptures concerning snow:

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Once, a long time ago when I was working on repairing farm equipment for my dad after school, I found myself one winter afternoon painting a running gear red and noticing some red paint that had spilled out on the snow below. (I know the directions on the can said not to paint below 50, but sometimes the directions don't always get followed!) I thought of the verse above and poured a little of the bright crimson paint on to the ground. The red on white was a stark contrast and I rejoiced that my wickedness could be forgiven and my iniquities cast as far as the east from the west.


" His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;"

There are, of course, many verses that utilize various metaphors and other descriptive forms to describe the Person of Christ, snow not excluded.. These verses often come to mind when I am gazing at the snowflakes tumbling from the sky.

Our lives are but vapors and before we know it, these cold days of winter will soon pass and the snow will melt and the blade and bud will shoot forth and I will be looking for my gardening tools. I will look forward to the garden, but the days of heat and biting bugs will give me pause, and I may even sigh and long for the coming winter, but I hope to learn to enjoy each day that the Lord has made. This day was sunny and very cold. It was the day that the Lord has made, I shall rejoice, and be glad in it.

A new table

A couple years ago I purchased some roughsawn red oak boards with the intent of making us a nice dining room table. I selected boards that had been quartersawn, for I have a tendency to enjoy the furniture that was developed through the arts and crafts style. Perhaps you have heard rumors to the effect that the cobbler's children were often in want of good shoes?! Well, the rumor is often correct!

I decided four years ago to purchase some woodworking tools and while it was my intent to try to produce some of our income from home, I had hoped to be able to make things for my wife, family, and friends. I have been able to build a few pieces in these categories, but since I have purchased my tools, I have always had paying jobs on the docket!

I finally took a break and decided that two years was a long enough wait, so I spent a couple weeks building our table. Although we both liked the idea of having a solid, massive table, our house just doesn't have the space to accomodate. I compromised by building the table with two leaves. When fully extended, it measures 42" wide by 96" long. For everyday use, we take one of the leaves out. We are now using it and I have only a couple odds and ends to complete, but now Rachel can enjoy setting a table that does not always have a leg falling off!