What is Man?

I was reading the Bible this morning in Luke chapter 4, where Jesus goes to the synagogue in Nazareth and read from the book of Isaiah (for us it would be chapter 61). The passage says, in part,

“He [God] has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to recover the sight of the blind; To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

He tells the Jews that the passage refers to Him. “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Read more »

I found this fantastic spiritual vignette on plymouthbrethren.org. I love the poetic quality here, and the undistracted focus on the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Read and be blessed!

He came, out from God, a gift from the Father’s heart. Descending from the throne high and lifted up, He laid aside the garments of His majesty. The train of that robe of light filled the heavenly sanctuary with its radiance. Stepping down from the infinities of uncreated light, He passed through the creature realms of wondering angels, taking nothing of them. Still downward He came to one of the billions of His galaxies which He Himself had made. There His destination hung, a speck of sunlit stardust, so insignificant among gigantic suns and island universes that only He could find it, for in the eternal purposes of love and grace He had placed it there as a paradise for His creature man. Read more »

“How precious is Your loving-kindness, O God! And the sons of men take refuge under the shadow of Your wing.

They shall be satisfied with the fatness of Your house; and You shall make them drink of the river of Your pleasures.

For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we shall see light.

O continue Your loving-kindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart.”

Ps. 36:7-10 Read more »

What do I know about the love of God?

• I know that it forgives when I would not (even myself)
• I know it can cleanse
• I know it can heal
• I know I am in desperate need of it every moment of every day
• I know that it knows me and loves me anyway
• I know I will never understand it
• I know it is higher and wider and deeper than anything else in existence
• I know that when I am unlovely He loves me still
• I know that when I am indulging in sin He loves me still
• I know that when I am not loving Him, when I willingly run to the other side and do the works He came to defeat- He loves me still
• I know there is no height I can ascend or depth I can plunge where He will ever cease to love me
• I know that I change from moment to moment and that His love changes never
• I know there are millions and millions who do not know this love that I take so lightly and often times treat as though it were nothing. This love is everything. It restores me- it makes me who I am- who He wants me to be. Without this love I am naught. I am but a passing piece of dust made flesh living and dying for a moment in this great expanse of time. But with this love, I am lifted from meaningless existence into light and life and eternity. I am extended eternal life in order to more fully comprehend and know the One, the Author of such love.
• I know this is the love I ought to own for others- for the brethren, for the lost.

Oh Lord give to me and make this love flow from you through me- not in my words and intentions only but in my feet, my hands, my mouth. Father please make me to decrease. Get rid of the sin and deceit. Expose the hidden ugliness of my soul and renew and rebuild as you see fit. Amen.

C. Turner

Dr. Steve Price – The Church of Sardis
2008 Southeastern Worker’s Conference

Dr. Steve Price uses his medical knowledge to dramatic effect as he speaks on the “dead church” of Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6 and applies it to the local assembly.

DOWNLOAD (right click and “save as” or “save target as”)

Quotes and Excerpts

25m:07s He’s saying, ‘You have an external veneer that you are alive, just like that gangrenous extremity. But if we were to merely make the slightest of spiritual incisions, what we would find is a whole slew of necrotic spiritual tissue.’

26m:24s Friends, my fellow brothers and sisters, this can easily be a malady of your own personal life, your own fatherhood, your own motherhood, and your own place and service in the local assembly, and anything else you touch. And yet you can fool yourself. This is kind of the beginning, in the letters, where we really fool ourselves, really blinded to our true condition. What amazed me about that patient with the diabetic extremity is that she thought everything was ok! She just thought that she would come in, maybe have me look at, and that she would be gone. Actually, what happened was that we had to amputate her extremity. It was that serious. Read more »

David Dunlap – Consider the Cross
Week of Meetings 01 – 1995 (MP3 labeled “The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit”)

David Dunlap highlights the work of the Holy Spirit in the Lord’s supper and the importance of the cross to the Godhead and to the believer.

DOWNLOAD (right click and “save as” or “save target as”)

Quotes and Excerpts

10m:54s More important than anything else the Lord Jesus Christ would reveal to Paul was the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want this to anchor your heart, and anchor your soul. I want this to be the centerpiece of your Christian life and walk. I want the cross to be remembered in the Lord’s supper when we come together week by week. I want the cross to be that ‘radius oracle of the faith, at the forefront of Christian doctrine and teaching.’ Read more »

Answers in Genesis has more than twenty full length flash videos available for viewing on their website. Titles include Intricacies of Flight, Lucy – She’s No Lady, Distant Starlight, and many others. I especially enjoy all of Dr. David Menton’s videos. Answers in Genesis is a creation science website which maintains regular commentary on secular science news stories and illuminates the battle of worldviews that frames both evolutionist and creationist arguments. In addition, AiG publishes a peer reviewed science journal, ”Answers Research Journal.”

You can subscribe to the AiG blog by clicking here.

The main reason for starting this blog is create a place where I can highlight my favorite messages from the website Voices for Christ, a repository for messages by assembly speakers. There are around 30,000 sermons on the site, and I want to help guide fans of the site to messages that have moved me in various ways.