God’s Invincible Purpose (part 2 of 7) May 8, 2008
Posted by brian in : John Piper, assurance , add a commentFrom Desiring God:
God Predestined Us unto Sonship Through Jesus Christ
Ephesians 1:3-6
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
God’s Invincible Purpose (part 1 of 7) May 7, 2008
Posted by brian in : assurance , 2commentsIn March of 1992 John Piper gave a series of seven messages on “God’s Invincible Purpose” to lay down a solid ground for assurance for the members of his congregation. He said “God has an unstoppable, undefeatable, invincible purpose to save his people, and the more we dwell on what he has done to infallibly achieve his purpose, the more deep and lively will be our assurance. God loves to glorify the worth of his objective work by making it the basis of our subjective assurance.” This series has blessed me greatly and I am going to post the messages for our benefit and growth.
The first message is called “God Has Chosen Us in Him Before the Foundation of the Earth” and comes from Ephesians 1:4. Piper continues “We begin where Paul begins in Ephesians 1:3–4.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world . . .
Paul begins by blessing God. He blesses him as one who has blessed us with every blessing that heaven can give. And the first foundation that Paul mentions for this assured fact is that “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.”
New Life Fellowship Conference Anybody Going? May 7, 2008
Posted by lionel woods in : conferences , add a comment
Pastor Louis Love and New Life Fellowship will be hosting a Conference this year June 19-21. I am wondering if anyone else is going I think I would be interested in sharing a room maybe spliting a rental car deal. Or if someone is driving I can contribute to Gas (my car has like 135K and the drive is a monster from Dallas to the Chicago area). The speakers are Pastor’s Carter, Anyabwile, and Burns. I have heard two of the three speak and they are amazing and Pastor Burns hosts the annual Miami Pastor’s Conference which Q was trying to get me to come to but I won’t be able to make (though I would love to see a Flamingo up close and slap D-Wade for putting my Pistons out a couple of years ago and preventing us from abusing the Mavericks). So let me know if you are interested in going. I have never been to a Conference before (well that is not a whole truth but the one I went to was in my Charismatic days and well….. you get the idea).
Lampmode News May 5, 2008
Posted by brian in : Holy Hip Hop , 3commentsI saw this over at www.lampomde.com and thought you might like to see what they are working on. So “if you can hear it through hip hop then here it is”.
P.S. d-cyple I will be mailing out your atonemont CD tomorrow, I found a way that is cheaper than the $70 dollars that UPS wanted.
This is one of my favorite songs off of the atonement called “mission accomplished”
Verse 1
Here’s a controversial subject that tends to divide
For years it’s had Christians lining up on both sides
By God’s grace, I’ll address this without pride
The question concerns those for whom Christ died
Was He trying to save everybody worldwide?
Was He trying to make the entire world His Bride?
Does man’s unbelief keep the Savior’s hands tied?
Biblically, each of these must be denied
It’s true, Jesus gave up His life for His Bride
But His Bride is the elect, to whom His death is applied
If on judgment day, you see that you can’t hide
And because of your sin, God’s wrath on you abides
And hell is the place you eternally reside
That means your wrath from God hasn’t been satisfied
But we believe His mission was accomplished when He died
But how the cross relates to those in hell?
Well, they be saying:
Lord knows He tried (8x)
Verse 2
Father, Son and Spirit: three and yet one
Working as a unit to get things done
Our salvation began in eternity past
God certainly has to bring all His purpose to pass
A triune, eternal bond no one could ever sever
When it comes to the church, peep how they work together
The Father foreknew first, the Son came to earth
To die- the Holy Spirit gives the new birth
The Father elects them, the Son pays their debt and protects them
The Spirit is the One who resurrects them
The Father chooses them, the Son gets bruised for them
The Spirit renews them and produces fruit in them
Everybody’s not elect, the Father decides
And it’s only the elect in whom the Spirit resides
The Father and the Spirit- completely unified
But when it comes to Christ and those in hell?
Well, they be saying:
Lord knows He tried (8x)
Verse 3
My third and final verse- here’s the situation
Just a couple more things for your consideration
If saving everybody was why Christ came in history
With so many in hell, we’d have to say He failed miserably
So many think He only came to make it possible
Let’s follow this solution to a conclusion that’s logical
What about those who were already in the grave?
The Old Testament wicked- condemned as depraved
Did He die for them? C’mon, behave
But worst of all, you’re saying the cross by itself doesn’t save
That we must do something to give the cross its power
That means, at the end of the day, the glory’s ours
That man-centered thinking is not recommended
The cross will save all for whom it was intended
Because for the elect, God’s wrath was satisfied
But still, when it comes to those in hell
Well, they be saying:
Lord knows He tried (8x)
The Nature of Indewlling Sin May 4, 2008
Posted by brian in : Conrad Mbewe , add a comment
Conrad Mbewe is pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia.
