Coffee With Calvin

John 1:4God Nearer to UsHe speaks here, in my opinion, of that part of life in which men excel other animals; and he informs us that the life which was bestowed on men was not of an ordinary description, but was united to the light of understanding. He separates man from the rank of other creatures, because we perceive more readily the power...

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Barriers to Revival: Church and Family Conflict

In light of today’s epidemic immorality and compromise, it may even sound strange to call disunity a preeminent revival hindrance. Yet surveys reveal divisive conflict and lack of love are even more prevalent than out-right immorality (at least in the church). According to Jesus, relationship sins are often even more spiritually offensive...

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Mountain Peak Visions

The spring edition of Mountain Peak Visions (the West Virginia WMU newsletter) is now available for download in .pdf format.This issue includes the following topics;- Missions and Children: Girls in Action and Children in Action- Preschoolers and Prayer- Royal Ambassadors- Mary Ida Tidsworth Missions Endowment- Acteens / Youth on Mission-...

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Edwards Wednesday

Revelation 1:16The Sun’s BrillianceAs the sun is an image of Christ upon account of its pleasant light and benign, refreshing, life-giving influences, so it is on account of its extraordinary fierce heat, it being a fire of vastly great fierceness than any other in the visible world. Hereby is represented the wrath of the Lamb.This is a very...

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Tuesday Mornings with Augustine

Revelation 3:19Tough TimesNot every gracious person is a friend. Neither is every one who strikes you an enemy. Better are the wounds of a friend than the tender kisses of an enemy. It is better to love with severity than to deceive with gentleness.Those who restrain the frenzied and those who stir up the lethargic are both offensive and,...

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Crash Prevention—Study

Dr. Don Deel, the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, has given some helpful advice on how to prevent the kind of ministerial crash described in these earlier posts. We have seen his first and second suggestions. Today is the third:Fall in love with studying the Word of God. If the only time you spend studying the Bible...

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Personal Testimony, Part 5

Somewhere during this time of renewal, God began to remind me of His call on my life. When God truly calls a person, His call does not expire. In my life, He remained quiet until I was ready to fully submit to His lordship. His reminder did not come dramatically, but rather in a slow, unfolding way. First, He gave me an insatiable hunger for learning. Then, he built upon that learning with a desire and a gift to teach. Finally,...

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Martyrs Monday

Hebrews 11:1“Here is the plan,” said the young Christian leader to the youth group. “At 8:30 you must begin to distribute the meeting invitations at the university. You must give them all out quickly before the secret police come and ask what you are doing. If you cannot give them to someone, just leave them lying somewhere. God will get...

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This Week's Memory Verse

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Dobson's Defeat

It is unwise to attempt to assess a person’s mental state after only listening to a two minute audio clip. That being said, Dr. James Dobson’s words reflect a tone of defeat and discouragement. As we have watched the waning influence of the so-called Religious Right, it is sad to listen to Dr. Dobson. I have no doubt that he is a godly man who has accomplished many wonderful things. But now in his twilight years, as his role in...

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Spurgeon Saturday

Revelation 3:20What is your desire? Is it set upon heavenly things? Do you long to enjoy the high doctrine of eternal love? Do you desire liberty in very close communion with God? Do you aspire to know the heights, and depths, and lengths, and breadths? Then you must draw near to Jesus; you must get a clear sight of him in his preciousness...

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Bring My Books!

Justin Taylor has posted a great excerpt from Charles Haddon Spurgeon's sermon on 2 Timothy 4:13 where Paul asks Timothy to bring him his books/parchments.We do not know what the books were about, and we can only form some guess as to what the parchments were. Paul had a few books which were left, perhaps wrapped up in the cloak, and Timothy...

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Personal Testimony, Part 4

In 1999, we moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where I had the privilege to sit under the ministry of a man I still consider a mentor—Reverend Scott Thompson of Emma’s Grove Baptist Church. Under his ministry, I more fully began to experience a renewed relationship with God. God filled me with an insatiable desire to read and study about Him, His Word, and His world. I went back to school, enrolling in Liberty University’s distance...

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Friday with the Fathers

Hebrews 11:1Clear Vision—Clement of AlexandriaFaith lacks nothing. It is perfect and complete in itself. If it lacks anything, it is not completely perfect. But faith isn’t disabled in any respect. After we leave this world, it doesn’t make we who have believed wait. Instead, we receive the pledge of future good without distinction.Where...

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Coffee With Calvin

Joshua 2:8-9Responding to FearRahab recognizes that it’s the work of a divine hand that has struck fear into the people of the nations of Canaan, which, in a way, causes them to pronounce their own doom upon themselves in anticipation. Rahab infers that the terror which the children of Israel have inspired in the Canaanites is a token of...

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Increased Love and Unity Exalts God’s Name

The greatest reason for seeking a revival flood involves a primary purpose of our existence. And what is that primary purpose? Put simply, it is to know, love and glorify God through seeking His kingdom and exalting His name. And without question, loving one another is a vital part of loving God and seeking His kingdom.When we learn to seek...

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Edwards Wednesday

1 John 3:2Greater IntimacyThe saints’ conversation with Christ in heaven shall not only be as intimate, and their access to him as free, as of the disciples on earth, but in many respects much more so; for in heaven, that vital union shall be perfect, which is exceeding imperfect here. While the saints are in this world, there are great...

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Succumbing to The Shack

Yesterday while in Roanoke, VA, I availed myself of the opportunity to go to two of my favorite places—LifeWay and Barnes & Noble. In southern West Virginia where I live, we have neither, so it is a special treat to wander the aisles of both bookstores. Kind of like Disney World, only way better.My travel route first took me to Barnes...

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Tuesday Mornings with Augustine

Luke 17:3Rebuke in LoveWe should rebuke in love—not eagerly hoping to injure the person, but earnestly taking care to improve him. If we have such a mindset, we practice what Christ commanded: “If thy brother shall sin against thee, rebuke him between thee and him alone.”Why do you rebuke such people? Because you are grieved that they sinned...

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Crash Prevention—Relationship

Dr. Don Deel, the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, has given some helpful advice on how to prevent the kind of ministerial crash described in these earlier posts. Last Monday we saw his first suggestion. Today is the second:Get into relationship with a mentor. We all need help from time to time, maybe even more so...

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Personal Testimony, Part 3

In the mid-nineties, after a tour supporting Operation SOUTHERN WATCH in Saudi Arabia, I began to truly submit to God’s work in my life. Moses had to spend 40 years in the desert at Midian and Paul had to spend three years in the Arabian Peninsula desert—by God’s grace, I only had to spend 120 days in the desert. When I got home, I finally began to submit to the Lord and grow spiritually under the ministry of Reverend Brad Ball...

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Martyrs Monday

Proverbs 19:21Dr. Robert Bateman gently helped his sister-in-law into the lifeboat. “Don’t be nervous, Annie. This will test our faith. I must stay and help the others. If we never meet again on this earth, we will meet again in heaven.” Bateman dropped his handkerchief to the woman as the boat dropped toward the dark, icy water below. “Put...

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This Week's Memory Verse

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Product Placement Gone Wild!

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Spurgeon Saturday

Joshua 2:21Rahab depended for her preservation upon the promise of the spies, whom she looked upon as the representatives of the God of Israel. Her faith was simple and firm, but it was very obedient. To tie the scarlet line in the window was a very trivial act in itself, but she dared not run the risk of omitting it. Come, my soul, is there...

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Peep Show Marketing

The circus sideshow has now become a peep-show. For several years, we have watched a marketing-based approach to ministry become the norm in American evangelicalism. The problem with using marketing to build churches (other than biblical concerns) is that people are increasingly desensitized to secular marketing approaches.In an oversaturated...

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Personal Testimony, Part 2

Satan began his deception almost immediately after I surrendered to the ministry when, instead of pursuing the pastorate, I decided to study Christian radio and television broadcasting at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. My brief initial stint in college was marked by spiritual decline, rebellion, and ultimately carnality. My rebellion was so thoroughgoing that, when I left college, I even began to dabble in...

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Friday with the Fathers

Daniel 2:22Revelation of God—Hilary of PoitiersOur nature can’t contemplate heavenly things by its own strength. We must learn from God what we should think of Him. We have no source of knowledge but God Himself.You might be as well trained in secular philosophy as possible, and you may have lived a life of righteousness. But, although all...

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Ex Libris: Preaching for God’s Glory

Alistair Begg gives some wonderful insight into preaching in the little booklet, Preaching For God's Glory (Today's Issues).Check out my review over on Ex Libris....

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Coffee With Calvin

John 11:26Perpetual LifeThis is the exposition of the second clause, how Christ is the life; and he is so, because he never permits the life which he has once bestowed to be lost, but preserves it to the end. For since flesh is so frail, what would become of men if, after having once obtained life, they were afterwards left to themselves?...

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Revival Means an Explosion of Intimacy and Power with God

We now turn our attention to the greatest of all revival blessings —an incredible closeness with God Himself! For believers who often feel distant and find it hard to hear God’s voice, His voice often becomes clearer than those of spouses and best friends!For those who struggle with areas of spiritual bondage or defeat, God’s power begins...

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In Christ

Are you a Christian? According to some recent statistics, over 80% of Americans call themselves by that label. But being a Christian is far more than calling yourself by a label. Being a Christian is being in Christ. In this Easter Sunday message, we’re looked at what it means to be in Christ.The manuscript of Sunday morning’s sermon from...

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Edwards Wednesday

Proverbs 11:4Mercies’ DamThe wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose.It is true that judgment against your evil works has not...

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This Week's Memory Verse

Ooops! Didn't get the memory verse posted this week--I'll try to do bett...

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