Horatius B.

Upon a life I did not live,
Upon a death I did not die –
Another’s life, Another’s death
– I stake my whole eternity.

Your Kingdom Come, My Kingdom Go

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." : C.S.Lewis - Mere Christianity

"Before we say 'Your Kingdom Come', we have to say 'my kingdom go!'"
Peter Lewis, Cornerstone Church Nottingham

The Power of the Cross.

Oh to see the dawn of the darkest day
Christ on the road to calvary
Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten then
Nailed to a cross of wood

THIS THE POWER OF THE CROSS
CHRIST BECAME SIN FOR US
TOOK THE BLAME, BORE THE WRATH
WE STAND FORGIVEN AT THE CROSS

Oh to see the pain written on Your face
Bearing the awesome weight of sin
Ev’ry bitter thought, ev’ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow

Now the daylight flees, now the ground beneath
Quakes as its maker bows his head
Curtain torn in two, dead are raised to life
‘FINISHED!’ the vict’ry cry.

Oh to see MY name written in the wound
For through Your suff'ring I am free
Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live
Won through Your selfless love!

This the pow’r of the cross
Son of God slain for us
What a life, what a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Trip Lee - To Live Is Christ

Where is your God?

An Athiest Professor of Philosophy

was speaking to his Class on the problem Science has with GOD, the ALMIGHTY. He asked one of his new Christian students to stand.

* PROFESSOR : You are a Christian, aren't you, son?
* STUDENT : Yes, sir.
* PROFESSOR : So, you believe in GOD?
* STUDENT : Absolutely, sir.
* PROFESSOR : Is GOD good?
* STUDENT : Sure.
* PROFESSOR : Is GOD ALL - POWERFUL?
* STUDENT : Yes.
* PROFESSOR : My Brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn't. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?
* (STUDENT was silent)
* PROFESSOR : You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is GOD Good?
* STUDENT : Yes.
* PROFESSOR : Is Satan good?
* STUDENT : No.
* PROFESSOR : Where does Satan come from?
* STUDENT : From...GOD...
* PROFESSOR : That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this World?
* STUDENT : Yes.
* PROFESSOR : Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And GOD did make everything. Correct?
* STUDENT : Yes.
* PROFESSOR : So who created evil?
* (STUDENT did not answer)
* PROFESSOR : Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the World, don't they?
* STUDENT : Yes, sir.
* PROFESSOR : So, who created them?
* (STUDENT had no answer)
* PROFESSOR : Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and Observe The World around you. Tell me, son...have you ever feen GOD?
* STUDENT : No, sir.
* PROFESSOR : Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?
* STUDENT : No, sir.
* PROFESSOR : Have you ever Felt your GOD, Tasted your GOD, Smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any Sensory Perception of GOD for that matter?
* STUDENT : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
* PROFESSOR : Yet you still believe in HIM?
* STUDENT : Yes.
* PROFESSOR : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
* STUDENT : Nothing. I only have my Faith.
* PROFESSOR : Yes, Faith. And that is the problem Science has.
* STUDENT : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat?
* PROFESSOR : Yes.
* STUDENT : And is there such a thing as Cold?
* PROFESSOR : Yes.
* STUDENT : No, sir. There isn't...
* (The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events)
* STUDENT : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, Superheat, Mega Heat, White Heat, a Little Heat or No Heat. But we don't have anything called Cold. We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, but we can't go any further after that
* There is no such thing as Cold.
* Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Absence of Heat.
* We cannot Measure Cold.
* Heat is Energy.
* Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just the Absence of it.
* (There was pin-drop dilence in the Lecture Theatre)
* STUDENT : What about Darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as Darkness?
* PROFESSOR : Yes. What is Night if there isn't Darkness?
* STUDENT : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the Absence of Something.
* You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light...
* But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and its called Darkness, isn't it? In reality, Darkness isn't. If it is, you would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn't you?
* PROFESSOR : So what is the point you are making, young man?
* STUDENT : Sir, my point is, your Philosophical Premise is flawed.
* PROFESSOR : Flawed? Can you explain how?
* STUDENT : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality. You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a Good GOD and a Bad GOD. You are viewing the Concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure.
* Sir, Science can't even explain a Thought. It uses Electricity and Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
* To view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact that Death cannot exist as a Substantive Thing. Death is Not the Opposite of Life, just the Absence of it.
* Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your Students that they evolved from
* a Monkey?
* PROFESSOR : If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary Process, yes, of course, I do.
* STUDENT : Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir?
* (The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going)
* STUDENT : Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and Cannot even prove that this Process is an On-Going Endeavor, Are you not teaching your Opinion, sir? Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher?
* (The Class was in uproar)
* STUDENT : Is there anyone in the Class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
* (The Class broke out into laughter)
* STUDENT : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?... No one appears to have done so.
* So, according to the Established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have No Brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
* (The Room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable)
* PROFESSOR : I guess you'll have to take them on Faith, son.
* STUDENT : That is it sir...Exactly!
* The Link between Man & GOD is FAITH.
* That is all that Keeps Things Alive and Moving.
* That student was ALBERT EINSTEIN.

In Christ Alone.

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

(Stuart Townend, Keith Getty)

The Heidelberg Catechism - Part 1.

Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, (a) am not my own, (b) but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; (c) who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, (d) and delivered me from all the power of the devil; (e) and so preserves me (f) that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; (g) yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, (h) and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, (i) and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him. (j)

Footprints in the sand.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
it was then that I carried you."

The Starfish Story.

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…
“I made a difference for that one.”

Leonard Ravenhill.

"A missionary isn’t someone who crosses the sea, but someone who sees the cross."

"A sinning man stops praying, a praying man stops sinning."

"The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity."

"Jesus did not come into the world to make bad men good. He came into the world to make dead men live!"

"There are only two kinds of persons: those dead in sin and those dead to sin."

I must go till He comes.

In 1980 a young man from Rwanda was forced by his tribe to either renounce Christ or face certain death. He refused to renounce Christ, and he was killed on the spot. The night before he had written the following commitment which was found in his room:

“I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed, the die has been cast, I have stepped over the line, the decision has been made- I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed vision, worldly talking, cheap giving & dwarfed goals.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I won’t give up, shut up, let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up for the cause of Jesus Christ.

I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till everyone knows, work till He stops me & when He comes for His own, He will have no trouble recognizing me because my banner will have been clear.”

Sovereign Grace Music - I Come By The Blood

You are the perfect and righteous God
Whose presence bears no sin
You bid me come to Your holy place
How can I enter in
When Your presence bears no sin?
Through Him, who poured out His life for me
The atoning Lamb of God
Through Him, and His work alone
I boldly come

I come by the blood, I come by the cross
Where Your mercy flows
From hands pierced for me
For I dare not stand on my righteousness
My every hope rests on what Christ has done
And I come by the blood

You are the high and exalted King
The One the angels fear
So far above me in every way
Lord, how can I draw near
To the One the angels fear?
Through Him who laid down His life for me
And ascended to Your side
Through Him, through Jesus alone
I boldly come

Treasuring Him / John Piper Sermon Jam

More available here, also as free mp3 downloads for your ears - http://www.1031sermonjams.com/