The Gospel is not an Invitation

"And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ..."

1 John 3.23 NKJV

Grace Baptist of Fairborn

The Modern Evangelical Remake of Jude 3-4

A modern evangelical "translation" of Jude 3-4:

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common love, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the unity that was once for all delivered to the community. For certain people have remained divisive who long ago were designated for this hypocrisy, arrogant people, who pervert the mystery of our God into clear truth and dishonor our only Friend and Lover, Jesus Christ. (Evangelical Sensible Version)*

The true Word of God:

"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 1:3-4 ESV)

*The Evangelical Sensible Version is protected by copyright: Patrick Dudenhofer, 2014

A "Lost Scene" from The Pilgrim's Progress

Supporting Scripture for the “Lost Scene” from The Pilgrim’s Progress

Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things [the day of the Lord], be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3.14-18 NASB)

There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (Prov. 14.12 NASB)

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered. (Prov. 28.26 NASB)

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer. 17.9 KJV)

Every word of God is tested[pure]; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar. (Prov. 30.5-6 NASB)

I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. (2 John 4-11 NASB)

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7.24-27 NASB)

A "Lost Scene" from The Pilgrim’s Progress
by Patrick Dudenhofer

Then did Interpreter bring Christian outside to view the valley that lay just beyond the house in which was located the town of Solid Rock a place where the Lord of the pilgrims bid men construct their homes on the firm foundation. Christian inquired of Interpreter what sort of men had settled in the town.
INTER: Mr. Wiseman has indeed been the longest to live in this fair town having build his home on the solid rock of God’s Word and acting according to its dictates (for indeed Scripture is the Word of the Spirit).  Nearby, Mr. Foolishman had erected his house upon the sandy soil having eschewed the fear of the Lord.
CHR: Alas, cried Christian, does not that poor fool know into what danger he has placed himself and his family?!
INTER: Interpreter demurred, that man did hear the Word of God but yet neglected all its counsel (Prov. 1.25) and was content to build only within sight of the stream of truth. I would provide thee another warning. Look yonder at the two houses just down stream of the homes of Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Foolishman.
CHR: Aye said Christian, the first house appears to be firmly fixed upon the true foundation and yet at closer glance something is amiss.
INTER: Indeed replied his host that man did not accept the foundation as he found it but did crush and stamp the rock beneath his house to conform the ground beneath to his own liking and to his own destruction. This fellow is called Scripture-Twister (2 Peter 3:16) and is brother to Misinterpreter, Speculator, Feet-Firmly-Planted-in-Midair, Eisegesis, Cannot-Know and Out-of-Context. What havoc have these miscreants caused to those pilgrims seeking the Celestial City by their false examples and teachings! But now turn your attention toward the other house good Christian.
CHR: Why cried Christian in astonishment a full half of that house lies suspended in midair above the stream while the remainder seems to sit upon the solid foundation!
INTER: The builder of that home did reject in practice the authority of the Word of God and made an authority of himself. He trusted his own heart (Prov. 28.26, Jer. 17.9) with its thoughts, imaginations and inclinations and did attribute to the Lord of this town that which he himself did devise (Prov. 30.5-6). With such a flawed foundation the house will be buffeted about by every wind of doctrine (Eph. 4.14) and cannot hope to stand the coming storm. The man’s name is Self-Revelation and he has close relatives of the same mind dwelling in the nearby towns of Popery, Tongues and Mysticism.
CHR: Has no one warned them of the coming consequences of spurning the solid foundation that the Lord did provide?

INTER: It is a surety that several men did make obvious to them their folly (2 Tim. 3:9) including Steadfast and Valiant-for-the-Truth. But certain other men by the names of False-Unity, Tolerance, and Pragmatic did rebuff and mock the efforts of those pleading for their neighbors to build the foundations aright. False-Unity did even go so far as to tell those good men to leave the town if they could not accept the minor foibles of their neighbors. And afterward False-Unity and his friends did greet Scripture-Twister and Self-Revelation most warmly (2 John 10-11).
CHR: Is there any question as to their end? inquired Christian.
INTER: “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7.27) Their end is sure, being marked out long beforehand (Jude 4) though their error will spread like gangrene (2 Tim. 2.17) in these last days (2 Tim. 3:1). “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2 Tim. 2:19) Good Christian, “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard…, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in [you].” (2 Tim. 1.13-14)

"The Bible and the Christ are inseparable.
To minimize the written Word is to dishonor the living Word."
- W.A. Criswell

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

- John Rippon

How Should We Interpret the Bible? (Selected Scriptures) John MacArthur

"Misinterpreting the Bible is essentially no better than not believing the Bible." - John MacArthur

::choose joy::

How Firm a Foundation

How Firm a Foundation

by John Rippon, 1787

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said,

You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;

In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;

At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,

As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand

Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;

For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,

My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;

The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design

Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove

My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;

And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,

Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to its foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

::choose joy::

Is God Still Revealing Truth? (Selected Scriptures) John MacArthur

You and I prefer the creation to the Creator, sending us into a cycle of pointless pursuit of things that can’t possibly satisfy us. Alienation begins when we buy into a lie: having more of what already does not satisfy us is somehow going to bring us joy and happiness. When you believe that lie, you’ve entered the cul-de-sac of stupidity. “I have this, and it doesn’t work. More of what doesn’t work might work.” [link]
::choose joy::

Trek Light Gear

Post by Trek Light Gear.

Post by Trek Light Gear.

::choose joy::

Druker and the Postmodern Church

http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/2012/05/resistance-is-futile-you-will-be-assimilated-into-the-community.html

::choose joy::

The First Step Astray...

"The first step astray is a want of adequate faith in the divine inspiration of the sacred Scriptures. All the while a man bows to the authority of God's Word, he will not entertain any sentiment contrary to its teaching. "To the law and to the testimony," is his appeal concerning every doctrine. He esteems that holy Book, concerning all things, to be right, and therefore he hates every false way. But let a man question, or entertain low views of the inspiration and authority of the Bible, and he is without chart to guide him, and without anchor to hold him.
In looking carefully over the history of the times, and the movement of the times, of which we have written briefly, this fact is apparent: that where ministers and Christian churches have held fast to the truth that the Holy Scriptures have been given by God as an authoritative and infallible rule of faith and practice, they have never wandered very seriously out of the right way. But when, on the other hand, reason has been exalted above revelation, and made the exponent of revelation, all kinds of errors and mischiefs have been the result."
Robert Schindler, "The Down Grade," (second article) The Sword and the Trowel (April 1887), 166.

Spurgeon and the Down-Grade Controversy by John MacArthur

Jude

• Contend for the Faith (v.3)
• "the faith" - doctrine, the body of truths taught by the apostles - not just the gospel proper
• "once for all" - the canon is closed
• "contend" - agonize, struggle (like a gladiator)
• Why - because it is true and essential
• Related Scripture
• 1 Thessalonians 5.21-22 - "Test everything"
• Ephesians 5.6-13 - "expose the works of darkness"
• 2 Corinthians 10.3-5 - "take every thought captive", "destroy arguments"
• The reason to contend - false teachers (v. 4)
• They are unnoticed. - "crept in unnoticed"
• They live immorally. - "turn the grace of God into licentiousness"
• They deny the truth. - "deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ"
• Ungodly lives stem from a denial of God's truth.
• False Teachers (v. 5-19) (2 Peter 2.1-3)
• Francis Bacon - "Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true."
• Characteristics (v. 8-13)
• Reject authority
• "by dreaming" - claiming special revelation
• "revile angelic majesties" - speaking flippantly
• pronounce judgment - when God is the ultimate judge
• Michael left Satan's personal judgment to God. (v.9)
• "Feelings" and instincts (v. 10, 18)
• Live by
• Destroyed by
• Walking in error (v. 11)
• Cain (Gen. 4) - "worshiped" his own way
• Balaam (Num 22) - seek gain
• Korah (Num 16) - reject God-given authority
• Leading falsely (v.12) - (2 Timothy 4.3-4)
• "caring for themselves"
• "clouds without water" (Ephesians 4:14)
• "trees without fruit" (Psalm 1)
• Barren (v. 12-13)
• "without water"
• "without fruit"
• "uprooted"
• "foam"
• Pleasing self (v. 16)
• "following after their own lusts"
• "flattering people" to gain advantage
• "Grumblers" (v. 16)
• "Fault-finders" (v. 16)
• "Arrogant" (v.16)
• Expected  (v.18) - their presence in the church is not a surprise
• Prophesied by the apostle Peter (2 Peter 3.3)
• Causing divisions (v.18)
• False teaching is what causes divisions (Romans 16:17)
• "Worldly-minded" (v. 18)
• "Devoid of the Spirit" (v.18)
• Punishment
• Real (v. 5-7)
• Israelites 
• Angels (Gen. 6)
• Sodom & Gomorrah (Gen. 19)
• Certain (v. 10-11, 13)
• "they are destroyed" (v. 10)
• "they have... perished" (v. 11)
• "for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever" (v. 16)
• Prophecied (v. 14-15)
• By Enoch (v. 14-15)
• Live obediently (v. 20-21) - "keep yourselves in the love of God"
• Incomplete
• Show mercy (v. 22-23)
• Incomplete
• Conclusion (v. 24-25)
• Incomplete

Mark Driscoll - Danger

Mark Driscoll claims extra-Biblical revelation from the Holy Spirit. Enough said.

Semi-Related Links
http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2011/08/pornographic-divination.html
http://global.christianpost.com/news/mark-driscoll-on-joel-osteen-there-are-worse-things-than-being-happy-and-encouraging-89426/

Beth Moore - Direct Revelations from God?

LINK:

Beth More DOES Claim Direct Revelation From God

...having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

(2 Timothy 3:5-9 ESV)

Clips from Beth Moore's "Believing God" Bible Study series.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rVkJiYEyRwc)

Transcription: “… to beg to differ with people that are ten times smarter than I am. But I want to say to you I see something different than that. I see God doing something huge in the body of Christ. I do not know why I have had the privilege to get to travel around, see one church after another…one group of believers after another, interdenominationally, all over this country, but I have gotten to see something that I think is huge.

And I’ll also suggest to you I am not the only one. And tonight I’m going to do my absolute best to illustrate to you something that God showed me out on that back porch. He put a picture…I’ve explained to you before I am a very visual person…so He speaks to me very often of putting a picture in my head.

And it was as if I was raised up looking down on a community, as I saw the church in that particular dimension- certainly not all dimensions, not even in many, but in what we will discuss tonight, the church, as Jesus sees it, in a particular dimension.”

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DOlCicOQygE)

Transcription: "What God began to say to me about five years ago, and I’m telling you it sent me on such a trek with Him, that my head is still whirling over it. He began to say to me, ”I’m gonna tell you something right now, Beth, and boy you write this one down, and you say it as often as I give you utterance to say it: ‘MyBride is paralyzed by unbelief. My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief.’” And He said, “Starting with you.”

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Moore's Believing God study, Session 7:

"That when He gives us a word, when He commands us to do something, that with that revealed word to us, comes the empowerment to obey. Now listen carefully. I believe with all my heart, when an anointed word comes to us personally - every single time you believe God has just spoken a word over you, He has revealed an anointed word to you, with that anointing comes the power to obey it."

-=-=-=-=-=-

Beloved, I am convinced one of our severest needs is pure rest. Not only sleep, but refreshment and recreation. Recently God spoke to me about capturing what He and I are calling "Sabbath moments." Like many of yours, my schedule right now is particularly tough, and I see no time in the near future for a number of days off. God spoke to my heart one Saturday morning while I was preparing for Sunday school: "My child, in between more intense rests, I want to teach you to take Sabbath moments." I wasn't certain what He meant. Just that morning God confirmed His desire for me to drive all the way to the other side of Houston to the medical center to visit a patient with brain cancer. I was very thankful for the privilege of visiting this patient, but I knew in advance it would be tough emotionally and far from restful.

I fought the traffic across Houston, then visited with my new friend and her husband while choking back the tears. They have two young sons, and unless God performs a miracle, their mother will go home to be with the Lord before they are grown. I got in my car and prayed. I pulled out of the parking garage, fighting the tears. A few blocks later as if on autopilot, I turned my steering wheel straight into the parking lot of the Houston Zoo!

Christ seemed to say, "Let's go play." And that we did. I hadn't been to the zoo in years. I heard about all the improvements, but I never expected the ultimate: Starbucks coffee! (OK, so I don't have all my health issues down pat.) Can you imagine watching a baby koala take a nap in a tree on a rare cold day in Houston with a Starbucks grande cappuccino in your hand? Now that's a Sabbath moment! God and I had a blast. 

Beth Moore, The Beloved Disciple, (B&H Publishing: 2003), 220.

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So... How does God speak today?
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Semi-Related Links...
http://www.extremetheology.com/2010/03/beth-moores-dangerous-bible-twisting.html
http://atimetodiscern.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/a-biblical-evaluation-of-beth-moores-teachings-claims-of-direct-revelation.pdf
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/gty119
http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2010/09/one-of-these-things-is-not-like-others.html
http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-is-written.html
http://www.donotbesurprised.com/2013/01/beth-moores-sabbath-moment-playdate_2.html
http://apprising.org/2012/01/11/beth-moore-the-mystic/
http://apprising.org/2011/12/28/sbcs-beth-moore-merely-pretending-to-be-protestant/
http://churchsalt.com/2012/01/18/more-trouble-signs-from-beth-moore/
http://ezekielcountdown.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/beth-moores-demonic-visions-lectio-divina-ecumenism-of-the-religious-harlot/

The Greatest Protestant Heresy?

“The greatest of all Protestant heresies is assurance.”

- Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621),

personal theologian of Pope Clement VIII

"A moment’s reflection explains why. If justification is not by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone — if faith needs to be completed by works; if Christ’s work is somehow repeated; if grace is not free and sovereign, then something always needs to be done, to be “added” for final justification to be ours. That is exactly the problem. If final justification is dependent on something we have to complete it is not possible to enjoy assurance of salvation. For then, theologically, final justification is contingent and uncertain, and it is impossible for anyone (apart from special revelation, Rome conceded) to be sure of salvation. But if Christ has done everything, if justification is by grace, without contributory works; it is received by faith’s empty hands — then assurance, even “full assurance” is possible for every believer." - Sinclair Ferguson

Find more here.

How Does God "Speak" Today?

"The only authoritative, actionable way God 'speaks' to us today is through His inspired Word."
Yea or Nay?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

So a few people (outside of Facebook) have asked a great question: "What does 'speaks' mean?" Words are important and muddy language aways muddles meaning. People often say "God told me..." or "God called me to..." but what does that mean?

If God 'speaks' in an authoritative and actionable way then it must be believed and, if a directive, obeyed. If God isn't speaking in an authoritative way then it isn't God speaking - for everything God says must by definition be authoritative and true.

Let me (cautiously) phrase the original statement in a few more ways.
"Today God reveals His will for a particular believer's life only through His inspired Word."
"What God wants you to know (and consequently heed) He has already revealed in the words of the Bible."

Yea or Nay?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The correct answer is...
YEA, verily yea.

The only authoritative, actionable way God 'speaks' to us today is through His inspired Word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be COMPLETE, THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED for every good work.

Either we believe that God's written Word is sufficient for our lives or we don't. As soon as someone says "God told me such and such" and "such and such" is not directly from Scripture (watch out - Deut 18:21-22) that person is implicitly declaring that God's revealed inspired Word is not sufficient for "life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3) The Holy Spirit doesn't need tell us anything other than that which has already been revealed by God through His Word. The Holy Spirit will remind us of what God has already said and prod our conscience to put into action (i.e. obey!) that which we already know to be true and right. The Holy Spirit only speaks what He has heard from the Father and the Son (John 16:13-15) - it won't be any new commandment or revelation. God's Word thoroughly equips all believers for every good work - thoroughly and completely.

The ideas, promptings, closed doors, and coincidences that we claim to be "God speaking to us" are not authoritative unless the "message" comes directly from God's Word. How do you know it is God speaking even if the "message" doesn't fall afoul of Scripture? As a believer is your mind unable to apply God's Word to the particular situation you are facing? Is it impossible for Satan to urge you to do something that God doesn't explicitly address? What happens if two people have conflicting "God speaking" experiences? Is one person wrong and therefore actively working against God's purposes? Do not claim God said "such and such" to you when you do not know that to be true (unless, of course, it is from God's inspired Word). Don't be a false prophet. Your experience is not authoritative - not even for you personally. Only God's inspired Word is authoritative.

Do you really need more to follow and obey than what God has already revealed to you in His Word?
You do not.

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Semi-Related Links
http://sharperiron.org/article/cessationism-revelation-prophecy
http://sharperiron.org/article/case-for-cessationism
http://www.gotquestions.org/biblical-illumination.html
http://www.challies.com/christian-living/gods-will-for-your-life
http://www.gty.org/resources/articles/a232/prophecy-and-the-closed-canon-part-2

http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2010/05/is-this-central-issue-in-christian.html
http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2012/09/untangling-too-terse-word-about.html

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The Bible - All you need to know about all you need to know.
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"Scripture contains all 

the divine words needed 

for any aspect of human life."

John Frame - The Doctrine of the Word of God (p. 220)

Be Still My Soul - Katharina von Schlegel

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
leave to your God to order and provide;
in every change God faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
to guide the future, as in ages past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
the Christ who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
when we shall be forever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
sorrow for forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

::choose joy::

Hairy Sinks

I realized two things tonight.

I really detest trying to wash sinks that have hair all over them. Hair just won't wash down the drain - it sticks to everything and is disgusting.

I am much more thankful for the hair on the sink than I was before the epiphany struck me tonight. The hair on the sink represents someone. That hair was owned by someone. Someone close to me - for they either live in or visit this house. I would much rather have the hair sticking to the side of the sink than to realize when the hair is gone that I've lost a family member or friend.

Hair on the sink = thankfulness to God for the people He has placed in my life.

But Nathan and Brian - please don't shed on purpose!
And, yes, Rachel, hair in the sink is just slightly annoying.
I don't ever remember so much hair collecting at my family's home while growing up... hmm... I must have a great mom!

::choose joy::

Chrysostom

John Chrysostom's (347-407) Homily XX is a very thought provoking commentary on Ephesians 5.25-33.

"Being better than most is not good enough. 'Being better' was never the goal."

::choose joy::

Twenty-five Trips Around the Day Star

O Wondrous Love

O wondrous love
That will not let me go
I cling to You
With all my strength and soul
Yet if my hold should ever fail
This wondrous love will never let me go

O wondrous love
That's come to dwell in me
Lord who am I
That I should come to know
Your tender voice assuring me
Your wondrous love will never let me go

I'm resting in the everlasting arms

In the ever faithful heart

The Shepherd of my life

You carry me on

Your mighty wings of grace

Keeping me until the day

I look into Your eyes

O wondrous love
That sings of Calvary
The sweetest sound
This sinner's ever known
The song of Your redeeming Son
Whose wondrous love
Will never let me go

O wondrous love
That rushes over me
I can't excape
This river's glorious flow
You overwhelm my days with good
Your wondrous love
Will never let me go

(c) Sovereign Grace Worship
Steve Cook / Vikki Cook

How can I begin to recount the blessings that God has given me thus far?
My Messiah alone deserves all the praise, glory, and honor.

::choose joy::

Girlfriend

Pronunciation: 'g&r(-&)l-"frend
Function: noun
1 : a female friend
2 : a frequent or regular female companion in a romantic or sexual relationship

@>~>~~

The above definition is courtesy of Merriam-Webster Online.

Fine and good.

But I have a big problem with the term "girlfriend." The word is used so flippantly and haphazardly that using "girlfriend" in describing the woman you are serious and purposefully courting but are not yet engaged to seems almost disrespectful and dishonoring. "Girlfriend" carries with it so much baggage from the world's ungodly views of romantic relationships. I refuse to use it.

Why does there seem to be an abundance of synonyms for "boyfriend" that allow one to escape the world's typical assumptions regarding that word? In applying a label to the woman you are courting - there seems to be very few options. "Girlfriend" sits at one end of the spectrum and multiple names only appropriate for a fiancée at the other end. There seems to be no happy medium.

Believe me, I've looked.

Any suggestions?

In the mean time, I get to look forward to a long weekend with the marvelous woman ("You are the best, Rachel! I miss you so much!") that I (the suitor) have the honor to court. Terms and labels probably won't matter much.


"...a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." - Proverbs 31.30

::choose joy::

Painful Yet Good

Let a righteous man strike me--it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me--it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it.
--Psalm 141.5a--

Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still;
teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
--Proverbs 9.8-10--

::choose joy::