Gripped by GRACE

What a great thought

2009-08-31T21:23:00.001-05:00

Puritans just knew their stuff!! I actually found this quoted on Monergism.com. Great site.

Glory follows afflictions, not as the day follows the night but as the spring follows the winter; for the winter prepares the earth for the spring, so do afflictions sanctified prepare the soul for glory. - Richard Sibbes

Gripped by Grace

"A Christian or a Religious Secularist, Which am I?"

2009-08-26T21:50:00.002-05:00

The following couple of paragraphs are in the new book, "The End of Secularism" by Hunter Baker.

I have only read the introduction online but it looks interesting. The reason I have placed this in my blog is that as I read what he said about himself in his days before he was a Christian, I realized he describes many Christians today.

I hope you will read it and think.

"I believed in God, but I didn’t see what difference that made to anything outside my private world. Private religion is at the heart of secularism. My relationship with God was simple. If I felt fear, I asked him to protect me. If I wanted, I asked him to provide. His character was not particularly of interest to me. The God who existed in my mind during my life up until college was essentially a cosmic genie.

Beyond the realm of my personal desires and wishes, I saw no place for God other than in ceremonies like baptisms, weddings, and funerals. That god is an accessory to occasions. He is like a magical charm designed to do what we want him to do. There are times when we bring him out with ornaments, bows, and ribbons. Otherwise, we box him up in the attic and only occasionally remember or contemplate him. For me, the private god-in-a-lantern model was the appropriate way to think about God and/or religion."

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

The Prayer We Parents Rarely Pray

2009-08-18T21:18:00.003-05:00

This is actually a quote from Doug Wolter @ Life2gether. I wanted to share it with you.

We’ve all been there before as parents.

Your child has been told what to do and doesn’t do it.
You’re tired and irritated.
You have no patience left in your parenting tank.
And so, you yell at your child (and perhaps even discipline your child) in anger and frustration.

But what good does it do?

Even though you took charge of the situation, your heart feels empty and frustrated and so does your child’s.

Let’s rewind the tape.

Your child has been told what to do and doesn’t do it.
Instead of reacting in anger, you acknowledge the fact that you are tired and lacking in patience.

So before speaking to your child, you speak first to God.
Just a simple prayer asking Him something like,

"Father, I need your help right now.
I need your Spirit to give me patience and wisdom to talk with my child.
I can’t do it on my own.
I need you and my child needs you.
Without you, Jesus, I can do nothing.
So be with me now as I go.
Open up my heart and my child’s heart to you."

With a simple prayer such as this one, we take our parenting out of our hands and put it into God’s hands. We admit we cannot parent on our own. And so we pray a simple prayer of dependence … a simple prayer of reliance … a simple prayer of surrender.

This is the prayer we parents rarely pray. But I wonder how it would change us, and I wonder how it would change our families.

Of Tyrants and Moral Busybodies

2009-07-28T14:24:00.001-05:00

Wow, it is as if C.S. Lewis lived in the USA today.

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
-C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock, p. 292.

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

The Holy God

2009-07-27T11:15:00.001-05:00

"Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again.".
C.S. Lewis

Consider this passage of scripture to support Lewis's statement:
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."Heb. 10:32

Think about it.

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Man and Evil

2009-07-20T21:31:00.002-05:00

In preparing for my Sunday morning message on "The Christians View of Man" I found the following quote form Albert Einstein, not a believer by the way.

"The world is too dangerous to live in-

not because of people who do evil,

but because of people who sit and let it happen."
Albert Einstein (1879-1984)

Very interesting statement. Most don't leave comments but what do you think? Is he correct?
I have found others by various authors I'll be sharing in the next few days. Not "cheery" thoughts but they do make you think.

Gripped by Grace,

Hal

Our Great God and King

2009-07-16T12:42:00.001-05:00

from my reading...

" God's essential relationship to us is that of a great King who has delivered us from death and calls us to serve Him by obeying His written word."

John Frame
"The Doctrine of God" p.35

Know God, Know Yourself, Know the Difference

2009-07-08T15:42:00.003-05:00

Often times we disagree with people whom we haven't read. Such is the case for many when it comes to John Calvin. But the following quote must be read and considered and I find nothing in it to challenge. He was big on sovereignty.

"Man is never sufficiently touched and affected
by the awareness of his lowly state
until he has compared himself with God's majesty."
-John Calvin

Gripped by Grace,

Hal

Quote for Today...

2009-07-07T20:38:00.001-05:00

The following is a quote from "Running on Empty" by Fil Anderson pg. 194.

This is good.

"The joy that is to come for all of God's people is so indescribable that the only image that can approach describing it is the joy between a lover and his or her beloved. The consummation of our union with God will be like a wedding of which the most beautiful, extravagant, and joyful wedding on earth offers only a faint foreshadowing."

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Independent From Sin, Dependent on Jesus (That's good!)

2009-07-03T21:52:00.002-05:00

The greatest freedom of all -- Freedom in Christ.

Celebrate that everyday.

Galatians 5:13:
"For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

and 1 Peter 2:16:
"Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."

and Revelation 5:8-10:
"And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Another Good Quote...

2009-06-30T15:50:00.000-05:00

I was listening to Don Carson preach on the temptation of Joseph this morning. Carson is one I really enjoy listening too.

As he spoke about Joseph's time in prison he said the following:
"God often chooses to bless in difficult circumstances, rather than to place us in happier ones."

That's food for thought.

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

"Gut Wrencher"

2009-06-22T15:08:00.000-05:00

Today is a bit of a "gut wrencher". "My Boy" leaves the country headed to the "Big Sandbox" in Afghanistan. His deployment will be a year. So he will be gone till late Spring or early Summer.

Keep him in your prayers. I know he is in the Lord's hands and He has always done a better job taking care of him than we have. But it's hard knowing he will be in harms way everyday. As far as we know their will be no breaks like last time in Kuwait and Iraq. Always on guard with his head on a swivel, this time. Last time at least he got to be safe three days every now and then.

As you keep us all in your prayers especially remember his precious wife Brantley. We are so thankful for her and her love for Jonathan. He has even more to look forward to coming home to than last time.

We serve a sovereign God. I am glad that He is in charge of every bullet and bomb in Afghanistan. Nothing can touch "My Boy" unless it goes through the hand of my Father and his Father. That theology makes some folks nervous and some folks down right mad but when scripture teaches that the Lord controls the winds and the waves. He moves the hearts of kings. Then controlling a bullet or a bomb is not difficult.

We trust in the Lord.

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

"As a man thinks...so is he."

2009-06-10T17:31:00.000-05:00

As DeeDee and I are in Virginia going through a difficult time with Ronnie and our daughter Julia (she is miscarrying) I am continuing to read some of my general books.

I read a quote from the book, "The Christian Mind" by Harry Blamires. It is thought provoking. See how it strikes you.

"The collision between the Christian mind and a solidly earthbound culture ought to be a violent one."

I think when the collision is not violent that the Christian mind has given in to the earthbound culture.

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Whose Fault is it I'm Running on Empty?

2009-05-28T14:03:00.003-05:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I am reading a book titled "Running on Empty" by Fil Anderson. Well it is not that long of a book and I should have finished it but I took a break to read "The Furious Love of God" by Brennan Manning. Both are excellent books and I need both right now. But on to the purpose of this blog. I am now back in "Running on Empty" and am reading a chapter on prayer.

A few thoughts from the book may help you as they have me:

"This Holy Other, this Lover of my soul, invites me to approach Him, often urging me to linger, to remain with Him. With God practically begging me to stop by and share some unguarded conversation, why do I continue to resist the plunge into unspeakable intimacy with Him?" p.99

"I resist this open invitation because I'm usually in a hurry. Yet God never raises His voice...and God never hurries."
p. 100

Here are two great questions: "What do I long for so deeply that I can taste? What do I feel I can't live without?"
p.103

Finally, speaking of some monks he encountered at an abbey he said, "They have decided to want only one thing: God. And on those days when God is not their one and only desire, they at least want to want God."
p.104

That last one is a kick in the stomach.

Buy and read both books. Manning is a little bit of a Christian mystic but interesting. (I found his at the $5 Christian bookstore at the mall.) Anderson is very helpful.

To me both are like a cool drink of water on a hot, exhausting day.

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Family Talk

2009-05-18T15:23:00.003-05:00

I have a couple of great son's-in-law (Don't tell Andy I said that) and a great daughter-in-law.

But this is not about the two s-i-l's but the d-i-l.

Just last week she waved Bye to "my boy" as he goes for further training to be deployed to "the big sandbox". I watched the two of them and I am so glad the Lord put them together.

He calls her his "puzzle piece" because it took her to make his life complete and I must say, I agree.

She makes him happy... happier than I have seen him since he was a little boy and killed his first two squirrels, two squirrels two shots, and that was happy. Don't take that wrong, that was a big happy day for an 8 year old.

Now I watch as she prepares to wait for him over the next months and I see the love of my son's life counting the days and waiting.

I believe the Lord gave him a Prov. 31 woman. Especially verses 10-12, "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm, all the days of her life."

Thank you Brantley for loving "my boy" and making him happy and giving him someone to be excited about coming home to.

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Saying "Bye"...

2009-05-13T14:41:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting here trying to say on a blog, to the few who read it, how I feel after saying "Bye" to Jonathan this morning ... for a year.

All I can say is, I already miss "my boy" real bad.

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Another year...

2009-05-11T22:37:00.005-05:00

Most of my blogs are somebody else's thoughts. You know - quotes from stuff I am reading. But this time it is my thoughts.

It won't be profound but it will be true.

DeeDee and I are about to say "Bye" to our son. This "Bye" will begin a year of separation. He will be in the "sandbox" serving his country, again.

(By the way he has been back less than a year from his last deployment. Is this "change I can believe in?")

A year. Wow, that is such a long time to not see someone. I have my beautiful wife, my baby daughter and son-in-law, my two precious grandchildren. Even every now and then my oldest daughter and son-in-law, come around.

But a year with out seeing "my boy". That was tough last time and it will be hard this time.

If I told you the stuff we have done over the years you would probably look at me strange and say, "The two of you did what?"

But many of those things are the things that are going through my mind

and my heart hurts

and I have a big lump in my throat.

So if you really want to help, pray first for Jonathan's precious wife, Brantley. I can't imagine how she is feeling. Then pray for DeeDee. (see her blog here) Then before you finish - mention me.

I would appreciate it.

I am so glad I am...
Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Some Quotes...

2009-04-30T21:56:00.001-05:00

Recently I was looking back through a book I read several years ago and saw some of the thoughts I highlighted. I wanted to share them here so I am placing them both for you to read on this blog even though they are not related, directly.

They are from, "Recapturing the Wonder" by Ravi Zacharias.

"Like a child who suddenly stops sobbing when he is clasped in the arms of his mother, Such will be the grip of heaven on our souls."

"Thinking is a dying discipline in a society that throbs with activity."

Gripped by Grace
Hal

"What do you think?" or "What?... Do You Think?"

2009-04-22T16:09:00.003-05:00

I am in the process of reading two great books. (I gave John Calvin a break.)

One is "The Christian Mind" by a British author, Harry Blamires. The other "Running on Empty" by Fil Anderson.

The first is, I believe, sermon preparation. The second one is definitely for me, but that is a story, maybe for another time.

In "The Christian Mind" I read the following quote which I have thought but could not have worded it in such a grand way. The British have a very "to the point" way of talking.

If Christians cannot communicate as thinking beings,
they are reduced to encountering one another only at
the shallow level of gossip and small talk. Hence the
perhaps peculiarly modern problem --- the loneliness of
the thinking Christian.

Very true Mr. Blamires. Very true.

So if you find yourself in a time of "small talk" or worse - "gossip"...think about this quote.

Gripped by Grace
Hal

IRONY...

2009-04-19T22:42:00.003-05:00

"And the health, wealth and prosperity gospel folks say, what?"

I found this picture here.

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Loving Each Other...

2009-04-16T15:33:00.004-05:00

Below is an excerpt from a talk given by John Piper to his staff. It actually is good for us all. It is part of a longer article by Piper.

I hope you do as I did, read and learn.

Six Biblical Guidelines for Loving Each Other Amid Differences

1. Let’s avoid gossiping.

2. Let’s identify evidences of grace in each other and speak them to each other and about each other.

3. Let’s speak criticism directly to each other if we feel the need to speak to
others about it.

4. Let’s look for, and assume, the best motive in the other’s viewpoint, especially when we disagree.

5. Think often of the magnificent things we hold in common.

6. Let’s be more amazed that we are forgiven than that we are right. And in that way, let’s shape our relationships by the gospel.

The entire article can be read here.

Gripped By Grace,
Hal

A Good Friday Thought...

2009-04-10T12:54:00.004-05:00

John Piper at Desiring God blog had the following quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is very applicable to this Easter Season, and is appropriate, as Piper points out, that sixty-four years ago today Bonhoeffer was hanged for his part in and assassination attempt on Adolph Hitler.

"The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death—we give over our lives to death.

Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time—death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call. "
(The Cost of Discipleship, 99)

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Great Thought at EASTER...

2009-04-01T11:47:00.001-05:00

Work through the old English and you will say "Wow!" when you read this quote, concerning a believer and not returning to sin.

"Now go on reader, and according to the order of Paul's writing, even so do though...Remember that Christ made not this atonement that thou shouldst anger God again; neither died he for thy sins, that thou shouldst live still in them; neither cleansed he thee, that thou shouldst return, as a swine, unto thine old puddle again; but that thou shouldst be a new creature, and live a new life after the will of God, and not of the flesh." William Tyndale

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

As You Go...Watch and Pray

2009-03-27T09:19:00.001-05:00

I received news yesterday that someone I attended college with took his own life. I saw him a short time ago in a store in Birmingham and we talked and exchanged some pleasantries. But I went no further than that.

Now I wonder, did I miss something? Should I have been more attentive not just to his words but to facial expressions, etc?

We see people everyday, we talk with them but we have our own agendas and our own lists of thing-to-do so we hurry along.

On the other side we let small things and even large things separate us from friends and even family members that really, we love.

Why not, today and everyday, look into the eyes of those you see and pray for them, and love them with the love of Jesus?

The next time you come up on someone you know, slow down and listen. You never know what another person is experiencing right then.

Gripped by Grace,
Hal

Thinking about the Beatitudes

2009-03-26T16:55:00.003-05:00

I have spent the previous weeks preaching from the Beatitudes.

These have been very meaningful to me in my personal walk with the Lord. I have expressed to the congregation at Calera Baptist that the testings and Satanic attacks have been very strong during this series of messages.

I will finish the series this Sunday with Jesus' word's on persecution. These words are convicting and very sobering as we consider whether we have seen persecution, yet the apostle Paul says, "All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, will be persecuted."
2 Tim. 3:12.

I must ask myself the question, "Am I truly living a godly life? Or do I even desire to live a godly life?" Yet, at the same time I am not suffering persecution.

I read the following on the Beatitudes written by J.C. Ryle in 1856. His words are convicting:

"Let us learn how entirely contrary are the principles of Christ to the principles of the world. It is vain to deny it. They are almost diametrically opposed. The very characters which the Lord Jesus praises, the world despises. The very pride, and thoughtlessness, and high tempers, and worldliness, and selfishness, and formality, and unlovingness, which abound everywhere, the Lord Jesus condemns.

Let us learn how unhappily different is the teaching of Christ from the practice of many professing Christians. Where shall we find men and women among those who go to churches and chapels, who are striving to live up to the pattern we have read of today? Alas! there is much reason to fear, that many baptized people are utterly ignorant of what the New Testament contains.

Above all let us learn how holy and spiritual-minded all believers should be. They should never aim at any standard lower than that of the sermon on the mount. Christianity is eminently a practical religion. Sound doctrine is its root and foundation, but holy living should always be its fruit. And if we would know what holy living is, let us often bethink ourselves who they are that Jesus calls 'blessed.' "

Gripped by Grace,
Hal