Psalm 118:17 and famous Christians

William Cowper loved the words of Psalm 118:17, “I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord.” Cowper was abused as a boy, spent time in a mental institution as a young man, but through the ministry of John Newton in his life, overcame years of despair and hopelessness and gave the church songs such as “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood” and “God Moves in Ways Mysterious.”

Martin Luther  put up verse 17 on the wall to his study.

Donald Grey Barnhouse, before he became a great expositor of God’s Word, served in the army flying those open bi-planes.  He was asked often if he feared for his life for it seemed those planes would one day fly in combat.  He rephrased verse 17 by saying, “Ours is not fly and die; ours is to live and testify.”

How will you live today and recount the deeds of the Lord?

I preached on Psalm 118 and Triumphant Thanksgiving this past Lord’s Day (audio and pdf here).

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John MacArthur and his football coach

Spend a few moments listening to John MacArthur talk about how God used seeds he planted 50 years ago to bring his football coach to Christ on his deathbed. Moving video.

Are you faithfully planting the seed of the gospel in your everyday life?  Are you trusting God to bring the increase?

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The Manhattan Declaration: best posts

If you have been away from the blogsphere or usually don’t spend much time in the conservative Reformed sector of the worldwide web, you may not have heard about the Manhattan Declaration.  If you have frequented this area of the web, you are probably well aware of all the controversy surrounding this document.  I will just cut the chase and say that I am not signing this document nor would I encourage others to do so.  And for the sake of my time and yours, I will just link to the best articles I have read on the negatives of the latest attempt to unite Evangelicals and Catholics on hot social issues of our time.  There are many other notable posts but these represent my concerns best.  In fairness to the other side I also link to Al Mohler (whom I respect greatly) who gives the reasons why he signed the article.

Co-signatories of the document for your information

James White

John MacArthur

Alistair Begg

Dan Phillips: lesser known but has some great questions for the signers to consider

Albert Mohler explains why he signed it

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What is sin?

“Sin is what we do when we are disappointed with God.”–John MacArthur

What do you think of when you think of sin?  Breaking God’s Law. rebellion, or disorder?  How does thinking about sin in terms of “being disappointed with God” influence your view of sin?

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