Finishing well

My sister Diane entered into the everlasting presence of her Savior and Lord on March 3, 2011.  On January 19, six weeks before she died, she posted this on Facebook:

Working on memorizing the entire book of Phillipians. I have the first 6 verses done. Many of the verses are familiar but we have been challenged as a church to memorize the entire book. You can do it by memorizing 2 verses each week. I am hoping to get ahead but so far I am right on schedule. Pray that Satan won’t get the best of me and cause me to get behind.

Diane was in the hospital the last couple weeks of her life so I don’t know how far she got but I know she knew this verse:  ”For me to live is Christ, to die is gain!”  (Philippians 1:21).  She has departed, she is with Christ, which is FAR better!

What a way to finish well–memorizing the Bible up until the end.

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Suing Benny Hinn

A false teacher’s doctrine is to be rebuked publicly and his life is not to be followed.  Let Benny Hinn’s life be a warning to us all of the corruption of false theology and the human heart.  Read the story.

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When you get irritated, miffed, exasperated, or angry

The next time you get irritated, miffed, exasperated, frustrated, or angry, pray like this:

Heavenly Father, on any given day we face multiple opportunities to get selfishly irritated, exasperated, and angered. And on the same day, we face just as many opportunities to be dangerously indifferent, passive and non-engaged. What but the gospel can help us avoid both extremes, and to know what’s to be overlooked and what’s to be taken very seriously?

Father, forgive us when traffic delays bother us more than human trafficking. Forgive us when we show more irritation towards our children than vexation about starving children in the world. Forgive us when we get more offended by a personal slight than grieved when your name is taken in vain.

Keep reading–more by Scotty Smith

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Our greatest problem

I preached on our greatest problem several weeks ago and so I was glad to see Paul Tripp’s similar answer in this recent post:

Paul Tripp:

One of the most tempting fallacies for us—and for every human being in this fallen world—is to believe that our greatest problems exist outside us rather than inside us.  Despite this, the Bible calls us to humbly confess that the greatest, deepest, most abiding problem each of us faces is inside of us, not outside. The Bible names that problem “sin.” Because sin is self-focused and self-serving, it is antisocial and destructive to our relationships.

Read the rest.

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Praying for Japan: an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis

The devastation is apocalyptic.  The Big Picture reminds us of this. Here is some unedited raw footage of the tsunami.

But God is still in control.

We must pray.  Here’s one man’s plea:

Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We cover our faces and kiss your omnipotent hand. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.  Keep reading here.

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