One way to experience missionary growth

Interesting story. . . and the babies seem to be doing fairly well still. Praise God

Missionaries Gavin and Carrie Jones took God’s command to“be fruitful and multiply” to an entirely new level on Thursday, Aug. 9, when Carrie gave birth to three boys and two girls—a rare set of quintuplets—at a Dallas medical center.

Read more here.

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Our deep self-centeredness

Our self- centeredness is deep. It is so brutally idolatrous that it tries to domesticate God himself. In our desperate folly we act as if we can outsmart God, as if he owes us explanations, as if we are wise and self-determining while he exists only to meet our needs.

~D. A. Carson~The Cross and Christian Ministry (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Book House Company; 1993) p. 15.

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Unless Your grace had called me

Words: Jo­si­ah Con­der, 1836.

My Lord, I did not choose You,
For that could never be;
My heart would still refuse You,
Had You not chosen me.
You took the sin that stained me,
You cleansed me, made me new;
Of old You have ordained me,
That I should live in You.

Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my op’ning mind,
The world would have enthralled me,
To heav’nly glories blind.
My heart knows none above You;
For Your rich grace I thirst;
I know that if I love You,
You must have loved me first.

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E-book: on Genesis

iTunes is offering an electronic version of Coming to Grips with Genesis for the special low price of $2.99. This special is good for the month of August only.This collection includes a number of scholarly essays on the book of Genesis from the standpoint of Young Earth Creationism, including ones by my OT seminary professor Dr. Bob McCabe, some Master’s Seminary professors, and the late Henry Morris.

 

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On straying and praying

Do you pray for your straying soul?

I do. Daily.

The soul is always in motion. If you think yours is motionless, you are probably floating downstream.

Daily the soul is lured to other treasures, other satisfactions, other rewards besides Jesus and his way. Jesus taught us to pray daily, “forgive us for these wanderings and lead us not into, but out of, them.”

So, how do you pray for your straying soul if you believe in God’s sovereign will to bring back his wayward ones? For many years I have taken my cue from Jeremiah 31:18.

You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; cause me to return and I will return, for you are the Lord, my God.

Similarly, Lamentations 5:21.

Cause us to return to yourself, O Lord, and we will return! Renew our days as of old.

These are my translations to make clear that the same Hebrew word is behind both verbs: “Cause me to return.” And “I will return.” The first one is the causal form of the verb, while the second one is the declarative form. If God causes me to return, I will return.

That is the way I believe. And that is the way I pray. I invite you to join me. This is how perseverance happens.

–John Piper

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