We took Trinity (14y/o) to DFW airport to leave for Africa this morning. We dropper her and our friends that she is traveling with off about 8:30am. They’ll be visiting and serving orphanages, churches, and Bible training facilities in Kenya. Including travel, she’ll be gone 10 days and will return on Thursday, 11/5.

I’ll post more details of the trip, but for now, please join me in praying for a safe and sanctifying trip for my little princess.

Below is a pic of some of us praying over her and her trip, last night after a Gunter High School FCA event.

Thanks in advance,

roy

In a sermon last Sunday I shared a story and made a plug for John MacArthur. Here are some resources to learn more about and from John MacArthur. I hope you are as blessed by his faithful ministry as I have been.

You can find tons of free teaching resources from his ministry at his website, linked below:

Grace To You

Also, here are just a few of the great books he has written:

The Gospel According to Jesus: What Is Authentic Faith?

Twelve Ordinary Men: How the Master Shaped His Disciples for Greatness, and What He Wants to Do with You

Found: God’s Will

ESV MacArthur Study Bible

In addition to checking out these resources, stop and say prayer of thanks for the faithful ministry of pastor John. May he continue to boldly share the gospel and equip people for the work of ministry

At the end of John 6, Jesus’ following had dwindled from thousands to only twelve. Jesus says to those who remained, “Do you want to go away as well?”  The apostle Peter speaks for the group, and gives us the essence of what it means to be a true disciple of Christ. 

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)

Those first few words –“Lord, to whom shall we go?” The answer to Peter’s question is of course, nowhere but Christ. He alone has the words of eternal life. We are helpless and hopeless apart from Him. We can’t atone for sin. We have no way to be reconciled to God. We can’t earn forgiveness. We have no meaning, no purpose, no real hope. We can’t look to ourselves for what we truly need, we have to look to Him — a difficult thing for the sinful human heart to come to grips with, but it is essential to true discipleship.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says it well:

“To make it quite practical I have a very simple test. After I have explained the way of Christ to somebody I say “Now, are you ready to say that you are a Christian?” And they hesitate. And then I say, “What’s the matter? Why are you hesitating?” And so often people say, “I don’t feel like I’m good enough yet. I don’t think I’m ready to say I’m a Christian now.” And at once I know that I have been wasting my breath. They are still thinking in terms of themselves. They have to do it. It sounds very modest to say, “Well, I don’t think I’ good enough,” but it’s a very denial of the faith. The very essence of the Christian faith is to say that He is good enough and I am in Him. As long as you go on thinking about yourself like that and saying, “I’m not good enough; Oh, I’m not good enough,” you are denying God – you are denying the gospel – you are denying the very essence of the faith and you will never be happy. You think you’re better at times and then again you will find you are not as good at other times than you thought you were. You will be up and down forever. How can I put it plainly? It doesn’t matter if you have almost entered into the depths of hell. It does not matter if you are guilty of murder as well as every other vile sin. It does not matter from the standpoint of being justified before God at all. You are no more hopeless than the most moral and respectable person in the world.” -D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)

About a decade ago I watched a PBS Documentary, The Merchants of Cool. It basically outlined how teenagers are manipulated into buying things based on what they are told is cool/in/trendy/or whatever. It made teens look like lifeless puppets whose strings were being pulled by marketers. It angered me. I loved teens, still do, and it frustrated me so much to see them have an idea of “cool” spoon-fed to them and be used for their money, or their mom and dad’s money as is so many times the case.  It also made me mourn for my own lost youth, chasing cool. In our home we use phrases like “don’t drink the kool-aid” meaning, don’t just buy what culture is selling. Not with your money and not with your emotions. We are who we are because of WHO made us and redeemed us (Eph 2:10). We are not our clothes, not our music, not our lunch table, not how fast we are or how far we can throw, etc. As far as I am concerned, if a person doesn’t “fit in” that is a good thing. It probably means you had an independent thought. Or better yet, a SPIRIT-LED thought.

Yesterday I had some of those same feelings I had after watching Merchants of Cool when I read a post outlining the current manipulation of American men. Don’t buy the lie, men. Don’t conform (Romans 12:1-2). Nothing you click on will make your life meaningful. As Augustine said, “Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.” Please read this very sobering post, FANDUEL, DRAFT KINGS, AND THE FACE OF AMERICAN SELF-LOATHING.

Pastor Appreciation Month??? I feel MORE than appreciated year ’round. No special concession required for me this month, or any month. Church, y’all just keep on being YOU, that’s more than enough appreciation. BUT, since IT IS pastor appreciation month, I’ll tell you WHAT I APPRECIATE, as a pastor.

1. I appreciate a church that is BIBLICAL. At the heart of Grace Bible is a core group of people who desire, appreciate, and in a sanctified way, demand TRUTH. We have a church that would rather hear truth than one man’s opinions or the world’s consensus. So I get to study and as Paul told Timothy, “preach the Word”. Our church is MORE than ok with being called upon to be more like Christ, and to serve the world on mission for Him, it’s expected. The central message of Scripture, the gospel good news of Jesus Christ, is like sweet music to the ears of our church family. I appreciate that. (2Tim 3:16)
2. I appreciate a church that is RELATIONAL. I have the privilege of serving people that I know, and they know me. Because of that we know that we are ALL, self included, flawed and in need of God’s amazing grace. It’s what binds us together in Jesus’ name. The “congregation” is not a group of people I work for, or that I am trying to get to work for me, because  church believes in relationships, we are a team! So I get to minister to, and with, my friends—dare I say, my FAMILY. I appreciate that. (John 13:34-35)
3. I appreciate a church that is FUN. My church doesn’t apologize for laughing from deep in their bellies — sometimes even at church! We’re serious about God and His Word. And a serious view of God has fostered a very JOYFUL outlook on life. We might break out a marathon tournament of corn-hole on a men’s retreat.  Might play some 42 (dominoes) together well into the night (especially if I’m winning). We might see who can predict who’s kids are gonna bump heads first on the bounce house at a fellowship meal! We are VERY likely to laugh when we’re together. Hey, nobody wants to be a part of joyless group of crusty mean people do they? I’m thankful I’m not. Grace Bible has fun. I appreciate that. (Eccl 8:15)

In short, I appreciate Christ in YOU, Grace Bible! So there. Happy pastor appreciation month 🙂

”One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.” -Elisabeth Elliot

…casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7 ESV)

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/elisabeth-elliot-quotes-27-inspiring-christian-sayings/#ixzz3nKmSEDSu

In recent years I have been very encouraged and challenged by the work of Jared C. Wilson. You might only know him as the “other” author on Matt Chandler’s ‘To Live Is Christ To Die Is Gain’ but Wilson has written several great books independently. Jared seems to have clarity on Christian ministry at a time when some things have gotten a little whacky. Here’s some words of truth and encouragement on small town rural ministry. Obviously a topic that hits close to home for me and my church family — we’re out here in southeast Grayson County goiin’ “Hey, we’re a real gospel church too!” 🙂 God has called us to his work and is good to use us, no matter the population size large or small.

The infamous Pharisees of the New Testament sought to kill Christ rather than worship him. How did they miss what the woman at the well saw? How did they become so blind and legalistic. Well, not to oversimplify, but they simply put something(s) they associated with getting closer to God in the place of God himself. They began to seek to keep the Law of God rather than the Love of God. Eugene Peterson illustrates it beautifully:

“Imagine yourself moving into a house with a huge picture window overlooking a lake with a grand view of mountains beyond. Snow-capped mountains, beautiful mountains. You have a ringside seat, before all of this beauty, the cloud formations, the wild storms, the entire spectrum of  sun illuminated colors, and the rocks and the trees and the wildflowers and the water. At first you’re just captivated by this view. You sit and you stand and you look and admire; you catch your breath. Several times a day you interrupt your work and stand before this window to take in the majesty and the beauty. And then one day you notice some bird droppings on the glass, and you get a bucket of water and a towel and you clean it. A couple of days later, a rainstorm leaves the window streaked and the bucket comes out again. One day some visitors with a tribe of small dirty-fingered children come, and the moment they leave you notice there are smudge marks all over the window. They’re hardly out of the door before you have the bucket out again. You’re so proud of that window, and it’s such a large window. But it’s incredible how many different ways foreign objects can attach themselves to that window, obscuring the vision, distracting from the vision. Keeping that window clean now becomes compulsive neurosis. You accumulate ladders and buckets and squeegees. You construct scaffolding outside and one inside; you have to get to all the difficult corners and heights. You end up having the cleanest window in North America, but it’s now been years since you’ve looked through it. You’ve become a Pharisee.” -Eugene Peterson

Really enjoyed the post below on the subject of work from Grace To You, the teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Check it out! https://www.gty.org/resources/Articles/A372

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” -CS Lewis