Archive for 2017
Betrayal
Serving in the work of our Lord Jesus provides ample opportunity for turning a servant’s heart into a cynic’s heart. An act of betrayal can hurt so deeply, disappoint so significantly, and rupture faith so cunningly that we can find ourselves moved a step or two away from the servant’s heart and closer to the…
Read MoreThink About IT: The Proper Exercise of Authority
Authority without submission is the stuff of which tyranny is made. Before a person can exercise godly authority as a leader in the home, church, or culture, he must learn how to be under authority (Titus 2:1-14). Godly servant leadership is developed in the context of learning how to be under authority. This includes learning…
Read MoreThink About IT: Humility In Knowledge
Christians should know that however much more we believe we know than others, we really know so little in comparison to what some know, what we shall learn, or what can be known. We should always seek to know more and know what we know better. But being aware of the vastness of what we…
Read MoreThanksgiving to God for Making Us a Dad
Thank You for this blessing beyond the beyond. In this You have enabled me to grow deeper in my understanding of You as my Father, though, I make no comparison of quality, only of enlightenment. It has truly enriched my understanding of sacrificial love, devotion, caring, sadness, and joy that a child can bring. It…
Read MoreThink About IT: Expressing Our Desires Not Demands!
Jesus prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane reflects the heart of a true servant of the Father. He knew that He, as a man, merited heaven. As the God-man, He knew there were myriads of angels awaiting His command. He also knew full well what awaited Him at the cross. It was not the taunts,…
Read MoreDr. Patterson’s Review of My Book, The Equipping Church: Somewhere Between Fundamentalism and Fluff
Even a crusty old academe loves a pleasant surprise. And for much of my academic experience Ronnie W. Rogers, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Norman, Oklahoma, has been regaling me with one surprise after another. The other day, a copy of the book The Equipping Church: Somewhere Between Fundamentalism and Fluff, written by Ronnie…
Read MoreA Prayer for Faith over Fear
I pray that You would grant me faith above my fear, and that my fear, no matter how dreadful, daunting, and hellish in velocity, would never cause me to shun the walk of faith. May my heart be willing to die where I am, lose all earthly possessions, be laughed at without mercy, and be…
Read MoreA Prayer for a Heart of Evangelism
May I see the lost as You do and sacrifice as You do and mourn as You do. May I live so they may see You and not me. May my speech be your words. May I serve you with a daily burden for people who do not know the wonder of You and your…
Read MoreIs Reprobation Necessary for God to Demonstrate His Holiness and Wrath?
According to Calvinism, God voluntarily predetermined for some of the human race to experience salvation in order to display His mercy, while concomitantly and voluntarily predetermining to pass over most of the human race, thereby inviolably destining them to perish in hell. The former are known as the unconditionally elected and the latter are known…
Read MoreA Prayer of Contentment
May I hear all reports of what you do through others to advance the kingdom with a grateful heart. May I be predisposed to see Your mighty works and rejoice, and only be inclined toward doubting because of heresy and sin. Oh God, let me not be critical because You have not chosen to so…
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