The Divine Will

O God, Our Father,

We hang on thee; we see, believe, live, when thy will, not ours, is done; we can plead nothing in ourselves

in regard of any worthiness and grace,

in regard of thy providence and promises,

but only they good pleasure.

If thy mercy makes us poor and vile, blessed be thou!

Prayers arising from our needs are preparation for future mercies; 

Help us to honor thee by believing before we feel,

for great is the sin if we make feeling the cause of faith.

Show us what sins hide thee from us and eclipse thy love;

Help us to humble ourselves for past evils,

to be resolved to walk with more care,

For if we to not walk holily before thee,

how can we be assured of our salvation?

It is the meek and humble who are shown thy covenant,

know thy will, are pardoned and healed,

who by faith depend and rest upon grace,

who are sanctified and quickened,

who evidence thy love.

Help us to pray in faith and so find thy will,

by leaning hard on they rich free mercy,

by believing thou wilt give what thou has promised;

Strengthen us to pray with the conviction that whatever we receive is thy gift to us, so that we may pray until prayer be granted;

Teach us to believe that all degrees of mercy arise from several degrees of prayer, that when faith is begun it is imperfect and must grow, as chapped ground opens wider and wider until rain comes.

So shall we wait thy will, pray for it to be done, and by they grace become fully obedient.

Adapted from  The Valley of Vision,

The Banner of Truth Trust

Ed. by Arthur Bennett,

p. 9

Saturdays with Spurgeon #019

"We are not saved by obedience, for obedience is the result (sic) of salvation! We are saved by faith because faith leads us to obey! Faith is weakness clinging to strength and becoming strong through so doing."

--Charles H Spurgeon

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Happy 55th birthday to my sister

Nancy K. Dupre of Bellingham, WA

Will the World End in 2012?

Reposted from December 28, 2011

According to Christine Bouer in an ABC News article Gary Geryl, 51 years of age, quit his job as a laboratory worker for a French oil company. He had saved enough money to last him until December 2012. Geryl believed he wouldn't need any money after December 2012 because the world would end that at that time.

Geryl told ABC News, "You have to understand, there will be nothing, nothing left. We will have to start an entire civilization from scratch." Why does Geryl believe this? What would possess a man to save, plan, join a survival group, and gather survival goods and equipment?

Geryl believes the world will end December 21, 2012 because of Mayan Cyclical calendars. Apparently this calendar renewed itself approximately 5,125 years ago, but is set to expire in 2012 with "catastrophic consequences." He also relies on the ancient Egyptians who "saw" 2012" as a year of change.

The Mayans seem to be the first group of peoples to predict the end of the world in 2012. The Mayans had calculated the length lunar moon as 329, 53020 days. Is there any truth to this calendar?

The Mayan calendar was put together around 250-900 AD. The Mayans had a number of calendars for spiritual uses. Their calendars were used for social, agricultural, commercial, and even administrative purposes. The main use of the Mayan calendars was religious in nature. Each day on the calendar had a patron spirit that represented that each day had a specific use or purpose.

Most of the Mayan calendars were short. A calendar called "Tzolk" lasted 260 days. The Haab calender lasted 3654 days. The Mayans then combined the Tzolk and the Haab calendar to form what is known as the "Calendar Round." This is a cycle lasting "52 Haab's" or 52 years.

The Calendar Round was used to remember certain dates, like your birthday or an important religious date. You could not record a date older than 52 years.

The Mayan's came up with a fix. They expanded on the 52 year Calendar Round. Remember that their calendar had probably relied upon their religious belief's, the menstrual cycle, and some mathematical calculations using the numbers 13 and 20 with a dose of astrological myths thrown in. (You are going to base something as important on the end of the world on this?)

How does the calendar work?

The Mayan Long Count began with a base year known as "0.0.0.0.0." Each zero goes from 0-19 and each zero represents a count of Mayan days. The first day in the long count calendar would be 0.0.0.1. The 19th day would be 0.0.0.19. On the 20th day the level goes up one 0. It would look like this, 0.0.0.1.0. Twenty years would look like this, 0.1.0.0.0. Four hundred years would look like this, 1.0.0.0.0.

Divided Opinions

Believe it or not the experts are divide about when the Long Calendar ends. Since the Mayans used the numbers 13 and 20 as the root of their numerical system, the last day marked on their calendar could be written as 13.0.0.0.0. This represents 5,126 years and corresponds to the modern date of August 11th, 33114 BC. The calendar renewed itself and ends 5,126 years later, which is December 21, 2012.

Will Time End or Is There A Problem?

The Mayan "Doomsday Prophecy" is based on a calendar which some experts believe has not been designed to calculate dates beyond 2012. Even Mayan archaeo-astronomers are divided over the issue of whether the Long Count is designed to be reset to 0.0.0.0.0. after 13.0.0.0.0, or does the calendar simply continue to 20.0.0.0.0 (8000 AD) and then reset again.

Karl Kruszelnicki writes:  "...when a calendar comes to the end of a cycle, it just rolls over into the next cycle. In our Western society, every year 31 December is followed, not by the End of the World, but by 1 January. So 13.0.0.0.0 in the Mayan Calendar will be followed by 0.0.0.0.1 - or good-ol' 22 December 2012, with only a few shopping days left to Christmas." - Excerpt from Dr. Karl's "Great Moments in Science."

Top Twelve Books for 2012

I have noticed that a few sites have published their “Top Twelve Picks” for 2012. I think that is a good idea. So, allow me to jump on that band wagon and share my “Top Twelve Books for 2012.” Please note these are in no particular order.

1.       George Whitfield (Volume 1) – Arnold Dallimore

2.       George Whitfield (Volume 2) – Arnold Dallimore

3.       History of the English Baptists – Robert W. Oliver

4.       Archibald G. Brown:  Spurgeon’s Successor – Iain Murray

5.       D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Volume 1) – Iain Murray

6.       D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Volume 2) – Iain Murray

7.       Spurgeon: A New Biography – Arnold Dallimore

8.       At The Throne of Grace – John MacArthur

9.       The Valley of Vision – ed. Arthur Bennett

10.     Here I Stand – Roland Bainton

11.     Preachers and Preaching – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

12.     real-life discipleship  (sic) – Jim Putman (re-read)

Holiday Gift Ideas

Still wondering what to get that special someone this holiday season? Here are my top ten recommendations to give this year.

By the way, if you are considering giving a gift to your pastor (s), Adult Bible Class Teacher or Small Group Leader, consider giving a gift card to one his favorite book distributors. Book allowances are never enough and they “run out” way too soon.

1.  Gift card to Banner of Truth Trust

2.  Gift card to Monergism.com

3.  Gift card to Christian Book Distributor

4.  Gift card to Grace Books International

Top Ten Choices For That Special Someone!

1.  Christ Formed In You – Brian Hedges

2.  Ten Things I Wished Jesus Had Never Said – Victor Kuligin

3.  Faith Undone – Roger Oakland

4.  Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts – Jerry Bridges

5.  Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography – Iain Murray

6.  Real Life Discipleship – Jim Putman

7.  Faithful Witness:  The Life and Mission of William Carey

8.  The Mercies of a Covenant God – John Warburton

9.  The Life and Diary of David Brainerd – ed. by Jonathan Edwards

10.  The Sovereignty of God – Arthur W Pink

Bonus Choice:

11.  Anything written by Iain Murray

My Prayer Each Day

Over the last forty (40) years I have written a number of quotes, comments, pithy sayings, and poems in the fly-leafs of my bibles. Each Tuesday I am going to share those various entries from my bibles with you. I hope they will be as much of blessing to you as they have been to me. Sometimes I will be able to give credit where credit is due and sometimes I won’t be able to credit the source. I apologize for this to each one who contributed these gems over the last forty (40) years.

TODAY'S TREASURE:

"May I engage in nothing today in which I cannot implore thy blessing, and in which I cannot invite thy inspection."

____________________________________

Happy 79th Birthday to my wonderful

mother, Evelyn L. Metcalf of Modesto, CA

Born:  December 11, 1933 in Vienna, OH

Raised:  Salem, OH

Married:  June 7, 1953 (Glenn F Metcalf)

Children: 5

Grandchildren 14

Great Grandchildren 8

Retired:  AT&T - Reconciliation Clerk

Hobbies:  Crocheting, Gardening, Perry Mason/Matlock

Stylish Adult Baptism? Really?

I am still struggling for words. No, I am not shocked or surprised, I am deeply grieved. True believers know that baptism is a very special, important, and awesome ordinance commanded by our Lord. It is the very first step that a brand new believer takes immediately after being regenerated by the Holy Spirit. It is a means of identification with our Lord Jesus Christ as our baptism depicts our death in Christ, our burial, and our resurrection in Christ to walk a new or renewed life.

The church is charged with making disciples by preaching the gospel to every creature and then baptizing the new creature in Christ. As a matter of fact baptism preceeds teaching and discipling. A new convert is not even discipled until they have been baptized.

To turn such a wonderful ordinance of God into "an elegant affair" is pure mockery. What would those untold believers who were tortued and killed as a result of being baptized to identify with their Lord? Where was "Leslie, from Big Rich, Texas" when someone was needed to plan an "elegant adult burning at the stake?"

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah,while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is eight persons were brought safely through the water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is a the right hand of God, with angels, authorities and powers having been subjected to him." (I Peter 3:18-22, ESV)