Trees and Forests: Getting Lost in the Details

Martin Lloyd-Jones once wrote of the Roman believers:

"...they have lost their balance and have developed a kind of lop-sided Christianity. This is indeed an all-important matter in connection with the Christian life. One of the greatest dangers is to be so absorbed in, and concerned about, particulars and details as to forget the whole."

--from Liberty and Conscience, 

Exposition of Romans 14:1-17, 

page 205

Tolle Lege! Tolle Lege!

"Let us, then, take our Bibles afresh and resolve by God's grace henceforth to make full use of them. Let us read them with reverence and humility, seeking the illumination of the Holy spirit. Let us meditate on them till our sight is clear and our souls are fed. Let us live in obedience to God's will as we find it revealed to us in Scripture; and the Bible will prove itself both a lamp to our feet and a light upon our path."

(J. I. Packer, Beyond the Battle for the Bible)

The Foolishness of Ungodly Men

"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works. There is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have become corrupt; there is no who does good, no not one." [Psalm 14:1-3, NKJV]

Read for Quality Not Quantity

"Some people imagine that if they read so many chapters of the Bible every day, it will be much to their profit—but it is not so if the reading is a mere mechanical exercise. It will be far better to read a tenth as much and weigh it, and let it take possession of brain and heart.”

—1891, Sermon #2184 Spurgeon

Advice for the Anxious

Jonah Experiences the Unequaled (Part 3)

Sermon:     GM17-153

Tag:           Jonah: A Gospel of Grace

Title:           Jonah Experiences the Unequaled (Part 3)

Text:           Jonah 2:8-10

Theme:       Jonah composes a Psalm

Theory:      The gracious compassion of the salvation of God compelled Jonah to compose a psalm of thanksgiving and praise

Target:       To provide God’s people with the motivation to praise when they find themselves “saved” or “delivered” by God

Blog Distractions

I am so sorry I have been negligent in keeping my blog. I have allowed the study of Jonah, the pursuit of readings, and some other things distract me. For some reason I have very little motivation right now. I know I am discouraged and could use your prayers.

Some things that have kept me away from my blog are:

• the visit of my mother and father and sister from Austin, TX

• A short quick trip to Lynden, WA to visit my other sister and her family

• the study of Jonah

• the visit of my mother-in-law and niece from Alaska

• the visit of my daughter and her family including the twins from Illinois

• a trip to San Jose, CA for my mother-in-law's 86 birthday

• supervising the design and building of a outside deck

• the Rockford Files DVDs

• reading four (4) books at once. I have finished two but have about 2 dozen more to go.

So, I ask you to please forgive me and to pray for me. It is not like me to be discouraged and for so long of a time.