August, 2008

The beautiful puritans - and the winsome teaching of J.I. Packer

This handsome old gentlemen is a great treasure of the Christian Church. J.I. Packer has taught, preached and written marvelously on Christianity for nearly 50 years. Packer has written classics like ‘Knowing God’, ‘Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God’, ‘Keeping in Step with the Spirit’, ‘Growing in Christ’, ‘Knowing and Doing the Will of God’ not to mention dozens of other popular and scholarly works on Christianity.

I had the great pleasure of hearing Dr. Packer many years ago at a conference arranged by Sword of the Spirit. He was spellbinding, full of warmth and a great gentlemen who treated his audience with great respect and affection.

It is possible to soak in the great J.I. Packer thanks to the technology of the internet and the wonderfully free I-Tunes software. If you don’t have it - go and download it on your computer, it won’t bite you! It is quite easy to do, and more than likely most who will read these words already have it and use it. Now listen carefully. Here is how you get the absolutely stirring 17 part series on the Puritans available through Reformed Theological Seminary’s virtual program.

1. Go to I-Tunes (through I-tunes, i.e. Open the program it will take you there)

2. On the left column of I-tunes click on the link “I tunes store” (relax, its free)

3. Under the heading I-tunes store click on the link ‘I-tunes U’

4. At the top of the page you will see a blank box (its a search engine) Type in the following - ‘Reformed Theological Seminary’

5. When you get the results you will see on the left of the screen a link for Reformed Theological Seminary, click it and it will take you to their specific site inside I-tunes.  On the RTS Catalog on I-Tunes U heading click on the third link down, which is Church History. This will take you to a series of different lectures - Click on the one which reads - History and Theology of the Puritans. Click on it and it will give you the option of down loading on the lectures. They are totally free!

I am just about through the series and I have throughly enjoyed ever lecture. They are not for the faint hearted, but take your time and listen and I promise you that you will be edified. Some of the theology may not be your cup of tea, but the history lesson, the beautiful example of the puritan’s commitment to Christ, and to the Word will inspire you. Oh, one more thing. Here is the Puritan prayer for worship I promised. (From Sunday’s messsage)
It is the flame of my life to worship You,
the crown and glory of my soul
to adore You,
heavenly pleasure to approach You.

Give me power by thy Spirit to help me worship now,
that I might forget the world,
be brought into fullness of life,
be refreshed, comforted, blessed.

Give me knowledge of Your goodness
that I might not be
over-awed by Your greatness,
Give me Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God,
that I might not be terrified,
but be drawn near
with filial love;
with holy boldness;
He is my mediator, brother, interpreter,
branch, daysman,(arbitrator) Lamb;
Him I glorify, in Him I am set on high.

Crowns to give I have none,
but what You have given I return,
content to feel that everything is mine
when it is Yours,
and the more fully mine
when I have yielded it to You.

Let me live wholly to my Savior,
free from distractions,
from carking (distressing) care,
from hindrances to the pursuit of the narrow way.

I am pardoned through the blood of Jesus -
give me a new sense of it,
continue to pardon me by it,
may I come every day to the fountain,
and every day be washed anew,
that I may worship thee always in spirit and truth.

Posted by Scott on August 26th, 2008 in Church life, Lamb of God, Revival | No Comments »

The sad and tragic ending of the Lakeland ‘revival’

I thought it worthwhile to return one last time to some reflections about the so-called ‘Lakeland Revival’ in Florida and the ministry of Todd Bentley.

I posted my only written public comment on this matter on May 15th., entitled ‘Why the ‘alleged’ revival in Lakeland, Florida should invoke caution.’ My final comment if I might quote myself was - “Take this as the warning of your pastor, who loves LOG with a father’s heart - Todd Bentley, Paul Cain and the situation in Lakeland is to be treated with great caution, and prayerful word-centered consideration. I believe that if you wait and listen you will see this ‘alleged’ revival prove to be something with little or no value to the church.”

First, let me say very clearly I care nothing about my view of this situation being vindicated with what has finally been admitted about Todd Bentley and this ‘Lakeland Revival.’ No Christian should ever under any circumstances take delight in or derive any sense of self importance from the moral failings of another. This should be cause for mourning and great soberness. (more…)

Posted by Scott on August 26th, 2008 in Church life, cultural relevance, lakeland revival, todd bentley | 2 Comments »

Can LOG really have a legacy in the nations? Consider what God is doing…

This fine young lad has a wonderful thought written in Satare on his tee-shirt - Tupana aria hetyhot rakat - God is a strong tower. It is an interesting picture for a number of reasons. First, in a certain way I believe it may be a prophetic image of a possible future. A future in which we have a real partnership in reaching the entire Satare people, as well as entree into other unreached indian people groups in the Amazon.

How can that be? How can a small congregation with limited resources actually have a real partnership in reaching, and even touching unreached peoples in the Amazon? Luke 1:37 - “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Two years ago while in the Amazon we met for the first time a simple man with a big dream. Chagas, a Christian and a Satare Indian had a dream - he wanted to be used by God to reach his own people. He had a problem - virtually no resources to accomplish this. God heard his prayer and moved on our hearts to become involved. (more…)

Posted by Scott on August 16th, 2008 in Lamb of God, missions | 2 Comments »

Digging deeper - some of the extraordinary things experienced on our trip to the Amazon

I believe with all my heart that the trip to the Amazon has little to do with digging wells. In the story of the multiplication of the fishes and the loaves found in the gospels is the story primarily about 5 loaves and two fishes? Or does it have more to do with the provision of God, and the capability of Jesus to take a small offering and do great and wondrous things with it?

From the very beginning of our trip, again and again we heard prayers, and declarations that we wanted more than just to do ‘humanitarian’ work. We wanted not just physical thirst, but that the Lord would quench the deepest longings of the heart - the thirst for God.

But that is a spiritual matter, not one that we in our humanity can impact apart from the work of God in the soul of a man. We wanted out modest offering of fresh water to be multiplied and to become in the Satare people a well spring of ‘Living Water’. Many times through the days on the river we prayed and trusted that Jesus could take this small work and have it touch the people in a way that would open their hearts to salvation. (more…)

Posted by Scott on August 15th, 2008 in Lamb of God, Uncategorized, missions | 1 Comment »

We made it home - God is opening even greater opportunity…

We made it home. Just to give you an idea of the immensity of the experience in the Amazon - We have over 7000 pictures and 25 hours of video footage.

Just the trip from where we completed the wells back to Tom and Kathy’s home in Nova Lima took nearly 40 straight hours. 28 hours on the river, ending with a magnificent storm and rain so severe there wasn’t any way to keep from getting wet, even under the cover of the boats decks. After getting to Manues we had a frantic trip to the airport to catch a flight back to Belo Horizonte. It was crazy. Though in many ways typical Brazil. Because of such poor internet access we were unable to keep you all updated on the trip, and for that I apologize.

The three of us (Troy, Ben and Scott) are throughly exhausted from the 11 days in the Amazon. It is impossible to convey the intensity of the heat effect, high humidity, close quarters, and limited sleep other than to say ‘exhaustion plus.’ But in the same breath I would add every single drop of sweat, every discomfort, every inconvenience was nothing compared to the things which the Lord allowed us to see, experience and participate in on this trip. We saw the glory of Christ in the nations. Pure and simple. (more…)

Posted by Scott on August 14th, 2008 in Lamb of God | 4 Comments »