Author Archives: Stephen Rodgers

LBC Weekly SPARK – July 19, 2010

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Hello to all our LBC family and friends!

I hope you are doing well and walking in the Lord. It’s a bit strange to think that Pastor John and the San Jose team are now in Northern California. I had a chance to talk with him on the phone on Saturday evening and we shared how weird it was that they now call San Jose “home.” Still, how exciting it was that this past Sunday they were able to enjoy their first service together as a church plant. I heard that there were about 90 people in attendance! Let’s continue to support the team and pray for LBCSJ as they begin life up north.

Here in San Diego, it was an equally strange time to have our first service without the church plant team. Certainly, some of the familiar faces we’ve grown accustomed to seeing on Sundays were absent. We’re totally going to miss everyone who was on the team. Still, it was also exciting to begin our new chapter at LBCSD. It is indeed exciting to think where the Lord will lead each of these congregations, and how we will be able to work together to be a mighty force for the gospel here in California and to the ends of the earth.

We’re toning things down for the summer so you’re not going to see too many events planned. But there are still some things happening this summer that you won’t want to miss. Please read through the announcements below for more information.

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • The Beacon. Don’t forget to check out The Beacon online newsletter (www.lighthousebc.com/beacon)! It is constantly being updated with new articles, ministry updates, and weekly links. If you are a member and would like to help serve on the Beacon team, please contact Stephen Rodgers for more information.
  • Babysitting Ministry. The Care Ministry provides complimentary babysitting for our members’ families each month. Planning a date night or need to run some errands? The Babysitting Ministry is sure to be helpful! If you need a babysitter or would like more details, please contact Stephanie McAdams (stephanie@mcdoulos.net).

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • Men Discipling Men Conference. Please pray for the men who will be attending the MDM Conference this weekend at The Master’s College (www.mdmconference.org). The dates for the conference are July 23-24, and registration is still open. The cost of registration is $85 (if your spouse attended the WDW Conference, there is a discount for both of you). If you plan to register, please contact Peter Lim as he is helping arrange housing (peterlim@yahoo.com).
  • Fun In The Sun Day. Break out your sports equipment! Our first FITS of the year will be this Sunday, July 25, from 11:30am-4:00pm at Torrey Hills Community Park. This weekend we’ll be playing some softball and volleyball, so be sure to bring a change of clothes to church. The college ministry will also be serving lunch as a fundraiser for their ministry. The cost is only $5/adult and $3/child (ages 3-12). Come out to the park for a great day in the sun!
  • All Church Luau. We will be having our annual all church Luau on August 14 from 10:00am-4:00pm at Mission Bay Park behind the Bahia. This is always one of the highlight events of the year. Come out dressed in your best Hawaiian clothing and join us for some great fellowship.
  • All-Church Vision Quest. We’re bringing back an old LBC tradition! The All-Church Vision Quest will be on August 27 from 6:30-8:30pm. This will be a time to be reminded of the MVP and to have some fun showcasing the church’s talents. The theme for this Vision Quest will be musical talent. If you are interested in performing an act, please contact Pastor Patrick (pastorpatrick@gmail.com).
  • Membership Class. We will be having a membership class on August 28 and 29 at the church in Room 107. On Saturday, August 28, the class will be from 9:00am-12:00pm, and on Sunday, August 29, it will be from 1:00-4:00pm. Both classes are required if you would like to become a member. Please contact Pastor Patrick if you are interested in attending or for more information (pastorpatrick@gmail.com).

AFFINITY GROUPS

  • Lumos Youth Ministry. The Lumos youth group will be meeting this Friday evening at 7:00pm for Bible study in Room 107. The group will also be meeting on Sunday morning after the morning service for Sunday School. If you have any questions about Lumos, please contact Roger Alcaraz (rogeralcaraz@gmail.com).
  • College/Singles Ministry. The joint College and Singles Friday night Bible study will continue meeting this Friday at 7:00pm at the church. This summer, we are walking through the book of Colossians. Visit the websites for College Life (www.lighthousebc.com/collegelife) and Single Life (www.lighthousebc.com/singlelife) for more information about the respective groups.
  • Summer Kids’ Club. Summer Kids’ Club is for all kids going into preschool through 5th grade. We continue this Wednesday from 6:30-8:00pm at the church. This summer, we will be conducting a series on the “I Am” statements of Christ from the book of John! This is sure to be a wonderful series focusing on the importance of the gospel. Registration forms are available from Joshua Liu (liu.joshuac@gmail.com). To promote greater involvement, the cost is now FREE (if you have already paid your money will be refunded)!. Please sign up your child(ren) as soon as possible!

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

  • Cleaning Ministry. The cleaning ministry is currently looking for more servants to help tidy up the church on the weekends. This is an invaluable ministry to the church. Talk to Andy Shin if you are interested in joining the crew.

SUMMER READING

Interested in doing some good summer reading? Here are a few titles you might want to look at:

  • The Ultimate Priority, John MacArthur
  • The Faithful Parent, Martha Peace and Stuart Scott
  • A Quest for More, Paul Tripp
  • It Is Well, Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence
  • What Is a Healthy Church Member, Thabiti Anyabwile
  • Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Theology, Mark Dever, C. J. Mahaney, and R. Albert Mohler
  • The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love, Jonathan Leeman

Editor’s Note: July 2010

by Stephen Rodgers

Just in case you were wondering where today’s article is, I wanted to let you know that the Beacon is taking a short break. We’re taking two weeks off to…

  • give our writers a breather (they’ve earned it!),
  • adjust to some recent changes in the church (San Jose church plant),
  • finish a couple of Beacon-related projects (including something for the hallway at church),
  • do some site maintenance (WordPress has a new version out, there’s some cleanup to be done in the archives, Dan has some spiffy new designs),
  • and plan the rest of the year.

We’re planning on returning on 7/26.

See you then!

The Iniquity of the Holy Things

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Exodus 28:38

What a veil is lifted up by these words, and what a disclosure is made! It will be humbling and profitable for us to pause awhile and see this sad sight. The iniquities of our public worship, its hypocrisy, formality, lukewarmness, irreverence, wandering of heart and forgetfulness of God, what a full measure have we there! Our work for the Lord, its emulation, selfishness, carelessness, slackness, unbelief, what a mass of defilement is there! Our private devotions, their laxity, coldness, neglect, sleepiness, and vanity, what a mountain of dead earth is there! If we looked more carefully we should find this iniquity to be far greater than appears at first sight.

Dr. Payson, writing to his brother, says, ‘My parish, as well as my heart, very much resembles the garden of the sluggard; and what is worse, I find that very many of my desires for the melioration of both, proceed either from pride or vanity or indolence. I look at the weeds which overspread my garden, and breathe out an earnest wish that they were eradicated. But why? What prompts the wish? It may be that I may walk out and say to myself, ‘In what fine order is my garden kept!’ This is pride. Or, it may be that my neighbours may look over the wall and say, ‘How finely your garden flourishes!’ This is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of the weeds, because I am weary of pulling them up. This is indolence.’

So that even our desires after holiness may be polluted by ill motives. Under the greenest sods worms hide themselves; we need not look long to discover them. How cheering is the thought, that when the High Priest bore the iniquity of the holy things he wore upon his brow the words, ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD:’ and even so while Jesus bears our sin, He presents before His Father’s face not our unholiness, but his own holiness. O for grace to view our great High Priest by the eye of faith!

1.8a

Weekly Links (7/9/2010)

by Stephen Rodgers

Welcome back! It’s Friday, which is a bit of a surprise for all of us who work due to the shortened week (hooray for holidays!). But hooray as well for the weekly links:

  • There’s been a little bit of back and forth on this issue lately between some folks blogs, so over at his blog Justin Taylor laid out A Primer on Limited (or Definite) Atonement. It’s worth a read. And if you’re still interested in reading a little bit more on the topic, I would recommend James White’s article Was Anyone Saved at the Cross.
  • Speaking of atonement, Michael Horton has written an article over at the Resurgence on Why Substitutionary Atonement Remains Crucial. It’s also available in an easily-printable PDF version with footnotes (hooray footnotes!).
  • It’s the end of an era. The Albert Mohler radio program is no more. I’d highly recommend the last two episodes, which are explained here, (or you can just go here directly). Also, Al has written a summary of what he spoke about on the last day which is worth thoughtful examination.
  • Speaking of radio, or at least things that make sound (ok, awkward segue I’ll admit), the free book for July from christianaudio.com is A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. If you don’t know who Tozer is…well, he’s awesome. Seriously. GET THIS FREE AUDIO BOOK.
  • The July edition of Tabletalk is out, and it’s all on the subject of worship. By now you know about Tabletalk, and you know how good it is. Enjoy!
  • And ladies! I have something for you too…(ok, wait, that sounded creepy). I have something about you! (That really wasn’t an improvement). Ok, nevermind the clever intro…the latest edition of the 9Marks eJournal is out, and it’s on the topic of Pastoring Women. Everyone’s favorite/mandated author Jonathan Leeman writes an excellent article for it as well.
  • You’ll recall that a couple weeks ago I linked to notes from the 2010 Ligonier National Conference. Well, if those interested you (and I’m sure they did!) you can now view any of the talks online. C’mon! The video is available! What are you waiting for?
  • You all remember when I posted the link to John Piper’s famous Don’t Waste Your Cancer article/sermon right? It’s amazing…it’s Biblical…but for a lot of us, it’s difficult to relate directly. That’s why I appreciated Dan Phillips’ posting this funny-sounding but very serious correllative entitled Don’t Waste Your Feeling-Really-Yucky.

That’s it folks. See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

GraceLife Ministry Update

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Since the beginning of Lighthouse Bible Church, we have known that there needed to be a great investment made in the families and married couples of the church. This group in some ways would provide much of the stability that the church needed to grow. Throughout the years, GraceLife has undergone several structural changes as the leaders sought to best minister to this group. This past term, we decided to meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays to discuss the Sunday sermons and it was a huge encouragement!

From various interactions with different members, I have found that not too many people interact with their sermon notes after Sunday. Most people do not remember what the previous Sunday’s message was about, and if they do, they have not really thought through the importance of the message to their life. The purpose of the GraceLife homework was to provide a catalyst to get people to reflect more on the Sunday messages. As a result, most of the members in GraceLife said they thought more about the sermons than ever before. By completing the homework each week and having the large group discussions, the hope was that it would make it easier to discuss the Sunday messages with others in different contexts and casual conversations. We wanted to not just facilitate a discussion time within GraceLife, but to influence the greater practice of the church.

This was to begin in the home. Since the men and women of GraceLife met on separate evenings, our hope was that married couples and families would come together sometime during the week to discuss the homework. Even in casual conversations, perhaps one person could comment about something interesting that was said on Sunday that they did not really think much about before.

I was glad to hear that the single adults were also completing these sermon worksheets for their small groups, and that the discussions that stemmed from the homework were greatly helpful each week. This is one of the reasons why we have decided to continue with the worksheets in the fall when we meet together in our monthly flocks. Again, the purpose is not simply to give an assignment to complete, but to get the church to the point where having spiritual conversations reflecting upon the Sunday sermons is normal, everyday, and routine.

The leaders of GraceLife were also really encouraged to see the turnout each week. Seeing so many men and women come out shows a desire to grow spiritually and to enjoy godly fellowship. Through our small groups, we were also able to provide much needed accountability. One vital lesson we wanted every member to realize was that spiritual growth came not only from what was learned each week, but also from the investment that was made in others. As people participated in the weekly discussions and small group times, the group (and in turn the church as a whole) was strengthened.

In the fall, the plan is to move GraceLife to Sunday mornings as a Sunday School class. Certainly this will be difficult for some, but for most of the group it will be helpful. Instead of meeting separately, couples will be able to worship and study together. Meeting on Sunday will also free up the rest of the week for small groups. The format should really be beneficial in the end and the leaders are really excited for it. As we walk through the book of Mark together, I am confident that examining the life of Christ will be truly edifying and a blessing.

Living Theology #30 – The Gospel Call and Effectual Calling

by Garrett Glende

Last week we studied what it means that God has elected some people to be saved. This was the initial step in what theologians have deemed the ordo salutis, or order of salvation. The next cluster of chapters in Grudem’s book walk through this process, ending with glorification and union with Christ. This week we will look at the gospel call and see how this doctrine is applicable to our lives today.

Most (if not all) Christians remember the moment when they heard the gospel for the first time and it pierced their heart. Maybe some had grown up in the church or in a Christian environment and listened to many preachers proclaim the good news, but it never really sunk in. Perhaps others were staunch atheists, always boldly and publically renouncing Christ. Most Christians did not accept the gospel the first time they heard it, in fact, many continue on in their unbelief for decades before God calls them to faith and repentance. How can this be? Why does it take so long for some to come to Christ? While there are many answers to these questions, one response that can be offered is that God had not called them yet. Before things get too confused, let’s take a look at the two types of callings that Grudem outlines in this chapter.

General Call

The general call (otherwise known as the external or gospel call) is when the gospel in preached to unbelievers. It is a universal appeal for all sinners to come to Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Included in this proclamation are the basic fundamentals of the gospel message (sin and its penalty, Christ’s atoning death on our behalf), an invitation to respond in faith and repentance, and the promise of eternal life. This call is routinely rejected, as men’s hearts are unable to respond without God’s quickening.

Effectual Call

A verse we looked at last week demonstrates the effectual gospel call. Romans 8:30 reads, “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” The difference between the effectual call of God and the general gospel call is that the effectual call always results in justification. There will be salvation for all those whom God calls in this way. Grudem defines it as follows: “effective calling is an act of God the Father, speaking through the human proclamation of the gospel, in which he summons people to himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith.” Notice that God uses the general call as an integral aspect of bringing rebels to himself, for “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14). Even still, God remains sovereign over those He brings to himself as Jesus testifies that “no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). The conversion of Lydia in Acts 16:14 is an example of God effectively calling a sinner to repentance, as it says that “the Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul.” Paul was faithful to proclaim the gospel and God used this teaching to work in Lydia’s heart so that she would turn to Him in faith. The effectual call is not some mechanical working that is absent of any emotion or human response, as some critics of the doctrine have suggested. There is always a call for each individual person to come to Christ for rest and they must have faith and repent to be saved. Grudem writes, “He does not save us ‘automatically’ without seeking for a response from us as whole persons. Rather, he addresses the gospel call to our intellects, our emotions, and our wills.” As a demonstration of His love and mercy, this invitation includes the glorious truths of the gospel and speaks directly to our hearts.

Application

There is immediate clear application of this doctrine for all Christians today. “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” The answer that Paul implies with this verse is obvious – they will not believe. For sinners to be saved, Christians must preach the gospel. It is the means by which God has chosen to bring the lost back to Himself and it is one of the primary reasons why we are still here on earth. A man will not wake up one day and place his faith in the atoning death of Christ having never heard the gospel ever before. Everyone we meet – every roommate, every co-worker, every classmate – must hear the good news of Jesus Christ. The timing and nature in which we share is to be decided on with wisdom and discernment, but we must have a sense of urgency and a love for the lost. The church, as God’s proxy on earth, has been granted the responsibility to spread the news of the gospel and each individual member must take part in this privilege. And we should see it as such. What an honor to be able to speak forth the wonderful truths of Christ dying as a substitute for our sins. I’m encouraged by the members of LBC who take on this responsibility with joy and as the church plant draws ever nearer, may we all proclaim the gospel more boldly than we ever have before.

Farewell College Life

by Pastor Patrick Cho

The leaders at Lighthouse have always seen the importance of having a college ministry so that the collegians could be involved in the life of the church and maintain their identity as college students. One of the goals of College Life has been to establish an on-campus presence so that the gospel could be more effectively preached to other students and faculty. In the past twelve years at LBC, the collegians have always added refreshing excitement and youthful zeal to the life of the church. It has been a great joy seeing collegians that love the Lord and want to grow in their knowledge of Him. Many of these collegians maximized their efforts to make use of every opportunity to be equipped and trained in the faith. This is why it has been such a great privilege and joy shepherding the college ministry all these years.

One of the transitions at Lighthouse with the upcoming church plant is that I will be stepping out of college ministry. It was a great privilege being able to serve as the college pastor for the past ten years. Some of my best memories have come from the context of College Life. Back in 2005, we had a car rally event with a Harry Potter theme. I’ll never forget having the collegians drive all around town looking for the “Golden Snitch” (a.k.a. Beverly Chan, nee Kang) while “bludgers” (a.k.a. College Life staff) hunted them down to steal away their points. A year later, we had another car rally, but this time with the theme of Pirates of the Caribbean, where the collegians needed to unearth a buried treasure somewhere in San Diego by deciphering cryptic clues. Some complained that it was too difficult and even tried to head home early in defeat, but the winning team naturally boasted that the difficulty level was just right.

The retreats for College Life have also been a huge highlight. In 2004, we actually took the entire college group up to Fresno. Virl Tait, who was a good friend from seminary, graciously agreed to come along with us to be our retreat speaker. He covered the theme of “What’s Your Direction?” and discussed the importance of living a life of purpose. During this trip, we tried to visit Yosemite, but came to find that the roads were closed due to the snow. Still it was a great trip and a wonderful time having the staff and collegians all in Fresno. Throughout the years, we have been fortunate to have some really great speakers for our retreats. In 2005, we had Pastor Nam Park from Immanuel Bible Church. In 2008, Pastor Peter Kim from Berean Community Church was our speaker. And 2009 was memorable because Pastor Chris Mueller came and addressed the topic of dating.

In all the years of College Life, I was only able to teach through two books of the Bible (and didn’t complete either of them!). I started off teaching through 1 Corinthians with the collegians, and this was a hugely helpful study. But this eventually became a Sunday morning series because I felt as though the church in general could benefit from the lessons within. This led me to start a series in the book of Mark. Studying the life of Christ is always going to be a great blessing, and certainly it was wonderful opening Mark with the collegians. But unfortunately, since I’ll be stepping out of College Life, we won’t be able to finish. This is going to become a GraceLife study instead, and I’m hoping to actually make it to the end with the married couples and parents. It is the shortest of the Gospels after all!

As I am thankful for all the collegians and the wonderful memories we have had together, I am also very thankful for the staff I’ve been able to work with. Some of them have been serving in college ministry for a long time. We’ve seen collegian student staff become senior staff members, we’ve seen single adult staff get married, and we’ve seen married couples on staff have children. It really has been a remarkable journey together. I know it isn’t like everything is coming to a close. We’re still serving in the same church and will still enjoy great fellowship and ministry together. But I wanted to appreciate the staff for all the hard work, dedication, and love they have shown in College Life. As I step out, they will continue the work on the campuses and I have all the confidence in the world that they’ll do a fantastic job!

If there was one message that I tried to consistently convey to the collegians, it’s to not be collegians. I know it sounds unfair, but it is a valuable lesson to learn. The message is simple. Don’t use your collegian status as an excuse to be immature and irresponsible. The typical collegian is undependable, lazy, a time waster, silly, etc. Biblically, there is no warrant for it. The Bible doesn’t tell us that while we are students we can live foolish lives. Actually, the Bible treats college-aged individuals as adults, so my exhortation to the collegians has been and will continue to be: Be adult in your thinking, living, and speech. Again, I know it doesn’t sound fair, but don’t be “collegians” even though you are in college. All around you, you will see collegians acting like collegians. You ought not to do the same.

This is the stage in life where you will be making some of the most important decisions in your life. It is therefore vital that you make those decisions from a position of spiritual strength. I know what a blessing your college years can be. They are some of the best years of your life. Make sure your main purpose and goal will be to come away from college having grown closer to the Lord than ever before, deeper in your devotion, having sweeter times in the Word and in prayer, and having enjoyed God-honoring, encouraging, soul-satisfying, biblical fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. This will make your years in college memorable in a way that truly matters.

Life After LBC #2 – Tia Han

by Tia Han

Hello Lighthouse Family!

Before I begin, I just wanted to say that a few LBC members agreed to do a few things should I write this article: Jinny agreed to perform an interpretive dance at the next member’s meeting (Jinny, please read Exodus 20:13), and the Cho-los agreed to stop teaching Eden bad words like “hobbit.” :]

Dreaming aside (haha), it’s been four years since I’ve graduated and moved back to San Jose, but I still love this church family. Like Paul says to the church in Philippi, “I hold you in my heart” (Phil 1:7) and “yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:8). I think of you, church family, and can still think of many among you who are like Pauls, Loises, Eunices, Barnabases, and Epaphrases to me. I’m now 300-something miles away and four years out of regular fellowship with all of you; but your teaching, love, encouragement, equipping, and friendship continue to bless me to this day. How good He is.

What have I been up to? Well, aside from finishing grad school (God-willing, one more year to go), work, and traveling for all things weddings-related, church planting and family have been two of the biggest fish in this pond.

I began church planting with City Church last fall. Initially, it was a little rough with the lack of stability, but we now have three Gospel Groups (Bible studies) going and had our service launch on June 6! Most of my time in church planting is spent in meeting up with people, most of whom are not yet believers, and in discipleship relationships. How has it been? Exhausting, humbling, and a joy. God is building His church, and I’ve been a front-row observer of His work of salvation in the lives of a few individuals since the inception of this church, one of whom was my best friend from the fourth grade. Her husband has been attending Gospel Group as well, and a couple weeks ago, they gave birth to their first son. Months ago, when she first found out about her pregnancy, she hinted to me something along the lines of, “Had God not brought me to this church when He did, I might have thought nothing of abortion.” (She had been making plans to go to law school and did not plan to have children for a few years yet.) Seeing their new family of three at the hospital a couple weeks ago was such a testimony to His sovereign grace.

I’ve really been challenged over the course of this year to consider the bride and body of Christ more carefully – what makes a church, what makes for a biblical church, and what it means in terms of my love and commitment toward the church that Christ gave up His life for her, broken and not-quite-spotless as she may currently be. This past winter, when I struggled with hard doubts about my involvement with our church plant, it was actually those among you, Lighthouse, who encouraged me to stay committed and persevere in love (thank you).

Family, too, has had its difficulties and joys. As some of you may remember, the primary reason I moved back home four years ago was to spend more time with my family, as half of my immediate family and all of my extended family, except for a few, do not know or love Christ. When I first came home, despite knowing that salvation is “the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16), I honestly grew frustrated when they weren’t “getting” it (as if sin and the gospel could be reduced to an intellectual issue). But my frustration and discouragement didn’t just stem from lack of immediate fruit. Perhaps my greatest source of discouragement was what I found in my own heart. I really did desire to adorn the gospel with an obedient life and display gospel-adorning love towards my family, but whenever I examined my life, I only saw failure (and more failure). I only saw a heart stubbornly entrenched in self-love and sin – a heart so small in love for Jesus.

But it’s been something of a broken but joyful process learning more sincerely that this gospel is not only for those who have never submitted to Christ as Lord and Savior. This gospel is also still for me, an embattled child who is striving to please her Father (not for His acceptance but for His delight) and do His work. Four years later, I still grow discouraged, and I’m not immune to the hard temptations that come with ministering to family. I still want to give up sometimes, especially when circumstances and sin become unbearable, humanly speaking. But herein lies my hope: “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are found in the person of Jesus Christ – not me, not the individuals of my family, not the convincing arguments of a theologian or “saint”…Jesus Christ.

Piper got it right; life really is war. And with both church planting and family, He’s teaching me to love Him with my chief love, fight for souls like I really believe the gospel is true, and pray fervently.

Please pray with me, that I might stand firm and give honor to the Savior as I continue to sow and labor, trusting that He will bring gospel transformation where I can’t even imagine it. Pray I would be a rejoicer, not a grumbler, as I wait with faith. In fact, let’s stand firm and persevere in love and gospel ministry together, Lighthouse.

I love you, Lighthouse Family! Shine the light!

Editor’s Note: Tia may have been too humble to mention it, but she also maintains a blog that consistently puts out great gospel-centered content. If you’re looking for something more to read, it’s a great place to start.

My Sister, My Spouse…

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Song of Solomon 4:12

Observe the sweet titles with which the heavenly Solomon with intense affection addresses His bride the church. ‘My sister, one near to me by ties of nature, partaker of the same sympathies. My spouse, nearest and dearest, united to me by the tenderest bands of love; my sweet companion, part of my own self. My sister, by my Incarnation, which makes me bone of thy bone and flesh of thy flesh; my spouse, by heavenly betrothal, in which I have espoused thee unto myself in righteousness. My sister, whom I knew of old, and over whom I watched from her earliest infancy; my spouse, taken from among the daughters, embraced by arms of love, and affianced unto me for ever.

See how true it is that our royal Kinsman is not ashamed of us, for He dwells with manifest delight upon this two-fold relationship. We have the word ‘my’ twice in our version; as if Christ dwelt with rapture on His possession of His Church. ‘His delights were with the sons of men,’ because those sons of men were His own chosen ones. He, the Shepherd, sought the sheep, because they were His sheep; He has gone about ‘to seek and to save that which was lost,’ because that which was lost was His long before it was lost to itself or lost to Him. The church is the exclusive portion of her Lord; none else may claim a partnership, or pretend to share her love. Jesus, thy church delights to have it so!

Let every believing soul drink solace out of these wells. Soul! Christ is near to thee in ties of relationship; Christ is dear to thee in bonds of marriage union, and thou art dear to Him; behold He grasps both of thy hands with both His own, saying, ‘My sister, my spouse.’ Mark the two sacred holdfasts by which thy Lord gets such a double hold of thee that He neither can nor will ever let thee go. Be not, O beloved, slow to return the hallowed flame of His love.

1.7p

Weekly Links (7/2/2010)

by Stephen Rodgers

One of the things I’ve noticed as I’ve done this segment is that people benefit from different forms of media, well, differently. Me, I’m a words guy. I love articles. I really love long PDF files with footnootes. I really, really love even longer books with footnootes. But to some people, that’s like kryptonite.

This post is for you.

Today, I just wanted to briefly highlight a few places where as a Christian you can find resources in audio format. Now, readers with memories better than mine will remember that there was an article on good resources for a Christian that included links to several sermon repositories. Along those lines:

  • In case you didn’t notice, the LBC sermon archive recently started uploading sermons going all the way back to 2004. Paul is still working through those, but there’s a lot more up than there used to be. So high-five Paul when you see him next.

But what if you aren’t looking for a full-length sermon? What if you just were hoping for something to fill the time during your morning commute? I’ve got you covered. These resources will either let you download the programs for free, or subscribe to them so that you are automatically notified when a new one comes out.

  • Al Mohler has a daily radio program where he discusses current issues from a Christian perspective. He’s always worth listening to.
  • Apologist James White does a twice-a-week segment called The Dividing Line where he discusses current events and takes calls. The older shows cost money, but the program has been free for a couple of years now.
  • Of course there’s also Grace to You, the radio arm of John MacArthur’s ministry.
  • No Compromise Radio maintains an archive of all of their episodes that you could definitely benefit from.
  • And last but not least, so does Stand to Reason, the ministry of apologist Greg Koukle. You’ll need to scroll down to see all the archives, but it’s always interesting and thought-provoking to hear what he has to say.

“Alright” you say. “That’s all well and good. But what if I only have five minutes? I just want something to think about and I need it delivered in less time than it takes to microwave a pot pie.”

  • Well, I would heartily recommend Ask Pastor John, which are the freely available Q&A sessions that John Piper has done over the years. Each one is usually 2-5 minutes long, and focuses on the Biblical answer to a specific problem.

Any or all of those would be a great addition to your week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

See you Sunday!

Pro Rege