Dealing Responsibly With Anxious Souls-#1

This new series of posts is dedicated to Christ Jesus, the only Lord and Savior. In these posts, I hope to inspire thought, discussion, and practice around responsible evangelistic soul-care. We all know that leading a thirsty man to a dry riverbed could never satisfy his thirst. But, leading him to the never-failing "Fountain of living waters" will eternally quench his parched soul. So for you, which source will it be? The empty riverbed of man-centered tactics, or the saving oasis of Jesus Christ?

Complaining is easy. Finding solutions is more difficult. This is true even for (especially for?) Christians who are thinking about conversion counseling (i.e. witnessing). Have believers not become notorious for identifying the problems of decisionistic, 'I-can-do-it', Christianity? And rightfully so! Why is it then that guidance for those wanting to faithfully present the gospel, and represent the God of the gospel, have little help on which to lean?

It is one thing to lament the the erroneous theology of easy-believism that has been sweeping our land for quite some time. It is another thing altogether to seek the Lord's counsel in His Word in order to realize His revealed will for dealing responsibly with those whose souls are anxious for a remedy for their sin problem.

Too many are stating man's solution; "Repeat this prayer and you will be saved." Too few are stating God's solution; "Turn to GOD and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for He is GOD and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:22).


What is a child of God to do if he or she wants to lead someone else to faith in Jesus Christ (And every true Christian does desire to be used of God to do lead others to Christ!)? What are we to say in the 'moment of truth' when a soul is desiring to press into the kingdom of Christ, forsake sin and self, and rest in the Savior? What are we to do in that moment? To be certain, it is not the slickness of our words, or the winsomeness of our appeal that saves a soul. Yes, but in evangelism words are necessary. And the blame for wrong words is appropriately laid at our doorstep.

Some who become aware of our God-given responsibility to represent Him faithfully with our words will shrink back from being evangelistic at all for fear they may say the wrong thing. Silence, however, would be a greater crime.

With that, I invite you to join us in letting the hard work begin (er...continue) of finding God-pleasing solutions for our day's man-centered soteriological dilemma.

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First things first: We at Grace Church don't presume to have responsible soul-care figured out. But we are desiring to always be praying and laboring to become better soul-physicians. And God forbid that any of us cop-out of our evangelistic responsibility by employing the 'magic prayer' either to expedite the process, or because we are unwilling to seek counsel from God, His Word, and other faithful soul-physicians.

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The next six posts in this series will come from Robert Murray McCheyne (pictured). And, Oh friend does he ever have God-centered biblical help to offer!

"And this is eternal life, that they know Thee, the only true GOD and JESUS CHRIST whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).

Would You Consider Skipping Eating Out One Time for Christ and His Kingdom? (or more?)

Would you consider it?

"God will not allow his Word to rest lightly on the heart of one who longs to experience its life-changing, sin-killing, Christ-exalting power"

If you want to enjoy the Bible's life-altering affect of Christ-centeredness, then meditate on Scripture, don't speed read!

The following quotation is well worth our attention.
(Taken from pp 199-201 in Signs of the Spirit. I have noted which of the quotes are from Edwards, and which are from Storms.)

"I had then, and at other times, the greatest delight in the holy Scriptures, of any book whatsoever. Oftentimes in reading it, every word seemed to touch my heart. I felt a harmony between something in my heart, and those sweet and powerful words. I seemed often to see so much light exhibited by every sentence, and such a refreshing food communicated, that I could not get along in reading; often dwelling long on one sentence, to see the wonders contained in it; and yet almost every sentence seemed to be full of wonders." (J. Edwards)

"And I have sometimes had an affecting sense of the excellency of the word of God, as a word of life; as the light of life; a sweet, excellent life-giving word; accompanied with a thirsting after that word, that it might dwell richly in my heart." (J. Edwards)

"Do you dwell 'long on one sentence' or skim quickly with only a cursory glance at words on a page? The greatest profit that I gain from Scripture is when I pause to take a word or phrase or sentence and turn it over and over again in my mind, speaking it aloud, perhaps even singing it unto the Lord. Memorize it. Muse on it. Ruminate. Reflect. Cry out to the Spirit for light of understanding. Evaluate your soul and mind and life and leisure time in the light of its truth. Place your thoughts and deeds and desires and daydreams under its authority." (Sam Storms)

"In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches" (Psalm 119:14).

"I will delight in your statutes" (v. 16).

"My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times" (v. 20).

"Behold, I long for your precepts" (v. 40).

"For I find my delight in your commandments, which I love" (v. 47).

"The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces" (v. 72).

"Oh how I love your law" (v. 97).

"Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart" (v. 111).

"Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold" (v. 127).

"I rejoice at the word like one who finds great spoil" (v. 162).

"My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly" (v. 167).

"Those incredible statements from Psalm 119 should never be read in isolation from the rest of the psalm. The reason God's Word resonated with such sweet savor in the soul of the psalmist is because he was committed to seeking the Lord with his "whole heart" (Ps. 119:2, 10) and to meditating on his precepts (119:15) and to fixing his eyes on God's "ways" (119:15). His resolve was to "keep God's law continually, forever and ever" (1198:44). Listen to the psalmist's prayer, repeated over and again: (S. Storms)

"Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law" (v. 18).

"Teach me your statutes!" (vv. 26, 68, 124, 135).

"Make me understand the way of your precepts" (v. 27).

"Graciously teach me Your law!" (v. 29).

"Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes" (v. 33).

"Give me understanding that I may learn your commandments" (v. 73; see also vv. 34, 125, 144, 169).

"Teach me your rules" (v. 108).

"If this were our prayer, perhaps then, like Edwards, we would begin to feel 'a harmony' between our hearts and 'those sweet and powerful words' and taste 'a refreshing food' in God's Word and see the 'wonders contained in it.' Rest assured of this: God will not allow his Word to rest lightly on the heart of one who longs to experience its life-changing, sin-killing, Christ-exalting power." (S. Storms).

By The Strength of His Might Not One of Them is Missing

You've probably seen these images before...but its worth another jaw-drop.

Worship Preparation | Our Living GOD

Exodus 3, is our sermon text for Sunday, and as you know, is the "burning bush" or "calling of Moses" chapter. And, as you also know, it is about so much more than that--namely the God-initiated revealation of the Name and Character of God (as YHWH).

As you ready your heart for Sunday at Grace, consider the remainder of the Exodus account (all the way through Joshua!), and that the God who reveals Himself, and makes covenant promises to deliver His people from bondage, is the God who sovereignly accomplishes all that He said He would do! Consider most of all our Passover Lamb!

The Heart of the Matter

We would do ourselves well to pray this...then pray it again and again until it resonates with the deepest of our desires.

"Lord, spare us the insidious ego deception that we love God when really we love being told that we love God. Forbid that our being thanked is the bottom of our joy, rather than Christ being praised." (J. Piper)

John Owen Prayed for Grace Church

Beginning this coming Sunday, the Grace Groups (small groups) of Grace Church will start going through John Owen's book, Communion With God. Staggeringly amazing in concept, completely soul-satisfying when practiced!

As we are preparing to embark on this study, I was encouraged to find that Rev. Owen prayed for us. Here is the transcript of his summary of the study, and of his petition of the Almighty on our behalf:

"It is with regard to this initial communion [with God] (on earth) that I intend to speak and to show that mutual giving and receiving between God and the saints as they walk together in holy and spiritual peace."

"First I pray that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has, by the riches of his grace, brought us from a state of enmity into this glorious fellowship with himself, may give you such a taste of his sweetness and excellence in this communion as to be stirred up to a greater longing for that eternal enjoyment of him in eternal glory" (p. 3).

Amen and Amen!

He Rests

So rest with Him...IN HIM!

Was He Tired? Worship Preparation

Take time this week to read and meditate through the creation account in Genesis 1-2. Focus specifically on the first three verses of chapter two.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Gen 2:1-3 ESV)

The "rest" of God will be one of our main questions this Sunday at Grace. More importantly, we will ask, "So, what was He doing while He rested?" And, "He was doing what? And He was doing it to whom?" Ultimately we want to worship Him because He has said to us, "I will give you rest."


See you Sunday, Lord willing...

Who Is This?

Who is This, so Weak and Helpless
William W. How

Who is this so weak and helpless,
Child of lowly Hebrew maid,
Rudely in a stable sheltered, coldly in a manger laid?
’Tis the Lord of all creation,
Who this wondrous path hath trod;
He is God from everlasting, and to everlasting God.

Who is this, a Man of sorrows,
Walking sadly life’s hard way,
Homeless, weary, sighing, weeping,
Over sin and Satan’s sway?
’Tis our God, our glorious Savior,
Who above the starry sky
Is for us a place preparing,
Where no tear can dim the eye.

Who is this? Behold Him shedding
Drops of blood upon the ground!
Who is this, despised, rejected,
Mocked, insulted, beaten, bound?
’Tis our God, Who gifts and graces
On His church is pouring down;
Who shall smite in holy vengeance
All His foes beneath His throne.


Who is this that hangs there dying
While the rude world scoffs and scorns,
Numbered with the malefactors,
Torn with nails, and crowned with thorns?
’Tis our God Who lives forever,
’Mid the shining ones on high,
In the glorious golden city, reigning everlastingly.

Who is GOD?

We all have our ideas about Him...but what does GOD say about Himself?

Grace Church-ers, remember to pray over and pass out these flyers that we made available on Sunday! Go get 'em!

Jordan Thomas - Our Great God

Another Grace Church member pointed me to this YouTube snippit from the sermon I preached in July at BBC, which was the same text I preached yesterday at Grace...

Our Great God

"For thus says the high and exalted one,
Who lives forever, Whose name is Holy.
'I dwell on a high and holy place,
and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit,
in order to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of contrite.'"
- Isaiah 57:15

Paaaaty Tyme

Remember, this Sunday evening (Sept 9) from 5:30-7p is our Grace Party at Bridges.

Grace Parties are designed to celebrate Christ and His work. Everyone is welcome.

As we are anticipating the start of a new cycle of Grace Groups (beginning Sept. 16), this Sunday's party will be dedicated to the work of God through our Spring cycle Grace Groups. A few testimonies will be shared too. See you Sunday morning, and again in the evening!

Light refreshments will be available at the party, and I'm sure several will hit dinner spots afterwards (maybe even The Happy?).

God Songs

Grace Church wants your help.

Would you point us to your favorite hymns or choruses that extol the majesty of God? As you think of such songs, please paste the lyrics in the comments section below. Thank you!