J.I. Packer, on Calvinism

"The five points, though separately stated, are really inseparable. They hang together; you cannot reject one without rejecting them all, at least in the sense in which the Synod meant them. For to Calvinism there is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology: the point that God saves sinners. God—the Triune Jehovah, Father, Son and Spirit; three Persons working together in sovereign wisdom, power and love to achieve the salvation of a chosen people, the Father electing, the Son fulfilling the Father’s will by redeeming, the Spirit executing the purpose of Father and Son by renewing. Saves—does everything, first to last, that is involved in bringing man from death in sin to life in glory: plans, achieves and communicates redemption, calls and keeps, justifies, sanctifies, glorifies. Sinners—men as God finds them, guilty, vile, helpless, powerless, unable to lift a finger to do God’s will or better their spiritual lot. God saves sinners—and the force of this confession may not be weakened by disrupting the unity of the work of the Trinity, or by dividing the achievement of salvation between God and man and making the decisive part man’s own, or by soft-pedaling the sinner’s inability so as to allow him to share the praise of his salvation with his Saviour. This is the one point of Calvinistic soteriology which the “five points” are concerned to establish and Arminianism in all its forms to deny: namely, that sinners do not save themselves in any sense at all, but that salvation, first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is of the Lord, to whom be glory for ever; amen."

Zambia Update

Here is the latest blog update on the Reece families who moved to Zambia earlier in the year to serve as missionaries. Please pray for their endeavors as they labor in this country and adjust to their new home.

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Progress on the camp pavilion is painfully slow but the structure is going up little by little everyday. The foundation walls and footings have been laid and the floor leveled. Seventeen teak posts are in the ground. For those who may wonder, we don't use teak to be extravagant. We use it because it's strong and it's the locally available building material of choice among the Lozi. Each teak pole costs about $3 USD. The bond beam (they call it a "ring beam" here) is almost finished. It is made up of seventeen beams running horizontally from post to post all around the perimeter of the structure. Four beams still need to be added and then it will be complete. The earth bag wall that separates the kitchen from the showers/bathroom area is almost finished. When we stand on it the bond beam (which is about nine-and-a-half feet up in the air) it is about waist high. One more hard day and I think we'll have it done. After that we will start on teak cross beams. Then teak king posts. Then mopani ridge poles and rafters. The last step before thatching will be to add small sticks called "lats" that will span between rafters and run parallel with the top of the wall. The bundles of thatch will be tied to the "lats". Vincent, our "foreman", is supposed to have a crew working on the storage room walls of the pavilion so that it will be finished when we get back. He needs monitoring so this could be interesting leaving him alone to manage this part. He's using the traditional Lozi building method called kukangala (adobe mud packed around a stick frame "matrix" - also referred to in England as waddle and daub).

A quick note about Vincent. He is very pleasant to work with. He's responsible, faithful, intuitive and shows initiative. I think he's a keeper. We continue to pray that the Lord will truly save him. It's possible that his heart has already been made new and he is trusting in Christ alone for salvation but just doesn't know how to express it in words.

So the Lord gave us a good gift the other day. Sean and I took Vincent with us to a place between Mwandi and Kazangula to see if we could buy some Mopani poles that I had seen in huge piles on the side of the highway. After driving two-and-a-half hours we were told that the man who owned them was building a lodge in Livingstone and was not willing to sell. I was praying and asking the Lord to help my attitude because it seemed that the whole trip was a waste. One of the old women suggested that we try to phone the man and, after a while provided his number. We took the old woman with us to where we could find a network signal. As it turned out we ran into a man who had cut all the trees for the guy building the lodge. He took us way out into the bush (30 more minutes) to his pile of poles out in the forest. He sold them to us for K 5,000 per pole which is about $1 per pole. To put that in perspective... these poles are at least twelve feet long and at least six inches in diameter, the strength of teak and the color of pine. Vincent was shocked at the quality of the wood and the low price. That made us feel pretty good about it. It was also a great testimony for him to see the Lord provide. It was a long day - Twelve hours altogether. But it was worth it. We pulled into camp at nine p.m. that night with 25 poles. Hopefully we can get 50 more from this same guy.

The rains have started but we are praying that we can be moved into this by Christmas! Thank you for continuing to pray.

~Shannon Reece

Response to the Gracious Summons

The Conversion of William Wilberforce

"It is a great story of the providence of God in pursuing a person through seemingly casual choices. On the long holidays when Parliament was not in session, Wilberforce would sometimes travel with friends or family. In the winter of 1784, when he was twenty-five, on an impulse he invited Isaac Milner, his former schoolmaster and friend from grammar school, who was now a tutor in Queens College, Cambridge to go with him and his mother and sister to the French Riviera. To his amazement Milner turned out to be a convinced Christian without any of the stereotypes that Wilberforce had built up against the evangelicals. They talked for hours about the Christian faith.

In another seemingly accidental turn, Wilberforce saw lying in the house where they were staying a copy of Philip Doddridge's The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul (1745). He asked Milner about it, and Milner said that it was "one of the best books ever written" and suggested they take it along and read it on the way home. Wilberforce later ascribes a huge influence in his conversion to this book. When he arrived home in February 1785 he "had reached intellectual assent into the Biblical view of man, God, and Christ." But he would not yet have claimed what he later described as true Christianity. It was all intellectual. He pushed it to the back of his mind and went on with political and social life.

That summer Wilberforce traveled again with Milner, and they discussed the Greek New Testament for hours. Slowly his "intellectual assent became profound conviction." One of the first manifestations of what he called "the great change"--the conversion--was the contempt he felt for his wealth and the luxury he lived in, especially on those trips between Parliamentary sessions. Seeds were sown almost immediately at the beginning of his Christian life, it seems, of the later passion to help the poor and to turn all his inherited wealth and his naturally high station into a means of blessing the oppressed."


~From John Piper's "The Roots of Endurance," pages 124-125

We Begin to be Like Christ

(J. R. Miller, "The Life of Jesus")

"I am among you as one who serves." Luke 22:27

"He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him." John 13:4-5

Serving is not an easy lesson to learn. But it is a lesson we must learn--if ever we would become like our Master. He did not come to be served--but to serve. He served to the uttermost, just as He loved to the uttermost. Anything that needed to be done for another, He did as naturally and as simply as He breathed. He loved people, and was interested in them, and was ready always to be helpful to them. It never mattered what the service was, whether it was the saving of a soul, the curing of a grievous sickness, or the giving of a cup of water--He did the least as graciously and as divinely, as the greatest.

The washing of feet was the lowliest service any man could do for another. It was the work of the lowliest slave. Yet Jesus without hesitation, did this service for His own disciples. Thus He taught them that nothing anyone may ever need to have done--is unfit for the whitest hands. We begin to be like Christ--only when we begin to love others enough to serve them.

There is no surer test of the genuineness of Christian life, than in this matter of serving others. When we see the Son of God washing His disciples' feet--no service is too menial for us to do. A king may do the lowliest kindness to the poorest peasant in his realm, and his honor will only be enhanced by it.

"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet--you also should wash one another's feet." John 13:14

Growth in God's Kingdom, Charles Leiter

Poetry by Amy Carmichael

O Splendour of God's Will

O Splendour of God's Will,
Clear shining mystery,
I worship and am still
Hushed by the thought of Thee;
Thy great and noble ways
Lowland and mountain know,
Fair flower bells chime their praise,
And to Thee the waters flow.

O Will most lovable,
Young budding trees aflame
And all things beautiful
Illuminate Thy name,
Far hast Thou passed my prayer,
Good hast Thou been to me,
Thy lover everywhere,
Blessed Will, make me to be.

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River of God

O River of God, Thy quickening streams,
Cause me to bud again;
My winter past as one who dreams
I see my summer reign.
For my bare height fresh pasture yields,
Where never grass did grow;
And in the borders of my fields
I see fair lilies blow.

My glowing sand becomes a pool
And all around is green,
And all is restful, quiet, cool,
As in a deep ravine.
O for a worthy song to sing
Thy goodness unto me.
Lord Jesus my eternal Spring,
All glory be to Thee.

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Shadow and Coolness

Shadow and coolness, Lord,
Art Thou to me;
Cloud of my soul, lead on,
I follow Thee.
What though the hot winds blow,
Fierce heat beats up below,
Fountains of water flow-
Praise, praise to Thee.

Clearness and glory, Lord,
Art Thou to me;
Light of my soul, lead on,
I follow Thee.
All through the moonless night,
Making its darkness bright,
Thou art my Heavenly Light-
Praise, praise to Thee.

Shadow and Shine art Thou
My Lord, to me;
Pillar of cloud and fire,
I follow Thee.
What though the way be long,
In Thee my heart is strong,
Thou art my joy, my song-
Praise, praise to Thee.

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Strength of My Heart

Strength of my heart, I need not fail,
Not mine to fear but to obey.
With such a Leader who could quail?
Thou art as Thou wert yesterday.
Strength of my heart, I rest in Thee,
Fulfill Thy purposes through me.

Strength of my heart, though suns burn low
And fades the green from all the earth,
Thy quenchless hope would fervent glow,
From barren waste would spring to birth.
Hope of my heart, O cause to be,
Renewals of Thy hope in me.

Love of my heart, my stream runs dry,
O fountain of the heavenly hills,
Love, blessed Love, to Thee I cry,
Flood all my secret hidden rills.
Water of love, come, pour through me;
I must have love, I must have Thee.

O, give me love, then I have all,
For love casts out tormenting fear,
And love sounds forth a trumpet call,
To valiant hope, and sweet and clear
The birds of joy sing in my tree,
Love of my heart, when I have Thee.

Life's Highest and Best Lesson

By J. R. Miller: "The Story of Joseph, Practical Lessons"

We read that Joseph bore himself so congenially, and did his work so well, and was so capable, so true, so trustworthy--that Potiphar "left all that he owned under Joseph's care; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate." Genesis 39:6. Joseph would never have won such a success--if he had given up to discouragement, if he had brooded over his wrongs, if he had sulked and complained, if he had spent his time in vain regrets or in vindictive feelings. We should learn the lesson, and it is worth learning--for it is life's highest and best lesson.

The problem of life, is to keep the heart warm and kindly--amid all injustice and wrong; to keep the spirit brave and cheerful--in the midst of all that is hard in life's circumstances and conditions; to be true, and right, and strong--in all moral purpose and deed, however others may act toward us.

Our inner life should not be affected by our external experiences. Right is right, no matter what others around us may do. We must be true--no matter if all the world is false--even false to us. We must be unselfish and loving--though even our nearest friends prove selfish and cruel to us. We must keep our spirit strong, cheerful and hopeful--though adversities and misfortunes seem to leave us nothing of the fruit of all our labors.

In a word, we are to live victoriously, truly, nobly, sweetly, cheerfully, joyfully--in spite of whatever may be uncongenial in our condition!This is the lesson of all Christian life. We should not let the outside darkness into our soul. We should seek to be delivered from all morbidness and all unwholesomeness. We should not allow anything to crush us.

Remember, your task in living--is to keep sweet, to keep your heart gentle, brave, strong, loving, full of hope--under the worst that the years can bring you of injustice, hardship, suffering, and trial.

A Sermon from Kirksville

He Loves Us Too Well

(J. R. Miller, "Silent Times")
"I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are just, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me." Psalm 119:75

Sometimes the ways of God do seem hard. Our fondest hopes are crushed; our fairest joys fade like summer flowers; the desires of our hearts are withheld from us. Yet, if we are God's children, we believe that a blessing is hidden in every one of these losses or denials. Right here, we get a glimpse into the mystery of many unanswered prayers. The things we seek, would not work good for us in the end--but evil. The things we plead to have removed--are essential to our highest interests.

Health is supposed to be better than sickness--but there comes a time when God's kindness will be most wisely shown--by denying us health. He never takes pleasure in causing us to suffer; He is touched by our sorrows. Yet He loves us too well, to give us things that would harm us, or to spare us the trial that is needful for our spiritual good. It will be seen in the end, that many of the richest blessings of all our lives--have come to us through God's denials, His withholdings, or His shattering of our hopes and joys.

We should never forget that the object of all of God's dealings with His children--is to sanctify us, and make us vessels fit for His use. To this high and glorious end, our present pleasure and gratification must ofttimes be sacrificed. This is the true key to all the mysteries of Providence. Anything that hinders entire consecration to Christ, is working us harm; and though it be our tenderest joy, it is best that it be taken away.

Prayer is not always granted, even when the heart clings with holiest affection to its most precious joy. Nothing must hinder our consecration. We should never think first of what will give us earthly joy or comfort--but of what will fit us for doing the Master's service. Pain is often better for us--than pleasure; loss is often better for us--than gain; sorrow is often better for us--than joy; disaster is often better for us--than deliverance.

Faith should know that God's withholdings from us, when He does not give what we ask--are richer blessings than were He to open to us all His treasure-houses at whose doors we stand and knock with so great vehemence. Our unanswered prayers have just as real and as blessed answer--as those which bring what we seek.