God's Faithful Providence

In the faithful providence of God, I was drawn to eat at a restaurant today where I rarely go...and where I never go alone. It is amazing, in fact, that I found myself there at all. I had set out to go to a different place, but on arriving there discovered they were no longer offering the "special" I was counting on. So I got back in my car, intending to head back toward the church and pick something up along the way.

Again, providence intervened and I could not get a left turn out of that place, and so was forced to go to the right, away from my chosen destination. By this time, knowing there was no easy place for a U-turn, I decided to take the freeway up to the next exit. There were many places to eat along the way, some that I count as my "favorites." But for some reason none of these appealed to me. "I'd like some Chinese," the thought seemed to enter my head. And so, having never planned to do so, I ended up at a small buffet where I have often eaten with my wife or with friends, but never, as far as I can remember, alone.

I didn't really give it much thought at that moment. The food was good, and I'd brought a book along to read between bites. But still, why did I end up in this restaurant of all places?

As I was finishing off my first plate -- I did say it was a buffet, didn't I? -- I glanced up just in time to see a fellow pastor walk in, with whom I have been wanting to spend a little time. He is one of those men I admire most -- a bi-vocational pastor -- who must divide his time between the ministry and a secular job and thus normally has very little time for such meetings. I invited him to share my table, and as we began to talk it became clear that God had ordered both our steps that day.

My friend and I began to share together. He too, had been rather strangely drawn to this place on his lunch break, though he came here more often than I. But why? As we fellowshipped together it became clear. My companion was going through some things and needed someone -- perhaps a brother in the ministry -- he could talk to. He began to share with me some of the things he was facing. They were the kinds of things most of us in the ministry struggle through at one point or another. Painful issues and struggles that, at the time you are facing them, can seem almost insurmountable!

It was then that I saw so clearly the hand of God in bringing us to this place. It was so that I could have the opportunity to share this bit of time with my brother, perhaps even share his burden a little as we talked and prayed together.

Honestly, I doubt whether I had any real wisdom to share with him. I don't think that was really the point. The point was that God intended my brother to find a listening ear and a fellow believer who has been through some of these things before to confide in at that moment and time. And in the providence of God, I got to be that friend. Not only that, there was a benefit for me as well. I gained the joy of getting to know this brother pastor a little better, whom I had only known at a distant before. That always makes for a good day.

So what can I say to this but, "My what a faithful God we have! What a gracious and unfailing providence as He works all things for His glory and the good of His people!"

Maybe tomorrow, I'll try some Mexican . . .

On Prayer

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
John 15:7

Unless you’re really into church history, you’ve probably never heard of John Chrysostom. In addition to being Archbishop of Constantinople from 398 to 407 AD, he was known to be an eloquent and passionate preacher of the Gospel of Christ. “Chrysostom” was, in fact, his nickname. It means “Golden Mouth.” He was the Spurgeon or John Piper of his day.

And, therein,comes my interest in introducing him to you who may never have heard of him before today. Once, while preaching on prayer from Mark 11:22-26, the same passage I’ll be preaching from this coming Sunday morning (9/20/09) at Rockport, Chrysostom had this to say:

Prayer is an all-efficient panoply (something that gives you everything you need), a treasure undiminished, a mine never exhausted, a sky unobstructed by clouds, a haven unruffled by storm. It is the root, the fountain, and the mother of a thousand blessings. It exceeds a monarch’s power. . . . I speak not of prayer which is cold and feeble and devoid of zeal. I speak of that which proceeds from a mind outstretched, the child of a contrite spirit, the offspring of a soul converted – this is the prayer which mounts to heaven. . . The power of prayer has subdued the strength of fire, bridled the rage of lions, silenced anarchy, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, enlarged the gates of heaven, relieved diseases, averted frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. In sum, prayer has power to destroy whatever is at enmity with the good. I speak not of the prayer of the lips but of the prayer that ascends from the inmost recesses of the heart.

As I read these words and studied this passage this week, I have been deeply convicted about my own lack of prayerfulness. It is so easy, isn't it, to get "too busy" to pray the way we know we ought. And yet, as I consider the startling promises God makes about prayer, and all that He deems to do through it, I realize that I have made myself a spiritual pauper by my neglect. So I have resolved, yet again, that I will give a greater place to prayer in my daily life. There are so many things I must do, and more yet I choose to do, and yet this is the one thing I cannot do without. To draw near to God, daily; to rest my needs and those of others dear to me in His lap; to have Him redirect my heart and my thinking in every area so that by and by I am more conformed to Him! This is my great need.

Lord helping me, it will become my more consistent and joyful practice.

Soli Deo Gloria
(For His Glory Alone)

Scott Lee

The Faith and Martyrdom of a Young Muslim Woman

I read the following in a magazine this morning. What a powerful story and poem from a young Muslim woman who was killed by her family for her confession of Christ in Saudi Arabia last August. One more example of the difference between Christianity and Islam. Islam expands by killing those who disbelieve it. Christianity marches forward by the willingness of those who believe it to die that others might hear. One update posted on Voice of the Martyrs website indicates that further investigation has determined that it was the girl's father, a member of Saudi's religious police, who killed her, not her brother. Here is her story and the amazing poem she wrote hours before her death.

Fatima Al-Mutairi was killed by her brother after she told her family she was a Christian.

In August, a Muslim cleric and member of Saudi Arabia’s Commission of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, killed his sister 26-year-old Fatima Al-Mutairi, after she proclaimed her faith to her family in Buraydah, Saudi Arabia The Voice of the Martyrs contacts report. Fatima’s fellowship with other believers was mainly limited to Internet forums and phone correspondence. “As part of her testimony to the family, she proclaimed that the way of Christ is the most pure and most holy way of all. After sharing with her family, she found her brother in her room with her laptop open before him,” VOM contacts said. “Her laptop contained notes about her spiritual journey, which he was searching in order to find more evidence against her. Her brother locked her in the room for four hours, during which time she wrote a final letter on the Internet. Fatima was killed soon thereafter,” our contacts added.

Prior to her martyrdom Fatima wrote a poem that shows her love for Christ and her desire to share His love with her family.

And We For the Sake of Christ All Things Bear

by Fatima Al-Mutairi

May the Lord Jesus guide you, Oh Muslims
And enlighten your hearts that you might love others
The forum does not revile the Master of the prophets
It is for the display of truth, and for you it was revealed
This is the truth which you do not know
What we profess are the words of the Master of the prophets
We do not worship the cross, and we are not possessed
We worship the Lord Jesus, the Light of the worlds

We left Mohammed, and we do not follow in his path
We followed Jesus Christ, the Clear Truth
Truly, we love our homeland, and we are not traitors
We take pride that we are Saudi citizens
How could we betray our homeland, our dear people?
How could we, when for death - for Saudi Arabia—we stand ready?
The homeland of my grandfathers, their glories, and odes— for it I am writing
And we say, “We are proud, proud, proud to be Saudis”
We chose our way, the way of the rightly guided
And every man is free to choose any religion
Be content to leave us to ourselves to be believers in Jesus
Let us live in grace before our time comes
There are tears on my cheek, and Oh! the heart is sad
To those who become Christians, how you are so cruel!
And the Messiah says, “Blessed are the Persecuted”
And we for the sake of Christ all things bear
What is it to you that we are infidels?
You do not enter our graves, as if with us buried
Enough - your swords do not concern me, not evil nor disgrace
Your threats do not trouble me, and we are not afraid
And by God, I am unto death a Christian—Verily
I cry for what passed by, of a sad life

I was far from the Lord Jesus for many years
Oh History record! and bear witness, Oh Witnesses!
We are Christians - in the path of Christ we tread
Take from me this word, and note it well
You see, Jesus is my Lord, and He is the Best of protectors
I advise you to pity yourself, to clap your hands in mourning
See your look of ugly hatred
Man is brother to man, Oh learned ones
Where is the humanity, the love, and where are you?
As to my last words, I pray to the Lord of the worlds
Jesus the Messiah, the Light of Clear Guidance
That He change notions, and set the scales of justice aright
And that He spread Love among you, Oh Muslims

As Children, Enter the Kingdom of God

""Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."
Mark 10:14-15

Here in this passage we get a marvelous glimpse into the very heart of Jesus, not just for those who are children, but for all who will receive Him! John 1:12 says, “But to all who received Him, to those who believe in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God.” Imagine that. We get the right to become children of God through faith in Him

In fact, one thing I hope you notice here, is that Jesus does not say, “The kingdom belongs to those who are children.” As if the thing that matters for eternal life is that you be a child. He says “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (v 14). Meaning there is something about the status of a child – his helplessness and dependancy, his willingness to receive that which is given – that is necessary for us to have if we hope to enter the Kingdom of God.

So here’s the question we must all face. Do I see myself as weak and helpless before God? Or do I imagine that I am strong enough to stand on my own two feet? Do I understand that there is nothing I can bring to the table to commend myself to Him? Or do I still maintain that there is something in me that merits salvation? Have I understood that, if I am to enter the Kingdom of God at all, it can be only by a willingness to receive freely and joyfully what He has given by grace alone? I tell you, heaven and hell hangs in the balance for you, based on which of these attitudes characterize your life.

I hope you will join us at Rockport Baptist Church this Sunday morning as we look first, at the love Jesus has for children, and then second, at what this tells us about how we must receive the Kingdom of God.

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be the Glory),
Pastor Scott Lee

So Have I Told You Lately . . .

A note to the members of Rockport Baptist Church,

Hey Church,

Have I told you lately that I love you all and feel incredibly blessed to be allowed to serve you as one of our pastors and to be given the privilege of opening God's word with you each week? Sometimes I cannot fathom how kind God has been to us...and continues to be day after day. No, of course we aren't perfect -- that's why we need the Gospel! But I was just thinking about it after we'd taken the Lord's Supper together Sunday. We draw near because we are poor and needy. We have sinned and fallen short. We have failed to love as we ought to have loved. Our faith is weak and pitiful. But oh! He is merciful! And He receives us freely on the basis of His finished work on the cross. Therefore we can draw near -- not only to Him (joy of all joys!) but also through Him to one another! And there we find that we are loved, and forgiven and accepted and made one family in Christ! Wonder of wonders!

Hebrews 10:19-25
19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

In Him!

S. Scott Lee
Soli Deo Gloria
www.RockportBaptist.org

Grace Camp Meeting starts tonight!

We have been so very busy preparing for our Camp Meeting that I have not posted anything here in a very long time. Sorry about that. But I hope to jot some notes down as things go along! God has been blessing at Rockport and we're anxious to get to share in that blessing with those who will be coming to our conference.

Grace and peace to all
SSL

Letter to My Daughters

The following letter was originally published by Charles Spurgeon (it is an excerpt written by another man, Leah Richmond, to his own daughter). I thought it was so excellent that I added a note of my own and sent it along to my precious girls. Here is a Christian father's fondest desire and most urgent prayer for his daughters....


"Christ's garden"
by Charles Spurgeon

~ ~ ~ ~

(An excerpt from a letter from Legh Richmond to one of his daughters)

My dear daughter,
May my dear child be preserved from the defilements of a vain, dangerous, and destroying world. You know not, and I wish you never may know--its snares and corruptions!

I send you the following applications of my sermon on Ephesians 5:15-16, "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

On circumspection of walk, redemption of time, and general sincerity of character:

1. Adhere most scrupulously to Scriptural truth; and labor to preserve the strictest integrity, simplicity, and sincerity.

2. Engage in no pursuit in which you cannot look up unto God, and say, 'Bless me in this, my Father!'

3. Strive to be as kind, forbearing, and forgiving as you can--both to friends and foes. Never speak evil of anyone.

4. Strive to recommend true religion by the courtesy, civility, and humble character of your conduct.

5. Watch against irritation, pride, unkind speaking, and anger--study and promote love.

6. Mortify (kill) all lusts, sensuality and sloth.

7. Never speak well of yourself. Keep down pride; let it not be indulged for a moment--but watch against it.

8. Shut out evil imaginations and angry thoughts.

9. Let it be your sole business here to prepare for eternity. Consider every moment of time in that view.

10. Remember that you have to contend with . . .
a legion of devils;
a heart full of deceit and iniquity;
and a world at enmity with God.

11. Pray that you may ever rejoice in the advancement of Christ's kingdom, and the salvation of sinners; and labor in every way to promote these objects.

12. Prayer is the only weapon which can subdue your corruptions, and keep you in close fellowship with God. Cultivate prayer.

The love of Christ is the only safe ground of all motives, and of all conduct. Where this is established, all is well. The life-blood of Christianity then circulates through every vein of the soul; and spiritual health, strength, and purity of mind is the happy result. Fall down upon your knees before God, my dear, praying that He would pour that love into your heart, until it becomes a constraining principle for the government of your thoughts and actions. The love of Christ is the only remedy for all the diseases of the soul.

~ ~ ~ ~