Category: Uncategorized
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God always fulfills His promises
Acts 23:1-10 relates how Paul was in a difficult spot, literally about to be torn in two! The following night Jesus “stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome” (23:11). The…
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The Bond Essential to a Local Church
I don’t agree with everything Puritan William Ames (1576-1633) said about the church, but I greatly appreciated these statements of his I read today: Believers do not make a particular church, even though by chance many may meet and live together in the same place, unless they are joined together…
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A Hymn and Prayer for the New Year
Now, gracious Lord, thine arm reveal, And make thy glory known; Now let us all thy presence feel, And soften hearts of stone! Help us to venture near thy throne, And plead a Savior’s name; For all that we can call our own, Is vanity and shame. From all the…
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The SBC and the New Calvinism
Within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) over the last few years I’ve heard rumblings against the “New Calvinism.” This past Tuesday Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president Paige Patterson said that “If we are not careful a myriad of related beliefs and practices will enter our camp, hidden within the Trojan Horse of…
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The Act of the Death of Christ
William Ames (1576-1633), Puritan theologian, powerfully says that Christ’s death was an act of Christ and not a mere matter of enduring because he met and endured it purposely. John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep,” and 10:18, “No man…
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Temptation to Sin
I’m continuing to read through Puritan William Ames’s The Marrow of Theology, a little each day after my Bible reading. I appreciated his teaching concerning the character of the devil’s temptation of Adam and its continued character– The devil’s tempting is a fallacious or sophistical argument whereby, under the appearance of…
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My Son, Know Thou the Lord
My son, know thou the Lord, Thy father’s God obey; Seek His protecting care by night, His guardian hand by day. Call, while He may be found; Seek Him while He is near; Serve Him with all thy heart and mind, And worship Him with fear. If Thou wilt seek…
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From Woe and Suffering to Joy and Gladness: An Overview of Romans 6-8
I preached this message Sunday, May 15, 2016 at Orwell Bible Church. You can download a copy here. How does one go from hearing the just declaration of God’s universal wrath (1:18) to exulting in God’s gracious love (8:38-39)? Paul established that every man without distinction is condemned in sin…
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I Hear the Words of Love
While studying for this coming Sunday’s message (Romans 5:1-2) I came across the following hymn in our hymnal that wonderfully communicates the Scripture’s truth (tune)– I hear the words of love, I gaze upon the blood, I see the mighty sacrifice, And I have peace with God. ‘Tis everlasting peace,…
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All Praise to Thee, Eternal Lord
All Praise to Thee, Eternal Lord Martin Luther (1483–1546) All praise to Thee, Eternal Lord, Who wore the garb of flesh and blood; And chose a manger for Thy throne, While worlds on worlds were Thine alone. Once did the skies before Thee bow; A virgin’s arms contain Thee now;…
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Google’s Foolishness
When I opened my web browser today and Google started up, this screen greeted me: I didn’t like seeing that. Harumph. My office has been in “transition” (that’s an educated word for “disaster”) and there’s books and files everywhere. I spotted an old tract I picked up somewhere titled, “A…
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Salvation Unto Us Has Come
Salvation unto us has come By God’s free grace and favor; Good works cannot avert our doom, They help and save us never. Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone, Who did for all the world atone; He is our one Redeemer. What God did in His Law demand And none…
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Sinners, Approach Your Dying Lord
Sinners, approach your dying Lord, And find your happiness restor’d: His proffer’d benefits embrace, The plenitude of gospel grace: A pardon written with his blood, The favour and the peace of God; The seeing eye, the feeling sense, The trembling joys of penitence: The godly fear, the pleasing smart, The…
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I’ll Praise My Maker With My Breath
This Isaac Watts’ hymn is based on Psalm 146. I’ll praise my Maker with my breath; And when my voice is lost in death, Praise shall employ my nobler powers. My days of praise shall ne’er be past While life and thought and being last, Or immortality endures. Why should…
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Shall I for Fear of Feeble Man
Shall I, for fear of feeble man,The Sprit’s course in me restrain?Or, undismayed, in deed and wordBe a true witness for my Lord? Awed by a mortal’s frown, shall IConceal the Word of God most high?How then before Thee shall I dareTo stand, or how Thine anger bear? Shall I,…
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The Law by Moses Came
Here’s a good Isaac Watts hymn based on John 1:17, “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ”. The law by Moses came, But peace, and truth, and love, Were brought by Christ, a nobler name, Descending from above. Amidst the house of God…
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See How the Little Toiling Ant
See how the little toiling ant Improves the harvest hours: While summer lasts, through all her cells The choicest stores she pours. Sagacious she, without a guide, By instinct only led, Fearful of want, in harvest hours, Provides her winter bread. Ne’er be it said, that toiling ants Lay up…
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The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace
The Gospel shows the Father’s grace, Who sent His Son to save our race, Proclaims how Jesus lived and died That we might thus be justified. It sets the Lamb before our eyes, Who made th’ atoning sacrifice, And calls the souls with guilt oppressed To come and find eternal…
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Arise, My Soul, Arise
This is one among other hymns Orwell Bible Church will sing during tomorrow morning’s service proclaiming God’s great love for undeserving sinners. Arise, my soul, arise; Shake off thy guilty fears; The bleeding Sacrifice In my behalf appears: Before the throne my Surety stands, Before the throne my Surety stands;…
Dan Greenfield 