"How Firm a Foundation"

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/f/hfirmafo.htm

http://www.sermonaudio.com/hymn_details.asp?PID=howfirmafoundation


How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

Hear Ye the Rod, and Who Hath Appointed It - Japan Relief Fund

"It is a part and duty of spiritual wisdom, as also an evidence of a due reverence of God, to take notice of extraordinary occurrences in the dispensations of His providence; for they are instructive warnings, and of great importance in His government of the world. In them "the voice of the LORD crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see His name: hear ye the rod, and Who hath appointed it (Micah 6:9)." And there is a mark left on them, as profligate persons, who will not see when His hand is so lifted up."

--John Owen, from Works Vol. VIII (Banner of Truth, 1967, p. 597)

***

...As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die...Ezek. 33:11

***

Letter from Japan Presbytery RPCNA, Relief Committee, March 18, 2011 - "Again please pray for grace from God to Japan. Please pray for our sincere humiliation, hope in Christ and evangelism."


RPCNA Global Missions Board (GMB) Japan Relief Fund

Guest Post: Thoughts on a Recent Event in New York

This is a guest post regarding the remarkable "splash-landing" of a U.S. Airways plane in the Hudson River, New York, in January 2009. These thoughts were written down at the time the event happened a little over two years ago.

For news stories about the event, click here.

Since then, both Haiti and Japan have been rocked by major earthquakes, in which thousands of people have died. And the news reports have been filled with references to "Mother Nature" and other such idolatrous and blasphemous nonsense. These were acts of God. The God of the Bible. One reason that the Lord sends calamities, we know from Scripture, is as a warning to the people of the earth to repent of idolatry and rejection of Jehovah, and to turn back to their Maker, to seek refuge in Him as Savior (Deut. 32:39, Jer. 6:19, Jer. 8:1-7,  Jer. 10:10,  Jer. 18:8, Jer. 31:28,  Ps. 77, Ps. 90:3,  Is. 2:11-22,  Lk. 13:4-5, Jn. 12:48).

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. (Psalm 57:1-3)

You don't know if God will spare you in the next catastrophe (James 4:13-15). Repent now (Acts 17:29-31) and believe on His name (Jn. 20:31).

Thoughts on a recent event in New York
by Jeff Amber

1. Many get very religious in times of emergency, but it remains to be seen if it's lasting.
It's been reported that many on the plane were praying audibly "Lord, forgive me for my sins" and some even reciting the Lord's prayer! [Matt. 6:9-13]

2. Note the remarkable capacity the natural man has for perseverence when a common goal needs to be attained. [Eccl. 4:12]
Reports of teamwork were many.

3. Sadly, many deny the God of predestination even at the supposed end, and even declare themselves a predestinarian.
Note the 58-year-old woman who declared, "I'm not supposed to drown." Interestingly enough, she was correct, at least re: that day, which may have solidified her own view of herself. She, in fact, didn't drown! [Prov. 27:1]

4. All of God's creation is at His sovereign disposal, even birds!
This event was apparently due to a flock of birds, who were under God's sovereign command. Reminds one of the cock that crowed. [Mark 14:27-31, 66-72]

5. As with the people of God, worldlings have varying degrees of insight, regardless of age.
Note the woman who said that she had 9 lives due to some narrow escapes previously, but who was corrected by a child who said, "No, only cats do." Both were wrong, but at least the younger one knew that when man dies, he dies once and for all. [Hebrews 9:27]

6. Note man's seemingly unending capacity, thirst, and willingness to deify his fellow creature. [Romans 1:25]
The pilot has been spoken of as a "Saviour," "miracle-worker," and "an angel sent from heaven." A remarkable show of poise and calm in a dire situation with potentially many lives at stake both on the plane and on the ground, yes, but this man is none of the above. Moreover, acts of heroism are performed due to God sovereignly thrusting the person into the situation.

Once again, God is the Initiator and Orchestrator of all that comes to pass.

A Little Bloggy Break...

I'll be traveling and visiting and conferencing with family and fellow believers for the next couple of weeks...

"Happy sailing" until we meet again in the blogosphere!

Christian Women, Fashion, and Flesh

[Note: This is a revised version of a post I wrote on a “Christian” dating web site many moons ago, in response to man’s thread regarding all the cleavage and other immodesty in women’s pictures on the site.]


Many Christians have a false and wrong division in their minds: God speaks to spiritual and eternal things, but God does not speak to earthly and temporal things. The truth is that God speaks to all aspects of life. (2 Tim. 3:16)

Therefore, many Christians do not even think to look to the Bible as a source of a standard on how to dress. So, the default standard for Christians is exactly the same as non-Christians: Hollywood, their friends, magazines, TV commercials. The Bible is the Best standard, and for Christians should be the only standard because God speaks to every area of His creation. We should be set apart (Lev. 11:44; Eph. 1:4); Christians supposedly know something the world does not know. Let's show the truth of that, so there is no "supposing" about it!

I also find it troubling that Christian ladies are often blasé about being a stumbling block for their brothers, which is sin on the woman's part (Lev. 19:14; Rom. 14:13; 1 Cor. 8:9; 1 Jn 2:9-10).

To dress "sexy" in public (church or anywhere) is to dress like a harlot (Prov. 7:10) because you are seen sexually by every man who even accidentally lays his eyes on you (Ezek. 16:14-16). We are sexy for our husbands in private (Gen. 2:25) because sex belongs in marriage only (Prov.5:15-20), according to God (Ex. 20:14, 17; Mal. 2:13-17). We are not married to every man we pass by on the street; we are not married to every man in church. We shouldn't cause a Christian brother to lust (2 Sam. 11:2-4); we need to do what we can to protect his heart, his purity (1 Tim. 5:2), and his "eye-gate." (Job 31:1) First of all, modesty is a heart-issue (1 Pet. 3:1-4).

Many Christian ladies have bought into the world's view that her sexuality is for public consumption and there is no other way to "make" a man want to marry her; nothing could be further from the truth (Prov. 31:10). God says marriage first, then sex with our own spouse after marriage (Matt. 1:18-20). When a woman's heart is modest, her outsides are modest as well (Prov. 4:23).

Christian men could help the situation by pursuing modest women to marriage, instead of pursuing immodest women to…what, exactly? Or do I not want to know?

A good book (really more of a long booklet) addressing Biblical modesty and the history of our current culture in America is Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America by Jeff Pollard.