To Whom Shall We Go?

From John 6:66-68: After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67  So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68  Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69  and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” I just decided to change the name of the blog. To Whom Shall We Go? All of life makes sense only by knowing, loving, serving, following Jesus. To hear his words is to hear life. To follow him is to have hope and joy. So I thought those words capture some of my life's deepest goals and desires. If I don't go to Jesus, then to whom shall I go? Here's a great song from Sovereign Grace Music that uses these words to help us think about the importance of hearing and understanding the Word of God.

Never too late to start blogging again, right? Yesterday was week two of preaching through the Gospel According to Mark. I'm already being blown away by the person and work of Jesus, laid out in narrative form. If you'd like to listen to the first two sermons, here's a link to New Covenant Christian Fellowship's sermon page: click here. Also, if you were there yesterday, I briefly referred to the very important point that all the Old Testament is fulfilled in Jesus: the people, the places, the institutions (such as the tabernacle/Temple), prophecies, etc. All of it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. One very helpful little book on this topic is called "God's Big Picture," by Vaughn Roberts. I would highly recommend it. It even has diagrams and stuff.

I've had the privilege to preach through 2 Timothy, which I finished today. I have come away with a greater love for Jesus, a deeper passion for his glory and serious realization of the need to guard the gospel. If you would like to hear any of these sermons, they are available at the Hamilton Baptist Church website.

This quote gets me all pumped up. I have been given the privilege of preaching through 2 Timothy, beginning this Sunday, Lord willing. Check it out: The church of our day urgently needs to heed the message of this second letter of Paul to Timothy. For all around us we see Christians and churches relaxing their grasp of the gospel, fumbling it, in danger of letting it drop from their hands altogether. A new generation of young Timothys is needed, who will guard the sacred deposit of the gospel, who are determined to proclaim it and are prepared to suffer for it, and who will pass it on pure and uncorrupted to the generation which in due course will rise up to follow them. This is from John Stott's small commentary on 2 Timothy . It's not just for pastors and scholars, so I strongly recommend you get it and use it!

Prov. 14:22 "In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge." Parents, for your children's sake: Fear the Lord, and not man! Great book on the subject of fear of God, rather than fear of man: Ed Welch's When People are Big, and God is Small: Overcoming Codependency, Peer Pressure, and the Fear of Man.

Incredible quote from John Owen (1616-1683) on our access to God in prayer: The foundation of all our confidence in our access unto God, the right and title we have to approach unto him, is laid in the blood of Christ, the sacrifice he offered, the atonement he made, and the remission of sins which he obtained thereby From Owen's Works, volume 3.

I’ve only read C.S. Lewis once or twice in my life. Once in high school, and I think once more in college or seminary. I also read the Chronicles of Narnia as a boy. That’s why I’m excited that I’ve got to read Mere Christianity for one of my last classes in seminary. Here’s a quote from Mr. Quotable Lewis: If somebody else made me, for his own purposes, then I shall have a lot of duties which I should not have if I simply belonged to myself. What do you think of that? What makes that true?