For Lord’s Day, April 17, 2022 Dear Saints, In One Thousand Evangelical Illustrations (Webb), Albert Barnes wrote: “Neglect is enough to ruin a man … A man who is lying on a bed of sickness need not cut his throat to destroy himself ; he has only to neglect the means of restoration, and he will be ruined.” The sermons tomorrow are “special requests” for me and Fernanda about how we have been neglecting the health of our bodies and want to turn to Scriptures to motivate us about not eating excessively or unhealthy in the morning message, “Don’t Let…
Read More »For Lord’s Day, April 10, 2022 Dear Saints, After Rachel and I enjoyed a light breakfast at a cafe on the Southwestern College campus a few months ago, I walked her to class on a beautiful brisk morning looking out through a gorgeous courtyard framing Mount Miguel. Along the way, I noticed a banner on the outside of an office that read: “Anything that is worth learning is worth learning well.” I really appreciated that sentiment. At college, or anywhere else in life, we should give our best to learning as best we can what is available to us for…
Read More »For the Lord’s Day, April 3, 2022 Dear Saints, In preparation for both sermons tomorrow, I’d like to share the following stories with you (from Aquilla Webb’s One Thousand Evangelistic Illustrations): Forgiving Mercy Many years ago in Russia a regiment of troops mutinied. They were at some distance from the capital, and were so furious that they murdered their officers, and resolved never to submit to discipline; but the emperor, who was an exceedingly wise and sagacious man, no sooner heard of it than, all alone and unattended, he went into the barracks where the men were drawn up, and,…
Read More »For Lord’s Day, March 6, 2022 Dear Saints, Today, I was reminded of the following Scripture by two little friends toying with me outside the window of the church’s copier room while I was making bulletins: Matthew 6:26: Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? As we have often meditated on this verse together with sermons and studies, let us recall how blessed we are to behold the birds! God sends them to flight and flutter…
Read More »For Lord’s Day, January 23, 2022 Dear Saints, Last Lord’s Day during our Sabbath Class going through the DVD entitled, “Puritan: All of Life to the Glory of God,” we studied the Puritans on “zeal” as an important aspect of vital Christianity. I wanted to share what I had recently read by Thomas Watson about Christian zeal in his Body of Divinity for our Westminster Confession class studies on chapter 8, “Of Christ the Mediator.” In his section on Christ’s “humiliation”, he calls us to be conformed to the image of Christ by being similarly zealous for God: “Let us be made…
Read More »For the Lord’s Day, October 10, 2021 Dear Saints, Finally, by God’s grace, I am preparing to come back to our exegetical sermon series (in the morning, Deuteronomy, in the evening, Philippians). Thus, in this Lord’s Day’s morning service we will be returning to where we left off in Deuteronomy, The 10 Commandments (specifically, the Fourth: Remember to Honor the Sabbath Day witnessing that we previous slaves to the world are now delivered unto sanctified Kingdom service). As we return to the Ten Commandments, I am encouraged to recall Mr. Alex Lopez and what he shared during an interview…
Read More »For Lord’s Day, September 18, 2021 Dear Saints, Take a look at my parking job at church this afternoon! I only noticed upon returning to get something else out of the car I had forgotten! I thought it’d be fun to share for two purposes: It is a reminder to get proper rest and sleep. As the Westminster Larger Catechism 135 reminds us, duties required in the 6th commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Kill”, include “ … a sober use of meat, drink, physics, sleep, labour, and recreations …” Not too long ago we revisited this catechism and concept in…
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