Spurgeon on Election

I was reading a blog and came across this piece of a sermon entitled “The Sum and Substance of all Theology” from Spurgeon (online here). I thought you might enjoy it.

I was preaching, not very long ago, at a place in Derbyshire, to a congregation, nearly all of whom were Methodists, and as I preached, they were crying out, “Hallelujah! Glory! Bless the Lord!.” They were full of excitement, until I went on to say in my sermon, “This brings me to the doctrine of Election.” There was no crying out of “Glory!” and “Hallelujah!” then. Instead, there was a great deal of shaking of the head, and a sort of telegraphing round the place, as though something dreadful was coming. Now, I thought, I must have their attention again, so I said, “You all believe in the doctrine of Election?” “No, we don’t, lad,” said one. “Yes, you do, and I am going to preach it to you, and make you cry ‘Hallelujah!’ over it.” I am certain they mistrusted my power to do that; so, turning a moment from the subject, I said, “Is there any difference between you and the ungodly world?” “Ay! Ay! Ay!” “Is there any difference between you and the drunkard, the harlot, the blasphemer?” “Ay! Ay! Ay!” Ay! there was a difference indeed. “Well, now,” I said, “there is a great difference; who made it, then?” for, whoever made the difference, should have the glory of it. “Did you make the difference?” “No, lad,” said one; and the rest all seemed to join in the chorus. “Who made the difference, then? Why, the Lord did it; and did you think it wrong for Him to make a difference between you and other men?” “No, no,” they quickly said. “Very well, then; if it was not wrong for God to make the difference, it was not wrong for Him to purpose to make it, and that is the doctrine of Election.” Then they cried, “Hallelujah!” as I said they would.

He goes on to say

The doctrine of Election is God’s purposing in His heart that He would make some men better than other men; that He would give to some men more grace than to other men; that some should come out and receive the mercy; that others, left to their own free will, should reject it; that some should gladly accept the invitations of mercy, while others, of their own accord, stubbornly refuse the mercy to which the whole world of mankind is invited. All men, by nature, refuse the invitations of the gospel. God, in the sovereignty of His grace, makes a difference by secretly inclining the hearts of some men, by the power of His Holy Spirit, to partake of His everlasting mercy in Christ Jesus. I am certain that, whether we are Calvinists or Arminians, if our hearts are right with God, we shall all adoringly testify: “We love Him, because He first loved us.” If that be not Election, I know not what it is.

I love this guy.

You supply the caption

Crucifixion and Resurrection

O Lord,
I marvel that thou shouldst become incarnate,
be crucified, dead, and buried.
The sepulchre calls forth my adoring wonder,
for it is empty and thou art risen;
the four-fold gospel attests it,
the living witnesses prove it,
my heart’s experience knows it.
Give me to die with thee that I may rise to new life,
for I wish to be as dead and buried
to sin, to selfishness, to the world;
that I might not hear the voice of the charmer,
and might be delivered from his lusts.
O Lord, there is much ill about me - crucify it,
much flesh within me - mortify it.
Purge me from selfishness,
the fear of man, the love of approbation,
the shame of being thought old-fashioned,
the desire to be cultivated or modern.
Let me reckon my old life dead
because of crucifixion,
and never feed it as a living thing.
Grant me to stand with my dying Saviour,
to be content to be rejected,
to be willing to take up unpopular truths,
and to hold fast despised teachings until death.
Help me to be resolute and Christ-contained.
Never let me wander from the path of obedience to thy will.
Strengthen me for the battles ahead.
Given me courage for all the trials,
and grace for all the joys.
Help me to be a holy, happy person,
free from every wrong desire,
from everything contrary to thy mind.
Grant me more and more of the resurrection life:
may it rule me,
may I walk in its power,
and be strengthened through its influence.

Source: “Crucifixion and Resurrection” in The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions. ed. Arthur Bennett (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2003), 172-73.

Al Mohler playing games

Are You an Emasculated Man?

The Reformation Polka

Apple Crisp

I love to cook with apples. I especially love to cook with them in the fall....it just feels right!

Yesterday, I made apple crisp! I just love the smell of baking apples :)

Belated Birthday

We had some friends over last night (hi Joel and Sue...um, Anna), and they were sweet enough to bring over a belated birthday gift.

Isn't this just beautiful?

I liked the way it looked on my coffee table in the living room, but it was quickly obvious that it was going to become food to my youngest child, lol. It was then moved to the kitchen table.

(excuse the goofballs sitting at the table)

I'm just that kind of mom

Yeah, my monkeys are eating monkey bread for dinner.

It could be worse, right?

(to make myself feel better...I remind myself that my kids like to eat spinach from the can...anything to be more like Popeye!)

What's your scent?

I'm all for change, so I figured I would ask my readers (the couple of you who actually read what I have to say, lol).

No matter what, I usually always go back to my trusty CK Eternity that I buy on ebay for much less than anywhere else. I even took a chance this summer and got myself CK Eternity Summer. (not that it was that big of a stretch)

So...what scent are you currently wearing and what is your favorite?

Trust

~Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 125:1-2

~You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4

~Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in manand makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:5-8

I love Willow Tree

Isn't this just beautiful? I don't have a single piece of Willow Tree...I think that if I started with their basic figurines, it would turn into an obsession....but there is just something about this nativity scene that I just adore.

Maybe someday :)

53 Shopping Days until Christmas

Yesterday, November 1st, I went to Walmart with the kids. As I walked in, I got that festivous vibe. It made me want to break out in Burl Ives' "Holly Jolly Christmas". There was wrapping paper going up at each checkout. There were Christmas trees, lights and ornaments galore!

I saw that most anything harvest themed was on its way out....bring on the red and green!

Then I got to thinking....how about I start Christmas shopping???

I headed over to the Halloween aisle that was 50% off.

I can now check off candy for stockings from my Christmas Shopping List!

Paul Washer: Do you know you're a sinner?

Paul Washer: The Good News

A quote

"The grace of God does not come to us to make us feel happy in the pigstye of our sin, the grace of God comes to take us out of the pigstye."-Alistair Begg

And the winner is.....

Kathleen Marie from The Open Window!!!

Congratulations and go check out her blog!

It's a mystery

Fruit flies.

Where do they come from?

We don't have any fruit, and we were out of town for a month. I come home to find a small commune of little pests.

I don't see them often. Although Jamison is eating table food, he does enjoy the occasional jar of bananas...and then they swarm.

It's almost like the just know it's feeding time.

Our new gate

When you have stairs and a baby that crawls, you must have some sort of gate. We bought one that almost immediately started to break, piece by piece. That went back to the store.

I bought another one. It made it out of the box. Then I read more reviews about it and found out that it wouldn't fit on our banister. That went back to the store.

So we searched and searched and found retract-a-gate! It is open and locked when you need it, then winds back up when you don't! So far so good....and we didn't even have to put any holes into the staircase! It matches our wall color and won't show dirty fingerprints.

I'd recommend it to everyone!

What do you get when you have a policeman, two lions and a frog???

My boys on Halloween!

Gideon kept going back and forth between a lion or a bee, but he went with the lion. They roared at each door and were very polite. It got hard at the end for Haddon, who was so tired, and he cried at each door when it wasn't his turn to ring the doorbell. Then would be all smiles as they gave him a treat.

Overall, a successful night of trick or treating! John manned the house (and was a bit stingy on giving out candy since we have soooo much leftover, lol), and I took the boys out.