The Secret Wireless

It is not the raging critic who's words cut the deepest. It is the one who intends not harm, but help. A well thought out critique delivered in true concern pierces the soul, where an impassioned attack would have glanced off my defensive scales. No one else could have given that message. God chose the right messenger to sneak past my sinful armor and turn me to repent. Thank God for godly critics.

Hebrews 3 12 "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,  'Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.'  16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief."             Despite what some Christians believe, it is possible for Christians to fall away...

In the forgiving Word of God the incomprehensible greatness of God, the intolerable glory of His Godhead, the glory of His grace, has appeared, has appeared to eyes that cannot comprehend it even as they gaze upon it.  It has been manifested to hearts that stand in trembling awe of it even as they believe in it.  This grace of which the psalmist sings is no cheap, easy grace, no easy commodity which complacency can casually appropriate.  We can be sure of it, surer of it than of ourselves, than of our own righteousness or our sins or our life or our death.  But we cannot be complacent about it.  Our souls still wait for the Lord, more than watchmen that wait for the morning.  They know the morning will come; they are sure that it will come, and yet they wait for it, and they hail its first graying as a new and wondrous thing. So we wait for the Lord and know that He is Lord and will forgive.  But forgiveness remains the perpetual miracle still. ...

#shoutyourabortion Go ahead.  You can shout.  Scream until your lungs give out.  But it won't work, because it is not the silence that is your problem.  It is the whisper. The case against abortion is becoming more solid.   The videos are piling up.  It is clear that abortionists are not only killing babies, they are harvesting their organs and selling them, padding their bottom line.   And that means you have been dead wrong about abortion. If you have been privately scandalized by the fleecing of the unborn but have not spoken publicly, or even failed to share your views and convictions with your close friends, then these videos leave you without defense.  You should have been speaking out long ago.  You should have stood up for the defenseless.  You should have shown compassion for hurting and confused mothers.  And shouting now will not silence the whisper. If you have supported abortion rights, if you have been pro...

Tullian Tchividjian, the well known pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, has resigned his position.  According to his own statement both he and his wife committed adultery.  This disqualifies him from the pastoral office.  He has willingly acknowledged his affair and peacefully stepped aside. It is a sad day when a pastor must resign his call for any reason, but especially for living an immoral life.  Tchividjian's case gives a great deal of pause for Lutherans in particular since he was highly influenced by Luther's writings and those of contemporary Lutheran scholars such as Robert Kolb.  Tullian, in recent years, has sought to clarify the proper distinction of Law and Gospel in his own preaching as well as to spread that teaching to a wider audience. As Lutherans we have a high view of God's Word in general and of the Gospel in particular.  When a Lutheran pastor falls into temptation does he really need to resign?  Can he not simply be ...

Amen!   That is the word of the day.   Jesus has taught us, in the Lord’s Prayer, to pray as sons.   Not as slaves.   Not as beggars.   Not as strangers.   But as sons, “ Our Father in heaven.”                 In the Lord’s Prayer we ask for some rather lofty things.   These are no mere trifles and trinkets.   This is the stuff of necessity.   And it is costly, worth a king’s ransom and more.                  We pray that God’s name would be kept holy, that we would live according to His Word.   We pray that His kingdom would come, that the Church would grow in faith and love and that Christ would return to raise the dead.   We pray that God’s will would be done, that His gracious desires would be fulfilled for our good.       ...

  Jesus teaches us to pray, finally, “Our Father…deliver us from evil.”                    What is the evil from which we are to pray to be delivered?   We have already prayed for deliverance from evils that plague and attack the body.   This happens when we pray for daily bread.   So that is included here.   We pray that God would take away all sickness, poverty, and hardship that harms our human flesh.                  Theft, war, bad leaders, angry neighbors, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, heat, and more.   There are so many bodily dangers in this world that it is impossible to name them all.   That is why Jesus summarizes them under the heading of daily bread.   These are evils from which we need to be delivered.        ...

    Jesus teaches us to pray, “Father in heaven…lead us not into temptation.”   Temptation.   What exactly is that?   There is a lot of confusion out there because of this word.             Some churches will say things only count as sin if we actually do them with our hands.   It is only murder if I physically pommel someone.   It is only adultery if I actually do it.   It is only stealing if I actually take it.              On the flip side, you have those who will say you have sinned even if you have simply thought about breaking a commandment.   Because the thought occurred to you to punch your co-worker in the nose, you have already sinned.             Neither of these is exactly accurate, but the answer is not easy.   It is notoriously difficul...