“New Beginning”
INCOMPREHENSIBLE, GREAT, AND GLORIOUS GOD,
I adore thee and abase myself.
I approach thee mindful that I am less than nothing,
               a creature worse than nothing.
My thoughts are not screened from thy gaze,
My secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance.
Enable me to remember that blood which cleanseth all sin,
                    to believe in that grace [...]

“Penitence”
O LORD OF GRACE,
I have been hasty and short in prayer,
O quicken my conscience to feel this folly,
to bewail this ingratitude;
My first sin of the day leads into others,
and it is just that thou shoudst withdraw thy presence
from one who waited carelessly on thee,
Keep me at all times from robbing thee,
and from depriving my soul [...]

In the coming weeks, we will post Puritan prayers from a compilation known as The Valley of Vision. This collection of Puritan prayers and devotions were “drawn from the largely forgotten deposit of Puritan spiritual exercises, meditations and aspirations.” They illustrate the rich prayer life and meditations that the Puritans practiced. Hopefully, through meditating on [...]

Tony Snow, President Bush’s former press secretary, has written a tremendous testimony in Christianity Today as to his recent cancer recurrence and dependence upon the Lord. I first learned of the essay from Denny Burk.
I remember Tony Snow from his days with Fox News and have always admired his presentation and level headedness. I [...]

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As we proceed through out second hour training on marriage, I thought that this post would be a good addition to our study. Do you not agree that the world pushes the idea that we must find the man or woman that fits “our” needs or “our” requirements? Yes, finding Mr. Right or The Perfect [...]

Do you feel guilty when you don’t have your quiet time? Are you confident and purposeful when you have an excellent, refreshing time in the Word and prayer? How should we view the success or lack of quality in quiet times? No where in the Bible are we commanded to devote 30 minutes each day [...]

John MacArthur has an excellent discussion on one of the side effects of the church growth or pragmatic movement - the lack of a lay ministry.
bq. “Something is seriously wrong in a church where the staff does all the “ministry” and people are made to feel comfortable as mere observers. One of the pastor’s main [...]

Check out the latest IBC Quarterly Newsletter here.. This quarter’s issue features an excellent commentary on the biblical response to “The Da Vinci Code” contributed by Pastor Gary Takahashi, an intriguing interview by Sarah Choi, as well as a historical preview of Augustine by Pastor David Yu. Download it, read it, print it, give it [...]

Last Sunday, during the second hour training in the Church History class, someone asked a question about what made a movement or idea a cult rather than orthodox… Here’s a brief review by Tim Challies of a new DVD, Marks of a Cult, that came out that provides a good, short summary about the differences [...]