A Pilgrim's Path

Puritan Prayers: God’s Cause

Justin Wheeler — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:16:08 +0000

From the Valley of Vision – pg. 320-321

Sovereign God,

Thy cause, not my own, engages my heart, and I appeal to thee with greatest freedom to set up thy kingdom in every place where Satan reigns; Glorify thyself and I shall rejoice, for to bring honour to thy name is my sole desire.

I adore thee that thou art God, and long that others should know it, feel it, and rejoice in it.

O that all men might love and praise thee, that thou might have all glory from the intelligent world! Let sinners be brought to thee for they dear name!

To the eye of reason everything respecting the conversion of others is as dark as midnight, but thou can accomplish great things; the cause is thine, and it is to thy glory that men should be saved.

Lord, use me as thou wilt; do with me what thou wilt; but, O, promote thy cause, let thy kingdom come, let thy blessed interest be advanced in this world!

O do thou bring in great numbers to Jesus! let me see that glorious day, and give me to grasp for multitudes of souls; let me be willing to die to that end; and while I live let me labour for thee to the utmost of my strength, spending time profitably in this work, both in health and in weakness.

It is thy cause and kingdom I long for, not my own. O, answer thou my request.

Sharing the Love of Christ on Halloween

Justin Wheeler — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:31:52 +0000

For year my wife and I have sought to find ways that our family could redeem Halloween for the sake of gospel advance. We have led our church in Reformation Day carnivals, we have handed out candy with Scripture attached, we have gathered together with believing friends to host community group reformation parties; but we are always on the lookout for creative ways to redeem cultural celebrations for the sake of the gospel.

Last night as we were watching game 6 with our neighbors and a few families from our Community Group we got in the discussion about what we were going to do this Halloween. During this discussion someone brought up a blog post by Jeff Vanderstelt where he outlines several ways that families and singles can be missional during Halloween. He has some great ideas so take a look.

Reflecting on the Death of Steve Jobs

Justin Wheeler — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:02:55 +0000

The death of a brilliant man (or woman) is always a difficult pill to swallow. For many, Steve Jobs changed the way they viewed life; for others, he changed the way they interacted with it. The man made amazing and beautiful things. He gave us the first fully computer animated feature film (Toy Story). His ideas have shaped the way we interact with our world and with one another. But the man, any man, is more than simply the sum of all his accomplishments, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” – (Luke 12:15)

I don’t want to be insensitive to the grief that so many people feel over the death of Steve Jobs. Their pain is real and his death is truly a loss. But for those of you who are still reading I simply want to suggest that our grief and compassion is incomplete, even shallow, if it only focuses on the treasures that rust and not on the state of a man’s soul before God. Jared Wilson’s thoughts on this are sober and helpful…

It is a hollow compassion to mourn the loss of a man’s products and creativity and set aside the potential loss of his soul as not as important, even if what we just mean is that it’s not as important at this time. Nobody I have seen is denying Jobs incredible impact and artistry. But Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:26 point us in the direction of greater grief, deeper grief.

A grief that mourns the loss of a man’s worldly accomplishments but feels no anxiety for his eternal destiny is upside down. A man’s worth lay not in his achievements or success but in his being made in the image of God. Setting aside for the moment the state of Jobs’s eternal destiny — because none of us can really know for sure — let us just be real about what is at stake in this life. It’s not fame and renown, it’s not the fulfillment of our gifts and talents, it’s not the altruistic good we can do our fellow man — it is eternal life and eternal death. All else is treasure that rusts.