The Gospel According to Yeeks

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/chief-of-sinners-1-timothy-1-16-and-galatians-1-15 Quite a piece of work by John Piper, indeed we can never thank God enough for the patience He has shown  to us, and may we extend that same patience to whoever we meet and encounter

A dear friend gave to me a copy of Richard Sibbes' "A Tender Heart". I never thought that I would one day be reading 16th century books but I did, and must commend the very good people at Banner for Truth for translating the archaic English into something readable. Though small, it is packed full of stuff just worth deliberating and meditating over. I will quote one of the tenets of the book, which Sibbes goes on to defend vigorously, that has really captured my thoughts for a few days: "Doctrine I: That God graciously fits prophets for persons, and his word to a people that are upright in their hearts. Where there is a true desire to know the will of God, there God will give men sincere prophets that shall answer them exactly" Now this is truly a remarkable idea that should never leave our heads. The God whose righteousness is beyond us and whom we cannot bear to stand in the presence of, would choose to speak to us should we incline our hearts to w...

Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. (2 Chronicles 15:16-17) I think I first read this passage when I was around 16-17. The language of the text is extremely military and it can be easy to get caught up in the narrative and read it as if you were reading WWII history. The war against the idols were not fully triumphant. It was emphatic but not complete. The language can captivate, what is going to happen next in this war? How will this war turn out? And so I got caught up in the narrative, missing out on what the text is trying to tell me. That the incomplete battle against idolatry is taking place right in my heart.  If read in the light of the idolatry I have been struggling against, some for a very very lon...