HAPPY 4TH OF JULY
“We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His power and His wondrous works that He has done.”
Psalm 78:4 NASB
Hi Men:
Since the 4th of July is tomorrow, I was going to use one of those classic paintings of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, you know, serious men dealing with serious moments in history. But then I found something I liked exponentially better: my grandkids packed into a little plastic splash pool, breaking all the pool-capacity rules 🤠
While my older son and his wife are on a mission trip in Jakarta, Indonesia, their four kids are staying with us. Add in my younger son’s two young boys, and suddenly our backyard has turned into a very unofficial summer camp. The program is simple: rotate every other day from the sandpile to the Slip ’N Slide and small plastic pools — then REPEAT until everyone, including Grandpa & Grandma, are completely worn out.
In the afternoon, when we all need a break, I have been showing them some of The Torchlighters series from Christian History Institute — short animated stories for children about heroes of the faith. who followed Jesus when it was costly. They also watched “First Winter” You can click on the link to read about it. It was nominated as the best short film of that year. We’ve had some great conversations. By the way, they also were allowed to watch some other movies like, The Secret Life of Pets.
My granddaughters even got to meet Greg on Zoom — a dear brother I met at church who is now stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. Pretty amazing: one minute we’re in Grandpa’s office, and the next we’re talking with a brother in Christ on the other side of the world.
IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Meet Jay, a young man I met at Interstate Batteries when I had to replace the two batteries in my wife’s 2007 diesel truck.
The last couple of weeks around our house have been full of “little blessings” — dead truck batteries, no water from the well, lawn sprinkler problems, and a plugged-up sewage ejector pump in the basement. In other words, just the peaceful, relaxing week you hope for when the grandkids arrive 🤠
Jay had a very difficult childhood, but he is now attending a Christian church in Las Vegas. As we talked, it became clear that some of what he has been hearing sounded more like the prosperity gospel than the true gospel. But he was such a great young man and we had an amazing conversation and talked about the real gospel.
As many of you know, the Lord keeps breaking stuff at my house to then open doors to speak to technicians and repair guys.
Have a great 4th of July!
Broken & Dependent,
Dan
(Gal 2:20)
Men:
God’s permissive will was news to me years ago. Today I have a greater understanding of the difference between His permissive will vs. His perfect will. Take time to understand these 2 areas…… It will save you a bunch of grief.
God’s Permissive Will – Day 185 Red Book
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically
Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”
READ THE PDF HERE / Send it to a friend…
The Saint Must Walk Alone (1966)
A.W. Tozer 1897 – 1963
(See Attached PDF)
Men: Many of you have read this profound article by Tozer. It’s that time again to revisit it. If you haven’t read it, this is a MUST READ!
Please don’t skim it……. Click on this link if you would like to have it read to you as you read along in the attached PDF, (YouTube 11 minutes)
Here are just (2) of the many points in the article:
- You cannot carry a cross in company. Though a man were surrounded by a vast crowd, his cross is his alone and his carrying of it marks him as a man apart. Society has turned against him; otherwise he would have no cross. No one is a friend to the man with a cross. “They all forsook him, and fled.”
OUCH!
The weakness of so many modern Christians is that they feel too much at home in the world………. And this is the saddest thing that can be said about them. They are not lonely, but neither are they saints.
“All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:13-16)
One of the brothers sent this short note about the nose…… amazing!
When I have more time, this would be a great article to go into more depth……..
We’re learning more and more about the sense of smell. Recently, scientists created a map of how the 220 million smell receptors in the nose are neatly arranged and coordinated with the 6 to 10 million neurons in each nostril that communicate with neural circuits in the brain that say, “Hey, smell that!”
That does not smell like chance. That smells like design!
FATHER, CURE THE WORLD’S DISEASE
Great eternal Original, Author of all created beings and happiness: I adore you—you who have made us capable of faith. You who have bestowed this dignity and eloquence on our nature, that it may be taught to say, “Where is God our Maker?”
But I lament that degeneracy has spread over the whole human race, which has turned our glory into shame. The forgetfulness of God, unnatural as it is, has become a common and universal disease.
Holy Father, we know that only your presence and teaching can reclaim your wandering children. Impress a sense of divine things on the heart, and make that sense lasting and effectual.
From you proceed all good purposes and desires—and this desire, above all, of spreading wisdom, piety, and happiness in this world.
Though we are sunk in such deep apostasy, your infinite mercy has not utterly forsaken us. Amen.
~ Philip Doddridge
Orphaned at an early age, Philip Doddridge (1709-1751) declined offers to study for the Anglican priesthood and instead attended the dissenting academy at Kibworth in Leicestershire, England. He served as a preacher in the independent tradition, and he became a prolific author and hymnwriter. During several decades of pastoral ministry he took a special interest in discipling young men for church leadership and began writing books on theology and Christian living while he was in his late thirties.
HELP OUR WITNESS
Lord, we profess the faith, and yet care not for the dying.
We profess, and yet long not for the coming of the day of God.
We profess, and yet by our whole life show to them that can see how little a measure of it we have in our hearts.
Lord, lead us more into the power of things. Then the virtues of him who has saved us, and called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, will be made known to others. Amen.
~ John Bunyan
One of the most influential and best-remembered Puritan preachers, John Bunyan (1628-1688) spent twelve years in prison for refusing to cease his Nonconformist brand of preaching. Today he is best known for writing the Christian allegory Pilgrim’s Progress, one of the most published books in the English language.
Can you believe this statement from Tozer was over 60 years ago?
Think about the mess we have today!
“The contemporary moral climate does not favor a faith as tough and fibrous as that taught by our Lord and His apostles…And the fault lies with our leaders. They are too timid to tell the people all the truth. They are now asking men to give to God that which costs them nothing.” A.W. Tozer 1897 – 1963
Tozer hailed from a tiny farming community in western La Jose, Pennsylvania. He was converted to Christianity as a teenager in Akron, Ohio: while on his way home from work at a tire company, he overheard a street preacher say, “If you don’t know how to be saved … just call on God, saying, ‘Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.’” Upon returning home, he climbed into the attic and heeded the preacher’s advice.