Scripture Sunday - Proverbs 21:21

"Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness and honor."

Notice that it does not say, "Whoever attains righteousness". We cannot attain perfect righteousness in this life,
but that certainly does not mean that we do not pursue it. (1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22)
Also, according to this text, when we pursue, or strive for, righteousness, we will get more than we bargained
for:

Righteousness begets life - God has designed the whole of creation to operate in such a way that actions that
are according to His character are rewarded, and vice versa. (Prov. 11:4-5, 19; 12:28)

Righteousness begets righteousness - When we pursue righteousness, we are being "trained" to say no to
ungodly desires, and strengthen godly habits, thereby making it more and more our second nature, if you
will, to walk in holiness. (Gal. 5:16)

Righteousness begets honor - When we make wise and righteous choices, people will see that we are trustworthy and know that they can depend on us, and God will reward all men for everything they've done
in this life, whether good or evil. (Jhn. 12:26; Rom. 2:6-10, 14:11-12)

Yet, we must be careful here, and test ourselves, lest we should pursue righteousness only for self-gain.
Our desire for righteousness must stem from God's desire, and commands, for us to be holy.
Indeed, this should be the driving force in our Christian walk, namely,

         "And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!' 

And Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant hears.' - 1 Sam. 3:10

Scripture Sunday - 1 John 1:9

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness."

This is, I believe, one of the first bible verses I memorized, and I'm sure all you sinners out there can relate. B)
I think sometimes we can have a tendency to complicate confession and repentance, to make forgiveness
dependant on how "sorry" we are for our sin. How dare we!! To think this way is the same as saying that Jesus'
sacrifice on the cross was not enough, and that God does not love unconditionally, as it is clearly shown in
His word! Here are some thoughts on this verse that I wrote a while ago:

 "We must cling to this promise. When we have strayed, and the accuser comes to take away all hope in
being forgiven, we must cling to this with all our strength. We must hold God to His promise, for He has
never made a promise that He did not, or will not, keep. So when your soul is tempted to be overcome by
despair, hold fast to Jesus and the sacrifice He made for you on that cross, for that is the only way this promise can ever be made to us."

Keep holdin' fast, people!

Scripture Sunday - 1 Peter 4:19

"Let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good."

Earlier in this chapter, it is said that we ought to rejoice when we suffer because we are Christians, for we
are "blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God" rests on us (1 Peter 4:14). This is in contrast to the way
our flesh likes to deal with suffering. Perhaps there's a brother in the ministry, and he fights dragons all
day, he stands up for the truth, and as a result, he might get kicked out of places, or at the least, people hate
him and spread rumors about him. If he's like the rest of us, he'll probably want to complain, give up, or
become angry and bitter. Yet we can see plainly in this chapter that the only right way to respond to this is to
rejoice and entrust your soul to your faithful Creator, while still doing good. In other words, do the next thing.
Realize that God is in control, and that He is using this for your good, and concentrate on doing your part. I remember a verse from Keith Green's song, "He'll Take Care of the Rest" that I think illustrates this pretty well...

"You just think about Noah, totin' his umbrella, when there wasn't a cloud in the sky,

All his neighbors would laugh at his pet giraffe, and they would oh-ho, snicker as he passed by,

But the Lord said, 'Hey Noah, be cool - you just keep building that boat,

It's just a matter of time till they see who's gonna float,

You just keep doing your best, and pray that it's blessed,

Hey Noah, I'll take care of the rest, I'm the weatherman!'" 

Acoustified Wretches

The Wretched Brothers had a recording session Sunday, and this is the one good take out of all the songs...
Anyway, this is a great all acoustic song written by Blane Jr.



Here are the lyrics, straight from Blane's blog.

V1
Go away from me Lord, I‘m a man unclean.
Go away from me lord, for you are too holy.
I have spoken once Lord, I will speak no more
I am all undone Lord, crippled to the floor.

Ch1
Oh God I did not want you, still you wanted me.
Oh Lord I did not love you, Yet you died for me.

V2
Draw me near to thee Lord, Bid my fears depart.
Grant me love for thee Lord, Repentance to my heart.
In your Boundless love Lord, My sins have been erased
Blotted out in love, By indelible grace.

Ch 2
Oh God I could not see you, but you lit my way.
My evil heart despised you, but you chose me anyway

V3
Rid my heart of sin Lord, make my thoughts your own
Teach me more of thee Lord, make your mercies known
Require what you will Lord, Give me strength to obey
Make my heart renewed Lord, More like you everyday. 

Amen!

Sola Scriptura Sunday?

I thought I'd join the ranks, and offer my own rhymey-whymey weekly post! As you can guess, it's a simple
affair; I pick a verse during the week, write about it, and post it on Sunday. After all, what better day to post
about scripture on than the Lord's Day?

Anyway, here's a sample:

John 1:5 - "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

Later in this chapter, it is made clear that "the light" is Christ Himself (v. 9-13). As soon as I realized that, this
verse became very interesting indeed. Of course, this can be a reference to His final victory over sin and death in His sacrifice and resurrection, but I believe there is a different, but related, application here.
Sometimes we Christians may have the question put to us, "What do you do with the problem of evil?", or
something along those lines. I daresay that herein lies a good answer, for indeed, there is great darkness in
this world, but the Light, which is Christ, has already defeated the prince of darkness, and where Christ is, the darkness can never overcome. Oh, the darkness may creep in and try to swallow us up, but in Christ's
name, and by His blood, we have a sure defense! Let us all cling to Him in all things, for He shines in the
darkness, and the darkness will never overcome Him!

A Wretched Song

Yesterday we were able to record an original song that I wrote. The beginning of the words came to me in the
middle of the night, sometime in August of last year, and the music less than a month ago.
Though I love to sing, I do not claim to be great. B) Hopefully, this song is pleasing to the One who inspired it,
and a good listen to you all.


Many thanks to Blane Jr for setting up all the equipment, and making this great video, and to Spencer for being
a very dependable rhythm guitarist!

EDIT: Here's the words...

O sing the pow’r of Jesus’ blood,

So strong to save from sin;

That ever makes the vile clean,

And vict'ry o'er death wins!

So rest ye sinner, in that great flood,

That sweeps all guilt away;

That from His heart and hands did flow,

And all our debt did pay!

Come praise Him now, O child adopted,

With heart of flesh made pure;

Come to the throne of grace on high,

By that great salvation sure!

O sing the pow'r of Jesus' blood,

So strong to change within;

The law of sin to overcome,

And make us more like Him!

Happy Birthday, Church! (And New Music)

Sunday marked the third-year anniversary of our church (that started in a living room), and God has indeed
blessed it abundantly! Everyone got a chance to share a testimony about the church, and I believe those
recordings will be posted on Blane's blog sometime. Anyway, I chickened out, so I might as well say
something here, cloaked in the comfort and anonymity of blog-land...


At the church we attended previously, we were different. We all sat together during the service, and I didn't
participate in any classes or youth group, or anything like that. I had a few good friends, but I was still different. The long and short of it is, I have benefited amazingly from being a part of this body, because
instead of being discouraged from being a mature person firmly rooted in Christ, I am held to a much higher
standard. (And a biblical standard, to boot!) The friendships that have grown, and the new friends that I have
made here, always encourage me to press onward in obedience to Him.
Of course, I am thankful that Elders Philip and Blane are seeking to teach from the Word rightly, and that
though they are men that will fail (as do we all), I have seen that they truly have a heart for God, and I have
full confidence that they will lead this body of believers as the Scripture teaches.
And above all I give praise to the One who, by His free grace, took us all "out of darkness into His marvelous 
light". Without Jesus Christ, we are nothing. If we do not continually proclaim Him alone, and strive to love 
each other as He has commanded, we have no business calling ourselves a church.
(Sorry, I got a little Paul Washer-y there...)

So I want to thank all of you people in this church, for realizing the need to go back to the Bible, to daily 
reform our families, our church body, and our lives. 

Switching gears now.

Before all the testimony, The Wretched Brothers Band, along with Sunny (of Star Hill yore) and
Daniel (on piano), went up to play Indelible Grace's version of "Beneath the Cross of Jesus". We'd practiced
the week before, so by the power of God, we actually sounded put-together!



We also played a special song Blane Jr wrote the day before, commemorating the birthdays of Elder Philip
and Sunny's birthdays. You can check it out with the lyrics on Blane's blog.

After all that, we all got together for a church-wide picture:

 "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
  until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to
  mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
  so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about
  by every wind of   doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the
  head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint
  with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow
  so that it builds itself up in love." - Ephesians 4:11-16