Hi folks. I must say what Jacob said to Pharaoh: "Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."
I love the Lord, and the Lord's people, and particularly the Reformed Faith (Doctrines of Grace), for, in my self-centeredness and sensuality-loving life, I would never have chosen Christ had he not chosen me. Our wonderful God and Savior doesn't "provide salvation," He saves. He doesn't just lead us to the well of the waters of life and sit back to see if we bother to look for a bucket, he works by his Spirit a desperate thirst in our hard hearts, and then holds the cooling dipper right up to our parched lips.
Most of my life I struggled with porn, until finally delivered 14 months ago when I was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer and put on Lupron, a hormone drug that, among other things, zaps the libido. Praise God for that.
But I'm here to say to any of my brothers who struggle with sexual addiction, that there is help to be found in the body of Christ. And, God willing, I hope in a subsequent blog entry, to address that issue in greater detail. In the meantime, I'm here to talk and pray with any brother so afflicted.
But I'm also here to talk about Christ with anyone who has an interest in Him. I'm here to talk to any sincere seeker after Christ, to any poor suffering believer, to the backslider, to the one who fears he or she may have fallen away never to be restored.
And I'm also here to listen to my brothers and sisters who walk closer to the Lord than I. I'm not too old to learn from even a babe in Christ, for soon I will be learning at the Master's feet in that great glorious seminary of heaven for all the days of eternity. What a thought, that an eternity of studying at Jesus's feet will not begin to exhaust the infinite storehouse of his truth. But I know we will be serving too. For I do not think that heaven will be a place of armchair ease, but rather that God will assign each of us real meaningful work to do for his glory. And with our glorified bodies, having our youth renewed, and our fully sanctified and purified souls and minds, how rewarding will be that work, how pleasant to then sup with Him in the kingdom, how refreshing to drink of the water of life eternally.
This is not a blog for Christian superstars or superheros, but for the "average Joe" Christian in the pew, often feeling isolated, even in the church, because of his or her struggles with indwelling sin.
I hope and pray that I may be given in these obscure pages words of comfort and encouragement, even if for only one or two. Precious in the Lord's sight are the sighs and groans and tears of his poor straggling sheep. He wants to reach out with his crook and draw each closer to him. If I can be used even as such a crook, however roughly hewn, in the hands of the Savior, that will be more than enough.
I love the Lord, and the Lord's people, and particularly the Reformed Faith (Doctrines of Grace), for, in my self-centeredness and sensuality-loving life, I would never have chosen Christ had he not chosen me. Our wonderful God and Savior doesn't "provide salvation," He saves. He doesn't just lead us to the well of the waters of life and sit back to see if we bother to look for a bucket, he works by his Spirit a desperate thirst in our hard hearts, and then holds the cooling dipper right up to our parched lips.
Most of my life I struggled with porn, until finally delivered 14 months ago when I was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer and put on Lupron, a hormone drug that, among other things, zaps the libido. Praise God for that.
But I'm here to say to any of my brothers who struggle with sexual addiction, that there is help to be found in the body of Christ. And, God willing, I hope in a subsequent blog entry, to address that issue in greater detail. In the meantime, I'm here to talk and pray with any brother so afflicted.
But I'm also here to talk about Christ with anyone who has an interest in Him. I'm here to talk to any sincere seeker after Christ, to any poor suffering believer, to the backslider, to the one who fears he or she may have fallen away never to be restored.
And I'm also here to listen to my brothers and sisters who walk closer to the Lord than I. I'm not too old to learn from even a babe in Christ, for soon I will be learning at the Master's feet in that great glorious seminary of heaven for all the days of eternity. What a thought, that an eternity of studying at Jesus's feet will not begin to exhaust the infinite storehouse of his truth. But I know we will be serving too. For I do not think that heaven will be a place of armchair ease, but rather that God will assign each of us real meaningful work to do for his glory. And with our glorified bodies, having our youth renewed, and our fully sanctified and purified souls and minds, how rewarding will be that work, how pleasant to then sup with Him in the kingdom, how refreshing to drink of the water of life eternally.
This is not a blog for Christian superstars or superheros, but for the "average Joe" Christian in the pew, often feeling isolated, even in the church, because of his or her struggles with indwelling sin.
I hope and pray that I may be given in these obscure pages words of comfort and encouragement, even if for only one or two. Precious in the Lord's sight are the sighs and groans and tears of his poor straggling sheep. He wants to reach out with his crook and draw each closer to him. If I can be used even as such a crook, however roughly hewn, in the hands of the Savior, that will be more than enough.
