“Repentance and forgiveness are riveted together by the eternal purpose of God. What God hath joined together let no man put asunder. Repentance must go with remission, and you will see that it is so if you think a little upon the matter. It cannot be that pardon of sin should be given to an impenitent sinner; this were to confirm him in his evil ways, and to teach him to think little of evil. If the Lord were to say, "You love sin, and live in it, and you are going on from bad to worse, but, all the same, I forgive you," this were to proclaim a horrible license for iniquity. The foundations of social order would be removed, and moral anarchy would follow. I cannot tell what innumerable mischiefs would certainly occur if you could divide repentance and forgiveness, and pass by the sin while the sinner remained as fond of it as ever. …If we continue in our sin, and will not repent of it, we cannot be forgiven, but must reap the consequence of our obstinacy. According to the infinite goodness of God, we are promised that if we will forsake our sins, confessing them, and will, by faith, accept the grace which is provided in Christ Jesus, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But, so long as God lives, there can be no promise of mercy to those who continue in their evil ways, and refuse to acknowledge their wrongdoing. Surely no rebel can expect the King to pardon his treason while he remains in open revolt.” Charles Spurgeon, All Of Grace

"If one thing is plain it is that Christianity refuses to be regarded as a mere means to a higher end. Our Lord made that perfectly clear when He said, ‘If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother . . . he cannot be my disciple’ (Lk. xiv. 26). Whatever else those stupendous words may mean, they certainly mean that the relationship to Christ takes precedence of all other relationships, even the holiest of relationships like those that exist between husband and wife and parent and child. Those other relationships exist for the sake of Christianity and not Christianity for the sake of them. Christianity will indeed accomplish many useful things in this world, but if it is accepted in order to accomplish those useful things it is not Christianity . . . Christianity will produce a healthy community; but if it is accepted in order to produce a healthy community, it is not Christianity." J. Gresham Machen, Christianity And Liberalism

“For the truth is that God in his wisdom, to make and keep us humble and to teach us to walk by faith, has hidden from us almost everything that we should like to know about the providential purposes which He is working out in the churches and in our own lives.” J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 106

On Sunday, January 31st, my personal doctor, Dr. Jason Howell, was killed in a car accident. His wife, Rebecca van Uitert was also killed. They were 44 and 45 years old respectively, and they left four young children behind. Tragedies like this happen every day, but this hit quite close to home. Several people in our church were under the care of Dr. Howell. My mom was his patient. It was a reminder of how precious life is. Many times we get caught up in the rat race, the hampster wheel, rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, or as the Bible puts it..."Striving after the wind". We all need to make sure our relationship with God is right. We must come to Him on His terms. We must settle out of court. There is only One Way. The cross of Jesus Christ. "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:2
 

This Sunday I will be preaching on Christ as the Head of the Church. This has special meaning for me as this is the first time I have preached on this subject since the draconian COVID-19 mandates rained down on us last year from the CDC and the local County Health Departments. We chose to ignore all the mandates and we refused to ever close our church. In hindsight, we are grateful to discover this was the correct choice. 

"So the first thing about being a Christian is self-denial. It’s not about the preservation of your life, it’s not about your safety; it may be about your death. That’s what taking up your cross means. That’s not talking about some kind of spiritual exercise; that’s saying it could cost you your life. Everybody who lives, lives with risk. If you try to make safety a virtue, you find yourself in a back room somewhere, staring at the wall, and make no contribution to anything. For Christians that’s unacceptable. We have to be out front in the battle, taking the risk that the proclamation of the gospel and living godly lives calls for." John MacArthur, 9/12/21

"Nowhere is [Christ's] supremacy more put on display than when the church penetrates out into the world, and is on the frontlines of ministry proclaiming the Gospel, preaching the Word, planting churches, appointing Elders, and moving on. This is when His supremacy is most put on display." -Steve Lawson, 10-17-2006

"And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six." (The Beast of Revelation 13:16-18)

"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mudpies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." - C.S. Lewis