Yesterday, I attended the most amazing funeral I have ever attended, the memorial for a dear brother who had 40-plus years in effective evangelism. The memorial service was 2.75 hours long from start to finish. We sang a lot. This was the most worship-filled, praise-filled, joy-filled funeral I have ever attended. It seemed like everyone was excited that our dear brother had received his home-call, and that soon (and very soon) we will all join him in the courts above. It seemed less like "goodbye" and more like "see you tomorrow." Get tears in my eyes just thinking about the service.

We are all saved by grace through faith, and God's Holy Spirit has individually and selectively conferred different and individually selected gifts and graces on all His children so that we are enabled to live by grace and serve Him in newness of life, by grace. And the heavenly grace that we receive has been given to each one, in proportion to the measure of Christ's immeasurable riches and His eternal bounty. Jesus gave HIMSELF willingly for us. Should not we give ourselves rejoicingly to Him?

Carli • Saved by Grace

John 1:1-3
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

My two cents worth on the election. While I do believe that abortion is murder, I have never made that my primary voting issue. I don't vote for a Christian platform. It doesn't exist. We have never had a Christian platform in the Republican party (though it was historically more molded and informed by Christian values).

I only vote for two issues: freedom and economics. Which candidate and which party is going to give me the most freedom and the most economic blessing in the next four years?

Voting this way has been, by default, a vote against abortion for a few decades now. But there are now many signals that the train has come and gone for Christian values in the Republican party, that most of the professing Christians in the Republican party don't hold biblical values consistently, that the Republicans are migrating to a Centrist position to win more of the middle, that most Evangelicals and Catholics are going to join the compromise, and that the Republicans are going to put the consistent Evangelicals and Catholics out to dry.

Because of the abortion issue, many are now choosing to either not vote or write-in vote, a practice which benefits the Marxists who dominate the Democrat party. The pragmatic vote would vote for freedom, to give us another four years (if the Lord tarries that long) of a half-tolerable America. This country will rapidly descend into moral, economic, societal, and foreign policy chaos if the Democrats win the election.

May we seek to display the same godly characteristics of Timothy and like him, have a teachable spirit that seeks to honour the Lord in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, and may we show ourselves to be a godly example of those who believe.

Carli • Saved by Grace

2 Cor 7:1, "Therefore, having these promises beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

What promises? The holiness teaching at the end of the 6th chapter. How do we perfect holiness? By submitting to the teaching of the word and the prompting of the Spirit.

"If private revelations agree with Scriptures, they are needless; and if they disagree, they are false."
(summary of John Owen via J.I. Packer)

We who were once living in the kingdom of darkness, enslaved to sin, and steeped in shame, have been forever transported into His kingdom of light and received life, grace, glory, forgiveness, and hope. How important that we should all walk in a manner worthy of our Father Who calls us into His own kingdom and glory, to the praise of His holy name.

Carli • Saved by Grace

https://www.youtube.com/live/A5gQFa0vuGA?si=eZ50FAJh0pm6u1zB

Livestream tonight (Tues, Sept 3) at 8 pm Central.

So glad we are nearing the end of the race. Looking forward to thousands of summers of hiking in the mountains and canoeing in the north woods.

In a world where we are increasingly beset by difficulties and dangers, trials and tribulation, persecution and pain, false teachings and unbiblical doctrines from so many quarters, let us set our face as a flint to trust in the Lord with all our heart. Let us familiarise ourselves with the truth of Scripture and demonstrate patient endurance amidst the persecution and problems we have to face. Let us seek discernment in a sea of apostate teachings and trust in the Lord with all our heart... and let us read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the inerrant Word of God ~ which alone is able to make us wise unto salvation. 

Carli • Saved by Grace

The enemy of God is the same evil one that comes to steal our peace, kill our hope, accuse the saints, and destroy our testimony. He not only comes as a roaring lion but also as an angel of light. With this in mind, just as individual members of the Church in Rome were exhorted to diligently identify those who caused division within their own congregation and turn away from them, we too should be prepared to address disunity within our own churches and quickly deal with those that cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching of God's Word.

Carli • Saved by Grace

Your light afflictions, which are only for a moment, are working for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

TRANSLATION. Be patient. In due time, God will give you infinitely more than you have suffered.

Christ is equal with God in Person, but He was willing to give up His heavenly position for a time because a race of fallen men needed to be redeemed, and there was no one else able to pay the price of sin for the lost and dying race of humanity.
And so for your sake and for mine, the Son of God Who existed in the form of God from eternity, did not regard equality with God to be a thing to be grasped and held onto, but laid it aside. He set aside His positional glory for your sake and for mine, to be born to die for our sins so that we might be reborn to live with Him in the glory that He enjoys with the Father, for all eternity.

Carli • Saved by Grace

I did not want to admit it, but after recent interactions on Twitter and YouTube, I have been forced to conclude that it is true. There are shriveled souls on social media who intentionally employ abusive language, palpably false accusations, and ridiculous arguments in the hopes of earning the reproach of getting blocked by me or some other preacher they don't like. Imagine having so little purpose in life that one of your chief goals is getting blocked by a preacher whose doctrine you despise. This is pathetic.

If the eternal Son of God was prepared to be born into His own creation, become our sin~substitute through His death on the Cross, and break the power of sin and death in our lives, should we not die daily to self and live passionately for Him?
If God who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?
In the light of this staggering truth, should we not praise and thank Him ceaselessly, knowing this was the first step in the journey of His everlasting grace and the first chapter in God's never~ending love story for us: "Who did not spare his own Son but gave Him up for us all."

Carli • Saved by Grace

The riches of His wisdom are unsurpassed, and the riches of His judgements are altogether righteous. His ways are incomprehensible, His knowledge is unsearchable, His love is never~ending, His judgements are righteous, and His strength is invincible. He carries out great and mighty works which are marvellous to behold, and His glorious deeds are without number. Who can know the mind of God, and yet He has made His ways known to the children of men through the Person and work of His dearly beloved Son, and by His grace we have the mind of Christ.

Carli • Saved by Grace

The conference in Woodland Hills is over. My fave message was Mondo's on Israel. He did a great job on the sense of apostasia in 2 Thess. 3.