What's one of the most influential books in your life?

The knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer is one of the books that caused me to radically change my view about who God is. Highly Recommended

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Potent Preaching by R.C.Sproul

We don’t understand God. What is it about Him that so often leads Him to mute His power, to hide behind the weak and lame? It’s not as though He doesn’t understand His own power. His Word created the whole of the universe. His Spirit gave life to us when we were dead. That Word never returns void. That Spirit is omnipotent. But He has chosen to not only work on us, but to work through us. The Word reaches the apex of its power not when it stands alone, but when it is preached. God is pleased to use the foolishness of preaching to give life, to change the world. He works through us.

Such presents us with a peculiar temptation. On the one hand we want to affirm the power of preaching. On the other hand, we don’t want to fall into “power preaching.” That is, we don’t want to embrace the foolishness of the world, thinking this showy gift, and that precision technique is how we tap into that power. A man in a power tie, making power gestures, using power point has likely missed the power. Instead, just as God has chosen the foolish things of the world to change the world, just as He shows strength in our weakness, so we must embrace weakness if we would see the power.

Potent preaching then is not marked ultimately by the application of brilliant minds. Neither is it the fruit of brilliant techniques. Instead the power comes when the preacher is willing to be shown to be weak. We are changed by preaching when the Word shows us our need, exposing our sin. We are changed when the Word shows us the solution, the finished work of Christ. We are changed when preaching agrees with the Word, that we must repent and believe. What we need is not clearer commentaries. What we need is not more homiletics classes. What we need in the pulpit is courage.

I know that I cannot see into the hearts of others. I do not see the sins of the sheep in the pews. I can, at least to a degree, see my own sin. And it is rather safe to assume that my sin and my neighbors’ sins are not so distant. If I would preach to the sins of the congregation, I must preach to my own sins. In days of cultural decline such as our own, it is rather easy for preachers to thunder against the sins of the broader culture. This too, however, is a form of ear-tickling. “Aren’t they awful” as a common message will ultimately translate soon enough into “But we’re okay.” Our calling, however, is to feed our sheep. Which means we must preach to their sins. Which means we must preach to our own.

Courage then is what we need in our pulpits, the courage to look honestly to our own sins. And that is driven by gospel confidence. I can face my sin because it is already dealt with. I can speak to it because God has already declared it to be forgiven. If we will humble ourselves, He will come in both grace and power. And that changes everything.

Boasting in the Lord

Boasting in the Lord from Rayshawn Graves on Vimeo.

This was the sermon I preached today from 1 Corinthians 1:26-30 called "Boasting in the Lord". The audio timed out on me, so the only version I have available is the video version.

Pre,Post,A...Millenniealism

I found this summary of the three schools of thought concerning the millennium to be very helpful in summarizing what each school of thought believes. This was written by Dr. Ed Hindson in his commentary on Revelation titled," The Book of Revelation: Unlocking the Future".

Postmillennial. This school of thought believes that the Millennium (one thousand years of Rev.20:1-3) is to be interpreted symbolically as synonymous with the Church Age. Satan's power is viewed as being "bound" by the power of the gospel. Postmillennialists believe that during this "millennium" (Church Age) the church is called upon to conquer unbelief, convert the masses, and govern society by the mandate of biblical law. Only after Christianity succeeds on earth will Christ return and announce that His kingdom has been realized. Postmillennial advocates have included Catholics, Puritans, charismatics, and dominionists who urge believers to take dominion over the earth and its political governments in order to actualize the kingdom of God over earth.

Amillennial. This approach sees no millennium of any kind on the earth. Rather, amillennialists tend to view so-called millennial prophecies as being fulfilled in eternity. References to the "thousand years" are interpreted symbolically. In this scheme the Church Age ends with the return of Christ to judge the world and usher in eternity. God's promises to Israel are viewed as having been fulfilled in the Church (the new Israel of the new covenant); therefore, amillennialists see no specific future for national Israel. They view the Church Age as the era of conflict between the forces of good and evil, which culminates with the return of Christ.

Premillennial. This view holds that Christ will return at the end of the Church Age in order to set up His kingdom on earth for a literal one thousand years. Most also believe there will be a Great Tribulation period on earth prior to the return of Christ. Among premillennialists are those who believe the Church will go through the Tribulation (postribulationists), those who believe the Church will be raptured prior to the Tribulation (pretribulationists) and even a few who believe the Church will be raptured in the middle of the Tribulation (midtribulationists). Despite these differences in regard to the Rapture of the Church, premillennialists generally believe in the future restoration of the state of Israel and the eventual conversion of the Jews to Christianity.

- by Ed. Hindson in "The Book of Revelation: Unlocking the Future"

Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption...

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
- 1 Corinthians 1:30



" In our union with Christ he becomes "wisdom" for us in overcoming the blinding and deadening ignorance that keeps us from seeing the glory of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:24). Then he becomes righteousness for us in overcoming our guilt and condemnation (Romans 8:1). Then he becomes sanctification for us in overcoming our corruption and pollution (1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 2:10). Finally, he becomes redemption for us in overcoming, in the resurrection, all the miseries, pain, futility, and death of this age (Romans 8:23)."

- from "Counted Righteous in Christ" by John Piper

Hearing The Gospel Again and Again to be Overcome - by Jonathan Parnell

1 Corinthians 15:1-5

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of those who trust him is old news. It is really old, really good news. So what are we aiming for in hearing again and again that which we've heard before?

The hope in hearing the old, good news is that it would perpetually break new ground in our lives. Our hearts are like a jungle. There is untamed wilderness and darkness that has not yet been brought, as it were, under the rule of the One who has laid claim to it all.

We need to hear the gospel again and again so that the old, good news of Jesus Christ would reach into these unchartered territoties of our lives and fly the flag of its dominion. This is how we are "being saved." This is what it means to be overcome by the gospel.


- the original posting of this article can be found at DesiringGod.org

Come to Christ

I preached this sermon today titled "Come to Christ". The text I preached from is Matthew 11:28-30. It is always a blessing to focus on the words of Christ and his invitation to sinners who are burdened and toiling under the weight of sin and the heaviness of God's standard. We must come to Him and we will be refreshed and rejuvenated, able to submit to His yoke and we will be strengthened to be able to live the Christian life. Here is the audio for the sermon:

Think Hard Stay Humble- Francis Chan

My wife and I sat and watched this sermon from the Desiring God National Conference two nights ago and we were blown away. Chan's message on having humility and love to go with in-depth thinking about scripture is simply wonderful. Enjoy this sermon!

Flee From the Wrath to Come by Don Currin

Flee from the Wrath of God from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

Sermon: Hope in Christ

This was the sermon that I preached on yesterday, October 3,2010. The title of it is called Hope in Christ and it is taken from Lamentations 3:24. The previous post is me going over my notes on a video and sharing some thoughts on what it means to truly say "The Lord is my portion...therefore I will hope in Him. Below is the audio from the sermon.






If you cannot see the audio player, you can see the original post at AdjustMyThoughts.com

Hope in Christ....

Firstly, I recently purchased a new laptop...so this is mostly just me wanting to test out the webcam feature on it: successful! Anyways, I figured I would test the new webcam while going over some points for a sermon I will be preaching tomorrow. The video is called "Hope In Christ", but I haven't come up with a sermon title as of yet. Lamentations 3:24 will be the verse that I will be focusing on and it stands out to me so much because of two words that Jeremiah uses in the midst of God-sent suffering, portion and hope. Jeremiah ascribes both of these words to the Lord even after he declared in verse 1 of chapter 3 that he was under God's wrath and judgment. I was thinking about how the gospel applies to this statement that Jeremiah made in verse 24, in that God, because of Christ, has made Himself the portion of those who believe in Him. Because the death of Christ justifies those who believe in Him, the believer has an unshakable hope in God through any sufferings and afflictions and an assurance that Christ will save us from wrath on the day of judgment. This is all because of God's love for us. (Romans 5:1-10)

God's Saving Purpose - Thomas Watson

"Question: How shall we know that God has a purpose to save us?

Answer: By being effectually called. "Give dilligence to make your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10). We make our election sure, by making our calling sure. "God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification" (2 Thess. 2:13). By the stream, we come at last to the fountain. If we find the stream of sanctification running in our souls, we may by this come to the spring-head of election. When a man cannot look up to the firmament, yet he may know the moon is there by seeing it shine upon the water: so, though I cannot look up into the secret of God's purpose, yet I may know I am elected by the shining of sanctifying grace in my soul. Whosoever finds the Word of God transcribed and copied out into his heart, may undeniably conclude his election."

-Thomas Watson "All Things for Good"