Bread of Life is the Word of Life that leads to Eternal Life

There are some text in the bible that are just plain tough to wrap our minds around, but nevertheless they are still God’s inspired written word, and they do need to be dealt with if we are to grow in the Lord and help others grow as well. John chapter 6 has some of these texts. I encourage you to listen to John Piper preach and try to deal with these text as he moves his church through the Gospel of John.

Unfortunately, to really get up to speed you need to listen to November 22nd's message (50 minutes), and then to his most recent message on November 29 (50 minutes)

I hope you enjoy!

I Weep Not For Myself

I’m currently reading A Pilgrim Who Made Progress – The Life Story of John Bunyan Author of the Pilgrim’s Progress by William Deal. Mr. Bunyan was put in jail for preaching without a license in 1660 and one year later his wife Elizabeth Bunyan went before the judges to argue for her husband’s release. Here is a small excerpt from the book:

Elizabeth, now quiet upset, replied (to Judge Twisden), “He preaches nothing but the Word of God!”

At this, Twisden, white with rage shouted, “He preach the word of God! He runneth up and down the country and doth harm too many people!”

Standing firmly, Elizabeth looked at him with tender eyes and replied, “No, my Lord, it is not so; God has owned him and done much good by him.”

Twisden replied, “God! His (Bunyan’s) doctrine is the doctrine of the devil!”

Elizabeth standing calmly replied, “My Lord, when the Righteous Judge shall appear, it will be known that his doctrine is not the doctrine of the devil!”

Elizabeth weeping went on, “I weep not for myself, nor for John Bunyan; our case is in God’s hands. I weep to think of what a sad day it will be when you poor creatures who have so treated him today shall stand before the Judge of the universe to give an account of your deeds!”

John Bunyan was released from prison 11 years later. One main reason he stayed in prison so long I believe is because of comments like this:

John Bunyan being led away by the bailiffs turned and shouted to the justices, “If I were out of jail today, I would preach the Gospel tomorrow!” John did continue to preach from the jail to prisoners and some outsiders each Sunday; So much for silencing God’s Word which will never happen.

Lord thank you for John and Elizabeth Bunyan!

The Life of God in the Soul of Man

When I heard or read somewhere that George Whitefield; the great England preacher-evangelist of the 1700’s was influenced greatly by the reading of a letter written in the 1600’s I knew I had to get a copy. The letter which later turned into a book is The Life of God in the Soul of Man by Henry Scougal. Whitefield tells us in his journals that Scougal’s book was a main key used by God in his conversion. Here is the blurb from my copy I recently picked up:

Henry Scougal died in 1657 at the age of 27 but by then he was already Professor of Divinity at Aberdeen University.

This timeless classic was originally written to encourage a friend and stimulate his spiritual life. It was so appreciated that it was later published as a book for a wider readership.

A hundred years later a copy was sent to George Whitefield by his friend, Charles Wesley – it was instrumental in Whitefield’s conversion. This book provided much of the stimulation behind the Methodist Revival of Britain and the Great Awakening in America.

This is a book I highly recommend, although it can be a challenging read since it was written in the 1600’s. Nevertheless, it was very edifying for me and one I will use to look back on as God continues to grow me. Pick up a copy here.

Here is just a little sample prayer from the book:

I am persuaded, O God, I am persuaded that I can never be happy, till my carnal and corrupt affections be mortified, and the pride and vanity of my spirit be subdued, and till I come seriously to despise the world, and think nothing of myself.

But, oh! When shall it once be! Oh! When wilt thou come unto me and satisfy my soul with thy likeness, making me holy as thou art holy, even in all manner of conversation! Hast thou given me a prospect of so great a felicity, and wilt thou not bring me unto it? Hast thou excited these desires in my soul, and wilt thou not also satisfy them?

Oh! Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God, thy Spirit is good, lead me unto the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name’s sake, and perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever, forsake not the works of thine own hands.

Anna Grace Update

Sorry it has been a while since my last post about Anna Grace. Brian & I met with the Maternal Fetal doctor about 10 days ago for an ultrasound to check on our little girl. The ultrasound showed that she is in the 46th precentile in size and weighed 3 pounds 14 ounces. It also showed that everything about her appears to be growing normally (with the exception of her heart) so that is something that we are so thankful for! My pregnancy has been going smoothly with no complications at all so I am currently on a doctor visit schedule just like any woman having a normal pregnancy - other than having more ultrasounds than usual. It truly is a blessing! We see the Maternal Fetal doctor again on December 4 for another ultrasound to check on her progress. As long as things continue to go smoothly we are still planning on delivering Anna Grace in Charleston at MUSC on December 30. Please continue to pray with us that she not come before that date.

Some other things we are thankful for..... I had some sweet friends come on Saturday & paint my kitchen & dining room. It was so sweet of these ladies to do this for me - it looks great and I had so much fun fellowshipping with these ladies. I also had the privilage of having my Dad come out from Texas last week for a visit which was also a sweet time of fellowship.

So, now I'm in the market for some baby girl crib bedding. I'll be hitting some consignment stores this week in search of something and I am truly looking forward to getting her crib set up even though it might be a while before she can sleep in it.

As I ponder the paths of my life, I’m amazed at how good God has treated me and has gently kept me moving in the right direction. The Lord has graciously given me a lovely beautiful wife who is doing a wonderful job of raising our first and only son, little Zachary. She is doing a perfect job growing our second child, little Anna Grace who is due to arrive December 30th with fireworks. Honey I love you!

I join with King David in 1 Chronicles 17:16 in saying…

“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?”

Thank you Father for choosing me before the foundation of the world (Eph.1:4) and predestining me for adoption into your family (Eph.1:5) in and through Christ Jesus.

Joy from Christ, Not your performance

Great short 8 minute video. Enjoy!!!

November 2 Fundraiser

There is so much to say about the fundrasier that was hosted in Anna Graace's honor last night at Starry Nights that I don't even know where to begin. There were so many people working behind the scenes to make it all happen. There were donations of food & the facility. There were people who started preparing the food over the weekend - making spaghetti sauce & baking cakes & desserts. There were several ladies who spent their entire Monday setting up & preparing the rest of the food for the spaghetti dinner. There were COUNTLESS volunteers during the event who set the food up, set up the buffet, poured drinks and cleaned up trash. There was one sweet friend who helped people sign in at they entered Starry Nights and coordinated all of the donations. There are probably other people who were doing things that I didn't even know about. The details of the whole event are overwhelming - God was certainly using his children last night to minsiter to our family in a a BIG WAY. So... in addition to the volunteers there were so many wonderful friends & family members who came to the event to help support us in a physical & financial way by donating money toward Anna Grace's medical expenses. This is SO HUMBLING to us. I don't know for sure, but I would guess that there were probably 200 people who were in attandance last night at Starry Nights. It was overwhelming to see so many people praying for and supporting our family in such a physical way. We feel so blessed and are so thankful that God has provided for our needs - our need for friends to help encourage us during this difficult time and for providing for our family in a financial way. Brian & I prayed this morning that God would bless each one of you and that He will give us clear guidance about Anna Grace's medical care AND that we would be good stewards of the resouces He provided us through last nights fundraiser. So, today the Bentley family is a little worn out - but its a really good kind of tired. Even though we don't know why our daughter is sick we know that God is holding us in HIS hand and that he is going to take care of us.