Grab this Book – Free – from The Voice of the Martyrs

His Beliefs Put Him In Prison... His Faith Set Him Free!

I’ve talked about the ministry of The Voice of the Martyrs. This is the founder’s story. This book shocked the Nation. The international bestseller Tortured for Christ tells the dramatic story of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand and how he endured 14 years in prison for his faith in Jesus Christ.
Request your FREE copy today.

Click this link and go get it. “Tortured for Christ.”
It will make you examine and challenge your faith and commitment to Christ, which is just what we need to do. For some, it may wake you up to a whole new perception of the Christian faith.


A Selfish Benefit of Prayer?

How many benefits are there? Com’ on, no one except God knows. I can give you one that I continually, regularly, and faithfully experience (extra adverbs for emphasis).

Recalibration

My personal preference for devotional time (Bible reading and prayer) is early in the morning. I love the quiet mornings; more of a Jed Clampett than a night owl. By starting my day off with devotions I get recalibrated. My mind and heart starts the day off focused on my God, and it helps me to see with an eternal perspective. All of this helps to get my priorities in line for the day as well see the Gospel afresh for the day.

The honest part is: I wish I could stay calibrated throughout the day. But as the insurance commercial reminds us, “Life comes at us fast.” Sometimes it is a challenge just to drive to work. As the day wears on the needs for re calibrating our heart, soul, mind, and …. (fill in the blank) becomes more obvious. We are messy lives, especially spiritually,  needing our Maker and Sanctifier to put our bubble back between the lines, level, and moving forward.

Challenges and temptations, successes and failures shout reasons for recalibration. “Here I am, Lord. I’m still a mess and I’m still broken.” I need my alone time with my Father, my Savior, and my Sanctifier—the Triune God. Discombobulated is not my preferred alternative state for the day.

“Oh God, You are my God; Earnestly I seek You.” Psalms 63:1a (NIV)

Do I think this is a selfish motive to pray? It is a God-given benefit of His grace. Therefore, the answer is: Nope.


The Faithlife Study Bible FREE – grab it now

I’m a long time, BIG fan and user of Logos bible software. I can’t praise this software or the company enough, really. I’ll go into Logos bible software another day. Today, it’s about a product that Logos has created: an electronic study bible.  But it ain’t no oth’r study bible. This study bible gives a truck load of commentary and other resources to help you learn, understand, and experience the truths of Scripture. Rather than writing my own ABOUT IT page, here are some videos that show and tell.

If you’re still not sure, this 52 second video is pretty convincing.

There are many testimonials about this resource, but I’ve plugged in this new one from Logos, Inc., which was just posted today. It features John Micah Sumrall, the lead singer from Kutlass.

After years of working with youth, John noticed something. Young people aren’t getting into the Word. For people who struggle to get into the Word, John has a suggestion.

Right now Logos is giving away 2,500,000 copies of this study bible. Right now! Interested? CLICK HERE

Obviously I strongly recommend this resource. Don’t wait, get it.

I’m done here.


Help for Your Devotional Time with the Father

Valley of VisionWould you like a good aid in your prayer and devotional time?  I recommend a small book that gives glimpses into the character of God, brings reminders of His enduring love, and has the biggest punch you’ll ever get outside of the Bible.

The Valley of Vision, edited by Arthur G. Bennett.

It doesn’t have the most attractive cover, although the leather version is super nice.

I keep this book next to my Bible and use it more than any other resource in my morning time with the Father. It’s not a book of promises, or a list of threats to get the slack out of your feeble prayer life lest ye be cast into the abyss. Nor are these prayers sugar-coated to feed an ego and make you feel good about yourself. Using this in your devotional time will bring a focus of priorities— Mark 12:30 & Matthew 6:33; guidance in prayers of praise, repentance, self-examination, and food to strengthen your faith.

These prayers are from spiritual giants such as Isaac Watts (1674-1748); John Bunyan (1628-1688); Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892); Augustus Toplady (1740-1778); Richard Baxter (1615-1691); and the list goes on.  How can you go wrong learning from the prayers of these guys? You can’t.

A description from the publisher’s website (www.banneroftruth.org) includes this:

“The strength of Puritan character and life lay in prayer and meditation. In this practice the spirit of prayer was regarded as of first importance and the best form of prayer, for living prayer is the characteristic of genuine spirituality. Yet prayer is also vocal and may therefore on occasions be written. Consequently in the Puritan tradition there are many written prayers and meditations which constitute an important corpus of inspiring devotional literature.

“Too often ex tempore prayer lacks variety, order and definiteness. The reason for this lies partly in a neglect of due preparation. It is here that the care and scriptural thoroughness which others found necessary in their approach to God may be of help. This book has been prepared not to ‘supply’ prayers but to prompt and encourage the Christian as he treads the path on which others have gone before.”

Interested? Here is blog post that contains one of the prayers.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/01/30/the-valley-of-vision/

How about a link answering questions about the prayers and poems in the book:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2013/07/11/valley-of-vision/

Enjoy and grow.