I heard God's voice so clear at first
Its sound was full of cheer
I knew just what to do right then
His presence seemed so near.
Then other voices soon were heard
That questioned my intent
"Is this the only way to take
When others seem content?"
So then my heart began to stray
Confusion filled my breast
The Voice that once was loud and clear
Brought fear instead of rest.
But as I wandered in the night
My troubled heart was stirred
Then from the desert of my will
A knock was faintly heard.
My eyes with tears began to flow
Such love I couldn't resist
For when I opened wide the door
He walked me through the mist.
So now when troubles come my way
I heed the Shepherd's call
And gladly follow in His steps
As I surrender all.
--B. Pent
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT - Matthew 7:24-27
As kids we used to sing: "the wise man built his house upon the rock...and the rains came tumbling down and the house on the rock stood firm. The foolish man built his house upon the sand... the rains came down, but the house on the sand crashed."
Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with this vivid architectural illustration. The two builders had similarities: they both build a house; they both finish it; and they both faced storms and floods. The one difference, however, was the foundation on which they build. The one who built on a rock stood firm; the one who built on sand "fell with a great crash" (v.27). The one, followed directions, the other, followed his own intuition. "everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" (v.24). Then He warns: "everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built on sand" (v.26).
The foundation is the most important part in the building process! Using a similar metaphor in Luke 6:48 Jesus adds that this man, "dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock." The Pharisees were building a religious system that outwardly looked good but there was no true foundation. Man made religion is basically the same! Paul warns in I Corinthians 3:11, "for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." Later, he makes it clear that this foundation is built on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
(I Corinthians 15:3-4). The foolish builder has no foundation, no direction and no hope because he is building on a utilitarian philosophy. The broad road is wide and many follow it because it is the easiest and most convenient way to go. Unfortunately, it leads to destruction and hell.
What is the foundation upon which you are building? If you are building on the"shifting sand" of good deeds, charity, communion, baptism, church membership, you are heading in the wrong direction. Christ is the only answer for "He is way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6). He calls for repentance (a turning from our sin & its curse) to the Savior Who alone can redeem us and assure us of eternal life (John 1:12). Are you sure that heaven is your future? You can be if you open your heart and invited Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord. The choice is yours! It will determine your destiny.
Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with this vivid architectural illustration. The two builders had similarities: they both build a house; they both finish it; and they both faced storms and floods. The one difference, however, was the foundation on which they build. The one who built on a rock stood firm; the one who built on sand "fell with a great crash" (v.27). The one, followed directions, the other, followed his own intuition. "everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" (v.24). Then He warns: "everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built on sand" (v.26).
The foundation is the most important part in the building process! Using a similar metaphor in Luke 6:48 Jesus adds that this man, "dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock." The Pharisees were building a religious system that outwardly looked good but there was no true foundation. Man made religion is basically the same! Paul warns in I Corinthians 3:11, "for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." Later, he makes it clear that this foundation is built on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
(I Corinthians 15:3-4). The foolish builder has no foundation, no direction and no hope because he is building on a utilitarian philosophy. The broad road is wide and many follow it because it is the easiest and most convenient way to go. Unfortunately, it leads to destruction and hell.
What is the foundation upon which you are building? If you are building on the"shifting sand" of good deeds, charity, communion, baptism, church membership, you are heading in the wrong direction. Christ is the only answer for "He is way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6). He calls for repentance (a turning from our sin & its curse) to the Savior Who alone can redeem us and assure us of eternal life (John 1:12). Are you sure that heaven is your future? You can be if you open your heart and invited Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord. The choice is yours! It will determine your destiny.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
HEADING HOME
The wind of time blows through my life
As gentle breezes calm the soul
Though stormy clouds have marked my path
I'm heading to my Home at last!
I see the lights within the Gate
Its beauty far surpasses earth
For in the endless walls of grace
All those who trust will find their place.
So do not weep when angel's call
The invitation to the Feast
Has been sent out, I cannot wait
The family's standing at the Gate.
The curse of death will be removed
All tears will cease to flow that day
For in the presence of the King
I will not want for anything.
Then songs of praise will fill the air
Before the One upon His Throne
As all of earth and heaven proclaim
The glorious power of Jesus' Name.
--B. Pent
As gentle breezes calm the soul
Though stormy clouds have marked my path
I'm heading to my Home at last!
I see the lights within the Gate
Its beauty far surpasses earth
For in the endless walls of grace
All those who trust will find their place.
So do not weep when angel's call
The invitation to the Feast
Has been sent out, I cannot wait
The family's standing at the Gate.
The curse of death will be removed
All tears will cease to flow that day
For in the presence of the King
I will not want for anything.
Then songs of praise will fill the air
Before the One upon His Throne
As all of earth and heaven proclaim
The glorious power of Jesus' Name.
--B. Pent
Saturday, March 6, 2010
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT - Matthew 7:15-23
In his book "Against The Night" Chuck Colson warns of a cheap replica of true Christianity:
"much of the church is caught up on the success mania of American society. Often more concerned with budgets and building programs than with the Body of Christ. The Church places more emphasis on growth than on repentance. Repentance is a rare message in today's Church because it requires confrontation with an uncomfortable subject--sin. And sin does not sell well in our feel-good culture. When sin gets personal, people get skittish. Only the conviction of personal sin, however, brings us to Christ."
Jesus warns against those who profess a faith but do not possess true faith. They can talk it but don't live it. They may call Him "Lord, Lord," claim to prophesy, cast out demons and even perform miracle (v.22) but the proof of authentic Christianity is "fruit." Twice Jesus states, "by their fruit you will recognize them" (vs.16,20). Paul describes the kind of fruit Jesus was talking about in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." If the "fruit" is not evident they are termed false prophets "that come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves" (v.15). That is what the Pharisees were doing in that day. Their "fruit" was hard, plastic, legalistic and superficial! We are often warned in the New Testament of false Christ's (Matt.24:24); false witnesses (Matthew 26:60); false apostles (2 Cor.11:13); false brothers (2 Cor. 11:36); and false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1) .
When we truly produce "the fruit of the Spirit," we are assured of doing " the will of my father" (v.21). Genuine faith is active and productive. It is real, genuine and authentic! It affects our character and our conduct. Growing in faith takes time and discipline. It refuses to "walk in the counsel of the wicked; stand in the way of sinners; or sit in the seat of mockers, but delights in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night" (Ps.1:1-2). That kind of discipline results in "fruit." "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season" (Ps.1:3) That's the kind of "fruit" authentic Christianity produces. It comes through reading His Word and prayer, through Bible study, denying self, and daily surrendering to His will. But the results are worth it in the light of eternity!
"much of the church is caught up on the success mania of American society. Often more concerned with budgets and building programs than with the Body of Christ. The Church places more emphasis on growth than on repentance. Repentance is a rare message in today's Church because it requires confrontation with an uncomfortable subject--sin. And sin does not sell well in our feel-good culture. When sin gets personal, people get skittish. Only the conviction of personal sin, however, brings us to Christ."
Jesus warns against those who profess a faith but do not possess true faith. They can talk it but don't live it. They may call Him "Lord, Lord," claim to prophesy, cast out demons and even perform miracle (v.22) but the proof of authentic Christianity is "fruit." Twice Jesus states, "by their fruit you will recognize them" (vs.16,20). Paul describes the kind of fruit Jesus was talking about in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." If the "fruit" is not evident they are termed false prophets "that come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves" (v.15). That is what the Pharisees were doing in that day. Their "fruit" was hard, plastic, legalistic and superficial! We are often warned in the New Testament of false Christ's (Matt.24:24); false witnesses (Matthew 26:60); false apostles (2 Cor.11:13); false brothers (2 Cor. 11:36); and false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1) .
When we truly produce "the fruit of the Spirit," we are assured of doing " the will of my father" (v.21). Genuine faith is active and productive. It is real, genuine and authentic! It affects our character and our conduct. Growing in faith takes time and discipline. It refuses to "walk in the counsel of the wicked; stand in the way of sinners; or sit in the seat of mockers, but delights in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night" (Ps.1:1-2). That kind of discipline results in "fruit." "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season" (Ps.1:3) That's the kind of "fruit" authentic Christianity produces. It comes through reading His Word and prayer, through Bible study, denying self, and daily surrendering to His will. But the results are worth it in the light of eternity!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
MY EMPTY HEART
Why does my heart seem so empty
Even when life looks so good?
Why does the mist in my spirit
Garner control of my mood?
Is it perchance I am searching
For phantoms just out of my reach
For something to fill up a longing
That no one in this life can breach?
The pot at the end of my rainbow
Seems always to vanish away
Each time that I reach for a nugget
I find nothing coming my way.
Then a small voice seems to whisper
Like the sound of a morning dove
"Nothing compares with the offer
Of God's indescribable love."
So next time my heart starts to hunger
For something to fill up that space,
I'll always remember His offer
To give me His fullness and grace.
--B. Pent
Even when life looks so good?
Why does the mist in my spirit
Garner control of my mood?
Is it perchance I am searching
For phantoms just out of my reach
For something to fill up a longing
That no one in this life can breach?
The pot at the end of my rainbow
Seems always to vanish away
Each time that I reach for a nugget
I find nothing coming my way.
Then a small voice seems to whisper
Like the sound of a morning dove
"Nothing compares with the offer
Of God's indescribable love."
So next time my heart starts to hunger
For something to fill up that space,
I'll always remember His offer
To give me His fullness and grace.
--B. Pent
Saturday, February 27, 2010
MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE
The course of life is like a race
And every man is on the team
Its valleys or its moutaintops
Are strewn with obstacles between.
Decisions come in various ways
And are the signs that mark the path
But only those who rightly choose
Can see the value of their task.
Some find the race too burdensome
While others seek escape from pain
But only those who follow strong
Will not have run their race in vain.
There is a road each man must take
And only two around each bend
There's one that leads to heaven's Shore
The other to a Christless end.
--B. Pent
And every man is on the team
Its valleys or its moutaintops
Are strewn with obstacles between.
Decisions come in various ways
And are the signs that mark the path
But only those who rightly choose
Can see the value of their task.
Some find the race too burdensome
While others seek escape from pain
But only those who follow strong
Will not have run their race in vain.
There is a road each man must take
And only two around each bend
There's one that leads to heaven's Shore
The other to a Christless end.
--B. Pent
Friday, February 26, 2010
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT - Matthew 7:13-14
Our lives are filled with decisions: what to eat or wear, where to go, what to do, whom to marry, where to live or what to buy. Many are trivial and insignificant; some are essential and life changing. But the most critical is the one marking our destiny.
The British poet, John Oxenham, put it this way:
To every man there openeth - a way, and ways, and a way
And the high soul, climbs the High Way - and the low soul gropes the Low
And in between, on the misty flats - the rest drift to and fro
But to every man there openeth - A High Way and a Low
And every man decideth - the way his soul shall go.
Jesus concludes His Sermon by pressing His audience to personally and volitionally obey His mandates. Tragically, man thinks his way is best but Proverbs 16:25 warns, "there is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death." In our text, Jesus talks about two gates, two paths and two destinies. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." This word "enter" is an aorist imperative demanding a definite and specific act. Many admire and try to emulate the principles of the Sermon on the Mount but never obey it. Many go to church, love to be with Christians and even think their good deeds will outweigh their evil deeds. But Scripture is emphatic: "salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Jesus states that the most popular gate man goes through is the "broad road ." It allows all religions, no restrictions, few requirements and no repentance or commitment. But He warns that ultimately it leads to hell and "destruction." By contrast, the "smaller gate" leads down a "narrow road." It is the way of the Cross! The Calvary road! It calls for repentance, self-denial, discipline and commitment and few enter that road. Jesus states, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). However, this road "leads to life:" to a purpose-filled life, an abundant life, a productive life with heaven thrown in as a His bonus. Sure, the wide gate and broad road is the most popular but is it worth spending eternity in hell when the offer Jesus gives transcends all other offers? I chose the later! Now the choice is up to you! Choose Jesus!
The British poet, John Oxenham, put it this way:
To every man there openeth - a way, and ways, and a way
And the high soul, climbs the High Way - and the low soul gropes the Low
And in between, on the misty flats - the rest drift to and fro
But to every man there openeth - A High Way and a Low
And every man decideth - the way his soul shall go.
Jesus concludes His Sermon by pressing His audience to personally and volitionally obey His mandates. Tragically, man thinks his way is best but Proverbs 16:25 warns, "there is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death." In our text, Jesus talks about two gates, two paths and two destinies. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." This word "enter" is an aorist imperative demanding a definite and specific act. Many admire and try to emulate the principles of the Sermon on the Mount but never obey it. Many go to church, love to be with Christians and even think their good deeds will outweigh their evil deeds. But Scripture is emphatic: "salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Jesus states that the most popular gate man goes through is the "broad road ." It allows all religions, no restrictions, few requirements and no repentance or commitment. But He warns that ultimately it leads to hell and "destruction." By contrast, the "smaller gate" leads down a "narrow road." It is the way of the Cross! The Calvary road! It calls for repentance, self-denial, discipline and commitment and few enter that road. Jesus states, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). However, this road "leads to life:" to a purpose-filled life, an abundant life, a productive life with heaven thrown in as a His bonus. Sure, the wide gate and broad road is the most popular but is it worth spending eternity in hell when the offer Jesus gives transcends all other offers? I chose the later! Now the choice is up to you! Choose Jesus!
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