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Keep doing what is right

May 22, 2012 by John Knight

From Pastor John MacArthur’s sermon, Taking the Mystery Out of Knowing God’s Will, delivered July 16, 2006:

God wills our suffering. That’s right. God wills our suffering because he knows what it does for us. Back in (1 Peter 2:20) he says, “If you do what is right and suffer for it and endure that suffering, this finds favor with God.” God is pleased when we suffer and we endure it. Chapter 4 verse 19, “Let those who suffer according to the will of God,” that’s what it says. “Let those who suffer according to the will of God,” 1 Peter 4:19, “and trust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right.”

So you’re doing what is right. You keep doing what is right. You start to suffer for doing what is right and you endure that suffering and trust in your soul to a faithful God. And you are, in a sense, following the example of Christ, who, being perfect, still suffered.

Thank you to Jan Lacher for pointing out this sermon.

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Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!

May 21, 2012 by John Knight

We interrupt our normal subject to celebrate God’s goodness to his people at Bethlehem – the overwhelming affirmation of Dr. Jason Meyer as Associate Pastor for Preaching and Vision!

In a few weeks following his installation we can officially call him Pastor Jason.  I think I’ll start now.  I love my pastors; it isn’t a title I use lightly, and hopefully always with affection.

Here the elders are praying following the announcement of the vote.

As always, our hope does not rest on any man except for the God-man Jesus Christ.  But isn’t God good to give us men who long for us to know God more clearly and passionately!

The worship in music before the meeting began was also sweet, including the music below.  God is good!

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God’s love has been poured into our hearts!

May 20, 2012 by John Knight

A word from the Apostle Paul on Jesus, suffering, and hope.

There is no need for us to pretend we are strong or that we do not suffer.  There is purpose in it all!

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

(Romans 5:1-6 ESV)

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“Right away we knew our calling. . .”

May 19, 2012 by John Knight

The Reimer family is incredible in the best sense of the word.  God gripped them and guided them into full-time ministry to families like ours.  This 3 1/2 minute video will introduce you to them and their work.

I’m hoping Tamara Reimer will get some camera time in future videos!

Thank you to Pastor Paul Martin for tweeting this video.

As I write this it is 92 degrees in Minnesota; the snow in this video looks pretty good to me!

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We must not stop speaking for the little ones

May 18, 2012 by John Knight

It has been an encouraging week with videos about marriage, a father’s joy, and a mother’s resolve all being posted in the past few days.

And then I had this stark reminder: there is a war in our culture against people with disabilities.

For some reason, my news reader on Wednesday brought up an article that is almost a year old.  The title reveals exactly what it is about: I saw my son’s bleak future and knew I had to abort him.  Note: this article is very descriptive about what happened to her, including the abortion process. Please use care.

I don’t fault the mother.  She had, it appears, literally no support to spare the life of her son.  Her sister, who is a nurse, advised her to abort. Her brother, who parents a child with CP, said it could be unbearable for everyone if he lived.  The health care professionals focused on what was ‘wrong’ with this boy.  She was entirely alone with her fears and prejudices and assumptions.

We must tell our stories, pointing people to God as the source of hope.  Of course it is hard, and God is good.  The pressures and heartache are incredible, and God will supply everything we need.

We simply must let the world know these children are infinitely valuable, all of them.  We must tell people that the little ones were created to live for eternity, even if some of them will live hard lives here.

We must.

Posted in commentary | 2 Comments »

“So take Jesus at his word.”

May 17, 2012 by John Knight

Paul Miller gave a fantastic message at the 2011 Desiring God Conference for Pastors: Helping Your People Discover the Praying Life.

He understands what it is like to love a child with a disability.

He was invited to speak because he wrote a great book on prayer, A Praying Life.

It is full of reminders and pleas like this:

Prayer is asking God to incarnate, to get dirty in your life. Yes, the eternal God scrubs floors. For sure we know he washes feet. So take Jesus at his word. Ask him. Tell him what you want. Get dirty. Write out your prayer requests; don’t mindlessly drift through life on the American narcotic of busyness. If you try to seize the day, the day will eventually break you. Seize the corner of his garment and don’t let go until he blesses you. He will reshape the day.

Paul Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World, Kindle Locations 2959-2962

We can absolutely trust him!  God even has it covered when we don’t know how to pray, or simply can’t pray, because our sorrows are too deep:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:26-28 ESV)

Posted in Quotes | 1 Comment »

Another boy with no eyes, made for God’s glory

May 16, 2012 by John Knight

I’m pretty sure most of you have already seen this video somewhere!  But I’m a sucker for boys born with no eyes and cleft palates – since I have one.  That’s a pretty rare combination.

Please pray for this young mom – she’s still very new to this life.

I’ve included a picture of Paul below when he was a baby.  Those were hard days. But they weren’t all bad, either.

Posted in News | 2 Comments »

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