Satisfied

My friends Stephen and Brooksyne Weber posted this picture on their Daily Encouragement web site today.

What a wonderful portion of scripture! He truly provides the ultimate satisfaction for each of us. His unfailing love can be counted on in the midst of every circumstance.

May you know His peace, comfort and satisfaction today!

Our Breath is a Blessing

This picture and quote were taken from Lisa J's blog, Thoughts from the Teahouse. Something to think about.

"The very breath with which we complain is a blessing." ~ Richard Allestree from The Art of Contentment

Pilgrim Scribblings's 3rd Anniversary

1429 posts later we are celebrating the 3rd Anniversary of Pilgrim Scribblings.

There have been times when I haven't posted as regularly as I would have liked but when you average it out, there has been more than 1 post per day over these last three years.

The readership isn't as high as I would like but the discipline has been good for me even if nobody drops by to visit or read.

I trust that these scribblings have been a blessing to you and I hope to continue writing as God gives me strength.

With The Petes In Saginaw, Michigan

I'm here in Saginaw, Michigan on a road trip with the Peterborough Petes. This afternoon we had a chapel service in my room. With only three chairs in the room, we had to improvise. In other words, I had to share my bed with 9 other guys.

We had 18 players, two trainers and myself in the room as I challenged them concerning the lives they are writing each day. The handout was entitled "We're Writing Our Story Each Day Of Our Lives...Write Well."

Last night we were in Windsor and tomorrow (Sunday) we're in Sarnia. Tonight the guys snapped their losing streak with a well-deserved win over Saginaw.

Thanksgiving Blessings

The following thoughts are taken from the TURNING POINT online devotional:

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 34:1

The words "thank" and "think" hail from the same root, reminding us that thanksgiving comes from thinking about our blessings. That's what David did in Psalm 34. He scribbled out the words of this passage during a distressing time in his life. According to the superscription of Psalm 34, this was David's prayer as he fled from King Abimelech by feigning insanity. After escaping by the skin of his teeth, David declared he would "bless the Lord at all times," because, he said, "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears . . . . This poor man cried out, and the Lord . . . saved him out of all his troubles."

How many times has the Lord saved us out of all our troubles? How many times has He protected us in near-accidents? Healed us during sickness? Provided in moments of need? Given us verses to calm us, friends to help us, and blessings to enrich us?

Think of all the prayers God has answered in our lives. How many answers has He given you? A thousand? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand?

Let's think—and thank!

The person who has stopped being thankful has fallen asleep in life.
Robert Louis Stevenson

Sad Thanksgiving

Tonight I put a few lines together and called it An Atheist's Lament on Thanksgiving Day. How sad it must be to have so much and yet not believe in the God who is the giver of every good and perfect gift. Sad to say, the words of this poem could be true of many people during this Thanksgiving season.

Today I am thankful for friends and great food,
I don't have to work so I'm in a good mood;
Our family will be here and we'll watch the game
We'll be feasting on turkey, it's always the same.

And when it's all over, I've said my "goodbyes"
I'm sick to my stomach, I've got bloodshot eyes;
The bottles are empty and my mind is blank
But saddest of all...I've got no one to thank!

Note: For the believing Christian, Thanksgiving should be one of the most joyous days of the year. The Father has blessed us bountifully and we have so much to praise and thank Him for.

Bud Slams The Door

I'm so proud of my nephew Bud Fisher! He led the Quinnipiac Bobcats to a 4-0 victory over Princeton on Saturday night earning the shutout!

He had been out of action for awhile with a banged up finger but he was shutting 'em down Saturday night!

CONGRATULATIONS, Bud! We love you a lot!

SIN, Call It What It Is

Last night I began reading Jerry Bridges new book, Respectable Sins. I was reminded again that we tend to categorize sin and use synonyms that make the word "sin" more palatable. SIN is SIN! Don't fool yourself! Call it what it is! We can't escape its reality but we can get freedom over its clutches.

I've had an idea percolating in my mind all day and I've finally put it in writing. I'm serving it up here for all to sample.

Here's that little rhyme mixed with some thyme:

Misdemeanours, mistakes, misdeeds, indiscretions,
Mix them together and add some transgressions;
Throw in some seasoning to make them more tasty,
Boil then let simmer, now don't get too hasty.
When you smell the aroma from the things you've put in
Just take off the lid, there's a pot filled with SIN.

~ David W. Fisher
November 17th, 2007

George Muller

Dear Friends:

Have you checked out our GEORGE MULLER blog recently. I try to post new items regularly. Muller had such a profound influence on my life through his books and through biographies written about his life of faith.

If you haven't checked out the site lately, please check it out here!

- David

Hazardous To Our Complacency

I've always been challenged by missionary quotations. When I was on staff at The Peoples Church in Toronto, the annual Missions Conference was the highlight of the church calendar. Each year the sanctuary of the church was adorned with quotes from famous missionary statesmen including one or more by the founder of that church, Dr. Oswald J. Smith (pictured).

The following You-Tube video clip may challenge your complacency. I did mine!

View at your own risk. Here's the link!

"Father, forgive us for finding excuses NOT to obey Your Great Commission. AMEN."

Gracious Words

The following thoughts appeared on David Jeremiah's TURNING POINT online devotional today:

"So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"
Luke 4:22

Everyone knows the value of a snack as an energy booster. Half an apple or a handful of grapes or a tangerine, all natural sources of sugar (carbohydrates), can be the fuel our internal engine needs to allow us to shift into a higher gear when we feel tired. They didn't know the science, but even the ancients knew the value of "carbs" as a source of energy: Jonathan's "countenance brightened" (1 Samuel 14:27) when he ate the honey from a honeycomb.

Did you know there is something else that can refresh a tired and weary soul as quickly as honey? Proverbs says, "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones." How many souls, even "bones," are sick and downcast because it's been so long since they heard a pleasant word? One of the reasons Jesus Christ was so loved was because of the "gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth." People couldn't believe that an ordinary person ("Joseph's son") could speak so graciously and with such a healing effect.

The next time you encounter a tired soul or sick body, speak some pleasant and gracious words. It may be just what the Doctor ordered.

"Words, those precious cups of meaning . . . ." - St. Augustine

Lest We Forget

Here in Canada we celebrated Remembrance Day today, November 11th. Today was one of the few times that this special day falls on a Sunday.

We heard from a veteran who had served in World War II at our church service this morning. We also paused for a moment's silence in memory of those who fought for our freedom. I thought it was good for us to do this during our service because there is a strong parallel between what those veterans did for us and what Jesus Christ did at Calvary to forgive our sins and buy "real" freedom and peace.

I've included a postcard showing a field of poppies taken from the new booklet I picked up the other day, THE ART OF GOD.

May we never take for granted the freedoms that others paid for at such a great price!

Stale or Fresh From the Oven

A good friend e-mailed me recently and signed off with the following quote:

"It is easier to relate a testimony that is mouldy with age because it has the dogmatic ring about it that people agree with, than to talk from your last moment of contact with Father."

Think about it! Is there a ring of truth to this statement? Am I guilty? Are you?

Diminishing the Truth

Commenting on my post on Inerrancy (actually Rebecca's post), my friend Paul sent along the following quote from James MacDonald, pastor and radio preacher on Walk in the Word:

"We are expected to obey our Master and to accept His Word without equivocation. Cavalier questioning of the explicit statements of Scripture regarding the necessity of the new birth, the priority of biblical proclamation or the binding authority and sufficiency of Scripture cannot build a stronger, more Christ-honoring church no matter how sincere the messengers. Critiquing the church is good, disregarding or diminishing the revealed truth of our Founder is not good, no matter how ‘nice’ the people are who do it." ~ James MacDonald

Stephen the Encourager

Yes, I know, it was Barnabas that was "the son of encouragement" but Stephen Weber carries on a vital ministry by way of the internet that blesses thousands each day. This is a photo of an Amish farm taken by Stephen or his wife Brooksyne. They live in the midst of Amish country in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, my favorite part of America.

Be sure to check out Daily Encouragement if you haven't already done so. You'll be blessed by this godly couple who dispense encouragement in large doses.

Inerrancy of Scripture

One of my favorite sites is Rebecca Writes. Here's one of her most recent posts. It's good...very good!

Inerrancy of Scripture...

The principle that the Bible as it was originally written is completely true and without error.

From Numbers 23:19 and Psalm 12:6 (ESV)

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. "

From The Chicago Statement on Inerrancy:

1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God’s witness to Himself.
2. Holy Scripture, being God’s own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it affirms, obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises.
3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture’s divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.
4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God’s acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God’s saving grace in individual lives.
5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible’s own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.

From John Frame in Is the Bible Inerrant? :

Other things being equal, I would prefer to drop all extra-scriptural terms including “infallible” and “inerrant” and simply speak, as Scripture does, of God’s Word being true. That’s all we mean, after all, when we say Scripture is inerrant. But modern theologians won’t let me do that. They redefine “truth” so that it refers to some big theological notion, and they will not permit me to use it as meaning “correctness” or “accuracy” or “reliability.”

…Now what is our alternative? Even “accuracy” and “reliability” have been distorted by theological pre-emption. “Correctness” seems too trivial to express what we want to say. So, although the term is overly technical and subject to some misunderstanding, I intend to keep the word “inerrant” as a description of God’s Word, and I hope that my readers will do the same. The idea, of course, is more important than the word. If I can find better language that expresses the biblical doctrine to modern hearers, I will be happy to use that and drop “inerrancy.” But at this moment, “inerrancy” has no adequate replacement. To drop the term in the present situation, then, can involve compromising the doctrine, and that we dare not do. God will not accept or tolerate negative human judgments concerning his holy Word. So I conclude: yes, the Bible is inerrant.

Learn more:

What is the Doctrine of Inerrancy? by Don Stewart at Blue Letter Bible
The Inerrancy of Scripture, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 by Tim Challies
Is the Bible Without Error? (mp3) from John Piper

The Art of God

Today I picked up a book of heavy card stock postcards entitled THE ART OF GOD...A Panoramic Postcard Book. It contains 30 beautiful postcards, 3 each of 10 designs. Another bonus was the price...on sale for only $2.99.

Over the next week or two I'll post these, adding an appropriate scripture verse.

Today's postcard is of a birch forest in Upper Michigan.

"Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy..." - Psalm 96:12 (NIV)

Note: Click on the picture for an enlarged view!

Satan's Onslaught

Here's another excellent thought-provoking challenge from A. W. Tozer:

Spiritual Warfare and Sin: Increased Hostility

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." - 1 Peter 5:8

As we move farther on and mount higher up in the Christian life we may expect to encounter greater difficulties in the way and meet increased hostility from the enemy of our souls....Satan hates the true Christian for several reasons.

One is that God loves him, and whatever is loved by God is sure to be hated by the devil. Another is that the Christian, being a child of God, bears a family resemblance to the Father and to the household of faith. Satan's ancient jealousy has not abated nor his hatred for God diminished in the slightest.

Whatever reminds him of God is without other reason the object of his malignant hate.

A third reason is that a true Christian is a former slave who has escaped from the galley, and Satan cannot forgive him for this affront.

A fourth reason is that a praying Christian is a constant threat to the stability of Satan's government.

The Christian is a holy rebel loose in the world with access to the throne of God. Satan never knows from what direction the danger will come.

taken from That Incredible Christian, 71

"Lord, it's not hard to see why Satan attacks. May I continue to be enough of a threat to him to merit his attention! Don't ever let me become so anemic in my Christian walk that he doesn't need to bother with me. Amen."

Fisher: Big hits, bigger heart

The following story appears on the Ottawa Senators home page today:

Rob Brodie Ottawa Senators

Nov 7, 2007, 11:03 AM EST

Upon first glance, he’s perhaps the grittiest of players the Ottawa Senators send out onto the ice each night.

But the heart and soul makeup that defines Mike Fisher doesn’t begin and end with hockey. Not when you’re a guy who never forgets to count his blessings every day.

“A lot of it is my God-given abilities,” Fisher said when asked what drives him to excel on the ice. “We’re all given different things, and I think one of them is the determination I have. I don’t take my health for granted, and try to give it everything I have when I can.”

That drive turned Fisher, a “mostly offensive player” in junior hockey, into one of the Senators’ hardest hitting forwards.

“It’s a fun part of the game,” said Fisher. “I feel like if I’m playing physical, then usually I’m into the game and at my best and can make plays, too.”

Senators fans, who’ve voted him their favourite team player in ottawasenators.com polls the past two seasons, surely appreciate Fisher’s hard-nosed style.

“I guess I try to leave everything on the ice, and fans just appreciate effort and hard-working guys,” said Fisher, who’s clearly humbled by the fans’ support.

Fisher, a devout Christian, applies the same approach to life outside the rink. He’s often one of the first in line to help out someone in need.

“It’s rewarding and having a faith in God, too, for me it puts a perspective on things that are important, like trying to help others,” he said. “I feel blessed to be in the position I’m at, and I just want to help out if I can and try to give back.

“A lot of guys on the team are great that way. We’re all in a unique position, and it’s an honour to be able to help out.”

Senators Prevail Again

Mike Fisher and his Ottawa Senators did the expected again last night...they defeated their rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-1 in the ongoing Battle of Ontario.

Give the Leafs a powerplay and you can almost count on Ottawa netting a short-handed goal. It happened again last night.

Crying towels anyone?

On a more serious note, why not pick up the latest issue of Sports Spectrum magazine which features a story on Mike Fisher.

the big E

Encouragement...the big E! It's vital, it's essential! We shrivel up without it! Have you encouraged someone today? Why not reach out to a friend, a family member, someone in need today with a phone call, an e-mail a note of encouragement, a pat on the back.

"...so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hop." - Romans 15:4

Mike's Milestone

When Mike Fisher scored his first of two goals last night in the Sens 3-2 win over Boston it was his 200th NHL point.

Mike scored the winning goal in the 3rd period and was the game's 1st star.

No wonder he's smiling in this photo! His uncle was pretty happy as well.

CONGRATULATIONS, Mike!

Praying and Praising

Today's devotional from David Jeremiah's Turning Point seemed appropriate to post on Pilgrim Scribblings.

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving: The Mayflower

He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. . . . He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! - Psalm 107:29-31

Recommended Reading - Psalm 107:23-32

As the 90-ton Mayflower, captained by part-owner Christopher Jones, sailed for the New World on August 5, 1620, the 102 Pilgrims huddled in dark, low-ceilinged holds. Jones gave up his captain's quarters for the women and infants, but everyone else was crammed below deck in little hot rooms reeking with body odor. Because of rough seas, no hatches were open, and many of the passengers suffered seasickness amid violent storms that tossed the little craft like a cork.

The Pilgrims prayed and praised as best they could during the seven-week voyage. Upon landing at last, according to William Bradford, "they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all their perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth."

God deserves our thanksgiving, too. He calms our storms and guides us to the desired haven. Oh, that we would give Him thanks for His goodness and for His wonderful works!

"All along my pilgrim journey, let me, Savior, walk with Thee." - Fanny Crosby