Baby, You're A Rich Man

As my writer's wall or blogger's block continues unabated I'm forced to fish in my archive pool or share posts from other blogging friends.

I subscribe to The Blazing Centre so I get Stephen & Mark Altrogge's posts in my e-mail box each time they write a new one. They are always excellent and throught-provoking by the wayes.

Here's Mark's latest offering:

"Baby, You're a Rich Man." So goes one of my favorite Beatle songs.

I don’t know how it feels to be one of the beautiful people (first line in the song), but I’m a rich man. Not monetarily, but spiritually. And if you’re a child of God, you’re rich too.

If there’s one thing the health and wealth guys have right, it’s that God is rich. And he’s generous. Combine the fuel of God’s wealth with the fire of his generosity and you’ve got an explosion of blessing for us who realize we have nothing to offer the galaxy-Maker, but that he has the storehouses of heaven to shower on us.

"To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." (Eph 3.8)

The whole universe can’t hold the wealth of Christ, for his riches are “unsearchable” - immeasurable, unimaginable, unfathomable. If the whole universe were bursting with treasure, jewels, crowns and coins, we could eventually search them all out, given enough time. But for all eternity we’ll keep discovering new troves of treasures in Christ, for they are “unsearchable.” After 10,000 years, we won’t even have made a dent exploring the vastness of God’s glory in Jesus.

And because believers are joined to Christ, all that is Christ’s is ours!

So what do you need today? Do you need mercy? Ask for it and don’t expect a mere trickle - Jesus has a tsunami of mercy for you. Need comfort? Faith? Wisdom? Strength? Jesus has unlimited supplies. God’s not like the shopping network. He never runs out, never has to back order. There are no hidden shipping charges - his riches are all free! The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness.

Take heart today. Jesus is a vast storehouse of joy, mercy, and help for you.

As John Bunyan said, "God has bags and bags of grace stored up for you."

Baby, you’re a rich man.

Hi, I'm Cliff...Drop Over Sometime

Nothing like a good book and a cup of coffee! Here my friend Cliff sits on the edge of a cliff on a recent camping trip enjoying some quiet time.

Camping? We like to do our "camping" in a five star hotel not in the bush but others, like Cliff, venture out with the bears and wolves.

Thanks for your friendship, Cliff. As soon as the snow flies we'll see you in our driveway with your trusted snowblower.

Until then, stay strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

The Dirty "D" - Depression

Have you ever watched a TV interview where the guest mirrored your sentiments so exactly that it was uncanny? That happened last night as I watched an interview on Night Lite Live, a production of 100 Huntley Street.

Scott Forbes (pictured with a young boy from Zambia) was being interview by Paul Willoughby and I couldn't turn it off. Check out a similar interview here that Jim Cantelon conducted with Scott Forbes.

Hopefully this will help many people to understand depression. It helped me!

On Being Falsely Accused

As I've been afflicted with writer's block for an extended period of time I've gone fishing in the Pilgrim Scribblings' archive pool and felt that the following post was worth repeating. I trust that it will be a blessing to you.

Here it is:

Several years ago I was falsely accused and when my accuser was asked to name the crime, he wouldn't be specific. Naturally I was surprised, shocked, stunned, saddened and sickened by the incident. For the next few weeks I went over the details of that conversation in my mind time and time again.

Shorty after that accusation was made I picked up an excellent book by Lloyd Ogilvie, Chaplain to the U. S. Senate, entitled "Facing the Future Without Fear". Ogilvie lists a dozen prescriptions for overcoming fear.

Prescription # 7 was meant just for me. "You are secure in God's love. Do not surrender your self-worth to the opinions and judgments of others. When you are rejected, do not retaliate; when you are hurt, allow God to heal you. And knowing the pain or rejection, seek to love those who suffer from its anguish". The writer goes on to say, "Unjust criticism or hostile rejection nearly always says more about the one doing the rejecting than about those who are rejected. In the light of God, we can see the real power at work behind people's hostile words and actions. The King of our lives knows! If we are to blame, it cannot be hidden from Him. And when we are unjustly criticized or condemned, He understands. If the hurt has been caused by distorted attitudes in those who have rejected us, Christ gives us the strength to forgive them."

Perhaps you, too, have been attacked, criticized or falsely accused recently. Your immediate reaction may have been to get even with the accuser. Why not let God deal with it. Rest in the knowledge that God knows your heart. He will vindicate you.

For we know Him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay." (Hebrews 10:30) He will give His peace in the midst of the storm. "For He Himself is our peace." (Ephesians 2:14)

Communications Centre

Now that I have renovated the Pilgrim Scribblings communications headquarters you should be reading our posts more consistently.

It took awhile to complete the data centre but we are finally up and running.

You'll be hearing from me soon!

Our Omnipresent God

One of the many reasons why I enjoy the old hymns is their rich, theological content. Here's another example:

Omnipresence by Isaac Watts:

In all my vast concerns with Thee,
In vain my soul would try
To shun Thy presence, Lord, or flee
The notice of Thine eye.

Thy all-surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest;
My public walks, my private ways,
And secrets of my breast.

My thoughts lie open to the Lord,
Before they’re form’d within;
And ere my lips pronounce the word
He knows the sense! mean.

Oh wondrous knowledge, deep, and high;
Where can a creature hide?
Within Thy circling arms I lie,
Beset on every side.

So let Thy grace surround me still,
And like a bulwark prove,
To guard my soul from every ill,
Secured by sovereign love.

Lord, where shall guilty souls retire,
Forgotten and unknown?
In hell they meet Thy dreadful fire,
In heaven Thy glorious throne.

Should I suppress my vital breath
To ‘scape Thy wrath divine;
Thy voice would break the bars of death,
And make the grave resign.

If wing’d with beams of morning light,
I fly beyond the west;
Thy hand, which must support my flight,
Would soon betray my rest.

If o’er my sins I think to draw
The curtains of the night;
Those flaming eyes that guard Thy law
Would turn the shades to light.

The beams of noon, the midnight hour,
Are both alike to Thee:
Oh, may I ne’er provoke that power
From which I cannot flee!