William Bates on Revenge

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, December 31, 2014 at 5:30 AM

"ln imitation of God and Christ, we must abstain from all revenge of the greatest evils suffered by us: we must extinguish any inclination to revenge. Sin begins in the desire, and ends in the action. We must not take the least pleasure, that evil befalls one that has been injurious to us; for the root of it is devilish."

William Bates


Thomas Becon on Prayer

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Tuesday, December 30, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“When we ask anything of God, we may not ask it in our own name, in our own dignity and worthiness, in our own justice and righteousness, in our own good deeds and merits, in our own innocency and pureness, but in the name of Christ. What is it to ask in the name of Christ, but only to confess that for our own dignity and worthiness we are not worthy to be heard, and therefore, desiring to obtain mercy, grace, favour, and remission of our sins, we approach unto the throne of God with our faithful prayers, not in our own name, but in the name of Christ; that is to say, in Christ's dignity, worthiness, justice, righteousness, innocency, pureness, good deeds, and merits? And for his sake and for his goodness do we desire to be heard and to have our petitions granted.

This is a great comfort for them that shall pray, that, though they be imperfect, yet is Christ perfect, and his perfection is their perfection; though they be unrighteous, yet is Christ righteous, and his righteousness is their righteousness; though they be unholy, yet is Christ holy, and his holiness is their holiness; though they be void of perfect good works, yet hath Christ perfect good works, and his good works are their good works, if they leave their ungodliness, turn from their wicked ways, and study to live innocently; and therefore need they not fear for to pray, but boldly to ask all things in the name of Christ.” 

Thomas Becon

Hugh Binning on Temptation

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, December 29, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“'Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed,' James 1:14. Temptation were no temptation, if our hearts were not wicked hearts. Nay, many of us are ready to tempt temptations, to provoke the devil to temptations; we cast ourselves open to temptations. Temptations find lust within, and lust within is the mother to conceive sin, if temptation be the father. Times do not bring evils along with them, they do but discover what was hid before. All the evils and corruptions you now see among us, where were they in the day of our first love, when we were as a loving and beloved child? Have all these risen up of late? No certainly, all that you have seen and found were before, though they did not appear; before they were in the root, now you see the fruit. All the apostacy and profanity that hath been vented in these days, was all shut up within the corners of men’s hearts at the beginning. Time and temptation hath but uncovered the heart, and made the inside out, hath but opened a sluice to let out this sea of corruption. It is not bred since, but seen since.”

Hugh Binning


Matthew Mead on Sin and Godliness

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Friday, December 26, 2014 at 8:35 AM

"As it is a great proof of the baseness and filthiness of sin, that sinners seek to cover it; so it is a great proof of the excellency of godliness, that so many pretend to it."

Matthew Mead


William Wilberforce on the Depravity of Man

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, December 25, 2014 at 11:10 AM

"That the sacred name of Religion has been too often prostituted to the most detestable purposes; that furious bigots and bloody persecutors, and self-interested hypocrites of all qualities and dimensions, from the rapacious leader of an army, to the canting oracle of a congregation, have falsely called themselves Christians, are melancholy and humiliating truths, which (as none so deeply lament them) none will more readily admit, than they who best understand the nature, and are most concerned for the honor of Christianity. We are ready to acknowledge also without dispute, that the religious affections, and the doctrine of divine assistances, have almost at all times been more or less disgraced by the false pretences and extravagant conduct of wild fanatics and brain-sick enthusiasts. All this, however, is only as it happens in other instances, wherein the depravity of man perverts the bounty of God."

William Wilberforce


John Calvin on Our Reliance on God to Bear Fruit

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Wednesday, December 24, 2014 at 5:49 AM

"'I am the vine,' says He, 'ye are the branches. My Father is the husbandman. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. For without me ye can do nothing.' (John 15:1,4-5). If we cannot bear fruit of ourselves, anymore than a branch can bud after it is torn up from the ground, and deprived of moisture, we must no longer seek for any aptitude in our nature to that which is good. There is no ambiguity in this conclusion, 'Without me ye can do nothing.' He does not say that we are too weak to be sufficient for ourselves, but reducing us to nothing, excludes every idea of ability, however diminutive."

John Calvin


J.C. Philpot on Pride

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Tuesday, December 23, 2014 at 5:58 AM

“In order that we should glory in the Lord, it is absolutely necessary that we should cease to glory in SELF. By nature, we are all prone to glory in self through those cursed principles of self-esteem and self-exaltation. Nothing but the mighty power of God can put down these cursed principles. We are prone to this pride, and it is strengthened and matured in a fallen sinner's heart. “

J.C. Philpot


G.K. Chesterton on Democracy and the Origins of Man

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Monday, December 22, 2014 at 5:23 AM

“The Declaration of Independence dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal; and it is right; for if they were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequal. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man.”

G.K. Chesterton


Samuel Bolton: Five Reasons Why the Law Cannot Condemn the Believer

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Friday, December 19, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“All this the apostle puts plainly: ‘Who is he that condemneth? it is Christ that died’ (Rom. 8. 34). He sets the death of Christ against all the charges that can be brought. It is evident that the court of the law cannot condemn the believer:

(1) Because that court is itself condemned; its curses, judgments, and sentences are made invalid. As men that are condemned have a tongue but no voice, so the law in this case has still a tongue to accuse, but no power to condemn. It cannot fasten condemnation on the believer.

(2) Because he is not under it as a court. He is not under the law as a covenant of life and death. As he is in Christ, he is under the covenant of grace.

(3) Because he is not subject to its condemnation. He is under its guidance, but not under its curses, under its precepts (though not on the legal condition of ‘Do this and live’), but not under its penalties.

(4) Because Christ, in his place and stead, was condemned by it that he might be freed: ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us’ (Gal. 3. 13). It may condemn sin in us, but cannot condemn us for sin.

(5) Because he has appealed from it. We see this in the case of the publican, who was arrested, dragged into the court of justice, sentenced and condemned. But this has no force because he makes his appeal, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’ (Luke 18. 13). He flies to Christ, and, says the text, ‘He went down to his house justified’. So the court of the law (provided that your appeal is just) cannot condemn, because you have appealed to the court of mercy.”
Samuel Bolton
From: The True Bounds of Christian Freedom, pg 32)

Samuel Bolton on Sin in the Believer

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Thursday, December 18, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“We still have the presence of sin, nay, the stirrings and workings of corruptions. These make us to have many a sad heart and wet eye. Yet Christ has thus far freed us from sin; it shall not have dominion. There may be the turbulence, but not the prevalence of sin. There may be the stirrings of corruption. It was said of Carthage that Rome was more troubled with it when half destroyed than when whole. So a godly man may be more troubled with sin when it is conquered than when it reigned. Sin will still work, but it is checked in its workings. They are rather workings for life than from life. They are not such uncontrolled workings as formerly. Sin is under command. Indeed, it may get advantage, and may have a tyranny in the soul, but it will never more be sovereign. I say, it may get into the throne of the heart and play the tyrant in this or that particular act of sin, but it shall never more be as a king there. Its reign is over; you will never yield a voluntary obedience to sin. Sin is conquered, though it still has a being within you.”
Samuel Bolton
From: The True Bounds of Christian Freedom, pg 26)


Samuel Bolton on Christ's Payment for Sin

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , , | Posted On Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“It would not be righteous of God to require payment from Christ, nay, to receive the full satisfaction of Christ, and to require anything from you. This is what God has done: H e laid on him the iniquity of us all’ (Isa. 53. 6). This is what Christ has done: He paid God till God said He had enough. He was fully satisfied, fully contented: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (Matt. 3. 17 and 12. 18), that is, ‘in whom I am fully satisfied and appeased’. Hence the apostle writes: God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself… for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him’ (2 Cor. 5. 19-21). God was paying Himself out of the blood, scourgings, and sufferings of Christ; and in that, Christ made a full payment.”
Samuel Bolton
From: The True Bounds of Christian Freedom, pg 23)


Samuel Bolton on Christian Feedom

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“Then, too, it is a constant freedom; a Christian is brought into a condition of freedom, a state of freedom, as previously he was in a state of bondage. Wherever the Lord’s jubilee is proclaimed and pronounced in a man’s soul, he will never hear again of a return to bondage. He will never again come under bondage to Satan, the law, or aught else.”
Samuel Bolton
From: The True Bounds of Christian Freedom, pg 21)


Samuel Bolton on Sin and the Abuse of Christian LIberty

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Monday, December 15, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“It is evil to sin, to do any act of maliciousness, but much more so to cloak or cover it; and much more again to make Christian liberty the cloak of sin: that is most damnable. To make religion, to make the truth of God, to make Christian liberty so dearly purchased, a cloak or pretext to sin, or to take occasion to sin by it, is a fearful sin.”
Samuel Bolton
(From: The True Bounds of Christian Freedom, pg 20)


The Valley of Vision: The Grace of the Cross

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Friday, December 12, 2014 at 5:30 AM

O MY SAVIOUR,

I thank thee from the depths of my being
    for thy wondrous grace and love
  in bearing my sin in thine own body on the tree.
May thy cross be to me
  as the tree that sweetens my bitter Marahs,
  as the rod that blossoms with life and beauty,
  as the brazen serpent that calls forth
    the look of faith.
By thy cross crucify my every sin;
Use it to increase my intimacy with thyself;
Make it the ground of all my comfort,
  the liveliness of all my duties,
  the sum of all thy gospel promises,
  the comfort of all my afflictions,
  the vigour of my love, thankfulness, graces,
  the very essence of my religion;
And by it give me that rest without rest,
    the rest of ceaseless praise.

O MY LORD AND SAVIOUR,

Thou hast also appointed a cross for me
    to take up and carry,
  a cross before thou givest me a crown.
Thou hast appointed it to be my portion,
  but self-love hates it,
    carnal reason is unreconciled to it;
  without the grace of patience I cannot bear it,
    walk with it, profit by it.
O blessed cross, what mercies dost thou bring
    with thee!
Thou art only esteemed hateful by my rebel will,
  heavy because I shirk thy load.
Teach me, gracious Lord and Saviour,
  that with my cross thou sendest promised grace
    so that I may bear it patiently,
  that my cross is thy yoke which is easy,
    and thy burden which is light.



Arthur Bennett, ed., The Valley of Vision (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), p. 312. © 1975, used by permission. www.banneroftruth.org

The Valley of Vision: Love

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, December 11, 2014 at 5:30 AM

LORD JESUS,
Give me to love thee, to embrace thee,
      though I once took lust and sin in my arms.
      Thou didst love me before I loved thee,
  an enemy, a sinner, a loathsome worm.
Thou didst own me when I disclaimed myself;
Thou dost love me as a son,
  and weep over me as over Jerusalem.
Love brought thee from heaven to earth,
  from earth to the cross,
  from the cross to the grave.
Love caused thee to be
  weary, hungry, tempted,
  scorned, scourged,
  buffeted, spat upon,
  crucified, and pierced.
Love led thee to bow thy head in death.
My salvation is the point where
  perfect created love
  and the most perfect uncreated love
    meet together;
  for thou dost welcome me,
  not like Joseph and his brothers,
  loving and sorrowing, but loving and rejoicing.
This love is not intermittent, cold, changeable;
  it does not cease or abate for all my enmity.

Holiness is a spark from thy love
  kindled to a flame in my heart by thy Spirit,
  and so it ever turns to the place
    from which it comes.
Let me see thy love everywhere,
  not only in the cross,
  but in the fellowship of believers
  and in the world around me.
When I feel the warmth of the sun
  may I praise thee who art the Sun of righteousness
    with healing power.
When I feel the tender rain
  may I think of the gospel showers
    that water my soul.
When I walk by the river side
  may I praise thee for that stream that makes
    the eternal city glad, and washes white my robes
    that I may have the right to the tree of life.
Thy infinite love is a mystery of mysteries,
  and my eternal rest lies
  in the eternal enjoyment of it.

From The Valley of Vision; Puritan Prayers and Devotions




Arthur Bennett, ed., The Valley of Vision (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), p. 290. © 1975, used by permission. www.banneroftruth.org

The Valley of Vision: Living By Prayer

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, December 10, 2014 at 5:30 AM

O GOD OF THE OPEN EAR,
Teach me to live by prayer
      as well as by providence,
  for myself, soul, body, children, family, church;
Give me a heart frameable to thy will;
  so might I live in prayer,
  and honour thee,
  being kept from evil, known and unknown.
Help me to see the sin that accompanies all I do,
  and the good I can distil from everything.
Let me know that the work of prayer is to bring
    my will to thine,
  and that without this it is folly to pray;
When I try to bring thy will to mine it is
    to command Christ,
  to be above him, and wiser than he:
    this is my sin and pride.
I can only succeed when I pray
  according to thy precept and promise,
  and to be done with as it pleases thee,
  according to thy sovereign will.
When thou commandest me to pray
    for pardon, peace, brokenness,
  it is because thou wilt give me the thing promised,
    for thy glory,
    as well as for my good.
Help me not only to desire small things
  but with holy boldness to desire great things
    for thy people, for myself,
    that they and I might live to show thy glory.
Teach me
  that it is wisdom for me to pray for all I have,
    out of love, willingly, not of necessity;
  that I may come to thee at any time,
    to lay open my needs acceptably to thee;
  that my great sin lies in my not keeping
    the savour of thy ways;
  that the remembrance of this truth is one way
    to the sense of thy presence;
  that there is no wrath like the wrath of being
    governed by my own lusts for my own ends.




Arthur Bennett, ed., The Valley of Vision (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), p. 266. © 1975, used by permission. www.banneroftruth.org

The Valley of Vision: Weakness

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Tuesday, December 9, 2014 at 5:30 AM

O Spirit of God,
Help my infirmities;
When I am pressed down with a load of sorrow,
perplexed and knowing not what to do,
slandered and persecuted,
made to feel the weight of the cross,
help me, I pray thee.

If thou seest in me any wrong thing encouraged,
any evil desire cherished,
any delight that is not thy delight,
any habit that grieves thee,
any nest of sin in my heart,
then grant me the kiss of thy forgiveness,
and teach my feet to walk the way of thy commandments.

Deliver me from carking care,
and make me a happy, holy person;
help me to walk the separated life with firm and brave step,
and to wrestle successfully against weakness;
teach me to laud, adore, and magnify thee,
with the music of heaven,
and make me a perfume of praiseful gratitude to thee.

I do not crouch at thy feet as a slave before a tyrant,
but exult before thee as a son with a father.
Give me power to live as thy child in all my actions,
and to exercise sonship by conquering self.

Preserve me from the intoxication that come of prosperity;
sober me when I am glad with a joy that comes not from thee.
Lead me safely on to the eternal kingdom,
not asking whether the road be rough or smooth.

I request only to see the face of him I love,
to be content with bread to eat,
with raiment to put on,
if I can be brought to thy house in peace.




Arthur Bennett, ed., The Valley of Vision (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), p. 188. © 1975, used by permission. www.banneroftruth.org

The Valley of Vision: Freedom

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, December 8, 2014 at 5:30 AM

O Holy Father, thou hast freely given thy Son,
O Divine Son, thou hast freely paid my debt,
O Eternal Spirit, thou hast freely bid me come,
O Triune God, thou dost freely grace me with salvation.

Prayers and tears could not suffice to pardon
my sins,
nor anything less than atoning blood,
but my believing is my receiving,
for a thankful acceptance is no paying of the debt.
What didst thou see in me?
that I a poor, diseased, despised sinner
should be clothed in thy bright glory?
that a creeping worm
should be advanced to this high state?
that one lately groaning, weeping, dying,
should be as full of joy as my heart can hold?
that a being of dust and darkness
should be taken like Mordecai from captivity,
and set next to the king?
should be lifted like Daniel from a den
and be made ruler of princes and provinces?
Who can fathom immeasurable love?
As far as the rational soul exceeds the senses,
so does the spirit exceed the rational in its
knowledge of thee.
Thou hast given me understanding to compass
the earth,
measure the sun, moon, stars, universe,
but above all to know thee, the only true God.
I marvel that the finite can know the Infinite,
here a little, afterwards in full-orbed truth;
Now I know but a small portion of what
I shall know,
here in part, there in perfection,
here a glimpse, there a glory.
To enjoy thee is life eternal,
and to enjoy is to know.
Keep me in the freedom of experiencing
thy salvation continually.





Arthur Bennett, ed., The Valley of Vision (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), p. 100. © 1975, used by permission. www.banneroftruth.org

Augustus Strong on God and The Atonement

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Friday, December 5, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“God requires satisfaction because He is holiness, but He makes satisfaction because He is love.”

Augustus Strong


George Downame on Dealing with Evil

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 5:24 AM

“The Christian soldier must avoid two evils – he must not faint or yield in the time of fight, and after a victory he must not wax insolent and secure.  When he has overcome, he is so to behave himself as though he were presently again to be assaulted. For Satan’s temptations, like the waves of the sea, do follow one in the neck of the other;  and when one is past another is ready to overwhelm us, if, like skillful pilots, we be not ready to break the violence of that which follows, as well as of that which went before.”

George Downame


Abraham Wright on Hating Sin

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“None can hate it [sin] but that love the law of God; for all hatred comes from love. A natural man may be angry with his sin, but hate it he cannot; nay, he may leave it, but not loathe it; if he did, he would loathe all sin as well as any one sin.”
Abraham Wright

(1611-1690)

Herman Bavinck on the Earth

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at 5:28 AM

“In an astronomical sense the earth may be small and insignificant; in mass and weight it may be surpassed by thousands of planets and suns and stars; but in a religious sense the earth remains the center of the universe. It and it alone has been chosen as a dwelling place for man. It is the arena in which the great struggle against every evil power is conducted. It is the place for the establishment of the kingdom of heaven.”

Herman Bavinck


Christopher Love on Grace

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, December 1, 2014 at 5:15 AM

"Grace is the understanding that God is a better savior than you are a sinner."

Christopher Love


Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Natural Man

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Friday, November 28, 2014 at 5:30 AM

"There is nothing the natural man hates more than to be told that he is a sinner, and that his nature is twisted and perverted."

Martyn Lloyd-Jones


J.C. Philpot on Desiring Christ

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Thursday, November 27, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“There can be no earnest desire to know Christ, nor any holy panting after a spiritual revelation of Him—while the heart is pursuing worldly objects. But he who is spiritually taught is at times panting with holy longing and intense desires to know Jesus—that He would come down in His heavenly power, in all His sweetness and suitability—and take up His abode in his soul, conforming it to His own image and likeness.”

J.C. Philpot


Francis Schaeffer on Education

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, November 26, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“Today we have a weakness in our education process in failing to understand the natural associations between the disciplines.  We tend to study all our disciplines in unrelated parallel lines.  This tends to be true in both Christian and secular education.  This is one of the reasons why evangelical Christians have been taken by surprise at the tremendous shift that has come in our generation.”

Francis Schaeffer


Abraham Kuyper on Care for Others

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Tuesday, November 25, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“Where our Father in heaven wills with divine generosity that an abundance of food grows from the ground, we are without excuse if, through our fault, this rich bounty is divided so unequally that one is surfeited with bread while another goes with an empty stomach to his pallet, and sometimes must even go without a pallet.”

Abraham Kuyper


Herman Bavinck on the Scriptures

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, November 24, 2014 at 5:14 AM

“In the Scriptures God daily comes to his people, not from afar but nearby. In it he reveals himself, from day to day, to believers in the fullness of his truth and grace. Through it he works his miracles of compassion and faithfulness. Scripture is the ongoing rapport between heaven and earth, between Christ and his church, between God and his children. It does not just tie us to the past; it binds us to the living Lord in the heavens. It is the living voice of God.”
Herman Bavinck


G.K. Chesterton on Dogmatists

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, November 21, 2014 at 5:31 AM

“There are two kinds of people in the world, the conscious dogmatists and the unconscious dogmatists. I have always found myself that the unconscious dogmatists were by far the most dogmatic.”

G.K. Chesterton


J. Gresham Machen on False Ideas

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 5:31 AM

“False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which, by the resistless force of logic, prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. Under such circumstances, what God desires us to do is to destroy the obstacle at its root.”

J. Gresham Machen


J.C. Philpot on Practical Atheists

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at 5:28 AM

“We profess to believe in an All-mighty, All-present, All-seeing God. But we would be highly offended if a person said to us, "You to know that God can do everything. And yet we are always cutting out schemes, and carving out contrivances, as though He were like the gods of the heathen, looking on and taking no notice. We profess to believe that God is everywhere present to relieve every difficulty and bring His people out of every trial. And yet when we get into the difficulty and into the trial—we speak, think, and act, as though there were no such omnipresent God, who knows the circumstances of our case, and can stretch forth His hand to bring us out of it.”

J.C. Philpot


Martyn Lloyd-Jones on The Spirit and Theology

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 5:50 AM

“To ‘mind the things of the Spirit’ does not mean an interest even in theology as an end in itself, for a man can be interested in theology and Christian doctrine and yet not `mind the things of the Spirit.' A man can take up theology as a subject. Many have done so, and have made a career of it. They have enjoyed it, have been expert in it; but it may have nothing at all to do with `the things of the Spirit'; indeed, again, it may be extremely hostile to them. In other words, it is possible for a man with his natural mind to grasp a theological system in an intellectual way only. That may be of no spiritual value to him at all; it can even be the cause of his damnation. A man can approach Christianity as an intellectual system, as a philosophy; and if he has a certain type of mind he can be greatly interested in it. I have known men of whom that is true. Theology was their hobby, the subject they enjoyed reading. As other men have their various hobbies and pursuits, this happened to be theirs; and it can be one of the most fascinating intellectual pursuits that a man can take up. But a man can be interested and immersed in it, and spend his life at it, and yet remain spiritually dead. Now, of course, as I am about to show, the man who `minds the things of the Spirit' in the right way is obviously interested in theology and doctrine and in religion. All I am saying at the moment is that a mere interest in religious pursuits does not establish the fact that we are `minding' the things of the Spirit.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones

(from: Exposition of Chapter 8:5-17 The Sons of God  Chapter Two)


George Whitefield on Preaching in the Church

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Monday, November 17, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“Mere heathen morality, and not Jesus Christ, is preached in most of our churches.”

George Whitefield


William Law on the Christianity

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, November 14, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“Christianity does not consist in any partial amendment of our lives, any particular moral virtues, but in an entire change of our natural temper, a life wholly devoted to God.”

William Law


Thomas Watson on Death

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, November 13, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“Death begins a wicked man's hell, but it puts an end to a godly man’s hell.”

Thoms Watson


John Abbott on Raising Children

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at 5:27 AM

“Cultivate in your children a taste for pure and noble pleasures—instead of a love of worldly gaiety. Pure and noble pleasures last. They wear well. They leave no sting behind. The pleasures of worldliness and gaiety do not wear well. They exhaust the powers of body and mind, and all the capacities of enjoyment, prematurely—and leave a sting behind. That is the reason why the Word of God condemns them—and why Christians abstain from them.”

John Abbott


A.W. Pink on Reading the Bible

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Tuesday, November 11, 2014 at 5:19 AM

“The Bible is a book which calls not so much for the exertion of our intellect as it does for the exercise of our affections, conscience and will. God has given it to us not for our entertainment but for our education, to make known what He requires from us. It is to be the traveler’s guide as he journeys through the maze of this world, the mariner’s chart as he sails the sea of life. Therefore, whenever we open the Bible, the all-important consideration for each of us to keep before him is, What is there here for me today? What bearing does the passage now before me have upon my present case and circumstances—what warning, what encouragement, what information? What instruction is there to direct me in the management of my business, to guide me in the ordering of my domestic and social affairs, to promote a closer walking with God?”

A.W. Pink


G.K. Chesterton on Government

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, November 10, 2014 at 5:19 AM

“All government is an ugly necessity.”

G.K Chesterton


J.R. Miller on Everyday Tasks

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Friday, November 7, 2014 at 5:14 AM

“There is no other way in which one's life will so surely and so quickly become transfigured — as in the faithful, happy, cheerful doing of everyday tasks. We need to remember that this world is not so much a place for doing things — as for making character. Household life is not primarily a sphere for good cooking, tidy keeping of things, thorough sweeping and dusting, careful nursing and training of children, hospitable entertainment of friends, and the thousand things that must be done each day. Home is a sphere for transforming souls into radiant beauty. But we must take heed always that we do our tasks, whatever they are, with love. Doing any kind of work unwillingly, fretfully, with complaint and murmuring, hurts the life.”

J.R. Miller


J.R. Miller on Living the Christian Lifle

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, November 6, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“We have only successfully acquired the art of living a Christian life—when we have learned to apply the principles of true religion, and enjoy its help and comfort in our daily life.”

J.R. Miller


J.R. Miller on Criticism

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 5:24 AM

“The world is not always friendly to us. It is not disposed always to pat us on the back, or to pet and praise us. One of the first things a young man learns, when he pushes out from his own home, where everybody dotes on him—is that he must submit to criticism and opposition. Not all he does receives commendation. But this very condition is healthful. Our growth is much more wholesome in such an atmosphere, than where we have only adulation and praise.”
J.R. Miller
(Getting Help From Criticism)


J.R. Miller on the Christian Wife

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Tuesday, November 4, 2014 at 5:14 AM

“But it should be understood, that for every wife the first duty is the making and keeping of her own home! Her first and best work should be done there—and until it is well done—she has no right to go outside to take up other duties. She is to be a "worker at home!" She must look upon her home as the one spot on earth, for which she alone is responsible, and which she must cultivate well for God—even if she never does anything outside. For her the Father's business is not attending benevolent societies, and missionary meetings, and mothers' meetings, and bible conventions, or even teaching a Sunday-school class—until she has made her own home all that her wisest thought and best skill can make it!”
J.R. Miller
(The Christian Wife)


J.R. Miller on True Religion

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, November 3, 2014 at 5:19 AM

“True religion is intensely practical. Only so far as it dominates one's life—is it real. We must get the commandments out of God's Word—and give them a place in the hard, dusty paths of our earthly toil and struggle. We must get them off the tables of stone—and have them written on the walls of our own hearts! We must bring the Golden Rule—into our daily, actual life. 

We are too apt to imagine, that holiness consists in mere good feeling toward God. It does not! It consists in obedience in heart and life to the divine requirements. To be holy is, first, to be set apart for God and devoted to God's service, and it necessarily follows that we must live for God. 

Our hands are God's—and can fitly be used only in doing His work; our feet are God's—and may be employed only in walking in His ways and running His errands; our lips are God's—and should speak words only that honor Him and bless others; our hearts are God's—and must not be profaned by thoughts and affections that are not pure.

True holiness is no vague sentiment—it is intensely practical. It is nothing less than the bringing of every thought and feeling and act—into obedience to Christ! We are quite in danger of leaving out the element of obedience, in our conception of Christian living. If we do this, our religion loses its strength and grandeur—and becomes weak, nerveless and forceless. 

Our religion must touch every part of our life—and transform it all into the beauty of holiness.”

J.R. Miller


Greg Bahnsen on Reasoning

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, October 31, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“To reason with the non-Christian in a fashion purporting to be independent of God or independent of reliance upon revelation is to honor the unregenerate's notions of "evidence" and "verification" as legitimate and correct. However, for the Christian, it is Scripture that governs every aspect of his life, even his concept of "evidence" and the way he reasons with skeptics.”

Greg Bahnsen


Greg Bahnsen on Defending God's Word

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“We must not defend our message (that Christ's Word is self-attesting and possessing ultimate authority from the Lord) with a method that works counter to it- by claiming an ultimate epistemological standard outside of Christ's Word of truth.”

Greg Bahnsen


Greg Bahnsen on God's Sovereignty

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 at 5:20 AM

“God either rules as sovereign in interpretation over all areas of life or none.”
Greg Bahnsen


Greg Bahnsen on Faith

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at 5:30 AM

“Without faith, there is no proper understanding by which a man can judge. As Augustine well said, 'I believe in order to understand'.”

Greg Bahnsen


Greg Bahnsen on Christianity

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, October 27, 2014 at 5:16 AM

“We must not be satisfied to present Christianity as the most reliable position to hold among the competing options available. Rather, the Christian faith is the only reasonable outlook available to men.”
Greg Bahnsen


A.W. Pink on Evangelism

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, October 24, 2014 at 5:31 AM

"Most of the so-called evangelism of our day is a grief to genuine Christians, for they feel that it lacks any scriptural warrant, that it is dishonoring unto God, and that it is filling the churches with empty professors. They are shocked that so much frothy superficiality, fleshly excitement and worldly allurement should be associated with the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They deplore the cheapening of the Gospel, the beguiling of unwary souls, and the carnalizing and commercializing of what is to them ineffably sacred. It requires little spiritual discernment to perceive that the evangelistic activities of Christendom during the last century have steadily deteriorated from bad to worse "
A.W. Pink

Isaac Watts on Creation and Providence

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Thursday, October 23, 2014 at 5:20 AM

I SING the almighty power of God, 
That made the mountains rise, 
That spread the flowing seas abroad, 
And built the lofty skies. 

I sing the wisdom that ordained 
The sun to rule the day; 
The moon shines full at His command 
And all the stars obey. 

I sing the goodness of the Lord 
That filled the earth with food; 
He formed the creatures with His word. 
And then pronounced them good.

There's not a plant or flower below
But makes His glories known.; 
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, 
By order from His throne.

Creatures, as numerous as they be,
Are subject to His care; 
There's not a place where we can flee 
But God is present there.

His hand is my perpetual guard,
 He keeps me with His eye; 
Why should I then forget the Lord, 
 Who is for ever nigh? 


Isaac Watts
(Divine Songs for Children - Song 2)


J.R. Miller on The Christian Life

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, October 22, 2014 at 5:26 AM

“Religion and common life are not two different and distinct things. We may not cut our existence in two parts, and say, "Over this Christ shall rule — but over that He shall have no control." 

True religion knows no difference between Sunday and Monday, so far as the ethics of life are concerned.  Each day brings its own specific duties; but there are not moral precepts for the one day which are suspended when its sun sets, that for six days a mitigated or less holy law may prevail.  Holiness is to be the Christian's dress all the week through, in every hour's conduct. All pleasures and amusements must be tested by the unvarying rule of right.  The standard of perfect purity cannot be lowered.”

J.R. Miller