The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers

I was blessed to receive a copy of The Valley of Vision this morning by a brother in my Care Group from church. It is a collection of Puritan prayers and is both encouraging and admonishing at the same time. Below, is the very first passage I read after receiving the book. Read and be refreshed.

The Gospel Way

Blessed Lord Jesus,
No  human mind could conceive or invent the gospel.

Acting in eternal grace, thou art both its messenger and its message, lived out on earth through infinite compassion, applying thy life to insult, injury, death, that I might be redeemed, ransomed, freed.

Blessed be thou, O Father for contriving this way.
Eternal thanks to thee, O Lamb of God, for opening this way.
Praise everlasting to thee, O Holy Spirit, for applying this way to my heart.

Glorious Trinity, impress the gospel on my soul, until its virtue diffuses every faculty; Let it be heard, acknowledged, professed, felt.


Teach me to secure this mighty blessing; Help me to vie up every darling lust, to submit heart and life to its command, to have it in my will, controlling my affections, moulding my understanding; to adhere strictly to the rules of true religion, not departing from them in any instance, nor for any advantage in order to escape evil, inconvenience or danger.

Take me to the cross to seek glory from its infamy; Strip me of every pleasing pretence of righteousness by my own doings.

O gracious Redeemer, I have neglected thee too long, often crucified thee, crucified thee afresh by my impenitence, put the to open shame.

I thank thee for the patience that has borne with me so long and for the grace that now makes mw willing to be thine.

O unite me to thyself with inseparable bonds, that nothing may ever draw me back from thee, my Lord, my Saviour.

3 Reasons Why It's Okay To Be Narrow-Minded

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary the word 'narrow-minded' is defined as, not willing to accept opinions, beliefs, or behaviors that are unusual or different from your own. 

Culture has assimilated our thinking to believe that narrow-mindedness is bad. Perhaps when it comes to every single opinion, or every single subject, or every single dogma it is unacceptable. But when it comes to the area of religion, and especially soteriology (salvation), narrow-mindedness is not a bad thing. In fact, I argue three areas in which narrow-mindedness is good.

Narrow-mindedness defines the gospel

The gospel is exclusive. Jesus is the only way a person can have a relationship with God. By its definition that makes the gospel narrow-minded. Jesus Himself admonishes His hearers that the way to God is narrow

(Mt 7:13-14)  “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Jesus' narrowness did not stop there. In John 14:6, conversing with His disciples, He stated, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me. 

Jesus left no room for any other way to have a relationship with God. He is it! He is the sole and only gate to the Father. His way is narrow and only those with a narrow mind to believe this will enter.

 Narrow-mindedness is logical

If Jesus is the only way to God then it is logical to say that no other religion can claim something different and be true at the same time Jesus' statement is true. It is the law of non contradiction. In other words, all religions CANNOT co-exist. We've all seen the bumper sticker. You know? The one in the picture below.

Containing all the symbols of the world's major religions, it is a statement that everyone should put aside their religious beliefs and live in harmony. However, it has become more about all religions being valid and no other religion is better than any other.

Religiously speaking this is a logical impossibility. Can peoples of different religions live together without blowing each other off the face of the planet? Absolutely! But different religions cannot all be true, for that would be a contradiction. If one is true then by logic the other cannot be. If Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh and the only way to have a relationship with the Father then His statement is either completely true or completely false. The claims of truth made must be able to be validated, and if they are it leaves no room for any other "truth" because nothing else will be true except the said, validated truth.

Narrow-mindedness is not a bad thing

Given that being narrow-minded in the area of absolute truth is essential then we must conclude that not all narrow-mindedness is bad. Everyone is narrow-minded in one way or another. Even those who are opposed to narrow-mindedness are narrow-minded of their narrow-minded peers, if you think about the definition given above. If you are not willing to accept my narrow-mindedness because it differs from your opinion, you are narrow-minded.

But standing for truth cannot be qualified as narrow-mindedness. Why? Because there is only one truth. And if that truth is absolute then there is no other truth. And if there is no other truth then it is not narrow-minded to claim that there is only one truth.

After all, either Jesus is who He claimed to be or He is not. He cannot be both God and not God at the same time (John 1:1, 8:58). He cannot be Savior and not Savior at the same time (Matt 1:21). He cannot atone for sins and not atone for sins at the same time (Heb 9:12). He cannot claim exclusivity and not claim exclusivity at the same time (John 14:6). Either He is, or He isn't (Heb 1:3). And that is the absolute truth!

Soli Deo Gloria
Steven

Phrasing the Scriptures

Phrasing, also called Block Diagramming, has become an integral part of my Bible study. Along with Arcing,  I find it very useful in order to find the flow of thought in the text. Below is Biblearc's video on their Phrasing module.


BibleArc's Phrasing Module from Bethlehem College & Seminary on Vimeo.

I hope that when you watched it you became as excited as I did when I watched it for the first time. I have been a fan of Phrasing for sometime, and until Biblearc got the Phrasing module up and running, had been content to Phrase on my own using a word processor.

Biblearc's module makes it super easy to to split the passage into phrases, indent them, and subordinate them with arrows showing which phrases are subordinate to the main anchor phrase. Back in November I took a Phrasing class offered by Biblearc. Below is a screenshot from one of the homework assignments.

Homework Assignment from Titus

We phrased our way through the entire book of Titus. But don't let that fool you; this small book was challenging and a bit difficult, at first. With all the arrows and labels it looks a bit confusing, but it really is a very helpful discipline to learn. Once you make it a regular practice you will find yourself able to be more proficient. Practice makes perfect and Phrasing & Arcing are no exceptions.

I can't recommend Phrasing and Arcing enough! I get excited about using these tools to discover the Truths of God's Word for myself. I hope you'll jump on over to Biblearc and begin learning these study methods. Once you do, I promise you will not be sorry.


Soli Deo Gloria,
Steven