I marvel at the timing of God in the concurrence of Conciliation Anniversary Sunday and this stream of articles from William Gurnall. This today:

Now if the Gospel will not allow us to pay our enemies back in their own coin, returning anger for anger, then certainly it forbids a brother to spit fire into the face of another brother. When such embers of contention begin to smoke among Christians, we can be sure Satan planted the spark; he is the one great kindle-coal of all strife.

Fellow fire-spitters, let us be given to Colossians 3:12-17 graces through the power of the Gospel unleashed in our lives.

This from my journal of 9.9.05:

We saw my oncologist yesterday. His summary? “You’ve been to hell and back.” Now he’s looking for me to rebound because there is no more treatment to do – at least until we get the PET scan results in November/December. It should get better every day.

It did get better, but ever so slowly.

For those who wait, remember Isaiah 40:31 –

But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

As Conciliation Anniversary Sunday approaches at OGC, here is a trio of statements from William Gurnall that speaks to the matter of biblical peacemaking:

The less progress the Gospel has made in our hearts to mortify lust and strengthen grace, the weaker the peace and love among us.

As grace strengthens, and the gospel prevails in the hearts of Christians, love and a spirit of unity increase with it.

This pair of graces thrive and grow together; a Christian who has abundant faith will also have abundant love.

Oh for saints strong in Gospel graces that peace and love might abound among us!

Brett Bradley beat me to it. Way to go, man.

He posted a portion of an interview with Pastor Matt Chandler about what stirs his affections for Christ and what dulls them.

His comment about college football hit a bit too close to home, but needs to be said to silly blokes like me.

Check it out here.

Al Mohler has a new book out on the Ten Commandments.

You can check it out at his blog.

According to Global Prayer Digest:

This from Obadiah Sedgwick (1600-1658):

Joseph Stowell wrote an excellent article for the Summer edition of Heartcry! journal entitled Why Tell the Truth?

In it he asks how can we fortify ourselves against the temptation to misjudge and pass along false information about others in a spirit of beguilement that reaches false conclusions about others and even shares false assumptions about them with others.

He offers five safeguards to this sin:

• A patient spirit that suspends judgment until sufficient facts are verified (Gal. 5:22).
• A love that believes the best until facts prove otherwise (1 Cor. 13:6-7).
• A faith that prays the situation into the courts of heaven, where an all-knowing God promises to judge all men righteously (1 Pet. 1:17).
• A willingness to protect others by encouraging those who are sharing false accusations to reserve judgment until sufficient facts are gathered (1 Cor. 13:4).
• A boldness to go directly (if necessary) to those involved to clarify the facts (Matt. 18:15).

He concludes: The alternative is to become spiritual jackrabbits who jump to all the wrong conclusions, leaving in our trails broken lives and relationships that we could have protected and healed.

May we be our brother’s and sister’s keepers and no spiritual jackrabbits. This is a good word from a good man for a good church for Conciliation Anniversary Sunday.

Don’t know much about the 17th century Puritans. Here is a blog that can help.

President Obama’s much debated address to school children slated for this morning can now be accessed in its entirety on line. Read it for yourself here.

Check out Dr. Albert Mohler’s balanced assessment here.