We Aren't Needed!!! By John Piper

Ministers are not needed by God! We are chosen by God to be leaders in the His church. It's His Grace not anything we have accomplished!

"(Author: John Piper)

Some books are for tasting regularly, not reading through once. One such book is Wise Counsel: John Newton's Letters to John Ryland Jr. edited by Grant Gordon (Banner of Truth, 2009). Newton was the former slave-trader turned pastor, and the author of "Amazing Grace". The flavor of his ministry is such that frequent tastes are better than rare gulps.

I hope that he and you and I shall all so live, as to be missed a little when we are gone. But the Lord standeth not in need of sinful man. And he sometimes takes away his most faithful and honoured ministers in the midst of their usefulness, perhaps [for this reason] among others, that he may show us he can do without them. . . . Blessed is the servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing, with his loins girded up, and his lamp burning. (p. 280)"

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God is in control! He is not far away!

Lyrics Far Far Away (You feel) Far Away. (You Seem) Far Away.. So So (x2)
Hopeless!
I can spell it
I can smell it in the air
Lotta people wonder if you still care
And are you still there
Cuz I dun lost it all
I keep calling your name
But do you hear my call
And are you still involved
Or am I left alone
I wander the streets
Cuz I no longer have a home
My brothers all GONE
My sisters all GONE
My families and my friends aint gonna be here in the Mornin
Ya see me hear mourning
They say you feel my pain
They say you went through it
Say to die is to gain
But I aint gain nothing
I lost everybody
Now Im losing my mind
And my faith is all Im counting
Im still holding on
Thats why Im still pray
Feelin empty inside
I cant make it through today
I dont know what else to do
I dont know what else to say
Im talking to ya now
But I promise you feel so far


Far Far Away (You feel) Far Away. (You Seem) Far Away.. So So (X4)

Dear hope: Been waitin on ya for a while now
Been cut so deep that I aint sure if I can smile now
Look at this devastation
Look at the pain and sorrow
Somebody fed me lies and promised me a bright tomorrow
I know the God I follow
Is bigger than disaster
Big enough to handle
Any evil that harasses us
But I feel like he passed us
Pain overtook us
Buildings tumble over head
As the ground shook us
God have you forsook us
Lord you still with me
I know you save souls
I trust you to forgive me


Relief can you hear me
Hey Rest can you get me
Hey Peace can you see me
Hey love can you heal me

I dont know what to do
I aint looking for answers
I just need you to hold my hand
Through this cancer
Tell me you never left
Even in the midst of death
Breathe on me Ill do anything to feel your Breath

Far Far Away (You feel) Far Away. (You Seem) Far Away.. So So (X4)
(PSALMS 62:5-8)
5. For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6. He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7. On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
8. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.

(Far far away.) Hes not (Far Away) No hes not (Far Away) Our Gods not Even though he seems

The Atonement

Chapter Overview of Systematic Theology

The Atonement is what Jesus accomplished both in his life and death to bring about our salvation. The basic idea is that humans needed God to send a representative to set them free from sin. Do we know what caused Christ to come down to earth and die for mans sins? Yes we do! “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” John 3:16 God loved man so much that he came down to set him free. In order to is set man free he had to remain completely just at the same time. So, God in his infinite wisdom set forth a plan to give man his son as a substitute for their sins. (Rom 3:25) God requires that sin be paid for. It is our penalty. The wrath of God has been stored up from the beginning of the earth ready to be unleashed on sin. Without God punishing sin he would not remain the just God that he is.

How do we know we need Christ? We know because we have broken His holy law. The penalty for that is death and eternal separation from God and we can’t obey the law because we have inherited sin. How’d we inherit it? We received from our first parent’s disobedience to God. God gave a command to Adam in the beginning and Adam disobeyed falling away from God, and in Adam we all sinned. (Rom 5:14) Now none of us not even one can or even wants to follow God. We are by our very nature Children of Wrath. (Rom 1:18) This is why we needed Christ to save us. We had a debt that needed to be paid, either by our suffering under Gods eternal wrath or allowing that suffering to be poured out on one that is completely holy and blameless, perfect in all his ways, so we could receive mercy, grace, and love.

Was there any other way than Christ dieing on the cross to pay for sins? If there were another way would not have God taken it. Jesus said, “ If it is possible, let this cup pass from me…” Matt 26:39 If there was any other way other than dieing on a cross and taking our full punishment God would have taken that road instead of his sufferings. But we had to be bought with the Blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1:19) it took his blood to make man righteous. He had to live a perfect human life and then take upon himself the punishment of man to make him righteous. (Rom 5)

It is important for us to realize that the main work Christ did, redemption, is not our work. It has been entirely finished by Christ. Jesus died for us but we must realize its Jesus who died! He made the many righteous. (Rom 5:19) He made us alive. (Eph 2:5) He transformed us. (2^nd Cr 5:17) It is all His work and we can do nothing but be made alive by Christ.

Wayne Grudem separates the atonement into two aspects: 1) Christ’s obedience for us and 2) Christ’s sufferings for us.

The First Part shows that Christ had to live in perfect obedience under the law of God. This is our proof that he was the perfect sacrifice acceptable to God. It also communicates that we are made righteous because he was our righteousness for us. If Christ never lived a holy life he would not be able to impute his righteousness to us through faith then Phil 3:1, “ not having a righteousness of his own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ,” would not be valid for man. We wouldn’t have his righteousness attained for us through his life if he didn’t live perfect.

The second part has been covered thoroughly so far but we must know that by Christ dieing on the cross he bore the wrath of God on our behalf. (1^st John 4:10) he died for sins, (Heb 9:26) he bridged the gap between God and man, (2^nd Cr 5:18-19) and he saved us out of the kingdom of darkness. (Col 1:13)

The atonement is the final complete work of Christ on behalf of condemned sinners. It is God Show he is love, mercy, just, forgiving, longsuffering, and glorious. Both in Christ’s life and his death he shows us characteristics of himself, doing it for his glory. The resurrection of Christ proves that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice and counted him worthy on our behalf!

SEND ME!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOsBE_xbSj0