Archives for June 12, 2021

Early this evening I officiated the outdoor wedding of Rodney and Shamber near Lansing, Michigan. Despite the near 90 degree weather, I was privileged to speak from Psalm 37:3-7 on “God’s Four-Ingredient Recipe for a Truly Happy Marriage”: “(1) Trust in the Lord. (2) Delight thyself in the Lord. (3) Commit thy way unto the Lord. (4) Rest in the Lord.”

The wedding took place in the front yard of Shamber’s parents’ home. Shamber is the third child of 18 in her family—as well as the third one to be married! Two are biological, and 16 are adopted (most of whom are in the second picture below). We have been friends of this dear family for many years largely through attending the same conference in North Carolina.

Pray with me that God would bless this couple abundantly and grant them Psalm 37’s four-ingredient recipe of happiness in their marriage.

This morning I gave this short 15-20 minute meditation on “Taking Hold of Ourselves and of God in Prayer” on Zoom for the United Prayer Group Meeting organized and led by Steven Lee of Sermonaudio.com [https://tinysa.com/sermon/61221149527604]. Afterward, it was a very edifying prayer time.

What need we have for more such prayer times! May God deliver us from our prayerless praying and teach us how to truly pray in our prayers.

Reformation Heritage Books just brought back into print Walter Marshall’s (1628-1680) classic, “The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification,” in a paperback version, including my 20-page introduction about the book. This is, in my opinion, the very best book ever written on sanctification and its relationship to justification. If you want to grow in holiness, read this book prayerfully and meditatively and slowly. It is a gem.

https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/the-gospel-mystery-of-sanctification-marshall.html