FAIR SUNSHINE

The LORD, in His great and enduring faithfulness, doth continue to prosper His own labour in our midst! We mark with deep gratitude the growth of our young assembly this very week, recalling that this work began with but a handful of children in our class. I declare with unwavering certainty that my heart shall never grow weary of emphasizing this marvelous truth: We did but humbly petition our Heavenly Father to commence a work amongst the families residing within this compound; and yet, the Father hath answered us abundantly, exceeding even the bounds of our own asking, by powerfully drawing the little children unto Himself! It is becoming clear, by the gracious unfolding of His design, that the true and lasting change in these households will first affect the younger generation, and that the work of regeneration shall originate within the quiet sanctuary of their own domestic life, rather than being forced upon them from the external world. Let the soul be humbled, and let the heart...

A rainbow reflecting off God's firmament. Photo by Kenya I sat for a while in front of the rice store and looked at the unusually thick crowd today and thought to myself, "how do you talk sense to this people? What do I say?" The task is totally impossible. But I serve the God of the impossible. Yet if the Spirit of God will not move and breathe life to these dry bones, no one would be made alive. I have endeared this people to my heart and make it a point to plead for them before God. I know He will reward this weak servant with peace, and I shall behold His glory among the people. I had so many excuses in my head not to go out today. ( I am still unable to walk and every step is painful, at least for my right foot. I have an ongoing deadline.. ) Any reason not to go. It was the flesh talking. But grace would always have me going home after thankful that I went.  The LORD has given me respect in the eyes of the vendors at this blessed fishing hole. I am now greeted wi...

Week 2 Day 4. Should one attempt to judge this day by the fallible standard of human opinion, the temptation would be to deem it dead, cold, and utterly unfruitful. Indeed, the labour in the Gospel field, when measured by the visible ledger of souls won, doth appear for the most part to yield little or no discernible fruit. But blessed be God! Our sacred commission is not founded upon the fleeting metric of earthly results! Neither is the high purpose of the Gospel solely about the winning of men. Nay, rather, it is absolutely and eternally about Christ, and the faithful lifting up of Christ, who alone, in His sovereign power, doth draw men unto Himself! The bold proclamation of the finished work upon the cross is the singular, divinely ordained means by which God Almighty glorifies His most holy name. By this means alone, He is revealed to be infinitely gracious and merciful in the saving of His chosen elect; and by this means, He is simultaneously revealed to be terribly Holy and imm...

It is with humble gratitude I confess that I have never before possessed the inclination to consume a volume of material so considerably copious, much less to engage with such a company of serious works simultaneously as I do now. In years past, my reading extended only to the lighter fancies—a brief adventure from the aforementioned Hardy Boys, or some passing amusement gleaned from illustrated pages. I am now afforded the sacred pleasure to immerse my soul in learning anew, solely for the glorious purpose of knowing Christ, my Savior, more perfectly. Having commenced this blessed task in April of this year, I have set a private aspiration: to bring to a worthy close ten such volumes before the year is spent. I own with candor that my pace is slow, for my soul is concerned not with the hasty completion of a mere list, but with the deep, searching comprehension of the eternal verities contained within. The true blessing is in the understanding which transforms the heart, not the finish...

I spent a season upon that small bench, observing the ceaseless flow of humanity, diligently looking into the very countenances of the people passing by. I beheld one simple vendor: her face arranged in a large, cheerful smile while servicing her customer with her goods; yet, the moment the purchaser departed, she slumped back into her seat, and the joy of the countenance vanished, leaving a mask of profound weariness. The air itself was heavy with humid oppression, clamor, and the odor of the street—a pure, unceasing chaos. It was plain to the eye that for most of these poor souls, the day had been long and brutally exhausting. In that moment of overwhelming sense, I felt entirely and painfully inadequate to the task. My flesh shrank, and I was seized by fear and nervousness, my single, fervent desire being to abandon the post and simply retreat. Yet who else will declare the Gospel truth to these fleeting, weary mortals? The fearful duty remained. For a full hour I stood, and by the ...

By the great mercy of the Lord, I find myself enabled to walk this day without the customary aid of crutches . Yet, the soles of my feet become readily fatigued, and this simple act of traversal drains my spirits far more swiftly than does the most fervent plea delivered to the souls of the populace. It is a source of pain and deep, sobering humility to stand forth and proclaim the unyielding sentences of the Law of God—that perfect mirror which shows man the sin he cannot escape, and the righteousness that is utterly impossible with men. And yet, in this very hour of physical weakness and spiritual severity, my heart is simultaneously filled with a strange and inexplicable joy as I turn to court the lost with the inexhaustible mercies and the surpassing goodness of Christ, the only Redeemer! To proclaim the Law is to wound; to proclaim the Gospel is to heal. And the weakness of the flesh only serves to remind me that the power behind the Message is wholly Divine, not of my own feeble ...

Oh, the inexhaustible mercy of our God! The LORD never fails to dispatch timely and unmerited helps even unto this most stubborn, slow, and foolish mule! It is true that a particular passage of Holy Scripture hath, time and again, provided sweet, profound ministration to my sinking spirit. Yet, even in the stillness of my private devotions this very morning, that same passage did speak once more, gently revealing a simple, vital truth that my poor heart doth seem perpetually prone to forget: He said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat). Mark 6:31 The following is part of my lecture notes taken from a recorded seminar of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. "Putting in long stressful hours in the Lord's work doesn't grant one immunity from the laws of health. The minister must eat nutritionally, sleep sufficiently and live relaxingly. I had to learn the lesson of relaxation...