American Puritans & Psalm 30 to Music

American Beginnings 

I was able to get a free download (sorry, I doubt you can find it free now) of The American Puritans book (Nate Pickowicz/ Dustin Benge), and I started chapter 2 this week about John Winthrop. 

I'm really enjoying it so far. I sit there trying to do the math in my poor brain about some of the facts (figuring out ages of death or how much older one person is than another). The poor guy's first two wives died, and he's on his third one at the point that I stopped reading today. It looks like the third one lived longer...maybe 56 years?

The first chapter was about William Bradford, and it was also very informative of how people immigrated to more than one place, and how there were successes and failures in their trips and people left behind.  I found myself discussing something of what I learned from the book in a conversation online.  

I have an interest in my own ancestry, but so far, I've not found a connection with one of these groups of people...though there were some people from a different group of immigrants that I wasn't thrilled about due to some errant beliefs.  Reading this may keep me digging to see if I find any who were connected to some of these groups of immigrants mentioned in the book.

I realize I have not given a complete book review, but it should whet your appetite if you like biographies or history!

Psalm 30 to Music

Recently, I shared a song based on Psalm 2 which I really enjoyed the tune of.  

I was introduced yesterday to music with Psalm lyrics by someone else.  

Of the ones I tried by this person, this one was my favorite.

I enjoy sharing music by people that are not well-known, and all the better that this has lyrics from the Bible!

Apparently, the music was borne out of the loss of a friend, and I read how a family member of that friend read this Psalm around the homegoing of that loved one. 

(You can see his description on the site with the video.)

Adoption Deferred, American Puritans, & a Live-Streamed Hymn Sing on May 13, 2020

Hope Deferred 
I've been praying about a young girl's adoption for a long time now, and the article linked below filled in some of the gaps in my knowledge of the situation.
It is all of God's plan, but it has been difficult for the family.
COVID-19 Ruined OUR Adoption Plans - Peter LeDuc

The American Puritans
Nate Pickowicz has teamed up with Dustin Benge to write a new book about some of the New England Puritans.
I have not read this particular book, but I know that Nate is an excellent writer.
I've also seen Dustin Benge's presence on Twitter, and so I know he has good things to say as well.
The American Puritans (on Amazon)
The book is also available to order on the Reformation Heritage Books site HERE.

Hymn Sing 
Grace Bible Church of Bakersfield, California, has been having a time for singing hymns live-streaming online on Wedenesday nights for a few weeks.

I've been enjoying participating by singing at home, even though it starts at 10 PM where I live!
It begins at 7 PM Pacific time. 

If you are able to be online and to sing along, I highly recommend it!

Testimony of a Pastor & Lordship Salvation Explained

Testimony of a Pastor

The following is the testimony of Nate Pickowicz who was kind enough to write a blog post for me a few years back.

I've also read a couple of books he's written (Reviving New England & Why We're Protestant).
 (I don't know the people who did the video.)

Lordship Salvation Explained

In recent times, I've come across people online who are against "Lordship Salvation."
This video interview of Phil Johnson about it should be helpful to those who do not truly understand what it is and what it is not.
I've not listened to this podcast before, but this episode was worth hearing.
I recommend starting about 5 minutes in:

From Every Nation and All Tribes and Peoples and Tongues

Bible Translation News
Some exciting news has come to my attention!
TMS is now adding Bible translation to their training.
The Master’s Seminary Launches the Tyndale Center for Bible Translation.
The TMS Tyndale Center for Bible Translation.
I know of people who have gone to other countries and labored to translate the Bible, and I know they try their best.
This study of Theology and languages, as well as translation in the context of seminary training, will help for more accurate translations and teaching Lord-willing.
This should be a great help for church planting.

Why We're Protestant - Spanish Version Now Available!
Pastor Nate Pickowicz book gives a clear explanation of the Solas of the Reformation and Gospel truth, and there are many in other countries that could well benefit from it (as well as those who speak other languages in America).  The Spanish speaking world still has Roman Catholicism as a predominant religion, and I'm glad that this book is out there.
Por Que Somos Protestantes: Una introduccion a las Cinco Solas de la Reforma

Unity In Worship
Speaking of translations, I wanted to share a song that has been translated into Mandarin Chinese.
One day there will be believers from around the world worshiping God, and there will be no divisions creeping in.  There will be no more sin!

Raw Expository Preaching, Reformation Resources, & Relaxation

Raw Expository Preaching

Would that more pastors & preachers exposit the text of the Scriptures rather than leaping off into other things (moralistic sermons or unrelated topics).
The following is about the conversion of Charles Spurgeon (which I think would be great source material for a songwriter).

A poor man, a shoemaker, a tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had nothing else to say. The text was, 'Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.' He did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter.                           
Spurgeon: The Prince of Preachers compiled by Hy. Pickering

Reformation Resources

I was recently blessed to get both a Kindle version and a hard copy of the book Why We're Protestant as gifts, and I'm now two chapters in. 

So far, it seems to be a great primer for what the Protestant Reformation was about as well as why it was necessary.
It also is doing a good job explaining the 5 Solas (though I'm not far into it).
It would be great for a church group or to share with friends (especially as lines have been getting blurred over the years).

Also, Pastor Don Green has been doing a midweek message series entitled "The Bible and Roman Catholicism".  I believe I listened to quite a bit of the first message about the idea of a pope.
It explained what the Bible really says compared to what Roman Catholicism teaches.

Relaxation

After having a bad reaction to having a flu shot, listening to ocean waves or a music video with pictures of God's creation seems like a pleasant idea.

Why We're Protestant - Hot Off The Press

Why We're Protestant
The author of Reviving New England (Nate Pickowicz - a pastor & church planter in New Hampshire) has another new book just released which examines the 5 Solas.
It looks like something my readers might want to check out!
I reviewed his first book HERE (part 1 of my review).

Why Don't I Hear God's Voice?

God has spoken through His Word. We are not called to look for God's voice outside of His written Word.
We don't need to seek emotional highs.

It is easy to get disappointed when your expectations are up due to people telling you about hearing God speak to them - apart from Scripture.
Yet, they are creating false expectations.

The following is a very good article on this subject.

Follow God's Will (and never mind the mystery) - GTY


Good news! God is at work in the lives of those who trust Him.

Look at the example of Ruth. The doctrine of providence was at work in her life.
She didn't get some extra-Biblical revelation, yet God directed the events of her life.
Her background and the death of her first husband wasn't an easy beginning, but then those who turn to faith in God aren't called to an easy life.

Joseph is another example.
He suffered great injustice at the hands of his brothers and due to Potiphar's wife... first being sold into slavery & then imprisoned.
God's hand was in that as well.

Miracles in history were unusual events (as we see recorded in the Bible) that came with lengthy spaces between them.
We no longer need them to validate God's Word and messengers to us (as they did then). 

We now have God's salvation plan recorded for us!

I would encourage people to read the Bible daily (and not a paraphrase) .... the NASB, ESV, NKJV, or even the KJV are good examples of versions to choose from.
Knowing the truth can help us discern what is false.

When you read the Bible, you will find that God is not silent.

You don't have to hear a sound, but His words to us are there.

He is listening to the prayers of His sheep, and His hand is at work though we don't hear a noise.

I'd recommend the book Reviving New England by Pastor Nate Pickowicz, as it will help you see what a healthy church should look like.
It's not just for those in New England.
We need to get back to basics!

Reviving New England Book Review • Part 3 • Conclusion

I've finally finished the book Reviving New England by Pastor Nate Pickowicz.

It is an excellent book well worth reading.
My disclaimer is that at least a couple of the people quoted I personally wouldn't recommend (though the quotes themselves are okay).
I'm not really familiar with some of the others quoted, but some of them I do consider solid.

So, I recommend the book as a whole, and I believe it would be a great book to give to those interested in ministry, seminary students, pastors, church leaders, evangelists, and all Christians in general (who can read English).

It is good to be reminded of what faithful Christians and churches
should be doing, and it is also good to be reminded not to neglect praying for workers and the mission field even in America (as well as for revival in the churches).
It is convicting and motivational, as well as it gives Biblical instruction.

Reviving New England • Book Review • Part 2

God can use a few good men to set the world on fire for Him!

First of all, people need the right Gospel, and the church both individually and corporately needs to be purified.

I have been continuing to read Reviving New England  a little bit both yesterday and today, although dizziness issues have been plaguing me.
Chapter 3 has a clear presentation of the Gospel.
I didn't notice the virgin birth being mentioned, but other great truths of the Gospel were clearly emphasized.

Fighting sin, pursuing holiness,  true repentance, and sanctification were delved into quite a bit.
I really found the chapter helpful for me personally as a reinforced encouragement in my battle against sin.

 I even underlined a little bit in pencil.

One thing I underlined was this:

"Our warfare is that of aggression against the impulses of our hearts that rebel against God and hijack our efforts to live for Him ...."  - Nate Pickowicz

There were a couple of aspects that I would have liked to have had clarified personally:

1. I believe that while in general confession to God of individual sins is good, there can be a problem of rehashing individual thoughts.
In such cases, I believe that a more generalized confession may be a better option.

2. I would like clarification on the corporate confession of social injustice quote.   In this day and age, many people make general accusations of social injustice.  This is not always a fair accusation, and I believe it would be good to define what is truly social injustice.
I do see in my reading of Scripture that our light should expose darkness (so pointing out that things are sins against God as John the Baptist did I can see), but I also believe that our primary goal should be evangelistic with those outside the church.
I'm wondering what exactly we need to confess about those outside the church except maybe our own apathy and lack of evangelism?

Within the church I see this:
If someone is letting rich people (or it could be people of certain shade of skin) have preference in the church, then yes, that would be not only a social injustice...it would be disobedience to God.
Giving care to one group of individuals over another would be personal favoritism, which I find as clearly against Scripture.
On the other hand, I see some people (even Christians) undermining the whole justice system to fit their own sense of justice.
It can bring people to disrespect and endanger authority that God has placed over us.
Even Nero was to be submitted to in what didn't clearly direct disobedience to Christ.
I hope this won't be considered as an attack....just the sharing of my own thoughts and questions about what I've read.


That being said, Chapter 3 was still excellent.
 At this point, I am thinking a study guide might be helpful for people like me.
I would like to see all of the key words with their definitions that I could review easily, and I would like to see all the practical application in study guide form to fill out and review.

Is anybody else with me?

I've started reading Chapter 4 already, so there may possibly be more to come!

Thanks again Pastor Nate for sharing this book.

People can get the book on Amazon or by going HERE.

Reviving New England - Book Review • Part 1

A Pastor friend of mine by the name of Nate Pickowicz (who previously wrote THIS Article for me)  has recently had a book published, and naturally I was interested to see what he had to say.
He was kind enough to include me to receive a copy of the new book.
Although it was never said to be required of me, I had it in my mind to do a book review.
I saw some glowing praise for the book before it arrived, so my excitement mounted.

The following were some of the early comments I saw:

No joke, this book is amazing! I can't say enough in 140 characters. #RevivingNE #RevivingNewEngland @NatePickowicz https://t.co/d8kGKV8tXt

— Rob Stiles (@robstiles1) October 16, 2016

@NatePickowicz @KTinHills @robstiles1 It is a "Top shelf" kind of book. I enjoyed every bit.

— Faith Stiles (@StilesFaith) October 16, 2016

Move this one to the top of your reading pile..... 😊 https://t.co/lFgDbBnnnu … #RevivingNE #YouAreWelcome pic.twitter.com/lHiJjYXdW5

— Jill Cox (@crazyjmom) October 13, 2016

So, I've now begun to read the book for myself.
I'm not nearly as fast of a reader as my online friends, but I've read two chapters so far.
Here are my first thoughts and summaries of what I've read:

Much of the first chapter is a historical account which talks about revival, the need for revival, the Great Awakenings, and the spiritual slide that has happened in the northeastern area of America,
Clearly, Pastor Nate Pickowicz has a heart and passion for his native New England.

He not only traces the history of Christianity in New England and its influence on the nation and the world, he makes it clear that he longs to see this happen again.
He is laying out a strategy in this book based on the Bible and history.
Certainly, the book's emphasis is especially on the preaching from the pulpit..which is great!

The major spiritual decline is lamented, and the percentage of actual Christian believers left is extremely low.
This is sad but not surprising to me, as I see the northeastern U.S. as very liberal - which manifests itself politically, as well as morally (though they are not alone), and spiritually.
I digress.

Anyway, near the end of the chapter, it begins to be more encouraging with more optimistic hope instilled.
I found myself leaping in my mind beyond even the necessity for Biblical preaching from the pulpits, but it also reminded me of the need for evangelism there in New England (as I'm aware that some are involved in that by things like street preaching and tract distribution - and one on one conversations - on college campuses and at abortion clinics).


On to Chapter 2.
After tracing the history of revivals from the Bible onward, Pastor Nate begins to describe what preaching should and shouldn't be like.
As I read the descriptions of what preaching should not be like, I knew that I had heard some of these methods.
I wish that many pastors would read and pay attention to what he's saying on this.
If you want to know fully what I'm talking about, you'll just have to read it for yourself.

I've definitely heard the "Springboard" preaching method where a pastor takes a text, and then they spend half or more of their sermon completely off topic or putting their own theme into the text (which might be mixing in the hobby horse method or just plain inserting some other topic into the mix).
This 2nd chapter in Reviving New England reminds me of how I felt when reading the book Pulpit Crimes by James White, and my mind assents a big Amen to what Nate is saying.

Self-centered pastors think the church revolves around them, but Bible-centered pastors believe that all of life revolves around God. -  Nate Pickowicz

Again,  as to his describing what preaching should be like....Amen!
And again, you'll have to read the book to know what he says it should be like!

Pastor Nate includes a lot of quotes from other sources, so this is a helpful compilation all in one place (although I can't vouch for every source...though some I do know are good).
I've enjoyed a bit of the review of history and how it all is fitting together.

It's not only New England that needs revival.  It's needed all over.   Revival comes through the Spirit convicting and working in the hearts of individuals, and while faithful pastors - as in the faithful prophets of old - are not able to manufacture change in the hearts of individual people, God definitely uses the faithful and passionate preaching and reading of the Word for His purposes and glory.

I would love to have a pastor like Nate Pickowicz down here where I live, so that our family wouldn't have to "settle" for some compromise in doctrine & practice - or to be stuck at home with live-streaming trying to figure out what to do next (though my physical issues can make me feel not up to going places at times anyway).
Christians, please pray for a church plant to be started where I live where we could actually even become members.
We love the plus of excellent live-streaming (and I would hope to continue), but we want a church home.
I'm thankful for some fellowship at times where we've been, and that not all of the teaching has been unbiblical.

Also, please pray for New England, and for the Word of God to be preached faithfully and accurately by men who love and live out the truth of Scripture!

You can find Reviving New England on Amazon directly or by going through the Entreating Favor webpage HERE.

Mercy Day & Reviving New England

Mercy Day
September 13 is Mercy Day.
It is a day when Christians can remind the world what the rainbow is really all about.
Not long ago, the Creation Museum in Kentucky opened a replica of the ark that God had Noah build.  I have seen pictures taken by a family member, and it is quite amazing.
In the days of Noah, people did what was right in their own eyes (evil) much like today it seems, and God sent a flood...waters from below and from above...which catastrophically destroyed people and change the surface of the earth.
This is likely why there are layers that have land and sea creatures together in places where the ocean isn't.
Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark survived the worldwide flood.
After they landed on the mountains of Ararat, God put His bow in the sky as a covenant not to flood the entire earth again.
Please check out MercyDay.Com , and you can share about it on your social media pages!
Perhaps next year,  even more people will get involved.

Reviving New England 
A new book that I'm interested in is scheduled to come out on October 15, 2016!
Pastor Nate Pickowicz who once upon a time also wrote a guest post for me, has finally finished his book, and it is ready to come out next month!
After having watched lectures on historical Theology by Nathan Busenitz some time back (which were excellent), I am interested to see what Pastor Nate has to say.
He has some pretty great endorsements.

Discipleship - From A Pastor's Perspective - Guest Writer Nate Pickowicz

One of the key challenges any pastor will face in ministering to the flock of God is how to disciple believers. As we were planting our church, our EFCA district supporters were encouraging us to think through how this might happen. It’s one thing to preach and teach from the pulpit, but how do you apply the truths of Scripture to the lives of people on an individual basis?

A few years earlier, I had read a blog post about theology reading groups. The concept was simple: take a group of guys, give them the challenging task of reading theology, and walk with them through the process. I was immediately excited about the prospect of teaching theology to a group of men, but I could almost hear the objections, “It’s not practical”, “They’ll never stick it out”, “It’s too academic”, etc. However, I felt convinced that this was the right thing.

I announced in church one Sunday that I wanted to start a men’s theology group and that we were going to tackle Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. The first day, two men approached me. In my mind, that was a huge win. Two guys that would spend the next several months with me, studying the doctrines of the Bible. But then the interest grew. More and more guys started asking me about the group, and by the time we were ready to start, I had ten men who had committed. So we began.

At first, we inched our way in, working through the chapters and discussing the doctrines, as well as their respective Bible verses. Within a few months, a few more men started to show up. But more than the numbers, the interest began to grow; and then interest turned into desire.

Over the next 15 months, I would watch a dozen men—the majority of them had never opened a theology textbook before—become transformed and grow in their love for God, for His Word, and for each other. Each week, these men rose to the challenge, having done their assigned reading, and were ready to discuss meaty subjects.

These men weren’t scholars; they were landscapers, carpenters, servicemen, office workers, and lab technicians. They ranged in age from their early thirties to their late sixties. They had wives and kids. They had hobbies. They were just regular New England men who were growing in grace.

While I don’t personally agree lock-step with all of Grudem’s doctrine, studying together provided many opportunities for us to think through Scripture and theology as a group. And even as we approached controversial doctrines and viewpoints, it gave me the opportunity to teach through it. As a group, we were learning how to “do theology” in an honest, intentional way.

Since the end of the group, some men have moved on to other things, and some have stayed on for more theology. But not a single man has been the same. God has used His Word, combined with the earnestness and faithfulness of these ordinary men, to accomplish in them extraordinary works.

And for that, I am deeply thankful to the Lord Jesus Christ.  

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Thank you to my guest blogger and online friend Pastor Nate Pickowicz for writing this post.

I would request Christians to pray for this Pastor and the church he is pastor of.

To learn more about Harvest Bible Church and find messages given by Pastor Nate:

HARVEST BIBLE CHURCH

You can also find his contributions to another blog of another online friend:

Entreating Favor