William Petruzzo

Much like the Israelites crying for God to give them a king, the American people have spoken, and God has given them Obama. And, there seems little doubt in my mind that in the same way that the Israelites getting their king was a judgment from God, Obama is our judgement. Undoubtedly many unborn lives will be ended because of him. But, this is what the American people begged for, and this is what God has given them. So, I suppose I had a few thought that I wanted to share.

Wow…

This really is profound history—and we’re living to see it. The first black man in the history of our nation to be elected the President of the United States. That is awesome. I’m sure this will mean incredible things for the advancement of a group of people who, at large, have carried an victim-mentality (in many cases, justifiably so). With this historic event, there’s very real tangible hope that these people will be able to move foreword and prosper in very new and fresh ways.

That really is awesome; That is the silver lining of grace from God.

Personal Reform…

Over the past eight years, I quietly grumbled about Democrats complaining and condemning George bush—instead of simply disagreeing with him. Well, the tables have officially turned. It will be a big challenge for me (and most) to follow the biblical command and respect the new president, even in light of our many differences of opinion. However, over many issues, that’s exactly what we all need to do. There are some issues, though that our conscience will not allow us to accept—and if it does, we ought to pray that would be changed.

Abortion…

Many will certainly die because of Obama. Abortion is not a social issue for us to simply disagree about, it is a matter of life and death. It is a discussion of murder (about 4,000 murders every day). We have chosen a president who propones this practice. It is not the time to concede these issues, or move on from them. Perhaps the way we fight them must change, or how much we pray about them, but giving up is absolutely not an option.

Albert Mohler has written an insightful and important exhortation. I would suggest you read it.

Pray…

I must, we must:

… Pray for the lives of the unborn, in a culture that does not value them.
… Pray for the mothers who are taught not to love them.
… Pray for a culture and people who don’t believe in them.
… Pray for a president, indifferent to them.

… Pray for our own hearts, for honest compassion for them.

Remember…

We should remember, that we live under the only true sovereign. He gives and he takes away. He exalts and he humbles. All powers in heaven and on earth are chosen by him. If he has allowed to office a man who may “hurt” us, then perhaps we “ought to be hurt”.

I’m sure many of you have already found SermonAudio.com, but for those of you who have not, I hope you will find something that encourages you.

SermonAudio.com is…

In a nutshell, SermonAudio.com is a massive database of free audio files which can either be streamed and listened to from you computer, or downloaded and loaded onto an mp3 player or cell phone. I did say “free” right. Right, free. There are sermons from contemporary preachers from all over the US and internationally. That’s great and all, but it gets way better. SermonAudio.com also has a wealth of classic preachers as well. Tozer, Pink, Jonathan Edwards, Spurgeon—just to name a few. But really, it seems that the list just keeps going.

How it works…

When arriving at the site you’re dumped into a fairly cluttered environment. It takes some time to catch your breath and figure out what exactly you’re looking at. However, most folks won’t have too much trouble after a minute or too.

The main column of the site is filled mostly with updates and daily postings, popular downloads and featured speakers. But, the really juicy stuff starts on the left.

You’ll see four very important links: Sermons by Bible, Sermons by Speaker, Sermons by Topic and Sermons by Date. I’m sure you can figure out what these are. This is the main artery for browsing sermons. Choose to look up all the sermons by a favorite preacher, by the date they were delivered, or the topic they’re about. Or, by my favorite, the verse they are taken from.

When you select “Sermon by Bible”, you’re dropped onto a page displaying each book of the bible and a link to the each chapter. Within each link you’ll find sermons relevant to the selected verse. And, at the top of the page you’ll find an handy quick reference to the chapter of the bible you’re browsing in. From the scripture quick-reference, you can also further narrow your searches down by clicking on a particular verse and displaying sermons relevant to that specific verse.

When browsing through sermons, you also have some pretty advanced sorting methods to choose from. You can sort by the geographic area the sermon was delivered, the speaker, the denomination of the speaker and more.

The sermon…

Once you’ve actually found the sermon you’d like to hear, first you’ll have to sign up for their newsletter. No biggie. Then, you’ll have the option of either streaming the sermon live using Windows Media Player, meaning no hard drive space will be taken up on your computer. Or, you can choose to download the sermon onto your computer. The sermon comes in the form of an mp3 file. The files are a pretty decent size, not too big, but not so small that the sound quality stinks.

If you choose to download the sermon, you’ll then have the chance to load it into itunes, then onto you ipod. Or any other mp3 playing device.

One drawback to downloading the mp3’s are that they are not intelligently named files. So, for example, if you download a sermon by Charles Spurgeon, the file may not have a name you recognize. It will more likely be titled with a seemingly random string of numbers. You’ll want to rename the files so you can easily find them later.

Membership options…

I offer kudos to SermonAudio.com for offering this service for free. It’s commendable and, I believe a great gift to the church, if she would only take advantage of it. However, more robust options are available for people who are willing to pay a nominal premium.

For free you can get pretty much all of the best benefits. Listen to sermons. Download sermons. Browse sermons. Search the bible. Stream sermon related videos. Even get access to a lot of PDF sermon resources.

For bloggers and other web junkies, $4.95/month will get more features. Namely, the ability to download a lot of stuff unattended–although I don’t really know how this works. There’s also things like blogging tools and some advanced RSS options.

For churches and pastors, $29.95/month will get everything, plus the ability post your own sermons from your church. It seems that there must be some kind of a screening process, because the site really doesn’t seem to be overrun with junk. But whatever the case, that’s the gist of the complete package.

However, take note, the best and most important features are offered for free. The way it should be.

Highlights…

SermonAudio.com has a host of really cool and free features. There’s a few that stick out to me.

1. RSS Capabilities. Lets be honest, we’re not going to be visiting this site all that often. It just wouldn’t be a very practical stop along the road. But, with RSS subscriptions to sermon series or speakers, you can bring SermonAudion.com into your RSS reader. With Google, the sermon can stream directly from the feed.

and

2. Morning & Evening Devotions with C.H. Spurgeon. In addition to being able to read Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening Devotions, a good audio version is offered making the devotional easy to do in the car on the way to work or at your desk. Pair this one with the RSS functions and you’ve got a pretty sweet pair.

Conclusion…

SermonAudio.com is fantastic. It’s an excellent resource, especially considering all the classic content. And, it’s free, which is great.

So, go check it out. Download some sermons. Learn a thing or two and fall more in love with Jesus.

Jeremiah 1:6-8:

Then I said, “Alas, Lord God!"
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
Because I am a youth.”
But the Lord said to me,
”Do not say, ‘I am a youth.’
Because everywhere I send you, you
    shall go,
And all that I command you, you shall
    speak.
”Do not be afraid of them,
For I am with you to deliver you,”
    declares the Lord.”

I know we’ve all heard the discussions from Timothy about not allowing people to look down on us for being young; about the Lord’s calling superceding our natural qualifications. But it struck me as I was reading this the massive logical problem with fearing our calling (whatever that may be) because of our natural conditioning.

Between men, thirty years might be a long time. In the twenty years between a kid of 19 becoming a man of 39, I imagine a great deal of confidence can be earned simply by living life and gaining experience in things. But to God, who has been for all of eternity, the 20 years isn’t anything at all.

So, if God has called a person to something, on a purely logical level, we must believe we’re the right people for the job. And, if that weren’t enough, we have countless promises of protection and “deliverance”.

The past couple of days I’ve posted videos that I’ve come across on YouTube dealing in some way with Religion. Christianity, in specific (#1 & #2). I feel each video, whether funny, convicting or encouraging, holds some significance for the church and we ought to consider the underlying theme.

Many, I’m sure, have seen today’s video. It’s been around for some time. But no matter how many times I watch it, it never fails to boost my spirits and encourage me to keep seeking and trusting God. I originally saw this video at a conference several years ago, then rediscovered it earlier this year. Regardless of all the cheese, it’s worth watching every minute.

This is an excerpt from a SM Lockridge sermon set to music. Lockridge was a prominent Baptist preacher from 1953 – 1993. I can’t vouch for the man, his ministry or his theology, I can only vouch for the excerpt from this sermon.

When does despair set in? When there is no hope. When there is no chance of recovery. When terminal patients are in the hospital, doctors attempt to keep them hopeful for as long as possible or else they may give up fighting their disease and secure their death. Sometimes, it is a daily battle in my walk with the Lord to keep from despair.

I sometimes picture that I am walking through a dark place with Jesus a few steps behind me. As if he was saying, “keep walking, I’m right here,” continually nudging me foreword. But at every step my knees weaken and I become convinced that there’s no way I’ll be able to make the next step and will have to stop walking.

Shane & Shane have a recording of Before the Throne of God Above that is continually used by way of reminder to bring strength to my knees.

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great high Priest who’s name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me

My name is graven on His hand
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart

When satan tempts me to despair
and tells me of the guilt within
upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin

Because a sinless Savior died
my sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
to look on Him and pardon me

Hallelujah
Praise the One Risen Son of God.

Behold Him there, the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I AM
The King of Glory and of grace

One in Himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God

In the legal court of heaven, I have been declared just. Despair is now a logical and realistic irrationality. It is altogether inconsistent with a situation which is characterized entirely by hope! May the God of all comfort bring strength to the knees of his children.

I post to this blog every single day. I’ve resolved to stick with it diligently. I sometimes will give up other plans to be sure that I can post. You’d be surprised how often folks passively attempt to dissuade me from posting here or there. I’ve been accused of being legalistic, of being hypocritical, of being misdirected, of having some hidden agenda. I’ve even (sort of) been accused of being a part of the massive Christian conspiracy to cover up scientific “truth”.

So today, I was going to post some thoughts on chapter two of Seven Sayings, but decided that I’d take the opportunity to write about why I write. Perhaps to present my reasons in a manner that will qualm people’s suspicions of me and maybe even inspire you to take up writing also.

I write, essentially, for three reasons.

1. The first and the most important, by far, is consistency. On an emotional level, I’m an inconsistent person. Historically, this has commandeered my life. Some days I may wake with a great deal of tenacity and unction, but on another day, I may not have the ambition to get out of bed. Writing helps provide some consistency not found elsewhere and helps to provide stability necessary for me to function from day to day.

Writing is not the only thing that will fall into this category either. Also in this category is diligent daily reading of scripture. Long before I was writing, I found that consistency in reading, regardless of emotional condition, helped to provide a broader sense of consistency in my emotions and ultimately my spiritual life. While in the same vain, writing has proven more demanding and ultimately more rewarding in consistency.

2. The second reason has to do with helping to arrange and organize thoughts. When I led a small group a while back, I found that I would often need to teach about things that I didn’t fully understand, or didn’t understand in an organized fashion. Ultimately, teaching helped to curb that problem. Having a need to organize my thoughts and understandings, proved beneficial, because in the end I would end up having those understandings and being able to apply them to myself.

Now, writing is not exactly like that. However, in a similar way, writing does provide a need to seek understanding in an organized way. More than once this has provided an avenue through which I’ve come to powerful, deeply affecting truths that I likely wouldn’t have sought otherwise.

3. Finally, I think that sharing thoughts is good. More than a few times I’ve been encouraged or impacted by reading other’s online material and since I began writing, I’ve been told that others have been similarly affected reading mine.

This is all a relatively brief overview of why I choose to write and why, for me, it’s important to do it consistently. For me, it’s not legalism, it’s not hypocritical and I don’t have a hidden agenda. It’s just a good habit and a multifaceted benefit to my mental, spiritual and emotional health.

I nearly didn’t post today, but decided that I should. As I was driving this afternoon, I was reminded of another song that’s been a deep encouragement to me and has often been a vessel of strength when I’m weak. The song is Watermark’s Arise and Be Comforted as found on their recent live album, A Grateful People.

Arise and be comforted
For the Lord, He is good to the weary
And even the young heart can tire and fall
But He knows them all
For the Lord, He will renew their strength
And they will soar on wings as eagles
And they will run and never grow weary
They will walk and not grow faint

For the Lord, He is good

Lift your eyes to the heavens
For the creator is living in you
Come surrender as you are
And know that you’ll never stray too far
Let His power within you heal your heart
Lift your eyes to spacious skies
Let Him chart your way to flight
Spread your wings and fly

For the Lord, He is good

I find encouragement in the reminder that all Christians will face trials that at times may be enough for them to crumble underneath, but we can never fall too far for the Lord to renew us. The truth is that the blood of Jesus was a payment and now no further payment can be required; there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I have been purchased and I will by no means be lost; God protects his investments.

“And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new life and raise [them all] up at the last day.” (John 6:39)

Every morning the very first thing I do before getting out of bed is read a psalm to myself out loud. Then, in the evening, the very last thing I do is read that same psalm again. Yesterday morning, it was psalm 51. One brief verse, number eight, caught my attention and I’ve been thinking about it sense.

“Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones which you have broken
Rejoice.”

It reminded me of some of some thoughts that Jeremiah Burroughs had provoked in his work The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. In his work, Burroughs endeavors to help teach the church Paul’s meaning in saying that he had “learned” the secret to contentment, in hopes that other believers would follow in Paul’s footsteps.

Burroughs explains that contentment (true Christian contentment that is) always submits to God’s disposal. This of course makes sense. We are to be obedient to God, and who are we to ever talk back to God and say, “why have you made me like this?” In our troubles and our afflictions we should always submit quietly to God, regardless of the difficulty. No big deal, I get that, it’s hard most of the time, but I understand it. But then, he built on top of that with something a lot more difficult for me to stomach.

Burroughs claims next that a truly content Christian must not only submit under whatever God would choose to afflict us with, but we should in fact appreciate it. Wait, hold up. I’ve got a problem with that. Historically, that isn’t something that I’ve probably ever pulled off. My afflictions and difficulties, in hindsight, usually produce a submissive joy, looking at all the good that God had done through my difficulty, but in the moment, no way. Burroughs claim was almost insulting. How am I supposed to sit in the midst of my difficulty, and say, “thank you Jesus that things are difficult”? Well it’s easy, I understand. Just believe that Jesus can see and perceive more than I can and that whatever I’m in is exponentially better than the alternative. Ah, good, case closed. I’ll do that from here on out and everything will be peaches and cream.

Ok, that was sarcastic. But the truth is, that’s the goal we ought to be working toward. James 1:2, “consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds.” When you face trials of many kinds. Not, after you face trials, or before you face trials, but when you face trials. But how come? “Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (James 1:3). Historically, I know the trials and afflictions that I face are allowed, sometimes produced, by God. Always, they have turned out for the deepening of my faith and the increasing of my satisfaction and joy. God is doing something when I’m hurting and it’s going to be really awesome.

Jesus, I pray that you would increase my faith. Give me joy in the midst of affliction. Not aside from pain, but because of pain. Remind me that whatever you are working is for my good and your glory. Jesus, speak this peace over your Church across the globe; especially to your children who are hurting much worse than I have. Teach us faith, teach us perseverance. God, for the sake of your glory and our joy, sanctify your Church!

For a book titled Encouragement, I’ve actually found myself kind of discouraged. Now, I ought to clarify that. It’s probably, at least partly, a good discouragement. I’ll elaborate.

Dr. Crabb’s book is basically a beginner level counseling book. He speaks, almost medically, about people’s tendencies, thoughts, feelings, fears, etc. This alone, I don’t think would be terribly useful. However, Dr. Crabb builds relatively well on top of biblical foundation (albeit stretching things sometimes) which allows him to speak with more authority.

While I didn’t agree with everything Dr. Crabb had to say, I completely agree with the overall theme of the book, which is simply this: Rely only on God for everything, and on all occasions hold others above yourself. A pretty simple and elementary message, as some would say, but Dr. Crabb tenderly builds a subtext that clearly reveals the rarity with which we actually practice that message.

Encouragement spends the first twelve chapters dealing with the heart and motive of the encourager and only in the last two chapters does Dr. Crabb move onto encouraging others. He argues (well) that encouragement requires that the encourager’s heart be right in his words and actions. He delves deeply into people’s thoughts and motives behind why they speak and what they choose to speak and how they choose to speak it. The discussion is done with a level of care and intimacy that will almost certainly hit home with the reader.

There were some things that I disagreed with, although they may really just be contextual grievances. I think that Dr. Crabb failed to take into account the varying degrees of relationships. There are clearly times to go to close friends or wives about troubles and pains in life; that wouldn’t necessarily be wrong, and in many cases could likely be encouraging to the other person. However, Dr. Crabb paints a picture of encouragement that makes it sound like encouragers are not ever to voluntarily open up themselves and their grief to another person—barring the circumstance that the other person comes looking for it. It was this that caused me to find myself walking the line of discouragement. However, that point seems to be made, inadvertently, between the lines and I doubt Dr. Crabb would actually say that outright.

Ultimately, this book caused a great deal of introspection in me. It forced a serious evaluation of my thoughts and motives and actions. With time and prayer, I hope that the concepts in this book will bear fruit in my relationships with God and people.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to the casual reader. I could easily see it becoming confusing or even an undue pressure and discouragement if misunderstood. However, anyone able and willing to approach the book, at least kind of academically, will probably find a lot to learn here.

God really blessed this night. It came after a string of two or three days of rough conversations, difficult interactions, and emotional and spiritual failures on my part. Needless to say the day came upon me while I was discouraged.

After a particularly difficult conversation this afternoon, I was invited to join a good friend’s youth group to serve a group of homeless people and eat dinner with them. I was asked to take photographs of the kids serving—something that I very quickly found myself convicted for. Once the men and women came in, I tried to find some way to take the pictures without making it look like we thought we were better than them. I found it almost impossible; probably because that’s exactly the problem with it. It wasn’t long before I just put the stupid camera away and tried my best to love them as fellow humans, created by God in his image. I met some beautiful people.

One couple stands out especially in my mind; Emery, Tasha and their thirteen month old son, Logan. Emery’s father was deported and his mother was forced t move down south. Emery and Tasha got pregnant very young forcing Emery to quit school and Tasha to quit her job. On Emery’s salary, they weren’t able afford their apartment and a few days ago they got evicted. They’ve been pseudo living in a church trying to figure out how to make some money. I had the great privilege of playing with Logan and talking to Emery. Emery is ashamed because he feels unable to provide for his son. But he loves his son deeply and that will go a long way. Being that the couple is close to my own age, I hope to be able to build a friendship with them.

After giving my phone number to Emery, the lot of us headed back home. I and a group of others headed back to my house where we worshipped in song and shared communion together. It truly was a great blessing.

So why do I share all this? I guess I’m not sure that there’s a really great reason. I am greatly humbled by those who God allowed me to meet tonight and I’m encouraged by the worship God provided for us give tonight.

Thank you Jesus for having provided so abundantly. Thank you Jesus for loving us, for coming for us, the dying for us, for saving us. Jesus, I pray that you would invade Emery and Tasha’s hearts and bring them to salvation. Jesus, I pray for Logan as he grows, I pray that by some act of your providence you would allow him to be raised according to your truth. Humble me more deeply Jesus, sanctify your church, God!