casteel.info http://casteel.info Most recent posts at casteel.info posterous.com Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:19:00 -0800 Marriage was designed to display the new covenant between Christ and the church http://casteel.info/marriage-was-designed-to-display-the-new-cove http://casteel.info/marriage-was-designed-to-display-the-new-cove

The_wedding

Marriage was designed from the beginning to display the new covenant between Christ and the church. We have seen this in Ephesians 5:31-32. The very essence of this new covenant is that Christ passes over the sins of his bride. His bride is free from shame not because she is perfect, but because she has no fear that her lover will condemn her or shame her because of her sin.

This is why the doctrine of justification by grace through faith is at the very heart of what makes marriage work the way God designed it. Justification creates peace with God vertically, in spite of our sin. And when experienced horizontally, it creates shame-free peace between an imperfect man and an imperfect woman.

John Piper - This Momentary Marriage

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:29:41 -0800 Though I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I once was http://casteel.info/though-i-am-not-what-i-ought-to-be-i-am-not-w http://casteel.info/though-i-am-not-what-i-ought-to-be-i-am-not-w I am not what I ought to be — ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be — I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be — soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was; a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:03:00 -0800 Check Out The Downline Builder http://casteel.info/check-out-the-downline-builder http://casteel.info/check-out-the-downline-builder

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:44:00 -0800 C.S. Lewis Writes About "Little Cyclones" http://casteel.info/cs-lewis-writes-about-little-cyclones http://casteel.info/cs-lewis-writes-about-little-cyclones
"We have not much news here; the chief event has been that last week we entertained a lady from New York for four days, with her boys, aged nine and seven respectively. Can you imagine two crusted old bachelors in such a situation? It however went swimmingly, though it was very exhausting; the energy of the American small boy is astonishing."

"I realize I have never respected young married people enough and never dreamed of the Sabbath calm which descends on the house when the little cyclones have gone to bed and all the grown-ups fling themselves into chairs and the silence of exhaustion."

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:10:00 -0800 Martin Luther King's Last Speech http://casteel.info/martin-luther-kings-last-speech http://casteel.info/martin-luther-kings-last-speech

All we say to America is, "Be true to what you said on paper."

You can read the entire speech here.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0800 Sit Still, God Is At Work http://casteel.info/sit-still-god-is-at-work http://casteel.info/sit-still-god-is-at-work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See how much [God] has been able to accomplish through me, though I did no more than pray and preach. The Word did it all. Had I wished I might have started a conflagration at Worms. But while I sat still and drank beer with Philip and Amsdorf, God dealt the papacy a mighty blow.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:37:24 -0800 The Post-Program Church http://casteel.info/the-post-program-church http://casteel.info/the-post-program-church

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:48:29 -0800 Free Audiobook Download - Knowing God http://casteel.info/free-audiobook-download-knowing-god http://casteel.info/free-audiobook-download-knowing-god

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:59:00 -0800 Grace Is A Person http://casteel.info/grace-is-a-person http://casteel.info/grace-is-a-person

[R]emember that there isn’t a thing, a substance, or a “quasi-substance” called “grace.” All there is is the person of the Lord Jesus — “Christ clothed in the gospel,” as Calvin loved to put it. Grace is the grace of Jesus. If I can highlight the thought here: there is no “thing” that Jesus takes from Himself and then, as it were, hands over to me. There is only Jesus Himself.

Sinclair Ferguson
(via)

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:22:00 -0800 Happy Thanksgiving! http://casteel.info/happy-thanksgiving http://casteel.info/happy-thanksgiving
Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:16:16 -0800 Hillsong's Born Is The King http://casteel.info/hillsongs-born-is-the-king http://casteel.info/hillsongs-born-is-the-king It's a little early for Christmas music, but this is too good not to share.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:00:00 -0700 He Will Bring Day From Night http://casteel.info/he-will-bring-dark-to-light http://casteel.info/he-will-bring-dark-to-light

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:31:33 -0700 What Does It Mean To Believe On The Lord Jesus Christ And How Do I Do That? http://casteel.info/what-does-it-mean-to-believe-on-the-lord-jesu http://casteel.info/what-does-it-mean-to-believe-on-the-lord-jesu To the question: What must I do to be saved?, the old gospel replies: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. To the further question: What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?, its reply is: It means knowing oneself to be a sinner, and Christ to have died for sinners; abandoning all self-righteousness and self-confidence, and casting oneself wholly upon Him for pardon and peace; and exchanging one’s natural enmity and rebellion against God for a spirit of grateful submission to the will of Christ through the renewing of one’s heart by the Holy Ghost. And to the further question still: How am I to go about believing on Christ and repenting, if I have no natural ability to do these things?, it answers: Look to Christ, speak to Christ, cry to Christ, just as you are; confess your sin, your impenitence, your unbelief, and cast yourself on His mercy; ask Him to give you a new heart, working in you true repentance and firm faith; ask Him to take away your evil heart of unbelief and to write His law within you, that you may never henceforth stray from Him. Turn to Him and trust Him as best you can, and pray for grace to turn and trust more thoroughly; use the means of grace expectantly, looking to Christ to draw near to you as you seek to draw near to Him; watch, pray, read and hear God’s Word, worship and commune with God’s people, and so continue till you know in yourself beyond doubt that you are indeed a changed being, a penitent believer, and the new heart which you desired has been put within you. The emphasis in this advice is on the need to call upon Christ directly, as the very first step.

So do not postpone action till you think you are better, but honestly confess your badness and give yourself up here and now to the Christ who alone can make you better; and wait on Him till His light rises in your soul, as Scripture promises that it shall do. Anything less than this direct dealing with Christ is disobedience of the gospel.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:41:45 -0700 Do Not So Hate Christ That You Will Rather Perish Than Accept Deliverance By Him http://casteel.info/do-not-so-hate-christ-that-you-will-rather-pe http://casteel.info/do-not-so-hate-christ-that-you-will-rather-pe Consider the infinite condescension and love of Christ, in his invitations and calls of you to come unto him for life, deliverance, mercy, grace, peace and eternal salvation. Multitudes of these invitations and calls are recorded in the Scripture, and they are all of them filled up with those blessed encouragements which divine wisdom knows to be suited unto lost, convinced sinners.... In the declaration and preaching of them, Jesus Christ yet stands before sinners, calling, inviting, encouraging them to come unto him.

This is somewhat of the word which he now speaks unto you: Why will ye die? why will ye perish? why will ye not have compassion on your own souls? Can your hearts endure, or can your hands be strong, in the day of wrath that is approaching?... Look unto me, and be saved; come unto me, and I will ease you of all sins, sorrows, fears, burdens, and give rest unto your souls. Come, I entreat you; lay aside all procrastinations, all delays; put me off no more; eternity lies at the door...do not so hate me as that you will rather perish than accept of deliverance by me.

These and the like things doth the Lord Christ continually declare, proclaim, plead and urge upon the souls of sinners.... He doth it in the preaching of the word, as if he were present with you, stood amongst you, and spake personally to every one of you.... He hath appointed the ministers of the gospel to appear before you, and to deal with you in his stead, avowing as his own the invitations which are given you in his name, 2 Cor. v. 19, 20.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Wed, 07 Sep 2011 23:05:40 -0700 Truth From God Which All Are Bound To Believe And Act On http://casteel.info/truth-from-god-which-all-are-bound-to-believe http://casteel.info/truth-from-god-which-all-are-bound-to-believe According to Scripture, preaching the gospel is entirely a matter of proclaiming to men, as truth from God which all are bound to believe and act on, the following four facts:
  1. that all men are sinners, and cannot do anything to save themselves;
  2. that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is a perfect Saviour for sinners, even the worst;
  3. that the Father and the Son have promised that all who know themselves to be sinners and put faith in Christ as Saviour shall be received into favour, and none cast out (which promise is “a certain infallible truth, grounded upon the superabundant sufficiency of the oblation of Christ in itself, for whomsoever [few or more] it be intended”);
  4. that God has made repentance and faith a duty, requiring of every man who hears the gospel “a serious full recumbency and rolling of the soul upon Christ in the promise of the gospel, as an all-sufficient Saviour, able to deliver and save to the utmost them that come to God by him; ready, able and willing, through the preciousness of his blood and sufficiency of his ransom, to save every soul that shall freely give up themselves unto him for that end.”
The preacher’s task, in other words, is to display Christ: to explain man’s need of Him, His sufficiency to save, and His offer of Himself in the promises as Saviour to all who truly turn to Him; and to show as fully and plainly as he can how these truths apply to the congregation before him.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Sun, 14 Aug 2011 22:24:00 -0700 Cast Your Burden, Sin, and Fear Upon The Lord http://casteel.info/cast-your-burden-sin-and-fear-upon-the-lord http://casteel.info/cast-your-burden-sin-and-fear-upon-the-lord

Should the power of depression be more than ordinary, think not that all is over with your usefulness. Cast not away your confidence, for it hath great recompense of reward. Even if the enemy's foot be on your neck, expect to rise and overthrow him. Cast the burden of the present, along with the sin of the past and the fear of the future, upon the Lord, who forsaketh not his saints. Live by the day—ay, by the hour. Put no trust in frames and feelings. Care more for a grain of faith than a ton of excitement. Trust in God alone, and lean not on the reeds of human help.

When your own emptiness is painfully forced upon your consciousness, chide yourself that you ever dreamed of being full, except in the Lord. Set small store by present rewards; be grateful for earnests by the way, but look for the recompensing joy hereafter. Continue, with double earnestness to serve your Lord when no visible result is before you. Any simpleton can follow the narrow path in the light: faith's rare wisdom enables us to march on in the dark with infallible accuracy, since she places her hand in that of her Great Guide. Between this and heaven there may be rougher weather yet, but it is all provided for by our covenant Head. In nothing let us be turned aside from the path which the divine call has urged us to pursue.

Charles Spurgeon, from The Minister's Fainting Fits

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:24:00 -0700 Hey, why you running from the freedom of the gospel? http://casteel.info/hey-why-you-running-from-the-freedom-of-the-g http://casteel.info/hey-why-you-running-from-the-freedom-of-the-g

But God got you
And though we all deserve death He still keep putting breath in your nostrils
But you treat Him like an obstacle
See Him come at your convenience like a stop and go
Waiting for a sweeter deal or a sign or something
Like God ain't come down and die or something
Trust me dawg God wants the best for you
That's why the gospel of Christ is addressed to you

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmania.com/crossover_lyrics_lecrae.html

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:58:16 -0700 Be Killing Sin Or It Will Be Killing You http://casteel.info/be-killing-sin-or-it-will-be-killing-you http://casteel.info/be-killing-sin-or-it-will-be-killing-you The choicest believers, who are assuredly freed from the condemning power of sin, ought yet to make it their business all their days to mortify the indwelling power of sin.

So the apostle, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth" (Colossians 3:5). Whom speaks he to? Such as were "risen with Christ" (Colossians 3:1); such as were "dead" with him (Colossians 3:3); such as whose life Christ was, and who should "appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4). Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you. Your being dead with Christ virtually, your being quickened with him, will not excuse you from this work.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:43:22 -0700 True Christianity Is A Fight http://casteel.info/true-christianity-is-a-fight http://casteel.info/true-christianity-is-a-fight The first thing I have to say is this: True Christianity is a fight.

True Christianity! Let us mind that word "true." There is a vast quantity of religion current in the world which is not true, genuine Christianity. It passes muster, it satisfies sleepy consciences; but it is not good money. It is not the authentic reality that called itself Christianity in the beginning. There are thousands of men and women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday and call themselves Christians. They make a "profession" of faith in Christ. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are reckoned Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian marriage service. They mean to be buried as Christians when they die. But you never see any "fight" about their religion! Of spiritual strife and exertion and conflict and self–denial and watching and warring they know literally nothing at all. Such Christianity may satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded and His apostles preached. It is not the religion which produces real holiness. True Christianity is "a fight."

The true Christian is called to be a soldier and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death. He is not meant to live a life of religious ease, indolence and security. He must never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and doze along the way to heaven, like one traveling in an easy carriage. If he takes his standard of Christianity from the children of this world, he may be content with such notions, but he will find no countenance for them in the Word of God. If the Bible is the rule of his faith and practice, he will find his course laid down very plainly in this matter. He must "fight."

With whom is the Christian soldier meant to fight? Not with other Christians. Wretched indeed is that man’s idea of religion who fancies that it consists in perpetual controversy! He who is never satisfied unless he is engaged in some strife between church and church, chapel and chapel, sect and sect, faction and faction, party and party, knows nothing yet as he ought to know. No doubt it may be absolutely needful sometimes to appeal to law courts in order to ascertain the right interpretation of a church’s articles and rubrics and formularies. But, as a general rule, the cause of sin is never so much helped as when Christians waste their strength in quarreling with one another and spend their time in petty squabbles.

No, indeed! The principal fight of the Christian is with the world, the flesh and the devil. These are his never–dying foes. These are the three chief enemies against whom he must wage war. Unless he gets the victory over these three, all other victories are useless and vain. If he had a nature like an angel, and were not a fallen creature, the warfare would not be so essential. But with a corrupt heart, a busy devil and an ensnaring world, he must either "fight" or be lost.

J.C. Ryle, Holiness

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:41:00 -0700 The Highest Of All Missionary Motives http://casteel.info/the-highest-of-all-missionary-motives http://casteel.info/the-highest-of-all-missionary-motives

If, therefore, God desires every knee to bow to Jesus and every tongue
to confess him, so should we. We should be ‘jealous’ (as Scripture
sometimes puts it) for the honour of his name - troubled when it
remains unknown, hurt when it is ignored, indignant when it is
blasphemed, and all the time anxious and determined that it shall be
given the honour and glory which is due to it.

The highest of all missionary motives is neither obedience to the
Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are
alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when
we contemplate the wrath of God), but rather zeal - burning and
passionate zeal - for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Some evangelism, to be sure, is no better than a thinly disguised form
of imperialism, whenever our real ambition is for the honour of the
nation, church, organization, or ourselves. Only one imperialism is
Christian, however, and that is concern for His Imperial Majesty Jesus
Christ, and for the glory of his empire or kingdom.

John Stott

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1092669/DJandDad.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3ssQW9Gv2I2l Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel Andrew Casteel