In the Valley

Words and music by Bob Kauflin
As recorded on Valley of Vision


When You lead me to the valley of vision
I can see You in the heights
And though my humbling wouldn’t be my decision
It’s here Your glory shines so bright
So let me learn that the cross precedes the crown
To be low is to be high
That the valley’s where You make me more like Christ

Let me find Your grace in the valley
Let me find Your life in my death
Let me find Your joy in my sorrow
Your wealth in my need
That You’re near with every breath
In the valley

In the daytime there are stars in the heavens
But they only shine at night
And the deeper that I go into darkness
The more I see their radiant light
So let me learn that my losses are my gain
To be broken is to heal
That the valley’s where Your power is revealed

© 2006 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

It Was Your Grace

Words and music by Mark Altrogge
As recorded on Valley of Vision


It was Your grace that drew me to the cross
It was Your grace that gave me faith
It was Your grace that reconciled me to Yourself
Though I had sinned in every way
You disarmed me of everything that I would lean on
So I would lean on You
And You stripped me of everything I would depend on
So I’d depend on You

In You alone my strength is found
In You alone my hope abounds
In You alone my strength is found
My life is bound up in You

And in my weakness give me still more grace
Grace to cast myself on You
In every trial let me find Your peace and joy
And grace to humbly walk with You
O disarm me of everything that I would lean on
So I will lean on You
Jesus, strip me of everything I would depend on
So I’ll depend on You

Give me more grace
Give me more grace
And new mercies every morning
Give me new mercies

© 2005 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

Memorizing Scripture

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/memorizing-scripture-why-and-how

Memorizing Scripture: Why and How
April 9, 2011 | by: John Piper 

 Here is inspiration and application on why and how to memorize Scripture.

Why Do It?

First, the inspiration.

Dallas Willard, professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, wrote,

Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what it needs. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That’s where you need it! How does it get in your mouth? Memorization.

(“Spiritual Formation in Christ for the Whole Life and Whole Person” in Vocatio, Vol. 12, no. 2, Spring, 2001, 7).

Chuck Swindoll wrote,

I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. . . . No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified.

 (Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994], 61).

How to Do It

Second, the application.

The most helpful practical method I have ever run into, especially for memorizing longer passages, is the booklet from Andy Davis and is downloadable here."

Dr. Andrew Davis's booklet:
An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture
 http://www.fbcdurham.org/assets/Media-Library/Scripture-Memory-Booklet-for-Publication-Website-Layout.pdf

APOLOGETICS training by Dr. G. Bahnsen - V. Problems for Unbelieving Worldviews

Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen - Basic Training for Defending the Faith.
V. Problems for Unbelieving Worldviews
http://www.youtube.com/user/gregbahnsen#g/c/E4D6369D18700F91

Specific examples on how to defend the faith

Acts 17:16
Setting: Paul in Athens, the philosophic capital of Ancient Greece
Provoked by pervasiveness of idolatry, so he reasoned in the synagogues and marketplace everyday.
Dealt with their views and his views, but they just wanted to mock him.
Showed internal contradiction in their worldview.
Declares providence of God  (that man may find Him)

The 4 Main Problems:

repentance & faith

Rom 7:4	Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Rom 7:5	For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were arousedby the Law, were at work in [fn3]the members of our body to bear fruit for death.
Rom 7:6	But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the [fn4]Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
Rom 7:7	What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except [fn5]through the Law; for I would not have known about [fn6]coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT [fn7]COVET."
Rom 7:8	But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me[fn8]coveting of every kind; for apart [fn9]from the Law sin is dead.
Rom 7:9	I was once alive apart [fn10]from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;
Rom 7:10	and this commandment, which was [fn11]to result in life, proved [fn12]to result in death for me;
Rom 7:11	for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
Rom 7:12	So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Rom 7:13	Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
Rom 7:14	For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold [fn13]into bondage to sin.
Rom 7:15	For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what Iwould like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
Rom 7:16	But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law,confessing that the Law is good.
Rom 7:17	So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
Rom 7:18	For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
Rom 7:19	For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
Rom 7:20	But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
Rom 7:21	I find then the [fn14]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
Rom 7:22	For I joyfully concur with the law of God [fn15]in the inner man,
Rom 7:23	but I see a different law in [fn16]the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner [fn17]of the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24	Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [fn18]the body of this death?
Rom 7:25	Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Rom 8:1	Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Rom 8:2	For the law of the Spirit of life [fn1]in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Rom 8:3	For what the Law could not do, [fn2]weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of [fn3]sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
Rom 8:4	so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

how to be a hypocrite:

"do as i say, not as i do"

but... doesn't that nullify word that comes out of your mouth? sure been sitting under that a lot this week.

no one expects you to be perfect, but if it's a recurring issue, you need to check yoself and eat some humble pie!