Author Archives: Jim Mc.

The Lord Bless You and Keep You

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In Numbers 6 we find one of the most lovely instructions in all of the Old Testament.  God gives words to Moses to bless the children of Israel.  The passage reads:

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,  “Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, ‘On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.'” (Numbers 6:22-26)

Those words have a permanent place in my memory.  As a young Lutheran boy, every service closed with those words as a benediction.

They’ve also been set to music and the “Great Hymns of the Faith” hymnal we use at GCA contains the classic choral arrangement by Peter C. Lutkin (1858-1931).  It’s a short, beautiful bit of music.  So, I decided many months ago to record it.

My original plan was to create “The GCA Digital Choir” — gathering various singers from the congregation, recording them separately and individually, doubling voices, and building the tracks until I had formed a virtual choir.  But, the project grew rather unwieldy.  So tonight, after sitting on the project for months, I sat down and took the four essential voices — Charlie singing soprano, Carol as alto, Jamey as tenor and Daniel holding down the bottom notes — and began mixing.  The end result was quite pleasant.

Just click below.  Hope you enjoy it.  And thanks to the folk who were kind enough (and patient enough!) to sing along.

The Lord Bless You and Keep You

A Couple Audio Moments with Elder Ward

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Anyone who listens to our podcasts has heard me mention Elder D.J. Ward.  He’s one of the men who ordained me and I openly admit that he, more than anyone, demonstrated to me what it means to be a pastor.  I recently mentioned on a Sunday morning podcast that I had been listening to some old audio of Elder preaching and several folk asked if I would share some of that.

I’m happy to oblige.

The two segments I’m sharing today harken back to January 5, 1992.  It was an evening service at Main Street Baptist Church in Lexington, KY.  That evening there was a baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  The whole recording ran about two hours and had a terrible hum and buzz throughout.  So, I did some digital noise suppression to it in an attempt to make it less annoying.  But, because the noise was so loud, that process also suppressed some fo the ambient noise and congregation response.  Still, the end result if quite listenable.

These segmenets are edited, obviously.  Elder occasionally engaged in long pauses.  I shortened some of them for listenability’s sake.  And I removed some of the references and comments that only fit that occasion and timeframe.  But, the essential message — and the power with which he delivered it — is intact.

On the last occasion that I saw Elder alive, we were gathered in Chattanooga for the annual men’s conference.  Elder taught the preachers during the day, seated in a chair, breathing oxygen from a tank, his voice barely above a whisper.  But sometimes he’d forget himself and start preaching with a surprising vigor.  He moved us to tears.  He cajoled us.  He instructed us.  And he made us laugh, forgetting for the moment that our friend and mutual pastor was in his last days.

After he was done, we gathered downstairs at New Home Baptist Church for a fish dinner.  Not supper, mind you.  Dinner.  Elder always made that distinction.  I was seated at his table.  But, before I sat down, I stopped and kissed his head, saying, “You can throw cancer on the man, strap him to an oxygen machine, and make him sit down, but he’ll still out-preach me on my best day.”  He threw his back and laughed.

But, it’s true.

Enjoy.

Some Comments about Baptism

Outside the Camp — Communion Teaching

Mike's Conference Pix 014

The Sovereignty Series (with notes)

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One of the most popular teaching series on our website is The Sovereignty Series.

The original 7-part series was taught at GCA back in March-May, 2004. It was a direct result of a succession of personal struggles and painful life-events.  God’s sovereignty was the only place I found comfort and it remains an essential building block of the over-arching theology of Biblical Christianity.  God is in full control of His creation and that truth is the source of great assurance.

So anyway, eight years went by and I was invited to teach on the topic of God’s sovereignty at the 2012 Sovereign Grace Bible Conference in Mesquite, TX.  I was to teach for five nights, so I broke the subject down into five components:

  1. The first section was devoted to establishing the concept of God’s sovereign rule. It was essentially a summary of the original series, proving that the Bible repeatedly declares God’s absolute authority over all things, all events, and all creatures.
  2. The second section was devoted to answering a common objection to the teaching of God’s absolute authority; to wit, if God is in complete control and has determined everything from the beginning, why do we pray?  It’s called Sovereignty and Prayer.
  3. The third section was also in response to an objection.  The critic of God’s sovereignty wrongly asserts that the teaching of predestination undermines genuine evangelism.  So, this section is entitled Sovereignty and Evangelism.
  4. The fourth section deals with the question, “If God is in complete control, and if He’s a good God, then why is there so much suffering in the world?”  It’s called Sovereignty and Suffering.
  5. And finally, if it’s true that God is utterly in control, then that implies that it’s up to Him to determine who is saved and who is ultimately judged.  That idea obviously flies in the face of man’s supposed free will, so it’s a hotly-contested bit of theology. But, we faced it head-on in Sovereignty and Salvation.

Both the GCA version of the series and the five-night presentation in Texas are available in mp3 form on our archive site (just click the link above that says, “The Sovereignty Series“).  The first night in Mesquite was not recorded, but the remaining four nights are available via that link — and like everything on our site, it’s free.

But, the reason for this particular blog post is that, as folk find and listen to that series, they hear me referencing the notes that were handed out at the conference and they email me asking for a copy.  And the answer is yes, you are welcome to a free pdf of my notes.  They are not available on our website, but you can download them right here:

The Sovereignty Series – 2012 Sovereign Grace Bible Conference Notes

And thanks for the interest, the inquiries, and the ongoing support of the ministry and teaching of GCA.