Praise the Lord for sound doctrine

All too often we forget what many have gone through in the past to give us such polished theology for today. God has used those in the history of the church to expose truth to many who were in spiritual ignorance. This book is about just that. John Hooper, Rowland Taylor, Hugh Latimer, John Bradford, and Nicholas Ridley all took a stand for the truth of God's word and they were burned at the stake in return. I am amazed a the stand that these men took and the opposition they received yet they stood strong on the foundation of truth that we often times take for granted. This foundation of truth was not taught to them from years of tradition as well as thoroughly articulated systematic theology books. They were taught these truths by the Holy Spirit through the word of God in a time when hardly anybody thought that was an option. I will leave out the specific doctrines that they stood for (in hopes that you will seek it out) and just encourage you to thank God daily for good doctrine and the easy access that we have to it. I just want to give you a few quotes from the men this book was written about.

John Hooper wrote these words on his prison cell wall:

"Content thyself with patience, with Christ to bear the cross of pain: Who can or will recompense a thousand-fold, with joys again. Let nothing cause thy heart to fail: Launch out thy boat, hoist up thy sail,Put from the shore; And be thou sure thou shalt remain, for evermore.

Fear not death, pass not for bands, only in God put thy whole trust; For He will require thy blood at their hands, And thou dost know that once die thou must, Only for that thy life if thy give, death is no death, but amens to live. Do not despair; Of no worldly tyrant be thou in dread; Thy compass which is God's word, shall lead thee, and the wind is fair."

Rowland Taylor just before he was attached to the stake:

"Good people, I have taught you nothing but God's Holy Word, and those lessons that I have taken out of God's blessed book, the Holy Bible; and I am come hither to this day to seal it with my blood."

Hugh Latimer, who arose at 2 am to study each morning, left the world with these words:

"Be of good comfort, Master Ridley (another reformer he was burned with), and play the man; We shall this day light such a candle. By God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

John Bradford spoke of his being wrongly condemned:

"When I consider the cause of my condemnation, I cannot but lament that I do not rejoice more than I do, for it is God's verity and truth. The condemnation is not a condemnation of Bradford simply, but rather a condemnation of Christ and His truth. Bradford is nothing else but an instrument, in whom Christ and His doctrine are condemned."

Nicholas Ridley offered up a final supplication as he was at the stake:

"O Heavenly Father, I give unto Thee most hearty thanks, for that Thou hast called me to be a professor of Thee, even unto death. I beseech Thee, Lord God, take mercy upon this realm of England, and deliver the same from all her enemies."

The price these men paid for the doctrines we cherish today should not be forgotten. Read about the martyrs of the past; It will excite your hunger for spiritual growth and deepen your love and commitment to Christ and His truth. May we never take for granted sound doctrine. Praise God for His wonderful grace!

To Every Tribe Ministries

What's up y'all? (I said that because I won't be in TX to much longer)
Just thought you folks in Kentucky might want to know that the founder of "To Every Tribe Ministries" will be speaking at SBTS chapel soon. His name is David Sitton and he has recently set up the Center for Pioneer Church Planting. My little sister Caraboo (her real name is Cara) is enrolled and she loves it. They recently returned from a mission trip to Papa New Guinea where the Lord was pleased to save his people. Read about it at my sister's blog right here.
David loves the Lord and is fully committed to the unreached people groups in Mexico and PNG. Check out this quote of his - I am on a crusade right now to recruit martyr missionaries for the least reached people groups of the world. -David Sitton. I guess maybe that should worry me since my sister is being trained at his school, but it doesn't. Cara would love to die for the gospel of Christ and that is one thing I love about her.
Sarah went on a mission trip to Mexico with TETM and she roughed it, sleeping in a one-person tent with torrential rains slamming down on top of her only to find out that her tent wasn't water proof and hoping that her body weight and the tent pegs could withstand the winds. Ask her about it, she'll tell you.
Anyways (so much for a short post), David spoke at John Piper's pastor's conference and I think you would really enjoy hearing him. You can check that out here. The dates he will be speaking are April 14-17th. Sunday the 15th he will be doing a presentation/teaching at Auburndale Baptist Church. Then, Tuesday morning the 17th he will be speaking at chapel at Southern. Check it out, you will not be disappointed.

Resting in His providence,
Ryan and Sarah

Late St. Patrick's Day

Ok -- please hold all of your tantrums about the tardiness of the post and the title, but when you look at this picture, you will exclaim to yourself -- "MAN, I'm so GLAD they didn't keep this to themselves."

Some background:

We have a man in our church that is a former Catholic priest, Richard Bennett. He has an extensive ministry now to catholics, and preaching all across the nation, and even internationally. His testimony is simply encouraging and convicting. (P.S. He is Irish as well!!) You can check out his ministry at The Berean Beacon!!! His website is awesome! Great resources about catholic apologists, testimonies, church history, and much much more! So I encourage you, visit the site, listen to some of his resources, and be encouraged!



And now for the belated St. Patrick's Day gift to you all:

Our Sufficiency in Christ

What one word would describe this book? Solid, nourishing, meaty..I have no idea, but it was excellent. I cannot think of a better book to read if you want to be exposed to the problems facing the church today and their biblical answers. This book is amazing. I finished it on the flight home from Kentucky and I have to say that it made me long to be in a church somewhere and see to it that the Christ is preeminent through biblical preaching, teaching, counseling and study (not psychology or psychotherapy or any other psycho- word). J-Mac really hits the nail on the head with this one.

The thrust of the book is this; Christ is sufficient, stop settling for all the worldly gimmicks such as psychology, legalism, asceticism, exorcisms, pragmatism, quietism vs. pietism, and the like. I mean, you name a problem in the church and it is dealt with in one way or another in this book. That's the beauty of Christ, He sufficiently meets every need we will ever face! That is precisely what MacArthur is probing us towards. Be satisfied in Christ! Please, don't let me exalt this book over the bible, the scripture index is only eight pages long. In every chapter Johnny is expositing LARGE chunks of scripture to refute or expose the problems he is mentioning. After reading each chapter you will have a greater understanding of key scriptural texts necessary for the resisting of these sinful tendencies in the church as well as outright heresies that are creeping in unnoticed.

Probably the most entertaining chapter of the book (not that the book is meant to entertain) was chapter 3, "Does God Need a Psychiatrist?" Now you talk about scary. Macarthur exposes some problems and contradictions that exist within psychiatry. He discusses the professionalism of it all and questions whether or not it is a science at all. Here are some quotes from Time magazine in their article called, "Psychiatry on the Couch" pulled from chapter three.

"Psychiatrists themselves acknowledge that their profession often smacks of modern alchemy--full of jargon, obfuscation and mystification, but precious little real knowledge..."

"Scottish psychiatrist and poet R.D. Lang is sure that schizophrenia is real--and that it is good for you. Explains Lang: it is a kind of psychedelic epiphany, far superior to normal experience."

"The article went on to chronicle the failures of psychiatry, noting that, 'of all patients, one-third are eventually "cured," one-third are helped somewhat, and one-third are not helped at all.'"

Are you kidding me? Schizophrenia may be a good thing? Only one-third are actually cured (and that according to the psychiatrists standards)? Wow, that should make you thankful for Christ. The whole book is not an assault on psychiatry. I only chose to mention those quotes because they were extremely interesting to me.

This book is a must read for all Christians. Entire chapters are devoted to the sufficiency of Christ and His word as well as sanctification and obedience. To this date, this was probably the most insightful and encouraging book I have read, save God's Holy Word. I'll leave you with a few more quotes. If these do not make you love Christ more, read them again:

"We must hold fast to Christ's sufficiency -- never adding to it or taking from it. In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). In Him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form (2:9). We have been made complete in Him (2:10). And nothing can ever separate us from Him (Rom. 8:35-39). What more do we need?"

MacArthur closes the book with this:

"My prayer is that you won't exchange the fountain of life from which flow rivers of living water for the broken pots being sold today-which hold no water." Jeremiah 2:13

Our Trio is down to Two

I love random, bizzare, creepy, scary pets. I keep them in my classroom so the kids can ooh and ahh over them. I have a tarantula named Fuzzy; but that's not the bizzare pet that I am referring to. I also have three Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. I mean these things are hideous. Sarah won't even eat lunch within 10 feet of these things. This will help you get an idea about how big they are. Remember those rectangular pink erasers that you used to have in elementary school? These cockroaches dwarf those erasers. They are "ginormous" as some of my kids would tell you. The coolest thing about them is this; when they feel threatened they hiss really loudly. REALLY loudly. You know when grease falls off a barbeque pit, hits the fire and makes a loud hissing noise? You know how loud that is? They can hiss that loud. No lie. It's intimidating. You can check out Hissing Cockroaches at this sight:

 

http://www.angelfire.com/in/ghcfaq/

 

Well, their names are Larry, Moe and Curly and believe it or not, they have become loved by many in our classroom. Sadly, over spring break Larry passed away (Yes, I know them by name. Larry was the larger of the two brown roaches; Moe is the black roach). Funeral services will be held this afternoon as we bury him behind the school. Visitation will be all day today. Right now he rests in peace in the bottom of an empty goldfish box. He deserves the best. Comforting comments and prayers will be appreciated as it will be a tough day for all cockroach lovers.

 

Peace,

Ryan

Kentucky

WOW! Sarah and I are in Kentucky right now enjoying our visit to the seminary. This place is absolutely amazing. The staff is full of STUDS that authored many of the books that are on our bookshelf. Hanging out with all our friends and family has been a great encouragement and a confirmation of the Lord's calling on our lives. I cannot fully express in words what the Lord is doing here but I know one thing; this seminary is training men who will faithfully preach the word of God, rightly dividing it and bringing it to bare on the souls of all in the church. We are absolutely pumped about moving here sometime this summer. Well, i'm off to turn in my application in person so that I don't have to pay the application fee!! Oh, by the way...the REAL reason we are moving here is this: Every restaurant has sweet tea. Makes me feel good all over more than anywhere else.

Keep the dream alive,
Ryan

Thousands Saved, Millions Rededicated

Well, things are good in the Bebee household. Just wanted to let everyone know we haven't fallen off the face of the earth or anything. We are headed up to Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday and staying until Thursday. We hope to spend time with our family and friends that are living there, view the seminary, and look for a place to live in the Fall (as well as just get away from everything). We are extremely excited and can't wait to see everybody.

I preached on Super Bowl Sunday, the evening service. That's right, I preached during the Super Bowl. I thought it was probably a test by our pastor to see if I was really commited to preaching the word. If you want to hear the sermon click here.

Look down under the sermon descriptions and you will see it. It is labeled Ryan Bebee - 1 Pet. 4:1-6. If you have trouble finding it let me know. Thousands really were saved, and millions really did rededicate their lives...so be prepared, the same could happen to you.

Ryan