abandoned to Christ.

A dangerous yet well-received and popularly-taught practice within Christianity is, "It's okay to be angry with God. He can handle it." This is not biblical (Ecc 5:1-3; Job 32:2-3, 34:9-10, 40:1-2; Rom 9:19-20). This is megalomaniacal blasphemy. It is not a matter of whether or not God can "handle" our anger against Him. What an utterly foolish assessment. It is a matter of whether or not God Almighty, the LORD of hosts, will tolerate such arrogant "Jesus is my pal" , disrespectful attitude before His most holy presence. As William Gurnall once said,    (1.) Faith spies mercy in the greatest affliction—an eye of white in the saddest mixture of providence; so that when the devil provokes to blasphemy from the evil that the creature receives from God, faith shows more good received than evil.    Thus Job quenched this dart which Satan shot at him from his wife’s tongue. ‘Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall not we receive evil?’ Shall a f...

Many say that the true character of a person is most clearly evident in the midst of trials. I suppose it’s similar to when someone is hungry, in physical pain, or even, inebriated. In all cases, a person hasn’t the physical strength nor mental ingenuity to put on airs. But rather, they’re only capable of being genuine and honest about how they perceive their immediate situation. As a matter of fact, it seems that anytime we’re in a position of various physical deficiencies or discomforts (minor or major, fictitious or true), who we really are, spills out. In these mortal bodies of ours, that is, common jars of common clay, all people either carry within: the life of Christ or the death of sinful man. In recognizing these truths, we can reasonably assess, that just as the essence of an olive uninhibitedly flows out when its pressed, so also, it is with all people. The heat and pressures of trials from without, will prove the essence of a person, either the Treasure (Spiri...