John Adams wrote to a friend,

“Objects of the most stupendous magnitude, measures in which the lives and liberties of millions, born and unborn are most essentially interested, are now before us. We are in the very midst of revolution, the most complete, unexpected, and remarkable of any in the history of the world.”

To Richard Stockton, one of the new delegates from New Jersey, Adams was “the Atlas” of the hour, “the man to whom the country is most indebted for the great measure of independency….He it was who sustained the debate, and by the force of his reasoning demonstrated not only the justice, but the expediency of the measure.”

Even though contributions were made by others, such as Adams and Franklin, the words of the Declaration of Independence were Thomas Jefferson’s. It was Jefferson who had written them for all time:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The following video is from the HBO series, ‘John Adams’. Watch this video with great appreciation for what God, in his providence, accomplished for this country in 1776. Happy 4th! I join together with you as we all celebrate our freedom and independence.

I have just started a seperate site to display my photographs. Please visit by clicking below. I hope you enjoy.

Dustin Benge Photography

On July2, Congress finally adopted a resolution in favor of independence, and on July 4 approved the Declaration of Independence. John Adams sat on the committee appointed to draft the document and had himself encouraged Thomas Jefferson to write the original draft, which was accepted with some modifications. As is typical of John Adams, he recognized the historical significance of the event but was just slightly off in his analysis of how it would be remembered - he was convinced Americans would always celebrate July 2 as “the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.

John writes to his wife Abigail from Philadelphia July 3, 1776:

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even although We should rue it, with I trust in God We shall not.

For the past few days I have been feasting on a sermon by Jonathan Edwards entitled, “Heaven, a World of Love.” This sermon is drawn from the series ‘Charity and It’s Fruits’ Edwards preached from 1 Corinthians 13:8-10. Reading from Banner of Truth’s new Pocket Puritan series, there was a small paragraph that struck me on page 42.

“And in heaven this desire of love, or this fondness for being loved, will never fail of being satisfied. No inhabitants of that blessed world will ever be grieved with the thought that they were slighted by those that they love, or that their love is not fully and fondly returned.”

There is a deep desire in everyone to love, and in loving, for that love to be returned. We can love a great many things in this life that do not reciprocate that love back to us. We can love a car, a home, land, or any other material position but those things will never return the love. However, as Edwards describes, that will not be the case in that heavenly city.

When someone loves and demonstrates the capacity to love there is also a fondness in that love being returned. There is nothing more devastating than to find that in loving someone that the love we give has never been returned. In heaven our “fondness” for being loved, “will never fail of being satisfied”. In demonstrating our love for God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, angels, and other saints, we will fully and completely have that love returned to us. Not only will that love be returned to us but we will not experience even the slightest hesitancy in the return. In other words, there will never be a moment where we think that the person we love is not returning that love to us in the most complete and fullest measure.

When love is not returned, whether in a marriage, friendship, or any other relationship, we are grieved. For example, we are grieved because of the time and effort invested in building a love relationship with someone. We are grieved because it may mean a friendship has come to an end. However, in that blessed city there will never be grief or sadness because the love we have shown has not been returned. Not only will love be returned in a full measure and with no hesitancy, but it will be “fully and fondly returned”. In other words, the person returning the love will return it with delight and joy. We will not sense reluctance in their love. The love will therefore be heightened because it will be mingled with delight and joy in its expression.

God has never failed to demonstrate his full and fond love upon his blessed children. The greatest expression of that love was demonstrated on the cross as he crushed his Son - all for the love of his children. That great expression of love will be the fountain head upon which all love will flow in heaven. The cross will be the well from which we dip as we express love in heaven.

If your love has never been returned in this world, if your love has not been appreciated with full joy and delight, if you grieve and are saddened because you think love shown to you is with great hesitancy, TAKE HEART! Heaven is a world of love from which you will experience, for all of eternity, love to its fullest extent and magnitude as we gaze and worship the One from whom all love originates and flows.

Paul gives us an exposition and description of the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:27-31. Yet in reading these passages it brings up the question: do all the spiritual gifts serve an ongoing life in the church? Are all the spiritual gifts that began in the New Testament church present in the life of the church today? There are four prominent views that answer these questions.

The first view is called the cessationist view. This view explains that some gifts that were present in the era of the Apostles have truly ceased in today’s church. Now there are two sides to this view, the reformed side and the dispensalationist side. For the reformed person the basis of all the spiritual gifts is Sola Scriptura. The dispensalationist view says God has spoken through the people and though these gifts for that particular time in redemptive history. So no matter what side or position one takes the main premise is that some of the gifts have ceased with the ending of the apostolic era. It is necessary to remember that all the gifts were given for the edification and building up of the church. For example the gift of prophecy is simply people delivering a message from God; “thus sayeth the Lord.” The gift of the tongues is the equivalent of prophecy, speaking in languages that they do not know as a word of prophecy. According to the cessationist view God gave these gifts because there was no New Testament. God moves upon His people for revelation - this is the foundation. For example, something may be right and not be prophecy. These gifts were for the authentication of those performing them and the revelation of God to the people of the early church during the apostolic era. We have the full revelation of God now in the Scripture and have no need of prophecy, tongues, etc… These gifts are revelatory gifts and now we have the full revelation of God in the Bible. This is the view I hold.

The second view is the Pentecostal view which began in the early 20th century. Such notable beginnings were at Asuzu Street and in the Assembly of God movement. In this view one is baptized into the Holy Spirit sometime after conversion and this is evidenced by speaking in tongues. The main emphasis is on speaking in tongues as evidence that you have been “baptized” in the Holy Spirit. In other words, tongues are a sign of the baptism of the Spirit. Their scriptural basis for this thought is found in Acts 19:1-6.

Charismatic is the next view. Now many different types of churches can be charismatic. There is a gift of speaking in tongues which may continue to be in the life of the church. In other words, all the gifts are always given to the church. This is actually more biblical than the Pentecostal view.

Finally we have what is called the third wave movement. This movement began in the 1970’s with Fuller Seminary and says that miraculous gifts confirm the gospel is true. You evangelize through these gifts. The gifts are used in missionary settings or other extreme circumstance in order to share or relay the gospel message confirming what you are saying is really truth.

In one final word and in response to a person who is trying to experience the “fullness” of the gospel by praying in tongues I would say it is only in a knowledge and understanding of the scripture that you will have a fullness of the gospel. The gospel is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the scripture. One does not need a special gift such as tongues to understand the gospel. Do you even understand what you are saying? You need the written word, something you can trust, and something that is the true revelation of God.

Man is completely devoid of good in himself, and without any means of gaining his own salvation. If he wants help in that situation, he has to go outside himself and find it elsewhere. Somewhere that is not earthly but heavenly. God opens up the treasures of heaven for us in Christ and secures our salvation through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Upon entering that relationship with Christ through salvation we learn, by faith, that God supplies whatever we need in Christ Jesus and that we may draw from him as from an inexhaustible fountain. The avenue for which we receive such things is prayer.

If we recognize God as the sovereign giver of all good things, but do not pass on our requests to him, it will do us no good. John Calvin said it is as if we were told of some buried treasure but we ignored it and let it stay in the ground. The apostle Paul, in order to show that fain unaccompanied by prayer cannot be genuine, puts things in this order: as faith springs from the Gospel, so by faith our hearts are influenced to call upon the name of God (Romans 10.14). Paul also speaks of the “Spirit of adoption,” which seals the Gospel in our hearts, gives us courage to make our requests known to God, causes groanings which cannot be uttered and enables us to cry ‘Abba, Father’ (Romans 8.15, 26). Calvin describes prayer this way,

Prayer enables us to explore the riches which are treasured up for us with out heavenly Father. There is real contact between God and men when they enter the upper sanctuary, appear before him and claim his promises. We learn by experience that what we believed merely on the authority of his Word is true. There is nothing that we can expect from the Lord, for which we are not also told to pray. Prayer digs up the treasures which the Gospel reveals to the eye of faith. The need of prayer, and its usefulness, cannot be emphasized too much. The father declares rightly that our only security lies in calling on his name, because by doing this we are asking him, by his Providence, to look after us. His power will strengthen us in our weakness, his goodness will keep us in his favour, sinful as we are, and we can ask him to reveal himself to us in all his perfection. So deep peace and tranquility are given to our consciences. When we lay our burdens before the Lord, we can rest in complete assurance that none of our problems is unknown to him, and he is able and willing to provide for us in the best way.

As we approach the discipline and practice of prayer there are several rules, according to Calvin, that we need to keep in mind.

1. The first rule of prayer is to have the heart and mind in the right mood for talking with God. This is only achieved as we put away carnal thoughts and fleshly desires and saturate our minds and hearts in the word of God, concentrating fully upon prayer and the glory of God.
2. The second guideline must be that we should only ask what God allows. Although he tells us to pour out our hearts (Psalm 62.8), he does not include giving way to stupid and depraved desires. Calvin said, “When he promises to grant believers their requests, he does not intend to indulge our slightest whim.
3. Another condition of prayer is that, in asking, we must be sincerely aware of out needs. Many people repeat prayers in a half-hearted way and follow a set form, as if they were carrying out some task before God. Do not pray out of a sense of duty and with a cold heart. Come into the presence of God with reverence, great seriousness, expecting God’s name to be hallowed when you pray, “Hallowed be Thy name.” Expect the answer for which you pray.
4. The fourth rule of prayer is that the one who comes into God’s presence to pray must get rid of all boasting and self-opinionated ideas. Self-confidence must be thrown aside and God be given all the glory.
5. The fifth rule of prayer is that, despite the necessary humbling, we should be spurred on to pray with real confidence of success. The two things are perfectly consistent, if we are aware that it is only the goodness of God which lifts the contrite sinner.

Our Lord Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours” (Mark 11.24) and again “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21.22).

The first thing we must do is to hand ourselves over to God, and devote the total energy of our minds to His service. Secondly, we must not follow our own way but the Lord’s will, and aim always to promote His glory. Thirdly, the only right way is the way of love, as we put our neighbor’s advantage above our own. The Lord commands us to do good to everyone without exception, even though the majority, do not deserve it. So we shall succeed in denying ourselves if we fulfill these duties demanded by love.

Since the purchase of a new camera I have been taking pictures relentlessly. I have become greatly interested in photography and have found it as a way to enjoy God’s wondrous creation. I wanted to share a few of my shots.