Bob Kauflin at Worship Matters posts a prayer of confession from the recent WorshipGod06 Conference.  I have pasted the entire post below.

At the WorshipGod06 Conference on Friday night, we read through a public confession of sin, based on a number of the ten commandments. The purpose was not to “grovel in our sin,” but to heighten our awareness of and gratefulness for what Jesus accomplished at the cross. We followed up this confession with Scriptures and songs that celebrated the full forgiveness provided in the substitutionary sacrifice of the Savior. In essence, we preached the Gospel to ourselves. 

We excel at justifying, minimizing, psychologizing, and denying sin and its effects. But regardless of how we try to avoid it, we can’t escape the reality that every sin is an act of cosmic defiance against a supreme, holy, and just God. Here is what we called to mind (I recited the words in italics):

Holy and righteous God, we confess that like Isaiah, we are a people of unclean lips. But it is not only unclean lips we possess. We are people with unclean hands and unclean hearts. We have broken your law times without number, and are guilty of pride, unbelief, self-centeredness and idolatry. Affect our hearts with the severity of our sin and the glory of your righteousness as we now acknowledge our sins in your holy presence.

We have had other gods before you.

We have worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator.
We have sought satisfaction in this world’s pleasures rather than in You.
We have loved to praise our own glory more than yours.

We have taken your name in vain.

We have prayed religious prayers to impress others.
We have uttered your name countless times without reverence or love.
We have listened to others use your name in vain without grieving.

We have murdered in our hearts.

We have often destroyed our neighbor with our tongues.
We have been quick to uncharitably judge others.
We have considered revenge when we were sinned against. 

We have committed adultery with our eyes.

We have loved temptation rather than fighting it.
We have lusted after unlawful and immoral pleasures.
We have justified our lusts by using the world as our standard.

We have stolen what is not ours and coveted what belongs to others.

Our lives overflow with discontent, ungratefulness, and envy.
We have complained in the midst of Your abundant provision.
We have sought to exalt ourselves through owning more.

We have lied to you and to others.

We have told distorted truths, half-truths, and untruths.
We have despised the truth to make ourselves look better.
Even in our confession, we look for ways to hide our guilt.

O God, we have sinned against your mercy times without number. We are ashamed to lift up our faces before you, for our iniquities have gone over our heads. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? How shall we answer you? We lay our hands on our mouths. We have no answer to your righteous wrath and just judgment.

We have no answer. But God Himself has mercifully provided one for us.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Is. 53:6)
 

 I encourage you to read over this prayer carefully- think about your own heart and your own life and rejoice that God would save and forgive such sinners as us.

Here are a couple more nuggets from the book “The Enemy Within.”  They are from a chapter on fighting sin with the weapon of a true vision of God.

A vision of God like Isaiah’s [Isaiah 6:1-7] or Job’s [Job 42:5-6] or Habakkuk’s [Habakkuk 3:16] can’t be made to order.  But if we want to put sin to death in our hearts, we have to swallow the strongest doses of God’s terrible majesty we can.  We find them in meditations on the word.

Thoughts that reach up toward the excellency of God’s majesty are beautiful and delivious to the soul, but they come with unpleasant side effects.  Even a hint of his greatness shows us up as grasshoppers, dust, and ‘less than nothing’ in comparison (Isaiah 40:12-25).  No one wants to go out of his way to feel small, weak, and defiled; but this strong medicine gives us hope against sin.  In this humiliation our sin withers.

Sin can’t breate in an atmosphere of fear and reverence before God.  It suffocates.  Can you imagine your lust cheery and prosperous when you are on your face before a holy God?

By God’s grace may we keep fighting sin and living in light of the glory of our God.

Shannon Bell has been kind enough to organize our prayer ministry for us.  Here is a quick note from her:

As members of the local body of believers, let us support each other through prayer.  Please keep the requests close to home.  How can we pray for you as you  face difficulties, minister and witness to others in your life?

If you would like the church body to remember you or your family in prayer, please let Shannon know by email or telephone and the rest of the body intercede for you.

The New Life Preganancy Center is in need of volunteers to help with counseling those who come in their doors.  They now have two locations and therefore need twice the help.  This is an incredible ministry and open door for the gospel as people in desparation seek them out looking for help.  The goal of the pregnancy center is to share the gospel with every individual that walks through their doors. 

Informational Meeting:

They will be holding an informational meeting about “Ways to Volunteer” on Thursday, August 31st at 10 am and then again at 7pm.  This meeting will take place at the Rocklin Campus accross from Sierra College at 5050 Rocklin Rd. 

Open House:

To introduce the pregancy center they will be hosting an open house on Friday, September 15th from 7-9 pm at the Rocklin location. 

Come and find out more about this strategic ministry and how you can be a part of supporting it.

If you haven’t heard by now, you will be relieved to know that Nick and Sarah Moulton gave birth to their first child.  According to Nick, William Scott Moulton was born July 29th 2006 at 1442. (Nick is still trapped in his military days, 2:42PM) and weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz and measured 20.5 in.  The mother is doing fantastic and Nick is “hanging in there”. In an effort to encourage us all in our parenting, here is another quote from J.C. Ryle’s The Duties of Parents.

1.  First, then, if you would train your children rightly, train them in the way they should go, and not in the way that they would.

    Remember children are born with a decided bias towards evil, and therefore if you let them choose for themselves, they are certain to choose wrong.  The mother cannot tell what her tender infant may grow up to be, — tall or short, weak or strong, wise or foolish he may be any of these things or not, — it is all uncertain.  But one thing the mother can say with certainty: he will have a corrupt and sinful heart.  It is natural to us to do wrong.  “Foolishness,” says Solomon, “is bound in the heart of a child” (Prov. 22:15).  “A child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame” (Prov. 29:15).  Our hearts are like the earth on which we tread; let it alone, and it is sure to bear weeds.  If, then, you would deal wisely with your child, you must not leave him to the guidance of his own will. Think for him, judge for him, act for him, just as you would for one weak and blind; but for pity’s sake, give him not up to his own wayward tastes and inclinations.  It must not be his likings and wishes that are consulted.  He knows not yet what is good for his mind and soul, any more than what is good for his body.  You do not let him decide what he shall eat, and what he shall drink, and how he shall be clothed.  Be consistent, and deal with his mind in like manner.  Train him in the way that is scriptural and right, and not in the way that he fancies.

Mark Lauterbach at Gospeldriven Life wrote a post today dealing with how we view believers and churches with theological views and distinctives counter to our own.  This is an issue in which great wisdom and balance is required and I thought Mark’s thoughts were helpful and thought-provoking.  Here is are some samples.

Luke 9:49-50  John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.”  But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”

This was the text he referred to . . .  and I saw in it my tendency to see all who are not in full agreement with me as my enemies.  I try to stop them.

They are not “following with us” — they are not five pointers, or full two point complementarians, or paedobaptists, or believe in cessationism, or believe in two kinds of elders, or congregational government, or even believing egalitarians.  They home school or public school or private school.  They are not of my church group.  The list goes on. 

and again…  (more…)