For My Seminary Brothers

George Whitfield shares a challenging word from a pamphlet called The Method of Grace. He comments concerning Jeremiah 6:14, "They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace."

Whitifeld:

As God can send a nation or people no greater blessing than to give them faithful, sincere, and upright ministers, so the greatest curse that God can possibly send upon a people in this world, is to give them over to blind, unregenerate, carnal, lukewarm, and unskilled guides.

May we guard our hearts from unbelief, and hold fast to the one who laid hold of us.

I wonder if my drive-thru could do this?

What's all the Skype about?

So, Sarah recently purchased a camera for our laptop and we are anxious to put it to use. What people recommend is that you get your "skype" name out there for people to see so that they can search for you and add you to their contact list. Well, that's what I am doing. Here it is:

bebee.family

If you skype and you like us, look us up. Peace!!!

My Wife's Blog

Check out my wife's recent blog about our family here.

Kentucky Derby Time

In light of the recent horse races, I thought this might bring you joy.

The Second Marriage: Eph. 5:22-33 - Christ and His Church

Now marriage has come to mean more than companionship; it has come to be understood more fully by people today, specifically Christians. Marriage was always supposed to point us to Christ and His church. The marriage relationship is to reflect the union Christ has with His people. In Ephesians 5:25-33 we learn that when God created Adam and Eve, He had was giving us an early glimpse into the relationship between Christ and His church.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Eph. 5:31-32)

When people get married today, they are to picture Christ and His church, they are modeling the gospel. Indeed, if you don’t understand Christ’s relationship with His Church, you can never understand marriage. If you don’t understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, you can never understand marriage. The gospel actually explains marriage.

So Husbands, if you are going to have a marriage that honors the Lord, if you are going to be a faithful husband, you must love your wife as Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:25).

Let me suggest three ways to do this.

First, Christ gave Himself for the church. Husbands, give yourself for your wife (Eph. 5:25). A sacrificial love should mark your tender affection for your wife. Doing what is in her best interest and meeting her needs before your own is a sacrificial love. You must consider her as more important that yourself, just as Christ did for His people.

Second, Christ sanctifies the Church and you ought to see to your wife’s sanctification. Husbands, you are your wife’s chief sanctifier, second to the Lord. Husbands, you are in charge of the “(Insert your wife's name here) Renovation Project,” and if you are like me, your wife is way ahead of you. This is why Christ gave himself:

“that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Eph. 5:26-27)

Christ seeks to sanctify His bride, make her holy and set her apart for holy use. He also desires to cleanse her by washing her with the word of God, the scriptures. His goal is complete and perfect purity. Husbands, you are to do this all of your life.

Third, Christ treasures His church. Husbands, treasure your wives.

For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. (Eph. 5:29-30)

Just as Christ is one with His church, husbands are one with their wives. What you do for her, you do for yourself. You are one flesh with your wife so you are to care for her as your own flesh. Nourish her, provide her with what she needs for growth. A good church, time in the word, family devotions are all ways to nourish her, and cherish her. Husbands, prize her, look after her, guard her, care for her, and do it with a measure of intensity that recognizes that the days are evil and your time is limited.

Husbands, in the same way Christ gave Himself sacrificially for His bride, you must give yourself for your wife. Caring for her, sanctifying her, nourishing and cherishing her and never giving up on her are all mandatory.

Wives, the call for you is to submit to your husband as he seeks to lead you in godliness, the same way Christ leads the church.

So that is how we are to view the present marriage, we view it in light of Christ and His church. But what about the future marriage?

That segways to a blog yet to come!

Future Marriage: Rev. 19:6-9 The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

This future marriage has already been hinted at in Ephesians 5:27, Christ “will present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” There time in the future when Christ will present the church to Himself as a beautiful, spotless bride. This is the future marriage. This is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! At this marriage Jesus has gathered all Christians of all ages, from every tribe and tongue and nation. The church is standing before Him as His glorious bride. It is at this time that the Church, Christ’s bride, has made herself ready.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Rev. 19:6-9)

The great multitude is praising God, the God of the universe, because He is almighty and He reigns. There is great rejoicing and exalting and glorifying God. Why? The bride has made herself ready! She was granted to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and pure which are the righteous deeds of the saints. She is now glorious and pure. Not even the slightest blemish mars this unsurpassed beauty of the bride. Her splendor will be exquisite, unsurpassed and matchless.

Oh believers, Oh church, Oh Christians, how we ought to look forward to this day! How should we feel about this coming wedding? We should feel exactly as any woman who becomes engaged to be married feels, except infinitely more excited because our groom is Christ! We should be looking forward to the great day, and longing for it, and living for it. This should be at the center of our lives to the exclusion of all else. We should be animated by this, stimulated and moved by it, and ever looking forward to it. The wedding day, the ceremony, the friends looking on, the feasting, the wonder and glory and the splendor of it all! We will be gloriously united to Christ for eternity! (D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, “Life in the Spirit in Marriage, Home and Work”) No wonder Revelation 19:9 says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”

Now, some of you may be asking, “Who is invited?” or, “How do you get invited?” or, “Am I invited?” I have good news for you; you may come. But before you come to the marriage supper of the Lamb, you need to know something about the Lamb. The Lamb is Christ. And this Lamb, Christ, came to save poor sinners like you and me. We, as sinners, deserve eternal punishment for our sins before an infinitely holy God. Christ, God’s only begotten son, came and lived a perfect life. He was then placed upon a cross to be slain on our behalf. He took upon Himself the sins of His people and bore the full wrath of God in our place. God punished Him for sins that He never once committed. The perfect Son of God was slain, yet He victoriously conquered death and rose again. This Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb that was slain, invites you to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

But you must come on His terms.

You must repent of your sins. You must give up on your own selfish way of living and submit to the Lordship of Christ. Turn from your wicked ways.

You must also believe that what Christ did on the cross was sufficient to save you from your sins. You must believe that the punishment you deserve for your sins was paid for by Christ, and that He has made a way for you to be reconciled to God. Those who trust Christ receive His perfect righteousness credited to them and thus stand blameless before a holy God.

When Christ comes again you will go to one of two places. Those who repent and believe in Christ will be forever with Him in glory, invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Those who refuse to repent and believe in this lifetime will have no place reserved for them in heaven, no invitation to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and no delight at the coming of Christ. Instead, a fiery judgment awaits.

Today is the day of salvation, now is the time! Repent and believe! Accept His invitation.

All of us are beneficiaries of the past marriage between Adam and Eve. All of us are beneficiaries of present weddings (whether your own or those around you). But will you be a beneficiary of the future wedding? This is the question we must all wrestle with today. When Christ returns, will you be one who has repented of your sins and trusted Him to save you? Or will you refuse to receive His free grace offered in the gospel? Will you be invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb or will you be put under His judgment because you did not accept the invitation to come on His terms? You must answer this question in your heart today.

During weddings, think on the gospel, be reminded of Christ’s marvelous sacrifice on your behalf and His continuous work to present to Himself a bride, pure and spotless. When Christ comes again, will you be invited to His wedding feast?

The First Marriage: Gen 2:18-25 - Adam and Eve

Here in this immediate context God has created the universe and He has placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to tend it and keep it. In Gen. 2:18 God says, “It is not good for a man to be alone; I will make him a helper, fit for him.” Here we have God vowing to create; a commitment to create has been made. The next thing God does is interesting. He parades all the animals before Adam and allows Adam to name them. What was God doing here? He was showing Adam that it is not good for man to be alone. There were male and female animals but only a male human! Adam needs a helpmate and after God demonstrates to Adam his need, He acts on His prior commitment to create.

"So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man." (Gen. 2:21-22)

Did you ever wonder why God used a rib? It is not as though He needed something to work with. He created the world with a word so He doesn’t need a rib to create a woman. God used a rib to show the union of the husband and wife. They truly are one flesh. Look at Adams response:

Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Gen. 2:23)

God was showing the oneness of a married couple by forming Eve from Adam. They are truly one, one flesh, one made from the other. Verse 24 demonstrates that this account of Adam and Eve sets precedence for all forthcoming marriages. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Because Eve was formed from Adam, they are one flesh. All future marriages are to be marked by a husband and wife, male and female, leaving and cleaving to one another in a one flesh relationship.

Why did the first marriage occur? This first marriage is a covenant of companionship.

Marriage solves the problem of loneliness (Gen. 2:18). Man is not good when left alone so God makes him a helper, suitable for him, corresponding to him. Most men are like Adam; lonely and not satisfied with the loneliness. Companionship solves this problem and this companionship is mutually given and received. One who has a close, intimate relationship with his or her spouse is one who has a companion. Husbands and wives are to be intimately united in thoughts, goals, plans, efforts, in all of life. Indeed, in a God glorifying marriage a husband and wife are one another’s closest companions.

This brings us to our second marriage, which will be a later post.

Chick-fil-A

I love me some Chick-fil-a!



Check out the meal calculator online. Go see how many calories your typical Chick-fil-A meal will pack on ya (you may be surprised). My favorite meal, a Chick-fil-A sandwich, medium fries, small coleslaw and a Large Sweet Tea, actually contains 1,390 calories. hehehehe. Before you go casting judgment on me, consider that most people eat that meal without the coleslaw which puts them at right around 1,000 calories. Well, at least you have the option of getting a wrap.

Oh, and guys, The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood just released a new video. The solo is my favorite part. Check it out:


Just kidding about the CBMW part.

My Sweet Baby Girl

So Sarah and I had a baby girl, Brooklynn Grace Bebee, and she is the most precious girl in the entire world. You can see many pics at my wife's blog. But I thought I would give you a couple.




See, I told you she was the most precious girl in the world.