Here's a picture of Wolfgang's dad, "The Man Who Wouldn't Salute".

My dad has been a guest blogger this week and has been putting up some great stuff. So we decided that from now on my dad and I will write on alternating weeks, which means that you're going to be seeing a whole lot more of Mark in the future!

But all that I have said is very inconsiderable in comparison with the spiritual mercies and advantages you here enjoy for your souls…Suppose it had been your lot to have fallen in any of those vast continents possessed by pagans and heathens at this day, who bow down to the stock of a tree, and worship the host of heaven…Or suppose your lot had fallen among [Muslims]…Nay, you might have fallen into the same land in which your habitation now is, and yet have had no advantage by it as to salvation, if He that chose the bounds of your habitation had not also graciously ‘determined the times’ for you (Acts 17.26). --John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence, 48-50

In 1984, Bruce Springsteen penned his anthem, "Born in the USA". The same year Lee Greenwood recorded "God Bless the USA" singing,

If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life,
And I had to start again with just my children and my wife.
I’d thank my lucky stars to be living here today,
‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.

Sorry, Lee, it's not lucky stars we should thank but you're right about the gratitude part.

John Flavel reminds us of God's providence in selecting the land of our birth:

“Ah friends! Can you think it an indifferent thing into what part of the world the womb of nature has cast you out?...This performance of Providence for you very much concerns your present comfort in this world…How poor, miserable, and unprovided with earthly comfort and accommodations are many millions of the inhabitants of this world! What mercies do you enjoy in respect of the amenity, fertility, temperature, and civility of the place of your habitation?...You are here provided with necessary and comfortable accommodations for your bodies, that a great part of the world are unacquainted with.” -- John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence, 47

“…it has been the pious and constant practice of the saints in all generations to preserve the memory of the more famous and remarkable providences that have befallen them in their times as a precious treasure. ‘If thou be a Christian indeed, I know thou hast, if not in thy book, yet certainly in thy heart, a great many precious favours upon record; the very remembrance and rehearsal of them is sweet; how much more sweet was the actual enjoyment?’ (Baxter’s Saints’ Everlasting Rest).” –John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence, 20

I love the topic of God's Providence. God sustains and directs all things for our good and his glory. John Flavel tells us that recording and remembering God' providences is a sweet and pleasurable activity.

Trace back the threads that God wove together to bring you to himself. I was raised a Catholic in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Although I left the Catholic church when I became a Christian, I learned much that was true about Jesus Christ as a child - that Jesus is God who became man, born of a virgin. That he never sinned, then died on a cross and rose from the dead. So I had some foundation laid for my later conversion.

In God's providence, when I was 14, my father just "happened" to be transferred to Indiana, PA, where I would later go to college. There I "happened" to meet a young lady who one year later, on a plane from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, would "happen" to meet an evangelist, who "happened" to be wearing a Jesus t-shirt that day, which got her attention. A couple months later, my girlfriend, leafing through the paper "happened" to see the evangelist's picture in the paper. He just "happened" to be speaking in a small rural retreat center near my home. She took me to the meeting, after which he led me in a prayer to receive Christ. He didn't explain repentance to me, so I continued in a sinful lifestyle for a year until another friend just "happened" to invite me to a bible study. The speaker, who just "happened" to be a substitute for the regular speaker, spoke on, you guessed it, repentance, and I turned wholeheartedly to Christ that night.

Recall the events God orchestrated to bring you to Christ. Savor the sweetness and give thanks.

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She's pregnant:

• "I just didn't realize that you would get so big!"

• "I don't understand why you're so tired. You haven't done anything today."

• "Well, you definitely look pregnant."

• "Come on, it's not that bad."

• "You don't hear me complaining."

• "I had a headache once that probably felt similar to this."

• "Just breathe."

• "Wow, you still look sort of pregnant."

• "You know that tonight is Monday Night Football, right?"
  

But he [God] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I'm excited to announce that next week my dad, Mark Altrogge, is going to be guest blogging. After 25 years of faithful pastoral ministry, my dad is a deep well of godly wisdom and insight. I can't wait to read his posts.

Stay tuned!

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." Isaiah's Commission from the LORD And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

• Go to God, your exceeding joy. Psalm 43:4 says, "Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy..." God is the source of all joy, deep joy, exceeding joy. When you're tempted to be discontented, run to God, the source of your joy. The temptation in discontentment is to do everything possible to change the circumstances. The single person thinks that being married will satisfy the problem. The person strapped budget thinks that a few extra dollars will fix things. The mom who is weary of caring for her children thinks that a little time off will solve things. But this will never solve the problem. In every circumstance our hearts will find something to be discontent about. The remedy for discontentment is to go to God and find our exceeding joy in Him. Go to God through prayer and plead for the grace of contentment. Go to God through His word and savor the promises of divine joy.
  

• Confess your discontentment to God. As John Piper says, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. When we are discontent, we're not satisfied in God, and thus God is not glorified. God is eager to glorify Himself, which means that He is eager to help you be content in Him. When you feel discontentment rising in your heart, immediately confess it to God as sin and ask Him to freshly satisfy your soul. Pray the prayer of Psalm 119:36, which says, "Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!" Apart from God you will never be satisfied, but by His grace you can experience deep, God-honoring joy.

• Fly to the Savior. Friends, discontentment is a serious matter. When I'm discontent, I'm, saying that God is not enough for me. I'm saying that He can't satisfy me, and that the circumstances He has ordained are not good. This is sin of the most wicked kind. But praise be to God, we have a Savior. There is one man who was fully and completely content in God, and that man was Jesus Christ. He was punished in my place, crushed for my discontentment. Christ received the punishment that had my name written on it. How grateful I am for Jesus Christ, the one who secured my pardon and purchased my forgiveness. When you become aware of discontentment, confess it as sin and then fly to Jesus for forgiveness. His blood is powerful enough to make the foulest sinner clean.

Here are some signs that your heart may be sinfully discontent. I've come up with these simply by taking a look at my own life.

• You're convinced that something other than God will make you truly happy. I've become discontent when I thought that if I only had a certain thing, I would truly be satisfied. Are you longing to be married, or to get promoted, or to have a bigger house, or to graduate from college, to the point where you are discontent with your current circumstances? The content person says, "I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you." (Psalm 16:2)
  

• You regularly find yourself grumbling and complaining. When I'm discontent, I grumble and complain. I feel that I deserve better, and that I'm being unfairly treated. In reality, I'm shaking my fist in God's face and saying, "This shouldn't be happening to me." The content person on the other hand, says, "Wherever God leads me is good, blessed be His name."

• You lack thankfulness. When I'm discontent, I'm more aware of what I don't have than what I do have. If I truly understand the gospel, I should be content wherever God leads me. My sins deserve wrath and punishment, yet God has given me mercy. He has poured out blessing after blessing upon me, and calls me His child. Charles Spurgeon said, "I have heard of some good old woman in a cottage, who had nothing but a piece of bread and a little water. Lifting up her hands, she said as a blessing, "What! All this, and Christ too?" Let this attitude be ours as well.

• You don't trust God. Oh how easy it is to forget God in the midst of trying circumstances. How easy it is to forget that we serve a sovereign God who ordains all things that come our way. How quickly we forget, "...that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28) The content man or woman contentedly rests in the sovereignty of God, knowing that He is in control of every time the budget is tight, and every time work gets difficult, and every time it seems like marriage will never come. I need to rest in the the sovereignty of God. Do you?

The best book ever written on the subject of contentment is "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burroughs. Here are a few samples for your enjoyment:

The way of contentment to a carnal heart is only the removing of the affliction. O that it may be gone! 'No', says a gracious heart, 'God has taught me a way to be content though the affliction itself still continues.' There is a power of grace to turn this affliction into good; it takes away the sting and poison of it.

Of his fullness do we receive grace for grace; there is strength in Christ not only to sanctify and save us, but strength to support us under all our burdens and afflictions, and Christ expects that when we are under any burden, we should act our faith upon him to draw virtue and strength from him.

There is no condition that a godly man or woman can be in, but there is some promise or other in the scripture to help him in that condition. And that is the way of his contentment, to go to the promises, and get from the promise, that which may supply.

A heart that is full of grace and goodness within will bear a great many strokes, and it will never make any noise, but if an empty heart is struck it will make a noise.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Having a baby has caused me to realize how utterly helpless I am. As I lay in bed at night, dark fears slither into my mind, stealing both my peace and my sleep. Will she keep breathing? Will she eat enough? Will we know how to take care of her when we get home from the hospital? Will I hear her crying in the middle of the night? These and a thousand other black thoughts assault my mind on a regular basis.

As I've wrestled with these thoughts, I've come to realize that I'm completely helpless. I can't sustain Charis' life. I can't keep her heart beating, or her lungs breathing. I am unable to sustain her life, just as I'm unable to sustain my own life. Little Charis is fragile, and I'm unable to sufficiently protect her.

But there is one thing I can do: I can trust the only One who can sustain her. I have two options. I can trust in myself and be a fearful, miserable, sleepless wreck. Or I can trust in God, the maker of all things, to sustain little Charis. This morning I read Psalm 121:3-4 which says, "He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." What comforting words! When I lay down to sleep, Charis is being kept by the One who never sleeps. God is keeping, and caring for, and watching over my sweet little girl. I must trust Him, or I'll never sleep.

Praise God that He is the One who keeps us! Friends, apart from the sustaining grace of God, we would be destroyed in an instant. But we serve a kind God who gives us the very breath we breathe. Let us lift out hearts in humble gratitude to Him today.

Certain truths take on an entirely new dimension when a baby enters your life. 1 John 3:2 says, " Beloved, we are God's children now..." Before yesterday I knew what this scripture meant, at least in my head. Now I feel the intensity of this truth like I never have before.

Every time I hold my new baby, and intense, protective, fatherly affection rises in my heart. I treasure my new little girl, delight in her, can't wait to see her. Being woken up at 3 a.m. to help my wife feed her isn't drudgery, it's pure delight. I would do anything for this little girl. More than anything, I love this little girl with an intensity that is impossible to explain. She's never done a single thing for me, and yet I love her so very deeply. I love feeling her little fingers, and looking at her little eyes, and kissing her tiny head. Why? Because she is my child.

Friends, this is how our Father in heaven feels about us. He purchased us with the precious blood of Christ, and now He loves us with a fierce, passionate love. He delights in us, rejoices in us, even sings over us. He wants us to enter His presence. But there's one big difference between my love for Charis and God's love for us. Charis never hated me. She never rejected me, she never went her own way. We on the other hand, hated God. We despised Him, and wanted absolutely nothing to do with Him. Yet He saved us, and now He calls us His children. Such love is simply amazing! How can we fathom such affection?

Let your heart rejoice in the love of God your Father, for today He is rejoicing over you.

Praise God! At 8 a.m. this morning my baby was pulled from the womb and entered the world. Never has the sound of crying been so sweet to me. She is doing beautifully.

Jen is doing well, although she is in a significant amount of pain. Please continue to pray for us as we navigate through the next couple of days.

As always, God is so good.

Charis is scheduled to be born at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, which means that we must be at the hospital at the obscene hour of 5:00 a.m. But I know it's going to be worth it.

I'm not sure how much sleep I'll get tonight. I've got some pregame jitters, if you know what I mean, and I think that could make things rough. But there's nothing a good cup of Starbucks can't fix.

Lord willing, I'll be a dad in approximately 12 hours.

On Tuesday, September 4th, a miracle will happen: a new baby girl will enter the world. This miracle will be named 'Charis', which is the Greek word for 'Grace', and this miracle will bring much joy to her father and mother. And the sweetest news of all, is that this little miracle will be my daughter!

How do I know that Charis will be born on September 4th? Because in His kindness, God has given men the wisdom to invent a device that allows doctors to perform a sonogram and actually look at a baby before it's born. Our most recent sonogram showed that little Charis was comfortably settled on her side, making it impossible for her to be born naturally. Oh how grateful to God I am for sonograms! Had Charis been born 100 years ago, it's likely that both she and my wife Jen would have died during labor. But in His kindness, the Lord permitted the invention of the sonogram, and so I will be enjoy a birthday rather than a double funeral.

Because Charis is sideways, she will be removed from the womb via Cesarean Section. Oh the wisdom God has given to men! In the space of a few brief minutes, an incision will be made and Charis will be lifted from the womb, thoroughly cleaned, and then placed into my arms. I'm so grateful that God gave Mr. Cesarean (if that was his name) the wisdom to invent this baby-delivery procedure. If the C-Section had not been invented I would likely be experiencing grief instead of joy on Tuesday.

Jen and I are both nervous. We're entering new and uncharted territory. But we serve the God who invented sonograms and C-Sections, and I'm confident that He will care for us each step of the way. I'm not sure how much I'll be blogging this week. Maybe if I have some down time I'll put up a post. Please pray for Jen and me. Thanks!

Taken from his excellent book "Humility", here are several practical suggestions as to how we might daily grow in humility.

• Reflect On The Wonder Of The Cross - C.J. quotes Martyn Lloyd Jones who says:

There is only one thing I know that crushes me to the ground and humiliates me to the dust, and that is to look at the Son of God, and especially to contemplate the cross.

• Begin Your Day Acknowledging Your Need For God - C.J. says:

Purpose by grace that your first thought of the day will be an expression of your dependence on God, your need for God, and your confidence in God.

• Begin Your Day Expressing Gratitude To God - C.J. says:

Let each of us recognize every day that whatever grace we receive from God is so much more than we're worthy of, and indescribably better than the hell we all deserve.

• Practice Spiritual Disciplines - He says:

I've found that it's possible for me to charge into my day motivated by self-sufficiency. But I've also learned that the very act of opening my Bible to read and turning my heart and mind to prayer makes a statement that I need God.

• Seize Your Commute - C.J. encourages us:

For many of us, our commute is wasted every day. You can either get into mental ruts during this time, or seize your commute time as a means of grace to allow Scripture to transform your thinking.

• Casting Your Cares Upon Him - He says:

Where there's worry, where there's anxiety, pride is at the root of it. When I am experiencing anxiety, the root issue is that I'm trying to be self-sufficient. I'm acting independent of God.