Saturday, December 21, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Our Need Of Christ Never Ceases
Read
this more than once. This has really blessed me I hope it blesses you.
"We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot ever be
accepted at all. This is not true of us only “when we believe.” It
is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as
long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing;
nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to
God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian
graces or our achievements in Christian behavior may be.
It is always on His “blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest.
There is never anything that we are or have or do that can take His place, or that can take a place along with Him. We are always unworthy, and all that we have or do of good is always of pure grace.
Though blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, we are still in ourselves just “miserable sinners”: “miserable sinners” saved by grace to be sure, but “miserable sinners” still, deserving in ourselves nothing but everlasting wrath. That is the attitude which the Reformers took, and that is the attitude which the Protestant world has learned from the Reformers to take, toward the relation of believers to Christ.
There is emphasized in this attitude the believer’s continued sinfulness in fact and in act; and his continued sense of his sinfulness. And this carries with it recognition of the necessity of unbroken penitence throughout life. The Christian is conceived fundamentally in other words as a penitent sinner. But that is not all that is to be said: it is not even the main thing that must be said.
It is therefore gravely inadequate to describe the spirit of “miserable sinner Christianity” as “the spirit of continuous but not unhopeful penitence.” It is not merely that it is too negative a description, and that we must at least say, “the spirit of continuous though hopeful penitence.” It is wholly uncomprehending description, and misplaces the emphasis altogether.
The spirit of this Christianity is a spirit of penitent indeed, but overmastering exultation.
The attitude of the “miserable sinner” is not only not one of despair; it is not even one of depression; and not even one of hesitation or doubt; hope is too weak a word to apply to it. It is an attitude of exultant joy. Only this joy has its ground not in ourselves but in our Savior.
We are sinners and we know ourselves to be sinners, lost and helpless in ourselves.
But we are saved sinners; and it is our salvation which gives the tone to our life, a tone of joy which swells in exact proportion to the sense we have of our ill-desert; for it is he to whom much is forgiven who loves much, and who, loving, rejoices much." B.B. Warfield (1851–1921), from his essay, “’Miserable-Sinner Christianity’ in the Hands of the Rationalists,”
It is always on His “blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest.
There is never anything that we are or have or do that can take His place, or that can take a place along with Him. We are always unworthy, and all that we have or do of good is always of pure grace.
Though blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, we are still in ourselves just “miserable sinners”: “miserable sinners” saved by grace to be sure, but “miserable sinners” still, deserving in ourselves nothing but everlasting wrath. That is the attitude which the Reformers took, and that is the attitude which the Protestant world has learned from the Reformers to take, toward the relation of believers to Christ.
There is emphasized in this attitude the believer’s continued sinfulness in fact and in act; and his continued sense of his sinfulness. And this carries with it recognition of the necessity of unbroken penitence throughout life. The Christian is conceived fundamentally in other words as a penitent sinner. But that is not all that is to be said: it is not even the main thing that must be said.
It is therefore gravely inadequate to describe the spirit of “miserable sinner Christianity” as “the spirit of continuous but not unhopeful penitence.” It is not merely that it is too negative a description, and that we must at least say, “the spirit of continuous though hopeful penitence.” It is wholly uncomprehending description, and misplaces the emphasis altogether.
The spirit of this Christianity is a spirit of penitent indeed, but overmastering exultation.
The attitude of the “miserable sinner” is not only not one of despair; it is not even one of depression; and not even one of hesitation or doubt; hope is too weak a word to apply to it. It is an attitude of exultant joy. Only this joy has its ground not in ourselves but in our Savior.
We are sinners and we know ourselves to be sinners, lost and helpless in ourselves.
But we are saved sinners; and it is our salvation which gives the tone to our life, a tone of joy which swells in exact proportion to the sense we have of our ill-desert; for it is he to whom much is forgiven who loves much, and who, loving, rejoices much." B.B. Warfield (1851–1921), from his essay, “’Miserable-Sinner Christianity’ in the Hands of the Rationalists,”
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Grace Is The Only Foundation
Our
holiness, or sanctification, is as much a gift of God as our
justification. Once we have been united to Christ and stand upon his
imputed righteousness and holiness, we have, as John Calvin once
observed, a foundation upon which we can build a life of piety and
holiness toward God (Institutes III.xi.1). Our ongoing conformity to
Christ, our growth in holiness, is driven by God’s grace— it is the
basis upon which we “die to ourselves” and live more and more unto
Christ on a daily basis. In a word, the Bible tells us that the grace of
God transforms us and conforms us to the holy image of Christ. Through
God’s grace we are enabled, as Paul writes, to “put off the old man,”
which belonged to our former manner of life, and “put on the new man,
created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness”
(Eph.4:22-24). If we do not recognize that salvation is by God’s grace
through faith (Eph.2:1-10), then we will never have a proper foundation
from which to grow in our holiness.
by J.V. Fesko
Grace is the only foundation from which we can grow in our holiness as Christians.
by J.V. Fesko
Grace is the only foundation from which we can grow in our holiness as Christians.
Monday, December 16, 2013
A Christmas Thought From Bono
A
Christmas Thought: This reflection on Christmas occurred after Bono had
just returned home, to Dublin, from a long tour with U2. On Christmas
Eve Bono went to the famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where Jonathan
Swift was dean. Apparently he was given a really poor seat, one
obstructed by a pillar, making it even more difficult for him to keep
his eyes open…but it was there that Christmas story struck him like never before. He writes:
“The idea that God, if there is a force of Logic and Love in the universe, that it would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That it would seek to explain itself and describe itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, in shit and straw…a child… I just thought: “Wow!” Just the poetry … Unknowable love, unknowable power, describes itself as the most vulnerable. There it was. I was sitting there, and it’s not that it hadn’t struck me before, but tears came streaming down my face, and I saw the genius of this, utter genius of picking a particular point in time and deciding to turn on this.”
Isn’t it compelling? The logic and love of a personal God revealing himself, accounting for our personality, our propensity to love. And oh, the mercy of God, born in shit and straw, to rescue us from ourselves, our godless gift-giving, and our arrogant disregard for God and for others so that we might know and enjoy him and his new creation forever. And that he, the infinite God, would do it in Christ, in time, in space, in confounding condescension to pivot the course of the entire creation project from despair, destruction, and dereliction to a hopeful, whole, and happy future.
Will you ponder the poetry of Christmas this year, the genius of the incarnation? What obstructions are in your path to dwelling on the vulnerable, inexhaustible power and love of God in Christ? Renounce them and rivet your attention on the Christ.
Excerpt taken from Bono: in conversation (New York: Riverhead Books, 2005), 124-5.
“The idea that God, if there is a force of Logic and Love in the universe, that it would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That it would seek to explain itself and describe itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, in shit and straw…a child… I just thought: “Wow!” Just the poetry … Unknowable love, unknowable power, describes itself as the most vulnerable. There it was. I was sitting there, and it’s not that it hadn’t struck me before, but tears came streaming down my face, and I saw the genius of this, utter genius of picking a particular point in time and deciding to turn on this.”
Isn’t it compelling? The logic and love of a personal God revealing himself, accounting for our personality, our propensity to love. And oh, the mercy of God, born in shit and straw, to rescue us from ourselves, our godless gift-giving, and our arrogant disregard for God and for others so that we might know and enjoy him and his new creation forever. And that he, the infinite God, would do it in Christ, in time, in space, in confounding condescension to pivot the course of the entire creation project from despair, destruction, and dereliction to a hopeful, whole, and happy future.
Will you ponder the poetry of Christmas this year, the genius of the incarnation? What obstructions are in your path to dwelling on the vulnerable, inexhaustible power and love of God in Christ? Renounce them and rivet your attention on the Christ.
Excerpt taken from Bono: in conversation (New York: Riverhead Books, 2005), 124-5.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing: An Important Theme in Lord of the Rings
Tim Keller:
This is a very important theme in Tolkien. The elves are often described as both old and young, both joyful and sad.
A more explicit expression of it is the description of Gandalf in Book 3-
. . . in the wizard’s face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.And I agree—it is very helpful in describing the demeanor of Christians, who will feel the fallenness of the world most keenly because they know what God created the world to be, and who know that nothing within history will ever bring about any fundamental repair of things, and yet Christians also have an unquenchable, infallible assurance that in the end, everything will be joy and glory. So how else can we act, but “sad, but not unhappy,” “afflicted, but not crushed”—weeping, but rejoicing.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Grace is not a "Thing"
It is
legitimate to speak of “receiving grace,” and sometimes (although I am
somewhat cautious about the possibility of misusing language) we speak
of the preaching of the Word, prayer, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper as
“means of grace.” That is fine, so long as we remember that there isn’t a
thing, a substance, or a “quasi-substance” called “grace.” All there is
is the person of the Lord Jesus —
“Christ clothed in the gospel,” as Calvin loved to put it. Grace is the
grace of Jesus. If I can highlight the thought here: there is no “thing”
that Jesus takes from Himself and then, as it were, hands over to me.
There is only Jesus Himself.
Grasping that thought can make a significant difference to a Christian’s life. So while some people might think this is just splitting hairs about different ways of saying the same thing, it can make a vital difference. It is not a thing that was crucified to give us a thing called grace. It was the person of the Lord Jesus that was crucified in order that He might give Himself to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. - Sinclair Ferguson
"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17)
Grasping that thought can make a significant difference to a Christian’s life. So while some people might think this is just splitting hairs about different ways of saying the same thing, it can make a vital difference. It is not a thing that was crucified to give us a thing called grace. It was the person of the Lord Jesus that was crucified in order that He might give Himself to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. - Sinclair Ferguson
"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17)
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Whatever Happened to Male Friendship?
Brandon McGinley:
What these four young men represent is a challenge to the common portrayal of male friendship in our popular culture. It is difficult to find, especially on television, an example of male friendship (outside of the military or law enforcement) that is neither transactional nor idiotic. For cheap beer, it’s the wingman trope. In sitcoms, it’s stupid men doing stupid things in stupid attempts at liberation from wives or girlfriends. Male friendships, we’re taught, are about finding or fleeing women; they are not valuable in themselves.
In the Tullamore Dew spot, the bride, though beautiful, is an afterthought. The ad has already achieved its effect before she arrives on the scene. The implicit promise that is so appealing is not that this whiskey will bring you a beautiful wife, but that it will bring you worthy friends to see you off on that marital journey.
And most men desire this friendship—this tender, warm, (dare we say it?) loving friendship—but that desire receives no affirmation in our culture. Men’s desires are circumscribed within a perverse Venn diagram, with one circle labeled “sex,” the other “mammon.” Such friendship seems as foreign as the virgin Irish countryside, unattainable in the normal course of life in the 21st century.
And so, lacking the vocabulary even to describe this desire, we call the ad “poignant” and “melancholy.” But our melancholy does not derive from identification with the bittersweetness of the passage of time or a friend’s life transition. Rather, it is the melancholy of knowing, or at least suspecting, that we will never experience that bittersweetness quite as intensely, quite as tenderly, ourselves.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Little Queen of Spades - Eric Clapton, Doyle Bramhall II, Derec Truck
There is a great piano solo in this song its worth the listen
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
We Are Not Justified By Sanctification
We Are Not Justified By Sanctification
"One is unlikely to assert that we are justified by sanctification, but, whether done intentionally or not, that is what happens when we allow the teaching of Christian living, ethical imperatives, and exhortations to holiness to be separated from and to take the place of the clear statement of the gospel. We can preach our hearts out on texts about what we ought to be, what makes a mature church, or what the Holy Spirit wants to do in our lives, but if we do not constantly, in every sermon, show the link between the Spirit's work in us to Christ's work for us, we will distort the message and send people away with a natural theology of salvation by works. Preaching from the epistles demands of the preacher that the message of the document be taken as a whole even if only a selection of texts, or just one verse, is to be expounded. Every sermon should be understandable on its own as a proclamation of Christ. It is no good to say that we dealt with the justification element three weeks ago and now we are following Paul into the imperatives and injunctions for Christian living. Paul wasn't anticipating a three-week gap between his exposition of the gospel and his defining of the implications of the gospel in our lives. Nor was he anticipating that some people would not be present for the reading of the whole epistle and would hear part of its message out of context."
Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching The Whole Bible As Christian Scripture, p. 237
Every time I share about grace someone adds something about works to balance grace out. It can't be done, so think about what Goldsworthy is saying. Grace is so foreign to our hearts and minds we just can't accept it, it can't be right, we desperately want to do something that will put us in God's good graces, to make us feel better, to bring us peace because of what we have done instead of entering into rest because of what Jesus has done.
"One is unlikely to assert that we are justified by sanctification, but, whether done intentionally or not, that is what happens when we allow the teaching of Christian living, ethical imperatives, and exhortations to holiness to be separated from and to take the place of the clear statement of the gospel. We can preach our hearts out on texts about what we ought to be, what makes a mature church, or what the Holy Spirit wants to do in our lives, but if we do not constantly, in every sermon, show the link between the Spirit's work in us to Christ's work for us, we will distort the message and send people away with a natural theology of salvation by works. Preaching from the epistles demands of the preacher that the message of the document be taken as a whole even if only a selection of texts, or just one verse, is to be expounded. Every sermon should be understandable on its own as a proclamation of Christ. It is no good to say that we dealt with the justification element three weeks ago and now we are following Paul into the imperatives and injunctions for Christian living. Paul wasn't anticipating a three-week gap between his exposition of the gospel and his defining of the implications of the gospel in our lives. Nor was he anticipating that some people would not be present for the reading of the whole epistle and would hear part of its message out of context."
Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching The Whole Bible As Christian Scripture, p. 237
Every time I share about grace someone adds something about works to balance grace out. It can't be done, so think about what Goldsworthy is saying. Grace is so foreign to our hearts and minds we just can't accept it, it can't be right, we desperately want to do something that will put us in God's good graces, to make us feel better, to bring us peace because of what we have done instead of entering into rest because of what Jesus has done.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Friday, November 29, 2013
THOUGHTS ON THANKSGIVING BY G.K. CHESTERTON
“I
would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that
gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”—G. K. Chesterton
“The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them.”—G. K. Chesterton
“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”—G. K. Chesterton
“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”—G. K. Chesterton
“When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?”—G. K. Chesterton
“The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them.”—G. K. Chesterton
“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”—G. K. Chesterton
“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”—G. K. Chesterton
“When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?”—G. K. Chesterton
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gorden Lightfoot
A tribute to the 29 men who died November 10, 1975, aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. I forgot to post this on November 10th but I am posting this now. I love this song by Gorden Lightfoot it is a haunting tribute to this tragedy and it is part of the Great Lakes legend which we Michiganders have an interest in.
Performance or Grace?
My
observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our
relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace. If
we’ve performed well—whatever ‘well’ is in our opinion—then we expect
God to bless us. If we haven’t done so well, our expectations are
reduced accordingly. In this sense, we live by works, rather than by
grace. We are saved by grace, but we are living by the ‘sweat’
of our own performance. Moreover, we are always challenging ourselves
and one another to ‘try harder’. We seem to believe success in the
Christian life is basically up to us; our commitment, our discipline,
and our zeal, with some help from God along the way. The realization
that my daily relationship with God is based on the infinite merit of
Christ instead of on my own performance is very freeing and joyous
experience. But it is not meant to be a one-time experience; the truth
needs to be reaffirmed daily.
(by Jerry Bridges, in Transforming Grace)
My whole theology of gospel preaching rests on the foundation of truth that this quote illuminates. I am placing my entire eternal existence on the merit of Christ alone I do not trust in myself, my works, my achievements or my performance. Every day I reaffirm who I am in Christ, what Christ has done for me leading me to worship and be grateful for my salvation, for my being adopted into God's family and permanently being made a child of God.
(by Jerry Bridges, in Transforming Grace)
My whole theology of gospel preaching rests on the foundation of truth that this quote illuminates. I am placing my entire eternal existence on the merit of Christ alone I do not trust in myself, my works, my achievements or my performance. Every day I reaffirm who I am in Christ, what Christ has done for me leading me to worship and be grateful for my salvation, for my being adopted into God's family and permanently being made a child of God.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Luther's Thoughts On Free Will
I
frankly confess that, for myself, even if it could be, I should not want
free-will to be given me, nor anything to be left in my own hands to
enable me to endeavor after salvation; not merely because in face of so
many dangers, and adversities and assaults of devils, I could not stand
my ground; but because even were there no dangers I should still be
forced to labor with no guarantee of success
But now that God has taken my salvation out of the control of my own
will, and put it under the control of His, and promised to save me, not
according to my working or running, but according to His own grace and
mercy, I have the comfortable certainty that He is faithful and will not
lie to me, and that He is also great and powerful, so that no devils or
opposition can break Him or pluck me from Him. Furthermore, I have the
comfortable certainty that I please God, not by reason of the merit of
my works, but by reason of His merciful favor promised to me; so that,
if I work too little, or badly, He does not impute it to me, but with
fatherly compassion pardons me and makes me better. This is the glorying
of all the saints in their God.
- Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will (Grand Rapids: Revell, 1957), 313-314.
- Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will (Grand Rapids: Revell, 1957), 313-314.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
The Law Has Never Loved You
Did
the Law ever love me? Did the Law ever sacrifice itself for me? Did the
Law ever die for me? On the contrary, it accuses me, it frightens me,
and it drives me crazy. Somebody else saved me from the Law, from sin
and death unto eternal life. That somebody is the Son of God (Who loved
me and gave Himself for me). Hence, Christ is no Moses, no tyrant, no
lawgiver, but the Giver of grace, the Savior,
full of mercy….. Visualize Christ in these His true colors. I do not
say that it is easy. Even in the present diffusion of the Gospel light, I
have much trouble to see Christ as Paul portrays Him. So deeply has the
diseased opinion that Christ is a lawgiver sunk into my bones. You
younger men are a good deal better off than we who are old. You have
never become infected with the nefarious errors on which I suckled all
my youth, until at the mention of the name of Christ I shivered with
fear. You, I say, who are young may learn to know Christ in all His
sweetness. For Christ is Joy and Sweetness to a broken heart. Christ is a
Lover of poor sinners and such a Lover that He gave Himself for us. Now
if this is true, and it is true, then are we never justified by our own
righteousness.
–Martin Luther
To anyone who is stuck on the law and on your own personal performance I ask you to think about this until Christ becomes joy and sweetness to your soul.
–Martin Luther
To anyone who is stuck on the law and on your own personal performance I ask you to think about this until Christ becomes joy and sweetness to your soul.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Friday, November 15, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
In Christ Your Sin Is Publicly and Legally Cancelled, Nailed Up for All to See
In Christ Your Sin Is Publicly and Legally Cancelled, Nailed Up for All to See
Sin being removed, and righteousness bestowed, we have peace with God—are continually accepted before him.
There is not any thing to charge us with: that which was, is taken out of the way by Christ, and nailed to his cross—made fast there; yea, publicly and legally cancelled, that it can never be admitted again as an evidence.
What court among men would admit of evidence that has been publicly cancelled and nailed up for all to see it?
So has Christ dealt with that which was against us; and not only so, but also he puts that upon us for which we are received into favor.
He makes us comely through his beauty; gives us white raiment to stand before the Lord.
This is the first part of purchased grace wherein the saints have communion with Jesus Christ. In remission of sin and imputation of righteousness does it consist; from the death of Christ, as a price, sacrifice, and a punishment—from the life of Christ spent in obedience to the law, does it arise.
The great product it is of the Father’s righteousness, wisdom, love, and grace—the great and astonish-able fruit of the love and condescension of the Son—the great discovery of the Holy Ghost in the revelation of the mystery of the gospel.
—John Owen, Communion with the Triune God, 290-91.
Read this and believe it, read it until you believe it, Owen says "There is not any thing to charge us with" Paul said "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies." (Rom. 8:33) The answer is no one! Once God declares you not guilty and all charges against you have not only been removed they have been nailed to the cross, publicly cancelled legally cancelled never to be used as evidence again. You are free, enjoy it.
Sin being removed, and righteousness bestowed, we have peace with God—are continually accepted before him.
There is not any thing to charge us with: that which was, is taken out of the way by Christ, and nailed to his cross—made fast there; yea, publicly and legally cancelled, that it can never be admitted again as an evidence.
What court among men would admit of evidence that has been publicly cancelled and nailed up for all to see it?
So has Christ dealt with that which was against us; and not only so, but also he puts that upon us for which we are received into favor.
He makes us comely through his beauty; gives us white raiment to stand before the Lord.
This is the first part of purchased grace wherein the saints have communion with Jesus Christ. In remission of sin and imputation of righteousness does it consist; from the death of Christ, as a price, sacrifice, and a punishment—from the life of Christ spent in obedience to the law, does it arise.
The great product it is of the Father’s righteousness, wisdom, love, and grace—the great and astonish-able fruit of the love and condescension of the Son—the great discovery of the Holy Ghost in the revelation of the mystery of the gospel.
—John Owen, Communion with the Triune God, 290-91.
Read this and believe it, read it until you believe it, Owen says "There is not any thing to charge us with" Paul said "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies." (Rom. 8:33) The answer is no one! Once God declares you not guilty and all charges against you have not only been removed they have been nailed to the cross, publicly cancelled legally cancelled never to be used as evidence again. You are free, enjoy it.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Friday, November 8, 2013
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
The Way It Is
When I
get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt. I
hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling
good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and
suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a
rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for
beer.
To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side, I learn who I am and what God's grace means. As Thomas Merton put it, "A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God."
Brennan Manning
Oh to know the grace of God in its fulness and to live by it and rest in it and to know God for who he really is. Lord deliver me from my self serving religious ideas and ways that keep me from your grace.
To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side, I learn who I am and what God's grace means. As Thomas Merton put it, "A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God."
Brennan Manning
Oh to know the grace of God in its fulness and to live by it and rest in it and to know God for who he really is. Lord deliver me from my self serving religious ideas and ways that keep me from your grace.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
Brian Wilson & Jeff Beck Concert
This past Friday 10/25 I went to the Brian Wilson Jeff Beck concert. One of the
best concerts I have been to. Brian Wilson started with an 70 minute
set. He played some new songs and some classic Beach Boy songs my
favorite were from Pet Sounds. The set ended on such a high the
whole place was jumping. About 15 minutes later Jeff Beck started with a
Billy Cobham song Stratus. You are on this feel good high and Jeff Beck
came and blasted you with power rock and roll. He did a cover of Little
Wing by Jimi Hendrix that was awesome. He finished his set with A Day
In The Life a Beatles tune, Just beautiful. Beck is still one of the
greatest guitar players alive. Wilson's band came back out to vocally
back Beck on some songs and this set ended with Jeff's version of
Rolling and Tumbling a Muddy Waters song. The encore was some Beach Boy
songs with Beck playing guitar, and the finale was this beautiful
rendition of Danny Boy. Jeff Beck playing the vocal line on guitar and
the Brian Wilson and his band on vocals, it was moving. The concert was 2
hrs and 40 min. the energy was very high for the whole time. What a
concert, this was a once in a lifetime concert. We had a fantastic time.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
THE JOY OF THE BATTLE
THE
JOY OF THE BATTLE - At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang
suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his
stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever
heard a mortal man achieve before,
Arise, arise, Riders of Theoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
With that he seized a great horn from Guthlaf his banner-bearer and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Eomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first eored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Theoden could not be outpaced. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Orome the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.
--J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, p. 820
I read this and see the image of the movie as Theoden gives the charge to his army. The book adds something much needed "they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them" this is the attitude I need everyday as I enter into the battles I face in my life.
Arise, arise, Riders of Theoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
With that he seized a great horn from Guthlaf his banner-bearer and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Eomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first eored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Theoden could not be outpaced. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Orome the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.
--J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, p. 820
I read this and see the image of the movie as Theoden gives the charge to his army. The book adds something much needed "they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them" this is the attitude I need everyday as I enter into the battles I face in my life.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Lets Get The Party Started!
Bryan
Chapell, commenting on the phrase 'the grace of God has appeared' in
Titus 2:11: Grace is not some abstract doctrine or theological
construct. Grace comes as Christ does. Grace is as personal as he is. In
fact, Christ is grace. The unmerited favor of God is what Jesus is
about, but it is also who he is. We should thus see grace as a personal
action by a personal God who saved us from our helpless condition out of pure love.
--R. Kent Hughes and Bryan Chapell, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus: Guard the Good Deposit (Crossway 2000), 339
Start the celebration! Shout for joy tell everybody you know you are saved by grace and grace alone. Or say it this way you are saved by Christ and Christ alone. Anyway you look at it you were helpless you were hopeless you were without God in this world. God in his grace hunted you down and rescued you from your hopeless existence because of his great love. Lets get the party started!
--R. Kent Hughes and Bryan Chapell, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus: Guard the Good Deposit (Crossway 2000), 339
Start the celebration! Shout for joy tell everybody you know you are saved by grace and grace alone. Or say it this way you are saved by Christ and Christ alone. Anyway you look at it you were helpless you were hopeless you were without God in this world. God in his grace hunted you down and rescued you from your hopeless existence because of his great love. Lets get the party started!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Friday, October 18, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
You Lie!
“So
now, turn from your conscience and its feelings to Christ, who is not
able to deceive. My heart and Satan, however, who will drive me to sin,
are liars. . . . You should not believe your conscience and your
feelings more than the word which the Lord, who receives sinners,
preaches to you. . . . Therefore, you are able to fight with your
conscience by saying, ‘You lie. Christ speaks the truth, and you do not.’”
Martin Luther, quoted in Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther (Philadelphia, 1966), page 59.
Listen many times in life you have to turn away from your feelings and believe the Word of God. You have to fight spiritual warfare by speaking the Word of God. Satan is a liar and the father of lies there is no truth in him. But he will come and use your circumstances, your feelings, your conscience, your mind, and other people to try and bring you down but it is then that you have to speak up "You lie. Christ speaks the truth and you do not!"
Martin Luther, quoted in Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther (Philadelphia, 1966), page 59.
Listen many times in life you have to turn away from your feelings and believe the Word of God. You have to fight spiritual warfare by speaking the Word of God. Satan is a liar and the father of lies there is no truth in him. But he will come and use your circumstances, your feelings, your conscience, your mind, and other people to try and bring you down but it is then that you have to speak up "You lie. Christ speaks the truth and you do not!"
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
The Biggest Problem Facing the Church Today is not "cheap grace" but "cheap law"
J. Gresham Machen counterintutively noted, "A low view of law always
produces legalism; a high view of law makes a person a seeker after
grace." The reason this seems so counterintuitive is because most people
think those who talk a lot about grace have a low view of God's law
(hence, the regular charge of antinomianism). Others think those with a
high view of the law are the legalists. But Machen makes the compelling
point that it's a low view of the law that produces legalism, since a
low view of the law causes us to conclude we can do it—the bar is low
enough for us to jump over. A low view of the law makes us think the
standards are attainable, the goals reachable, the demands doable. This
means, contrary to what some Christians would have you believe, the
biggest problem facing the church today is not "cheap grace" but "cheap
law"—the idea that God accepts anything less than the perfect
righteousness of Jesus. As essayist John Dink writes,
Cheap law weakens God's demand for perfection, and in doing so, breathes life into the old creature and his quest for a righteousness of his own making. . . . Cheap law tells us that we've fallen, but there's good news, you can get back up again. . . . Therein lies the great heresy of cheap law: it is a false gospel. And it cheapens—no—it nullifies grace.Only when we see that the way of God's law is absolutely inflexible will we see that God's grace is absolutely indispensable. A high view of the law reminds us that God accepts us on the basis of Christ's perfection, not our progress. Grace, properly understood, is the movement of a holy God toward an unholy people. He doesn't cheapen the law or ease its requirements. He fulfills them in his Son, who then gives his righteousness to us. That's the gospel. Pure and simple.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Thursday, October 3, 2013
“The Restoration of the Banished”
“He
spares not His Son, but sends Him in quest of the exiles. He comes into
the land of banishment, lies in an exile’s cradle, becomes a banished
man for them, lives a banished life, endures an exile’s shame, dies an
exile’s death, is buried in an exile’s tomb. He takes our place of
banishment that we may take His place of honor and glory in the home of
His Father and our Father. Such is the exchange
between the exile and the exile’s divine substitute. Though rich, for
our sakes He becomes poor. Though at home, He comes into banishment,
that we may not be expelled forever.”
—Horatius Bonar, “The Restoration of the Banished”
Jesus took my exile and gave me his place in the Fathers house, I am now eternally secure I can never get kicked out of the Fathers house. Christ took my banishment and gives me his place of glory and honor. I have a seat at the Fathers table and a room in the Fathers house. I can run to the Fathers arms any time and He will always accept me. hold me, care for me, he will never get tired of me, or become disgusted with me because He sees me as he sees Jesus.
—Horatius Bonar, “The Restoration of the Banished”
Jesus took my exile and gave me his place in the Fathers house, I am now eternally secure I can never get kicked out of the Fathers house. Christ took my banishment and gives me his place of glory and honor. I have a seat at the Fathers table and a room in the Fathers house. I can run to the Fathers arms any time and He will always accept me. hold me, care for me, he will never get tired of me, or become disgusted with me because He sees me as he sees Jesus.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Everything Is Secured By Christ On The Cross
“Everything
that we know and appreciate and praise God for in all Christian
experience both in this life and in the life to come springs from this
bloody cross. Do we have the gift of the Spirit? Secured by Christ on
the cross.
Do we enjoy the fellowship of saints? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Does he give us comfort in life and death? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Does he watch over us faithfully, providentially, graciously, and covenantally? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Do we have hope of a heaven to come? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Do we anticipate resurrection bodies on the last day? Secured by Christ on the cross. Is there a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Do we now enjoy new identities, so that we are no longer to see ourselves as nothing but failures, moral pariahs, disappointments to our parents—but deeply loved, blood-bought, human beings, redeemed by Christ, declared just by God himself, owing to the fact that God himself presented his Son Jesus as the propitiation for our sins? All this is secured by Christ on the cross and granted to those who have faith in him.”
—D.A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus
This is why Paul said, "Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" I have nothing to claim of my own, I have nothing to bring to God so I cling to the cross and all that Christ did for me there. Thank God for the cross of Christ, all my confidence is in Him.
Do we enjoy the fellowship of saints? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Does he give us comfort in life and death? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Does he watch over us faithfully, providentially, graciously, and covenantally? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Do we have hope of a heaven to come? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Do we anticipate resurrection bodies on the last day? Secured by Christ on the cross. Is there a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Do we now enjoy new identities, so that we are no longer to see ourselves as nothing but failures, moral pariahs, disappointments to our parents—but deeply loved, blood-bought, human beings, redeemed by Christ, declared just by God himself, owing to the fact that God himself presented his Son Jesus as the propitiation for our sins? All this is secured by Christ on the cross and granted to those who have faith in him.”
—D.A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus
This is why Paul said, "Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" I have nothing to claim of my own, I have nothing to bring to God so I cling to the cross and all that Christ did for me there. Thank God for the cross of Christ, all my confidence is in Him.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Free Grace is Dangerous
Free grace is dangerous:
[S]tick with it and sail into the storm with all guns blazing. 'We have to do something, don't we?' NO! In fact that is no longer the question. Now the question becomes, 'What are you going to do now that you don't have to do anything?' Theology based on the [Augsburg Confession] is not interested in 'something'; it is after everything.
A pastor friend related an interesting reaction from a teenager to [this notion]. . . . [I]t seemed to tell him he could do anything he wanted to do! Now what is one supposed to say to that? The most immediate reaction, I suppose, would be to jump in on the defensive and thunder, 'No! No! No!--of course not, you can't do whatever you want to do!'
But think for a moment. Perhaps then the whole battle would be lost. One must sail into the storm. Should one not rather say 'Son, you are right. You got the message. The Holy Spirit is starting to get to you.'
But is that not dangerous? . . . Is it not 'cheap grace'? No, it's not cheap, it's free! 'Cheap grace,' you see, is not improved by making it expensive. . . . It's free. Now free grace is dangerous, no doubt about it. . . . We might not survive such free grace. It might ruin us. But Jesus told us that long ago: 'To him who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even that will be taken away.'
There is indeed a danger.
--G. Forde, Justification by Faith: A Matter of Death and Life (Fortress 1982), 33-34; italics original
Think about that for a while and it will shake up all your religious ideas!
[S]tick with it and sail into the storm with all guns blazing. 'We have to do something, don't we?' NO! In fact that is no longer the question. Now the question becomes, 'What are you going to do now that you don't have to do anything?' Theology based on the [Augsburg Confession] is not interested in 'something'; it is after everything.
A pastor friend related an interesting reaction from a teenager to [this notion]. . . . [I]t seemed to tell him he could do anything he wanted to do! Now what is one supposed to say to that? The most immediate reaction, I suppose, would be to jump in on the defensive and thunder, 'No! No! No!--of course not, you can't do whatever you want to do!'
But think for a moment. Perhaps then the whole battle would be lost. One must sail into the storm. Should one not rather say 'Son, you are right. You got the message. The Holy Spirit is starting to get to you.'
But is that not dangerous? . . . Is it not 'cheap grace'? No, it's not cheap, it's free! 'Cheap grace,' you see, is not improved by making it expensive. . . . It's free. Now free grace is dangerous, no doubt about it. . . . We might not survive such free grace. It might ruin us. But Jesus told us that long ago: 'To him who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even that will be taken away.'
There is indeed a danger.
--G. Forde, Justification by Faith: A Matter of Death and Life (Fortress 1982), 33-34; italics original
Think about that for a while and it will shake up all your religious ideas!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Cleansed From Every Fear
The
glory of salvation is that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus is
completely pardoned. It is not some of his sin that is put away, but
all of it. I rejoice to look upon it as dear Kent does when he sings,
Here’s pardon for transgressions past, It matters not how black their cast;
And, O my soul, with wonder view, For sins to come here’s pardon too.
We are plunged into the fountain of redeeming blood and cleansed from every fear of ever being found guilty before the living God. We are accepted in the Beloved through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, justified once for all and forever before the Father’s face! Christ said, ‘It is finished,’ and finished it is. And Oh, what a bliss is this — one of the things that may well stagger those who have never heard it before. But let them not reject it because it staggers them but rather let them say, ‘This wonderful system which saves and saves completely, in an instant, simply by looking out of self to Christ, is a system worthy of divine wisdom, for it magnifies the grace of God and meets man’s deepest necessities.’”
C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1950), I:451-452.
All I can ask is Has this truth that Christians are "justified once for all and forever before the Fathers face" really staggered you? If this truth really sinks into your life all you can do is worship God and be overwhelmingly grateful and joyfully live your life to please the God who saved you by grace alone. If this is not how you are living you really don't grasp what Christ did for you and you are in some way still trying to save yourself which results in a joyless miserable life.
Here’s pardon for transgressions past, It matters not how black their cast;
And, O my soul, with wonder view, For sins to come here’s pardon too.
We are plunged into the fountain of redeeming blood and cleansed from every fear of ever being found guilty before the living God. We are accepted in the Beloved through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, justified once for all and forever before the Father’s face! Christ said, ‘It is finished,’ and finished it is. And Oh, what a bliss is this — one of the things that may well stagger those who have never heard it before. But let them not reject it because it staggers them but rather let them say, ‘This wonderful system which saves and saves completely, in an instant, simply by looking out of self to Christ, is a system worthy of divine wisdom, for it magnifies the grace of God and meets man’s deepest necessities.’”
C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1950), I:451-452.
All I can ask is Has this truth that Christians are "justified once for all and forever before the Fathers face" really staggered you? If this truth really sinks into your life all you can do is worship God and be overwhelmingly grateful and joyfully live your life to please the God who saved you by grace alone. If this is not how you are living you really don't grasp what Christ did for you and you are in some way still trying to save yourself which results in a joyless miserable life.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
Get Your Eyes Off Yourself
Life
is filled with all kinds of unexpected events and its not whether they
are good or bad or indifferent its how you react or respond to them.
When many people are surprised by some unexpected event they react by
making it all about them. How this will affect my life, what this will
put me through. Little thought is given on how this affects the person
it has happened to. God uses all these events
to test us in order to change us. Get your eyes off yourself and try to
see what God is trying to do in your life and what you can do to help
the other person. God is constantly trying to free us from our own
selfishness our own self-centeredness and change us to be someone he can
pour out his love and grace through. I have no control with what
happens around me in this life. But I do know that God is in control,
and I can completely trust Him to bring about His purposes and plans for
everyone involved. Thank you Lord for your grace.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Friday, September 20, 2013
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Monday, September 16, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Eric Clapton - Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Clapton at The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration for Bob Dylan in 1993 doing a scorching version of Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"
What Fyodor Dostoyevsky Can Teach Us about the Christian Life
Dostoyevsky is to me both the greatest novelist, as such, and the
greatest Christian storyteller, in particular, of all time. His plots
and characters pinpoint the sublimity, perversity, meanness, and misery
of fallen human adulthood in an archetypal way matched only by Aeschylus
and Shakespeare, while his dramatic vision of God’s amazing grace and
of the agonies, Christ’s and ours, that accompany salvation, has a range
and depth that only Dante and Bunyan come anywhere near. . . . [H]is
constant theme is the nightmare quality of unredeemed existence and the
heartbreaking glory of the incarnation, whereby all human hurts came to
find their place in the living and dying of Christ the risen Redeemer.
J. I. Packer
J. I. Packer
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
While the Eyes of the Great Look Elsewhere
"The road must be trod, but it
will be very hard ... Neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it.
This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong, yet
such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world. Small hands
do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
Lord Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring.
The hobbit's quest to destroy the Ring is like a commentary on Paul's words in 1 Corinthians about God using the weak and foolish things of the world, and the things that are not, to destroy the wise and mighty things of the world, the things that are. Hobbits are little people and most people outside the Shire don't even know they exist. But these meek and humble Hobbit's don't want power they live serving others with no desire for recognition or fame.God did not call many mighty or influential or of aristocratic birth. Paul said "If any man is proud, he must be proud of what the Lord has done for him." The eyes of the great are elsewhere so be encouraged while you live your life for Christ, "he sees your deeds he knows your needs even before you ask
The hobbit's quest to destroy the Ring is like a commentary on Paul's words in 1 Corinthians about God using the weak and foolish things of the world, and the things that are not, to destroy the wise and mighty things of the world, the things that are. Hobbits are little people and most people outside the Shire don't even know they exist. But these meek and humble Hobbit's don't want power they live serving others with no desire for recognition or fame.God did not call many mighty or influential or of aristocratic birth. Paul said "If any man is proud, he must be proud of what the Lord has done for him." The eyes of the great are elsewhere so be encouraged while you live your life for Christ, "he sees your deeds he knows your needs even before you ask
John Piper ~ Prosperity Gospel
Watch this share it with others think about what it means. Jesus said "Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15 "For where your treasure is there will your heart be also" Luke 12:34
Friday, September 6, 2013
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Monday, September 2, 2013
Peace?
“Why do we expect God to prohibit war? Or why should God prevent war? Apart from the theoretical reason that God should prevent war because it is sinful, . . . there can be no doubt that the real reason why people expect God to prevent war is that they desire a state of peace and feel that they have the right to live in a state of peace. But that immediately raises another question, which, in a sense, is the fundamental question with respect to this whole matter. What right have we to peace? Why do we desire peace? How often, I wonder, have we faced this question? Has not the tendency been to take it for granted that we have a right to a state and condition of peace? Do we stop to ask what is the real value and purpose and function of peace? . . . It is not enough that we should desire peace merely that we may avoid the horror and suffering of war. . . . Man’s chief business in life is to serve and to glorify God. That is why the gift of life has been given to him. That is why we are here on earth. All other things are subservient to this – all the gifts and the pleasures which God gives us so freely. . . . But is that our reason for desiring peace? Is that the real motive in our prayers for peace? . . . Do we deserve peace? Were we justified in asking God to preserve peace and to grant peace? What if war has come because we were not fit for peace, because we did not deserve peace, because we by our disobedience and godlessness and sinfulness had so utterly abused the blessings of peace? Have we a right to expect God to preserve a state of peace merely to allow men and women to continue a life that is an insult to His holy Name?”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Why Does God Allow War? (London, 1939), pages 89-92. Italics original.
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