200 Proff Grace

The Reformation was a time when men went blind, staggering drunk because they had discovered, in the dusty basement of late medievalism, a whole cellar full of fifteen-hundred-year-old, two-hundred proof Grace–bottle after bottle of pure distillate of Scripture, one sip of which would convince anyone that God saves us single-handedly. The word of the Gospel–after all those centuries of trying to lift yourself into heaven by worrying about the perfection of your bootstraps–suddenly turned out to be a flat announcement that the saved were home before they started…Grace has to be drunk straight: no water, no ice, and certainly no ginger ale; neither goodness, nor badness, not the flowers that bloom in the spring of super spirituality could be allowed to enter into the case.”
Robert Farrar Capon, Between Noon & Three: Romance, Law & the Outrage of Grace 

To many Christians refuse to drink grace straight up they are constantly mixing it with something that comes from themselves. They have no clue how bad they are what sinners they are but they are convinced of their own self righteousness and judge others freely. But grace tells us "Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them" (Rom. 12:14) Not easy to do which is why I drink a lot of grace.

Teach Us To Number Our Days

The last section of Psalm 90 is an appeal to God for an outpouring of His Grace, that we may be satisfied with God Himself and that our work will endure as something of lasting value even though we will quickly pass away. This closing section of the Psalm give us three petitions:

1.“SO TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS THAT WE MAY GET A HEART OF WISDOM.” (v.12) This is a prayer that God will help us live Holy Lives which is the path of true wisdom. How do we make each day count for God?

2.“SATISFY US IN THE MORNING WITH YOUR STEADFAST LOVE (mercy) THAT WE MAY REJOICE (sing for joy) AND BE GLAD ALL OUR DAYS” (v.14). “The only thing that will secure life-long gladness is a heart satisfied with the experience of Gods love” (Alexander MacLaren).

3.“ESTABLISH THE WORK OF OUR HANDS UPON US (for us); YES ESTABLISH THE WORK OF OUR HANDS” (v.17) “So long as we are here...we are required by Him for something. Let us therefore find out what it is, and do it; and while we do it, let us pray that God may establish it so that it may remain to bless posterity” (William M. Taylor).

It Is Finished

The gospel is: It’s finished. Christ has lived perfectly in your place. Christ died shamefully in your place, and He has risen in power for you. That’s the message people need to hear. Here was the message recently taught to a very large group of christian students: "Figure out what you are really good at. Be the best at it in the world, and then people will listen to you when you want to talk about Christ." No, that's not the gospel that’s the message of the world, which is: "You have to be good to gain a hearing." The message of the gospel is: We’re sinners. We need a Savior and there is a Christ who has bought forgiveness for you. Live in the light of that. There is nothing more difficult to accept than the truth that you bring nothing to the table except your sin, and He has to bring everything else.

The True God

God is a God of outsiders because the true God is a God of grace. The true God offers His salvation regardless of merit, race, pedigree, gender or class. (The early church grew among the poor, the slaves, the oppressed)

The gods of religions and even the god of people who think they’re following the God of the Bible are gods who basically work with you on the basis of your performance and your spiritual attainment. If you pray enough, sacrifice enough, if you’re active enough in church, if you read the Bible enough, if you do the right thing, if you live morally good enough, then this God will work with you. But that’s not the true God!

God's Grace Is Here If You Will Receive It

What God did at Calvary was grace. Jesus didn’t die for his friends, he died for his enemies, and he died for us. That’s grace. That’s going beyond the ordinary or what’s expected. All the human race can expect is divine wrath but God comes and says, “I’m going to give you grace instead of wrath because of my Son”.

The grace of God is here for the human race. Christ died on the cross for them. But the human race says, “No, I’m doing it my own way”. Jeremiah says, “That’s bad news because it’s not in you to direct your steps, to lead your own life”. This is the issue in man’s rebellion against God. Man thinks I can come up with my own way to save myself, I don’t have to believe in Jesus or all that Bible stuff, I can do it my own way. God says there is only one way. Jesus is the only door, he is not one of many doors. This is the struggle— the struggle for control.

You must understand this is the battle we face in presenting the gospel. To accept Christ man has to give up the control he thinks he has (which is an illusion anyway) he has to repent and believe the gospel. This issue of control is at the heart of all our struggles and still must be dealt with even after you come to Christ.

This is from the message "The Need For Brokenness And Correction"

Humility

Humility is having the correct opinion and attitude towards ourselves, or having the correct estimation of yourself.

Thayer’s Greek word studies define humility as “Having a humble opinion of one’s self, a deep sense of one’s moral littleness, modesty, humility, lowliness of mind”. Humility means “to make low, bring low, to bring into a humble condition, to assign a lower rank or place, to rank below others who are honored or rewarded, to have a modest opinion of one’s self, to behave in an unassuming manner.

Humility is not only the correct estimation of self and seeing yourself as God sees you. It is also the ability to receive what you don’t deserve. Humility is believing what God says is true. The height of pride is to reject what God has freely given. “But He gives more grace. Therefore it says God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:6-7).

God Will See Us Through

God will see us through — “We are under pressure on every side, but never without a way out. We are at our wits end, but never at our hopes end. We are pursued by men, but never abandoned by God. We are knocked down, but never knocked out” (2Cor.4:8-9 Barclay). I have lived a lot on the floor but I’ve never been unconscious.

My Favorite Guitar and Bass

Here I am playing my Gibson  ES335 Stereo B.B. King Guitar 1973 vintage. This is my favorite guitar of all time. On my left is Brian Shea playing my Fender Telecaster Bass, 1968 vintage. I loved that bass.