“The story of the Bible is that God the Father sent His only true and eternal Son on a mission, and that mission was to bring many wayward and rebellious sons home to glory (Hebrews 2:10). That is the Story behind the story of the Prodigal Sons. That is the only story that gives our stories any meaning or significance.”
— Dan Cruver
Reclaiming Adoption
(Adelphi, Md.: Cruciform Press, 2011), 11
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How do you read the Bible?
from Unconfusing by denise
What are other ways we might read the Bible?
The Gold Mine Approach – reading the Bible as a vast, cavernous, dark mine, in which one occasionally stumbles upon a nugget of inspiration. Result: confused reading.
The Hero Approach – reading the Bible as a moral hall of fame that gives us one example after another of heroic spiritual giants to emulate. Result: despairing reading.
The Rules Approach – reading the Bible on the lookout for commands to obey to subtly reinforce a sense of personal superiority. Result: Pharisaical reading.
The Artifact Approach – reading the Bible as an ancient document about events in the Middle East a few thousand years ago that are irrelevant to my life today. Result: bored reading.
The Guidebook Approach – reading the Bible as a roadmap to tell me where to work, whom to marry, and what shampoo to use. Result: anxious reading.
The Doctrine Approach – reading the Bible as a theological repository to plunder for ammunition for my next theology debate at Starbucks. Result: cold reading.
How then should we read the Bible? Dane Ortlund writes about it in Transform Your Bible Reading. HT: Vitamin Z (http://theresurgence.com/2011/03/31/transform-your-bible-reading)
'The Bible is not mainly commands with stories of grace sprinkled in. It is mainly a story of grace with commands sprinkled in. '
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http://theresurgence.com/2011/04/04/pauls-dilemma-should-he-stay-or-should-he-go?
v. interesting. I like the diagram ... :)
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This one again .. :)
A sign you’re growing in grace: It’s getting easier not to retaliate, get even, or even crave God’s vengeance.
A sign you’re growing in grace: The work “trafficking” moves you to work for justice, not complain about too many cars.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You don’t care squat about infralapsarianism, but you’ll defend the gospel with your life.
A sign you’re growing in grace: Less cynicism about other people’s sins and more tears over your own.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You feel like you’re just beginning to appreciate all the riches and depth of John 3:16.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You argue less about the timing of the Spirit’s baptism & thirst 4 more of his fullness.
A sign your’e growing in grace: You don’t “dis” legalism disproportionately to antinomianism.
A sign you’re growing in grace: God’s promises claim you more than you claim them.
A sign you’re growing in grace: Your thoughts of heaven are more about the transforming of this world than escaping it.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You can enjoy God’s gifts without reservation & share God’s gifts without hesitation.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You don’t linger at religious TV programming just to fuel contempt & make snide remarks.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You remember the names of your checkout attendants where you usually buy your groceries.
A sign you’re growing in grace: Compliments don’t intoxicate you and criticism doesn’t decimate you.
A sign you’re growing in grace: Your theology always leads to doxology, not merely to you being more right than others.
A sign your’e growing in grace: It takes minutes not weeks to recognize when you’ve fallen back into works righteousness.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You find yourself choosing to use the phrase, “You don’t get me” less and less.
A sign you’re growing in grace: When in Starbucks, you don’t judge the people who sit in the best chairs for hours.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You don’t objecify your church for criticism. You weep with her as a member of the family.
A sign you’re growing in grace. You unplug your affirmation-junkie umbilical cord from people by believing the gospel.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You don’t trust signs, just Jesus.
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HAPPILY DYING
TO DIE IS TO LIVE AND TO LIVE IS TO DIE
I’M NOT PERFECT, BUT I KNOW I’VE TRIED.
I KNOW I’VE YET TO ARRIVE.
SOME SAY TRUE LOVE IS SUICIDE.
BUT IT’S WORTH THE RISK.
I’D RATHER LOSE IT ALL, THEN TO LIVE A LIFE THAT MISSED.
MISSED WHAT COULD HAVE, WHAT SHOULD HAVE.
BUT I’M NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW.
MY THOUGHTS ARE CAUGHT IN JUST LIVING RIGHT NOW.
I’D RATHER GIVE IT MY ALL, AND SAY THAT I’VE TRIED.
THESE LESSONS I’VE LEARNED, FROM ALL THE MISTAKES I’VE MADE
THE HARDEST THING IN LIFE IS TO APPLY THE TRUTH.
YOU KNOW IT IN YOUR HEAD, BUT IT’S ANOTHER THING TO LIVE IT.
I ADMIT IT, I’M LESS THAN WHAT YOU THINK I AM
BUT WHAT MAKES A MAN ISN’T WHAT HE SAYS, IT IS WHAT HE DOES
IT IS HOW HE LIVES, IT IS HOW HE GIVES, IT IS HOW HE SACRIFICES FOR LOVE
FOR HIS WIFE, HIS CHILDREN AND KIDS
MAYBE ONE DAY I WILL KNOW THAT, BUT RIGHT NOW ALL I CAN DO IS HOPE THAT
ME DYING RIGHT HERE WILL SHOW THAT, I’M WILLING TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING
FOR THIS ONE THING CALLED LOVE, I’M HAPPILY DYING CAUSE I’M SATISFIED IN LOVE
I DON’T NEED ANYTHING MORE, I DON’T NEED ANYTHING LESS
TRUE BLESSING IS WHEN YOU ARE CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, NOT WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE
IT’S ABOUT LIVING IN THE MOMENT, LIVING IN THE PRESENT
MY GREATEST GIFT IN LIFE IS THE GIFT OF GOD’S PRESENCE
I SAID IT, AND I DON’T HAVE ANY REGRETS, CAUSE IF YOU HAVE EVERYTHING IN THIS LIFE
BUT YOU MISSED GOD, THEN YOU JUST MISSED EVERYTHING
CAUSE LIFE WITHOUT GOD IS NOT ANYTHING, I’M TALKING ABOUT EVERYTHING TRUE, GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL
I MIGHT BE LOST IN THIS WORLD, BUT I FIND MYSELF IN ETERNAL BLISS
I’M HAPPILY DYING TO THIS WORLD BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING THAT I MISS
THERE’S NOTHING THAT CAN HOLD ME, NOTHING THAT CAN HOLD ME DOWN TO THIS LIFE’S DISAPPOINTMENTS,
I ONLY HAVE ONE THING THAT I HOLD ONTO AND THAT IS THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE THAT NEVER DISAPPOINTS ME
I’M JUST A MAN ON A JOURNEY, 30 YEARS OLD AND THINKING ABOUT LIFE EACH DAY AS IF IT WERE MY LAST
I TAKE EVERY DAY AS A LESSON LEARNED, I’M IN CLASS TILL THE DAY I DIE, I’LL NEVER STOP LEARNING
I’LL NEVER STOP BURNING FOR THE ONE I LOVE, THE ONE THAT GIVES ME HOPE IN TIMES OF TROUBLE
FOR EVERY CHALLENGE, I SEE IT AS ONE STEP TO ANOTHER LEVEL, AND WE ARE ALL LEVEL,
EQUALS ON THIS PLAYING FIELD OF LIFE, DON’T HOLD ONTO THE PAST HURTS, BUT MOVE ON, FIGHT.
I’M HAPPILY DYING CAUSE I’M NO LONGER BOUND, I’M JUST LIVING
IF I LOST EVERYTHING I EVER HOPED FOR IN THIS LIFE, SO BE IT
MY LOVE IS NEVER LOST AS LONG AS I PROCEEDED TO LIVE FOR LOVE AND TO STAND FOR TRUTH
I DON’T NEED A BOOTH, I DON’T NEED A STAGE, ALL I NEED IS TO BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY
TO BREATHE AND EXHALE ANOTHER MOMENT, I’M LIVING
FINALLY ALIVE AND NO LONGER HELD DOWN BY THE EXPECTATIONS
THE EXPECTATIONS OF MAN, THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE CHURCH,
THE EXPECTATIONS OF MYSELF, THE EXPECTATIONS AND THE HURTS
I’M FREE TO BE ME, MY GOOD, MY BAD, MY BEAUTIFUL, MY UGLY
YOU STILL WANT TO HUG ME? EMBRACE ME AND FACE ME FOR WHAT I AM
I LOVE GOD. I LOVE MYSELF. I LOVE MY FELLOW MAN. I AM THIS MAN.
I’M HAPPILY DYING.
(http://jaesonma.com/)
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Another one!!!
A sign you’re growing in grace: You’re thinking more about the new heaven & new earth than the intermediate state.
A sign you’re growing in grace: Missions isn’t a budget line item but a core passion & preoccupation.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You desire less stuff rather than simply buying more.
A sign you’re growing in grace: Places like Haiti, Dafur and Somolia aren’t “missions targets”, but family.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You don’t debate eschatology, you live it.
A sign you’re growing in grace: When you hear the word “sanctification,” you think about Jesus & his work, not yours.
A sign you’re growing in grace: When speak about “the victorious Christian life” you’re referring to Jesus, not you.
A sign you’re growing in grace: Nothing makes your blood boil more than false gospels.
A sign you’re growing in grace: Your spouse marvels at how much better you are at listening than early in your marriage.
A sign you’re growing in grace: When you think about “blessings” from God, suffering makes your list.
A sign you’re growing in grace: The word “idolatry” makes you think about your heart more so than Greek temples.
A sign you’re growing in grace: The passive righteousness of Jesus lights an active fire in your heart for kingdom work.
A sign you’re growing in grace: The phrase, “meriting God’s favor” has been ripped from your salvific vocabulary.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You’ve got a whole lot more confidence in Jesus’ prayers than yours.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You’re content, even glad knowing that God sometimes answers your prayers with “No.”
A sign you’re growing in grace: You can find Jesus in the Book of Obadiah.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You’re increasingly Trinitarian.
A sign you’re growing in grace: Your neighbors are glad they are.
A sign you’re growing in grace: You’re increasingly less quarrelsome, sarcastic and easily offended.
A sign you’re growing in grace: When U hear the word “mortification” U think about killing sin, not being embarrassed.
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NTM Reach
With my newfound ability to schedule posts, I tricked you into thinking I was at home typing away! (ok so maybe not.) In any case, Jon and I were away at the NTM Reach conference over the weekend. It was really good. Not only did they feed us excessively (in quantity And quality), we got to meet loads of people from the continent (mostly German and Dutch), and we learnt so much about what NTM does in countries like the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.
So NTM (New Tribes Mission) focusses on reaching out to tribes that have no foreigners in their midst, where no one else speaks their language and most of these languages aren't even written down. So when missionaries go in, they have often to learn the language from scratch (no interpreters!) and then create an alphabet, and a written form of the language, before then translating the Scriptures, all while getting to know the people, teaching them to read and write, and church planting. It's kinda incredible.
NTM people refer to Papua New Guinea (PNG for short) which has hundreds of untranslated and unwritten languages, as the new Promised Land.
If you know anything about NTM or have any advice regarding missions, let us know, because it's looking very much like an organisation we'd like to be part of in the future...
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http://theresurgence.com/2011/04/03/spurgeon-sermon-notes-a-sermon-for-the-aged
Another gorgeous article. Reading it make me think of Peggy and Tom, and all other 'old darlings' I know. Also, its strange trying to picture how I'll be when I'm 'old', probably very similar to how we are now... :)
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... don't know what to say. I guess it speaks for itself.
“Shredded flesh against unforgiving wood, iron stakes pounded through bone and wracked nerves, joints wrenched out of socked by the sheer dead weight of the body, public humiliation before the eyes of family, friends, and the world — that was death on the cross, ‘the infamous stake’ as the Romans called it, ‘the barren wood, ’ the maxima mala crux. Or as the Greeks spat it out, the stauros. No wonder no one talked about it. No wonder parents hid their children’s eyes from it. The stauros was a loathsome thing, and the one who dies on it was loathsome too, a vile criminal whose only use was to hang there as a putrid decaying warning to anyone else who might follow his example.
That is how Jesus died.”
— Greg Gilbert
"The Gospel: God's Self-Substitution for Sinners" in Don't Call It a Comeback, ed. Kevin DeYoung
(Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2011), 72
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Naaawwwwwww :)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“Consider that the saints’ dying-day is to them the Lord’s pay-day. Every prayer shall then have its answer; all hungerings and thirstings shall be filled and satisfied; every sigh, groan, and tear that has fallen from the saints’ eyes shall then be recompensed.
Then they shall be paid and recompensed for all public service, and all family service, and all closet service. Then a crown shall be set upon their heads, and glorious robes put upon their backs, and golden scepters put into their hands; their dying-day being the Lord’s payday, they shall hear the Lord saying to them, ‘Well done, good and faithful servants, enter into your Master’s joy’ (Mat. 15:21).
Then God will make good all those golden and glorious promises that he has made to them, especially these which are here cited (Rev. 2:10, 3:4, 12, 22, and 7:16–17.) Now God will give them gold for brass, and silver for iron, felicity for misery, plenty for poverty, honor for dishonor, freedom for bondage, heaven for earth, an immortal crown for a mortal crown!”
— Thomas Brooks
A Believer's Last Day, His Best Day
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*cool perspective* :D
I've always said, you know, that I don't respect people who don't proselytise. I don't respect that at all. If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that, well, it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward... How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytise? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? I mean, if I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you, and you didn't believe it, and that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.
Penn Jilette, atheist
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“Is not Christ your treasure? Is not heaven your inheritance—and will you murmur? Has not God given you a changed heart, a renewed nature, and a sanctified soul—and will you murmur?
Has He not given you Himself to satisfy you, His Son to save you, His Spirit to lead you, His grace to adorn you, His covenant to assure you, His mercy to pardon you, His righteousness to clothe you—and will you murmur? Has He not made you a friend, a son, a brother, a bride, an heir—and will you murmur?
When you were dead, did not He quicken you? When you were lost, did not He seek you? When you were wounded, did not He heal you? When you were falling, did not He support you? When you were down, did not He raise you? When you were staggering, did not He establish you? When you were erring, did not He correct you? When you were tempted, did not He support you? and when you went in dangers, did not He deliver you?—and will you murmur?
What! you who are so highly advanced and exalted above many thousands in the world? Murmuring suits none so badly as saints.”
— Thomas Brooks
The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod
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I love poetry;
Help me figure you
You are as a sonnet to make sense of:
To paraphrase and to contextualize,
To decode by your form, by your rhyme
Yet never really by what you say.
I scan the lines and count the syllables,
I listen for consonance and for plosives
I look for the turn in the familiar places,
Yet never really read what you say.
But you are as a poet to make sense of:
To imagine and/or to recreate-
I will listen for you, or myself perhaps.
And what shall I do with you when you stop writing?
How will I stop imagining you as you make meaning
And beauty, truth, hope, and a thousand small things that wonder?
(don't know the source sorry)
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Hmmm ....
I frequently hear persons exhorted to give their hearts to Christ, which is a very proper exhortation; but that is not the gospel. Salvation comes from something that Christ gives you, not something that you give to Christ. The giving of your heart to Christ follows after the receiving from Christ of eternal life by faith. It is easy to work our friends up so that they say, “We will give our hearts to Christ,” but they may never do so, after all. If, with broken heart and contrite sigh, they had confessed their guilt, and had penitently cried, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” they might not have looked quite so well, but there would have been more hope of them. We cannot come to Christ unless Christ comes to us, and gives us a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
C.H. Spurgeon
(source: I Will Build My Church) (via The Wanderer)
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“Worship is the gift of participating through the Spirit in the incarnate Son’s communion with the Father.”
— James B. Torrance
Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace
(Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 20
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http://jaesonma.com/be-prepared-for-what-is-coming/
Waaaaaaaaah! But I just wanna do my HSC ... :(
It's scary. And the thing is I completely believe him. Gotta pray for the power to pick up my game ...!
I hope that we'll be ready.
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(a lighter note ... :)
Genesis 26:8
from Unconfusing by denise
When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with* Rebekah his wife.
*Hebrew may suggest an intimate relationship
Why thank you English Standard Version.
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We get ourselves in trouble when we enthrone a method and try to make that method work everywhere, rather than figuring out what is the principle behind the method?” ~ Dave Kraft
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http://timmybrister.com/2011/03/29/lets-tell-them/
couldn't get ANY more straight forward - but if we're still cringing why aren't we trying harder to prevent it.
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