Elyse Fitzpatrick: Grace for Parents

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Brennan Manning: It's Not Cheap, It's Free

"My life is a witness to vulgar grace—a grace that amazes as it offends. . . . A grace that hikes up the robe and runs breakneck toward the prodigal reeking of sin and wraps him up and decides to throw a party, no ifs, ands, or buts. . . . 

It’s not cheap. It’s free, and as such will always be a banana peel for the orthodox foot and a fairy tale for the grown-up sensibility."

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Michael Horton: The Gospel Doesn't Make Sense to Us

"To the extent that we remain pilgrims in this life, the gospel will remain strange even to us. Until the day we die, we will struggle to believe the bad news and Good News that God announces to us. We do not just naturally think that we are born in sin, spiritually dead, helpless, and unable to lift a finger to save ourselves or impress a holy God. As a result, it does not just occur to us that our greatest need is to be redeemed, justified, regenerated, sanctified, and glorified by God’s saving work in his Son and by his Spirit. 

 If the ‘Good News’ that we proclaim is determined by what we already know—or think we know—it isn’t really news. Limited to whatever we already think is relevant, practical, and useful, the message will never be surprising, disorienting, and troubling. It can never throw us off balance or cause us reevaluate our priorities and interpretations of reality." 

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Tim Keller: Righteousness in Christ Alone

"If the truth of being justified by Christ alone (not by our works) is lost, then all Christian truths are lost. 

For there is no middle ground between Christian righteousness and works-righteousness. There is no alternative to Christian righteousness but works-righteousness; if you do not build your confidence on the work of Christ, you must build your confidence on your own work. On this truth and only on this truth the church is built and has its being."

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Band Recommendation: Citizens

Looking for some Christian music that isn't over-produced and boy-band esque? Check out Citizens by Mars Hill Music.

Now That Twitter is Passé...

For those who are interested (I'm talking to you mom), I am now on twitter.

Here is the link.

Enjoy the weekend!

Paul David Tripp: Christ is Our Righteousness

“You have limited righteousness. Does that statement bother you? Actually, it needs to be strengthened. You and I have no independent righteousness at all! All our righteousness has been given to us by Christ. He is our righteousness.”

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Timothy Keller: Costly Grace

"When we grasp that we are unworthy sinners saved by an infinitely costly grace, it destroys both our self-righteousness and our need to ridicule others." 

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Sam Storms: Substitution

"If Christ did not suffer and satisfy the wrath of God in the place of sinners, I simply have nothing to say to a lost and dying world that could even remotely be regarded as “good news” (gospel). 

I can offer them spiritual therapy, wisdom for living, and a measure of psychological and emotional encouragement. But I have nothing to say that will serve them, much less save them, when they come to stand before the Great White Throne of God."

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John Piper: The Supremacy of Christ

Awesome!



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Michael Beates: Grace in Weakness

“Our culture says, ‘Avoid the broken and the disabled.  Hide your weakness and blemishes.  Act as if they simply aren’t there.’  But the Scriptures give story after story and proposition after proposition saying instead, ‘Understand that you – all of you in some sense or another – are broken. Stop avoiding the truth and embrace it.’  

For in that embrace we begin to grasp the power of God through his grace made manifest in human weakness” 

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Greg Koukl: Bad Arguments Against Religion

Greg Koukl is one of my favorite Christian apologists. The guy is brilliant, articulate, and Reformed (which sets him apart in my book).

His material has been such an encouragement to me lately. If you are looking for a shot in the arm to bolster your faith, give his resources a try.

This particular lecture below is fantastic.

Also, he is perhaps best known for his book entitled Tactics: A Game Plan For Discussing Your Christian Convictions.

Lastly, Greg has a fantastic video (and book) dismantling moral relativism. You can find that video here.

Edward Shillito: Jesus of the Scars

After witnessing the carnage and horrors of WWI, Edward Shillito wrote these powerful words:

"If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow,
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace...

The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone."

John Stott: Substitution Lies at the Heart of Sin and Salvation

“The concept of substitution may be said  to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.

Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accept penalties which belong to man alone.”

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John Stott: A God Who Suffers

"We have to learn to climb the hill called Calvary, and from that vantage-ground survey all life's tragedies. The cross does not solve the problem of suffering, but it supplies the essential perspective from which to look at it …

Sometimes we picture [God] lounging, perhaps dozing, in some celestial deck-chair, while the hungry millions starve to death … . It is this terrible caricature of God which the cross smashes to smithereens."

Justin Holcomb: Grace is the Opposite of Karma

“Grace” is the most important concept in the Bible, in Christianity, and in the world. The shorthand for grace is mercy, not merit.

Grace is getting what you don’t deserve and not getting what you do deserve. Grace is the opposite of karma. Grace is the love of God shown to the unlovely, the peace of God given to the restless, the unmerited favor of God. Grace is free sovereign favor to the ill-deserving. Grace is unconditional love toward a person who does not deserve it. Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues. Grace is God reaching downward to people who are in rebellion against him. Grace is one-way love."

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R.C. Sproul: Grace is for Beggars

"Perhaps the most difficult task for us to perform is to rely on God's grace and God's grace alone for our salvation. It is difficult for our pride to rest on grace. 

Grace is for other people - for beggars. We don't want to live by a heavenly welfare system. We want to earn our own way and atone for our own sins. We like to think that we will go to heaven because we deserve to be there."

Don Carson: A Savior Who Suffered

"Frequently it is when we are crushed and devastated that the cross speaks most powerfully to us. The wounds of Christ then become Christ's credentials. The world mocks, but we are assured of God's love by Christ's wounds."

Jerry Bridges: Salvation and Sanctification by Grace

“We could not take one step in the pursuit of holiness if God in His grace had not first delivered us from the dominion of sin and brought us into union with His risen Son. Salvation is by grace and sanctification is by grace.”

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Grace on Twitter (Part 2)

"Love for Jesus happens, not when you tell people how much they need to love Jesus, but when you tell people how much Jesus loves them." - Tullian Tchividjian

"Isn't it amazing that no matter how you performed yesterday, if you're God's child you awoke today to new mercies." - Paul David Tripp

"The world is already drowning in its efforts at life; it does not need lifeguards who swim to it carrying the barbells of their own... efforts." - Robert Farrar Capon

"No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, & never preach again until you have something worth preaching" C.H. Spurgeon via Matthew Sims

"Christian growth is forgetting about yourself." - Gerhard Forde

"He spent 33 years being righteous for you, fulfilling the Law in your place. Why on earth would you think his love for you depends on you?" - Elyse Fitzpatrick

Paul Zahl: Justification by Works = The Opposite of Grace

"If I can do enough of the right things, I will have established my worth. Identity is the sum of my achievements. Hence, if I can satisfy the boss, meet the needs of my spouse and children, and still do justice to my inner aspirations, then I will have proven my worth. 

There are infinite ways to prove our worth along these lines. The basic equation is this: I am what I do. It is a religious position in life because it tries to answer in practical terms the question, Who am I and what is my niche in the universe? 

On this reading, my niche is in proportion to my deeds. In Christian theology, such a position is called justification by works. It assumes that my worth is measured by my performance. Conversely, it conceals, thinly, a dark and ghastly fear: If I do not perform, I will be judged unworthy. To myself I will cease to exist." 

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John Stott: A Savior Who Suffers

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.' In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. 

But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. 

There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering. 

From The Cross of Christ (one of the most beautiful books I have ever read).

John Newton: Only the Gospel...

“The Gospel removes difficulties insuperable to human power. It causes the blind to see, the deaf to hear; it softens the heart of stone and raises the dead in trespasses and sins to a life of righteousness. No force but that of the Gospel is sufficient to remove the mountainous load of guilt from an awakened conscience, to calm the violence of tumultuous passions, to raise an earthly soul from groveling in the mire of sensuality or greed, to a spiritual and divine life, a life of communion with God.”

“No system but the Gospel can communicate motives, encouragements, and prospects, sufficient to withstand and counteract all the snares and temptations with which the spirit of this world, by its frowns or its smiles, will endeavor either to intimidate or to bribe us from the path of duty. But the Gospel, rightly understood and cordially embraced, will inspire the slothful with energy and the fearful with courage. It will make the miser generous, melt the churl [rude person] into kindness, tame the raging tiger in the breast, and, in a word, expand the narrow selfish heart and fill it with a spirit of love to God, a cheerful and unreserved obedience to his will, and benevolence to mankind.”

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Ichabod Spencer: The Aim of Gospel Ministry

"To cut off the sinner from all reliance upon himself, his merits and his powers; and throw him, naked and helpless, into the hands of the Holy Spirit to lead him to Christ in faith; should be the one great aim of the ministry."

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O Love of God

Christian, God loves you and he has shown that love to you in Christ.
On the cross, we see selfless love on full display.

I will admit that we don’t always believe that he loves us. 

We are prone to wander from this amazing truth. 

We are so quick to forget the reality of his love for us, but God loves us nonetheless.

If you are a believer, you can rest knowing that God loves you dearly. 
He loves you as you are, not as you will be; and nothing can ever separate you from that love.

St. Paul says it best: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

God loves you. When you don’t feel that love - he loves you.

When you mess up - he loves you.

When you have your private devotions (and then get arrogant about it) - he loves you.

When your heart is burning for God - he loves you.

When your heart is far from God and you are in the midst of spiritual famine - he loves you.

When you win - he loves you.

When you lose - he loves you.

This is incredible news! The everlasting Creator of all things, the omnipotent, omniscient God of the universe loves you and I on a personal level.

He loves you despite your lust, your pride, your hubris, your Phariseeism, your lack of devotion, your greed, and your anger.

He simply loves you because of who he is, not who you are.

He loves you because of what he has done, not what you do.

It is an eternal love. It is a one-way love. It is a love without conditions.

In Christ, God loves you.

Believe it!