Tuesday, May 31, 2011

TROUBLED?

Christendom Is Done, Now What Do We Do?

This is a very short write up from Desiring God concerning the demise of Christendom and it effects. It is important to understand this if we are going to be equipped to effectively speak to others within the church who are too shortsighted to regard history and understand what is happening in the big picture. Confused??? Well click the link below and read what they had to say, then comment if you feel so inclined.
Christendom Is Done, Now What Do We Do?
 

Monday, May 30, 2011

THE DUCK SONG

Okay, so the following video has no spiritual value whatsoever, except that maybe you could learn a lesson on patience if you make it through the whole thing. I enjoyed it though.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

JOPLIN AND AMERICA

On our way to Tulsa, Oklahoma last Sunday the great storm forced us to pull off of the road near Joplin, Missouri. We managed another half mile or so down the road to the next exit and when we pulled off realized all of the power was out in Joplin. We waited in a parking lot to see if it would come back on quickly, but soon realized that the storm was getting worse. Metal poles in front of us were shaking so violently that we decided it was time to get back on the road regardless of how much gas we had. It wasn't until about two hours later, upon arrival in Tulsa, that we realized the extent of what we had just escaped from.

Yesterday, having finished up our business in Tulsa, my wife and I began driving home and made our usual rest stop in Joplin, Missouri for refueling. We drove down Range Line Road, as has been our custom in the past and we were not ready for what we saw. How do you put into words the feelings you have when you look at piles and piles of twisted metal, crushed cars and telephone poles snapped like toothpicks knowing that many died on the very ground that I am staring at? I dared not take pictures for the veneration that came over me. I felt anger at others driving next to us, who were snapping photos with at least two different cameras, not realizing that a family member of the dead could be watching. What indifference was on their faces! Smiling and cackling with the windows down, they had absolutely no consideration for what had happened there. I wondered what their plans for those pictures were going to be. Did they plan on updating there social network page with 'exclusive' pictures from Joplin in the hopes of getting more 'hits' on there page? People are very insensitive to others. Love is lacking in America and it is amplified in places like Joplin. I recall similar situations and feelings from when I was deployed to Iraq. Yes, Joplin is likened to a war zone, and rightfully so. The damage is as far as the eye can see and complete. For about five city blocks I saw nothing salvagable. And during the same five city blocks, I saw that love in America is not salvagable either. Joplin will never be the same and America continues down the same road of indifference and selfish gain.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

NOAH DISCHARGING HIS DUTY

MISSIONS IN ISLAMIC NATIONS

I read somewhere that as little as 1 percent of the world mission force is working among Islamic nations.  The church has more missionaries working among Alaska's 400,000 residents than the entire Muslim world.  There is about one missionary for every 1 million Muslims.  Over 80% of all Muslims have never heard the gospel.  There are about 1.4 billion Muslims on the planet.  That's around 1/5th of the globe's population.  I have been praying for sometime now that God would use me in some way to reach these people.  I have been confused because I am not necessarily nation oriented in the Lord's leading, but have had my heart oriented toward this massive 'people group' who share a common set of beliefs.  There is much for the Lord to teach me concerning this people.  We must understand that not all Muslims are Arabs nor are all Arabs, Muslims.  In fact, there are Arab Christians.  The Arab Christian church has many denominations, that differ greatly from the average Western denominations.  There is a great history behind all of this, which I do not intend to get into.  My point is that we, as a church, need to be praying for the Muslim world and not view it as an enemy.  The average American might view the entire Arab world this way, but it is not biblical for Christians to view anyone this way.  Please pray that God would open up opportunities for the gospel to be preached among them.  Pray that the Lord would warm your heart to love others, even those whom your culture teaches you to have a general disdain for.

ELEVATOR COURTESY

I am from the city.  I grew up taking elevators up and down buildings.  I've noticed something that I had not realized before this week.  There are many people who are not well acquainted with the rules of elevator courtesy.  Allow me to explain these rules.  There are certain rules concerning courtesy that accompany all elevators in America.  If you are waiting for an elevator and it rings to let you know it has arrived, you cannot just rush in as soon as the doors open.  The proper thing to do is to wait for the people who are inside to get off if they so desire.  The rule is the same if you are waiting for the Subway or any other form of public transportation where people are constantly getting on and off at the same stop.  There have been numerous people here at the hospital that as soon as the doors open, nearly collide with me because they are not waiting for everyone to get off.  They just rush in only to realize the terrible awkwardness it causes when two people get that close entering/exiting an elevator.  I realize, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a big deal at all.  I am merely making the observation and hoping that through my blog, I can educate some and make others laugh.  So, now you know.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

LUKE 4:14-30

I read Luke 4 today and had many questions when I was done.  Jesus is in a synagogue in Galilee, Nazareth to be exact, and is doing what he usually does(v16), which is read from the Scripture. In verses 18&19, Jesus reads,
 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."
And then, he sits down and says in verse 21,
"Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
 How is this statement true?  I first thought that because Jesus read the Scripture to them, that it was the beginning of his public ministry and so it was the official sending of the Son of God to proclaim the Word of God to men, but verse 16 says that he read, 'as was His custom', which means that it couldn't be the mere reading of the Scripture that made this fulfilling of Scripture happen.  Apparently, Jesus read the Scripture regularly and so Him reading on this day wasn't anything out of the ordinary and yet, Jesus clearly says that this Scripture was 'fulfilled in your hearing'.  And so now we must examine just how this is so, otherwise we may miss the entire point of the passage.

I believe the answer is rather simple, and by saying this I do not mean it is obvious.  It was not at first obvious to me and so if it is not yet apparent to you, do not distress.  When I say 'simple' I only mean a lack of complexity.  Also, if you are reading this, already knowing the answer and wondering why I am making such a great deal out of it, please bear with me, as I am a relatively new Christian and am only now just beginning to understand the life of Jesus Christ.

The key to understanding how the Scripture was fulfilled is to put great emphasis on what is stated rather plainly in the beginning of verse 14.  It says
"And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,..."
It says he returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, implying that when he had left he had not this power of the Spirit, at least in the measure now given to him.  And if we are not certain if that is what is implied in the passage, we need only ask exactly where Jesus was returning from?  Well, from the wilderness and the great temptations where the devil attempted to derail the Son of God from His great purpose.  The temptations of Jesus are closely related to those of the same tests that the nation of Israel failed.  Think of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years, grumbling against God, saying they would rather be slaves in Egypt than starve in the desert and compare that to Jesus' answer to the devil, 'Man shall not live on bread alone'.  Remember the people, as Moses was on the mountain for 40 days as the people below made the golden calf and recall Jesus' answer to the devil, 'It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'  Remember Israel at Rephidim (Exodus17), complaining about their water situation and Moses asks, 'Why do you test the Lord?' and recall Jesus' answer to the devil 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test'.

Jesus went to the wilderness 'full of the Holy Spirit' after his baptism(v1).  There, he passed the tests that Israel failed and the scope of what resulted cannot be captured by words.  It was the proving of Jesus Christ's obedience.  Is this not the very thing that saves us?  Can we not be filled with joy at the sound of hearing that Jesus came up out of the wilderness as THE proven, obedient servant of God?  Yes, and we should see it this way!  He succeeded where everyone one of us would have failed, thus securing the spotlessness of the sacrifice.  Oh, if the devil had convinced him we would not have an unblemished sacrifice and it would not then suffice.  Thank the Lord that Jesus obeyed in the wilderness.

And so we return to our original question.  Jesus fulfilled this Scripture, not by reading it as he was accustomed to doing, but by reading it as the one who had obeyed the Lord in the wilderness.  The only proven man to ever walk the face of the planet.  Now, having been tested, Jesus can truly be the one anointed by God to preach the gospel to the poor, proclaim release to the captive and to give sight to the blind.  "And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,..."  Praise God for His perfect obedience.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

PRAYER AND CONTENTMENT

I was not sure if I wanted to share this or not, but I decided to do so because I think it has the potential to benefit others in their walk with Christ.

Something I have been struggling with recently concerns two aspects of the Christian life which appear to have tension with one another.  It is prayer and contentment.  Without turning this into a very long blog I will state the issue plainly.
If I am called to be content in this life no matter what I face, how can I ever pray for something I want changed without falling into discontentment?
I am very pressed for clarification concerning this matter because my wife has cancer and I struggle often with prayer for things like healing or longer life.  I say this because I do not want anyone to think that I am just sitting in an ivory tower trying to work out every aspect of the Christian life, but am experiencing God through the many trials that He has placed in my life, and through those trials, my faith is being made stronger and stronger.  I have thought long and hard on this subject and have come to many realizations along the way, but it wasn't until I emailed a gentleman I know and asked him the question that I truly realized a greater truth that will affect my entire Christian life as long as I walk planet Earth.

The Bible is filled with what is called 'paradoxes'.  Because of this it may be impossible to explain the tension created between these two truths in question but it is rooted in the fact that God is God (absolutely sovereign) yet is personal.  We ought to recognize that this tension exists and that it is okay.  It is in the Bible and we can live with these valid realities.

I knew the truth that paradoxes existed in the Bible and was okay with them prior to this conversation, but the Lord really has opened my eyes to see the great importance of knowing this and living out both valid realities at the same time.  Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane manifested this dichotomy, "remove this cup, yet your will be done".  Even in Heaven it seems there is some kind of unrest or a sense of a lack of fulfillment till the very end does come.  Rev 6:10  says, 'and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord..."'

The answer to my question is simple really.  I must be careful to be, in my prayers, scriptural and if it is something non-scriptural, to be submitted in my attitude toward my requests.

Mark 14:35-36 came alive when I re-read it after realizing this.  It says, 
And he went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.  And He was saying, "Abba! Father!  All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."
 The phrase, 'All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me' is not Jesus making a theological statement so the hearers near him would know that he understood God's sovereignty, before he asked for something, but was actually the basis for his asking.  He is about to ask God to change circumstances and so he tells God that God can do ANYTHING and because of this He can save mankind without having Jesus die.  Anything at all.  And yet, Jesus' will is submissive to God's will and upon realizing that God was choosing no other way, he goes to the cross to die, just the way God desired.  Jesus didn't come to the cross because there was no other way.  Jesus went to the cross because God didn't want it any other way.  God can do anything, come and ask Him whatever you desire.  Just be sure your submitted in your attitude.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACIFICE

In 1Samuel 15, King Saul disobeys the Lord's command, as given through His prophet Samuel, to utterly destroy all of the Amalekites, including all of their livestock as punishment for how they treated Israel when they were coming out of Egypt.  Instead, King Saul allows the people to take the choice livestock for sacrifice as well as keeps King Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive after the battle.  The Lord responds through Samuel in 1Samuel 15:22-23,
"Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king."
 This passage raises many thoughts for me which I will share.  First, I wondered at the question that Samuel asks.  'Does God desire burnt offerings or obedience more?' is the basic idea of his question.  The question is posed and then immediately answered with, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."  Once we understand that obedience is better than sacrifice we must ask, 'Why?'.  Why, if God instituted the sacrificial system in the Law of Moses, would He desire obedience more than sacrifice?  I mean, why isn't God indifferent to whether or not we obey or sacrifice.  Either one makes the account even right?  If I obey, there is no sin to atone for and if I sacrifice than the sin is atoned for and so why does God care about which one I do?  The answer is quite simple really.  Think of the beginning.  Genesis 1:31 says,
"God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day."
Everything God had made was very good!  Why was it very good?  Because all of creation was doing what God had commanded, without question, otherwise known as, OBEDIENCE.  From the beginning, God has always been a being worthy of being obeyed.  His immense worth cannot be put into words in my simple blog here, but we must understand some things about God, otherwise we will not understand His commands given in the Bible.

God is righteous and good, but not in the sense that you might say that a man is good.  If someone were to look at me and say, 'That guy is pretty good', it would be based on my actions.  And how would he know that my actions were good?  Because God said that those sort of things that this person has observed in my life were good.  With God, this is not so.  We do not look at God's actions and say, 'Based on God's actions He is good', rather, it is a statement of fact that 'He is good' and therefore everything that He does will be good, no matter what He does.  There is no standard with which to judge Him because He is the standard by which all things are judged.  So, when God says, it is all very good, it is because He has done the thing called 'very good' and not because He has done something already judged good.  This being true makes God worthy.  Why shouldn't we obey Him?  He is good.  Always good.  Eternally good.  He is also all-powerful, meaning that if He does something that is contrary to what we desire, it is still good and we ought to obey Him because there is no force that will overcome Him nor His will and if we are found on a side other than His, it can only mean judgment.  He is so good that this obedience ought not be feigned obedience, but an obedience that truly envelopes all of your soul, mind and body.  He is all-knowing, meaning that He can see past feigned obedience and knows the hearts of hypocrites.  Think not that your outward obedience without your entire heart behind your actions is anything good, rather it is what Thomas Watson called, 'double wickedness'.

So, in the beginning, God made all things and all things recognized Him as God through their obedience of Him and this is what God labeled, 'very good'.  This is one reason why God desires obedience more than sacrifice.  It should also be noted that the sacrifices that King Saul desired to offer, through disobedience is sort of an oxymoron.  He disobeyed, so that he could sacrifice.  The sacrificial system was put into place by God as a picture of humanities need for real atonement.  And he went out of his way to seek this picture of atonement, by actually adding more sin to his need for real atonement!  What great foolishness this was!

Another reason, and probably the greater reason (my opinion), is that the sacrificial system pictures the death of God's very Son, Jesus Christ.  Obedience is not something that ever crucified Him, but disobedience is the reason Jesus came, to atone for our disobedience.  And so you would see how God would rather you obey than offer up animal sacrifices.  He wants our obedience, not some picture of His mercy.  He wants us to know about His mercy and obey because He is good.

On a side note, Samuel uses the phrase, 'to heed than the fat of rams.  'Fat' is something mentioned numerous times in Leviticus while God delivers the sacrificial system to Israel through Moses.  The following verses mention what the priests are to do with the fat of the animals:
Leviticus 3:3,4,9,10,14,15,16,17
Leviticus 4:8,9,19,26,31,35
Leviticus 6:12
Leviticus 7:3,4,23,24,25,31
The topic of the fat involved in the sacrifices is a whole other topic for another blog, another day, but I only wanted to point out that Samuel was saying something specific here.  I quote one passage to make my point: Leviticus 3:16
"The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire for a soothing aroma; all fat is the LORD'S."
Even though the Lord had laid claim to all the fat in the sacrifices, it is told us in our text that God would rather you 'heed', than offer Him the fat portion.

He then goes on to tell Saul that 'Rebellion is as the sin, divination and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.'  The question that arises is, 'How so?'  How is rebellion as the sin, divination?  How is insubordination as iniquity and idolatry?  To answer this, I would say that what Saul did was rebellion.  He rebelled against the command of the Lord through disobedience and this is the same attitude that the person has who utilizes divination for its supposed benefits.  Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of a ritual.  This is to turn from God for guidance and look to things outside of Him for answers.  It is rebellion in its purest sense.  And so God, through Samuel, is telling Saul, 'You are no better than diviners.'  Insubordination is not keeping your place underneath your superiors.  This is the same heart as an idolater.  Idolaters ought to be subordinate to God, but instead seek to worship other gods, and this is insubordination.  Again, God is, through Samuel, telling Saul 'You are no better than an idolater'.

And so God rips the kingdom of Israel from Saul, and rightfully so.  His disobedience ought not be honored by God and frankly neither should ours.  The application is simple.  Let us not think that God cannot rip from us the things we believe are ours, namely, our salvation because of our disobedience.  Let's not build a theological wall around our salvation so we do not see the reality of falling away just as Saul did.  Hebrews 6:6-8 is clear enough:

 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

Obedience is better than sacrifice.  Obey the Lord by the power of the Spirit and you will not have to continue on in the patterns of sin that you are facing.  1John 2:1 says, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous'.  Notice, we do have an advocate with the Father for us, but he first says, he is writing to us that we may not sin.  Let us seek to be obedient and not just assume there will be sacrifice for us after we have disobeyed.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

THE DEEP, DEEP LOVE OF JESUS

Here is a great video from www.illbehonest.com

The plug for the Fellowship Conference at the end of the video has already taken place, but they are starting to put up some of the messages that were preached there on the website. Enjoy.


Saturday, May 7, 2011

THE THINGS YOUR LIVING FOR

"Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?"

This is a question that the late Leonard Ravenhill posed in some of the sermons I've heard him preach.  And I must say, every time I ask myself this, I realize more and more that I am not living a lifestyle worthy of Christ.  I do not mean that there will ever be a time in which I have attained something that is worthy of Him, but I only mean to amplify my lack of effort. It is one thing to be giving 100% and not coming close, but it is something entirely different to be living the American lifestyle of comfort and calm when there is a world of lost people out there waiting for someone to go out and meet them where they are at.

This brings me to the topic of suffering. I have been learning that the gospel is spread most effectively through Christian suffering and am convinced that we do not see God working in power with the lost around us because we will not get out of our comfortable living rooms and lifestyle in order to see God's name worshiped by all men. Colossians 1:24 says,
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions."
Paul says, 'filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions'.  What did he mean by this?  We know he wasn't saying that Jesus' suffering was insufficient for our atonement and that he needed to add to it on behalf of the Colossians, so what did he mean?  John Piper makes a good point in his book 'Desiring God' concerning this when he directs us to Philippians chapter 2, where Paul tells the Philippians to 'receive him with gladness' because he almost died bringing Paul the gift the Philippians gave to him. Philippians 2: says, 'because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.'  And what exactly was lacking in the Philippians gift to Paul that Epaphroditus supplied?  The Philippians could not deliver the gift in person and this is what Epaphroditus did. And so, to bring it back to Colossians 1:24, how is Paul's sufferings filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions?  Well, Jesus Christ cannot physically suffer before the watching world any longer and this is what Paul is doing on behalf of Jesus Christ.  This is what we are all called to do before the watching world.  Suffer.  Let's give up this American lie that tells us we must be comfortable.  It is through suffering that the world will see our great devotion to Christ.  Let us give up our stuff so others around us can receive from us.  It is our suffering that will fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.  In fact, we are called the body of Christ making all of our sufferings, His sufferings.  Let's be more obedient to Hebrews 13:13-14,
Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.

MOTHER'S DAY WITH NO CHILDREN

As we are one day out from celebrating Mothers Day, I thought it necessary to blog about it.  Many of you know that my wife Melissa has been fighting Ovarian Cancer since 2008.  This means that we cannot have children of our own (although she does have a 24 year old daughter from a previous marriage).  Coming from the view of a man who has no children and will never be in a position to have children, I must say that it is difficult to see days like Mother's Day and Father's Day pass by.  The joy of what makes up a family is expressed in the faces of many on these days and it is a jab in my heart when I see it.  This 'jab' is the realization of the truth that there is something to be desired in a family, of which, I will never experience.  The Lord is good, no matter what difficulties I experience in this life.  I do not want to cause anyone to feel awkward about expressing their love for their family on these days because they might disrupt the heart of one such as myself.  This sort of guilt is unwarranted.  

Family is a great blessing and it is only due to my sin that my life is where it is today.  And yet, at the same time, it is only because of God that my life is where it is today.  What a paradox this sort of thing is.  Am I getting what I asked for?  Or is God loving me?  I think maybe both.  You see, even adoption is out of the question (not 100%, but in my opinion almost)because of my past history with mental health issues and a criminal record that I am not proud of.  Sometimes I do not know why God has situated my life this way.  I know that I deserve no better.  I can remember saying regularly that I never wanted to have children and that I didn't want the extra expense that a child is.  I would tell any girlfriend that I got serious with that I wasn't interested in children.  I truly meant it then and only now realize that I am only getting what I have asked for.  I am uncertain about why my life has turned out this way.  I do know that all things work together for good to those who love God and that I have been called according to His purpose.  In the end, it is good not to get everything your way in this life.  I would not change anything even if I could.  I have a loving wife who would be a great mother if we could have ever had children together.  I can see this from the love that she shares with her own daughter.  And even when that relationship pricks my heart, I know that the Lord loves me and is doing what is best for me.  Let us praise Him, even in our suffering.  Happy Mother's Day.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

A MAN AND HIS BOY

Once upon a time, a man and his boy lived in a house in a certain city. The boy used to sneak out back and hide behind the shed to get away from his father.  The boy was a teenager and was attempting to get away from the rules his father had set for him.  He began experimenting with drugs and took up marijuana as his drug of choice.  One day, the boy's father found out about this young man's escapades and confronted him.  It did not go well, nevertheless the two remained together.

Flash forward 10 years later.

In the same home you now see the boy in the living room breaking down marijuana on the coffee table into smaller bags to be sold. The father walks in, picks up the bags and leaves the home to make a sale.

This amazing transformation sounds like something that could never happen in a million years and yet it is something I saw with my very eyes.  The father who used to chastise the boy for his straying is now himself straying.  Sin truly is defiling.  Sin makes you less effective in recognizing something as wrong and over a period of time, you find yourself doing the very things you said you would never do.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

ISAIAH 24

I do not pretend to have the book of Isaiah figured out, nor do I claim to even completely understand this chapter.  As I was reading the 24th chapter of Isaiah this morning, verse three really stood out to me.  It says, 
"The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word."
'Despoil' means to strip of possessions, things of value,etc. rob, plunder, pillage.  This is something that God will do. Anything worth value he will take. All good will be gone. This chapter is quite terrifying if read with a real sense that this is all going to occur.

We do not wish to hear about such things. I would encourage you to read this chapter slowly and see for yourself just how seriously God takes the sin of mankind. I understand that your eschatological view will shape exactly how you see this chapter, but no matter which way it falls, God is going to do this great thing upon the earth and we ought to be reverent in our thinking concerning such matters. This time will be nothing to smile at and so let us approach this chapter with this way of thinking.

Monday, May 2, 2011

GRACE IS NOT A 'THING'

Grace is not a Thing

In the Christian life we can easily find ourselves using jargon without knowing what we're really saying. What exactly is "grace"?

It is legitimate to speak of "receiving grace," and sometimes (although I am somewhat cautious about the possibility of misusing this 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 John 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

OSAMA BIN LADEN

I have to admit I was glad when I heard the news that the world's most wanted man was killed.  Justice is something that makes us all feel better when we see its scales actually leveled out in some measure.  When it eludes us, we become angry and irritated at the way things have panned out.  Injustice is the one thing that will make just about anyone irritable.  I am reminded of God's justice.  He will one day right every wrong and I long for the day when He returns to right everything.  God is just.  This makes Him most admirable.  All that He does is right and we can do nothing about this but worship Him because it is true.