Fear and Trembling

Thanks to a great lady , I had the privilege of listening to the stream video of this message from John Piper at the 2008 Resurgence Conference . I found it helpful, and the question and answer period at the end of last night’s messages made staying up late worth it.

William F. Buckley, Jr. passed away. He will be missed.

"We tell people that the cross means we are forgiven. Jesus has paid the penalty of our sins. And that Jesus' resurrection means we will have life after death and be with God in Heaven. That has been our message. But it has retained only two dimensions: we have neglected the Good News about the Kingdom in the here and now. The powerful experience and explanation of the inbreaking rule of God, in which people were being set free from sin, sickness, and spiritual oppression and even the spirit of a nation was being changed, has been largely lost. We've replaced it with a much more individualistic message about freedom from guilt and fire insurance after we die." - Rick Richardson, Reimagining Evangelism (InterVarsity, 2006) I have long struggled with the role of good works in the Christian life. I have struggled with the issue, and this is obvious from reading some of my posts. I am of the opinion that good works done by the Christian are not meritorious, but at the s...

Thanks to “Between Two Worlds” for the link to an interview with the Getty’s . I also like their 2006 album, especially this song. I purchased the “In Christ Alone” CD after singing the song the CD is named for at a church service . It is very powerful and seems to be centered on Christ’s Cross.

I am still listening to Max Lucado’s 3:16: The Numbers Of Hope . I found a great example. He discusses the racing team of Dick and Rick Hoyt , a team that has an impressive competition history . I’ll let Max tell the story: Team Hoyt consists of a father-son squad: Dick and Rick. They race. They race a lot. Sixty-four marathons. Two hundred ans six triathlons. Six triathlons at Ironman distance…Since 1975, they’ve crossed nearly a thousand finish lines… Team Hoyt loves races. But only half of team Hoyt can run. Dick, the dad, can. But Rick’s legs don’t work, nor does his speech. At his birth in 1962, the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, starving oxygen from his brain, stealing coordination from his body… But Rick wanted to run. At age fifteen, he asked his dad if they could enter a five mile benefit race. Dick was not a runner, but he was a father, so he loaded his son in a three-wheeled wheelchair, and off they went. They haven’t stopped since… We bring to the spiritual race wh...

I am reading a book by Max Lucado called 3:16: The Numbers Of Hope . Well, really I am listening to it on tape. I am finding this to be encouraging devotional listening. I especially like his discussion of the “whosoever” and “whoever” passages of the Bible, including John 3:16 , the focus of the book. He references Mt. 10:32 , Mt. 10:39 , Mk. 3:35 , Mk. 16:16 , Jn. 3:36 , Jn. 4:14 , Jn. 6:37 , Jn. 11:26 , and Rev. 22:17 . To which I would add Isaiah 1:18-20 , Isaiah 55:1, 6-7 ; Hosea 6:1 , Mt. 11:28 , and Rev. 3:20 (Note that Rev. 3:20 refers to Christians; they can come too.). Lucado is expansive: Whoever unfurls 3:16 as a banner for the ages. Whoever unrolls the welcome mat of heaven to humanity. Whoever invites the world to God. Jesus could have so easily narrowed the scope … but he used no qualifier. The pronoun is wonderfully indefinite. After all, who isn’t a whoever . Whoever makes it clear: God exports his grace worldwide. For those who attempt to restrict it, Jesus has a...

Thanks to Between Two Worlds for directing me to Tim Keller’s web site in conjunction with his new book . That book is next on my list to purchase.