At the conclusion of his book, Into Thin Air, outdoorsman and author Jon Krakauer recounts a conversation he had with fellow climber Neal Beidleman after they both successfully made it down from Mount Everest in May, 1996 — the same month when 12 people died attempting to climb the world’s highest peak. Beidleman had led […]
Read More God the ShepherdJohn Piper, “Preaching as Worship:” Jesus described faith this way in John 6:35 — “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” Believing in Jesus means coming to him for the quenching of our soul’s thirst. Faith in Christ is […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Faith (Piper)A. W. Pink: The nature of Christ’s salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Salvation (Pink)Title: Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God Author: Bruce A. Ware Publisher: Crossway, 2009; 234 pp. $15.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): More than one parent has been stumped by the question, “what should I teach my child about God?” Perhaps having read through a basic Bible story book, the young […]
Read More Book Review: Big Truths for Young HeartsOne of my favorite verses is Ephesians 2:7 — so that in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. God’s mercy, love, and grace that result in the salvation of sinners is for the purpose of demonstrating the magnitude of God’s grace […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (8/2/09)Thabiti Anyabwile, What is a Healthy Church Member?: Conversion is the radical turn from an enslaved life of pursuing sin to a free life of pursuing and worshipping God. Conversion is a change of life, not merely a decision. This change is not a matter of moral rectitude, self help or merely behavior modification. It […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Salvation (Anyabwile)Here are the nine questions that John Patrick says every person must answer; I mentioned these in the sermon this morning: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? How do I come to terms with death? How do I make sense of suffering? How can I possibly believe in […]
Read More Nine QuestionsC. J. Mahaney, Living the Cross-Centered Life: When you’re deeply aware of your sin, and of what an affront it is to God’s holiness, and of how impossible it is for Him to respond to this sin with anything other than furious wrath — you can only be overwhelmed with how amazing grace is. Only […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Sin and Grace (Mahaney)Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship: Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.…The only man who has the right to say he is justified […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Cheap Grace (Bonhoeffer)The chair was moved away from the table. A mother’s head peeked around the corner and saw that it had been pushed against the counter and used as a stepping stool for a pair of three-year-old legs. The quest was the cookie jar. And at just the most inopportune moment, with his teeth crunching excitedly […]
Read More Take heedA. W. Tozer, The Radical Cross: You’ll never run into a stratum in God that is hard. You’ll always find God gracious, at all times and toward all peoples forever. You’ll never run into any meanness in God, never any resentment or rancor or ill will, for there is none there. God has no ill […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Grace (Tozer)Memories. The first day of school. The first date with your wife. The night your child was born. The funeral of your best friend. The aching regret of a mistake — a sin — that cannot be undone. Water skiing on the lake with friends. The smell of hot-dogs and popcorn that takes you in […]
Read More Building sanctified memoriesJ. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism: The type of religion which rejoices in pious sound of traditional phrases, regardless of their meanings, or shrinks from “controversial” matters, will never stand amid the shocks of life. In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men agree are apt to be the […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Keeping the Faith (Machen)Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: …you and I must never look at our past lives; we must never look at any sin in our past life in any way except that which leads us to praise God and to magnify His grace in Christ Jesus. I challenge you to do that. If you look at your […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Sanctified Memory (Lloyd-Jones)Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: You must be made miserable before you can know true Christian joy. Indeed the real trouble with the miserable Christian is that he has never been truly made miserable because of conviction of sin. He has by-passed the essential preliminary to joy, he has been assuming something that he has no […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Sorrow and Joy (Lloyd-Jones)
Words of Grace 