31 January 2013

1. Nick Bogardus, in '3 Things You Need to Know About Sin' :
Many men [and women!] stand idly by, like their father Adam, believing the lies that if they just ignore it, it will go away. They can just deal with it next time it comes up or "it's just how the other person is.” At the bottom of it all is selfishness and the idol of comfort. It does not love the person the way the cross shows us to. The cross shows us that God saves by first condemning, God heals by first wounding, God builds up by first crushing, God makes alive by first killing. You cannot get to the gospel without suffering, and trying to circumvent that is what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” The sin of omission is giving someone else cheap grace. It belittles both sin and Jesus.
2. "[S]aint...[=] someone who is clean-cut, lives upright and has strong standards" (from this article). Thankfully, this is NOT TRUE. "Paul says [in Ephesians 1:1] that if we're 'in Christ Jesus,' which is simply a say of saying we're true Christians, then we're 'saints'" (Mark Driscoll, Who Do You Think You Are, p. 30).

12 January 2013

1. Christian Hedonism in 155 Words: Sally Lloyd-Jones on how to explain 'glorify' to a child. 
2. How Prayer Glorifies God: John Piper. 'If we come to him thinking he needs our help, we make him look needy. But if we remember that his strength is shown in working for us, then we are motivated to come with new confidence. Okay, Lord, here is my impossible situation. Please show yourself strong. Help me.'