December 8, 2011

Being embittered at not being thanked betrays unbelief in the promise: “You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” – Piper

Fear not, you can only be killed. (Luke 12:4) – Piper

Truly good stewards don’t believe they own anything.

“Traditional ‘Sunday School’ moralism remains a problem. Teaching often consists in admonitions to be good, offered to restless children who already know the rules.
“The gospel is good news because Jesus Christ has the power to save and to renew. Only a Christ-centered message is a life-changing message.”
~Ed Clowney

Watching TV in 1986 I wrote in my journal: No good shows. Just cute evil and clean godlessness. I assume it hasn’t improved. – Piper.

To reject the messengers of Jesus is worse than sodomy. Luke 10:12

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Either you believe it, or you don’t.

“I stand before Him deeply ashamed. Some time ago I listened to some genuinely much wiser people who advised me, without basis, to spend my time pursuing other things. And I listened.” (Peter Keay)

All blessings other than Jesus are only meant to point us to the greater blessing of Jesus himself.

Life is an incremental series of becoming what you are in Jesus Christ.
-John Piper

Whatever detracts from the sovereignty of God in the salvation of men stands condemned.
-Williams Hendriksen

October 29, 2011

If i ever did a Biblical character study, then produced a result of “I should be like him!” – I did it wrong!! – Dr. Sproul

“I want to call you to abandon your plans and your dreams, your ideas, your possessions, all of your hopes of living out a nice, comfortable, middle class American Christianity — I want to call you to abandon it all to make the glory of Christ known among every nation in the world,” –David Platt

Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter – Tim Kizziar (by Francis Chan in Crazy Love)

The human heart is a factory of idols. – Calvin

“We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.” — David Platt (Radical)

“It is atheism to pray and not to wait in hope” (Richard Sibbes)

Do not be proud of the fact that your grandmother was shocked at something which you are accustomed to seeing or hearing without being shocked…It may be that your grandmother was an extremely lively and vital animal and that you are a paralytic.

G.K. Chesterton

We don’t have enough self esteem? On the contrary, the greatest problem is that we esteem self too highly and not God.

Nothing shows the irrational, almost infinite power of money like the selling of the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver.

“Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, “I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.” Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.”

- John Stott

“Only those who are aware of God’s wrath are amazed at God’s grace.” C.J. Mahaney, Living the Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing

“What people learn from me is what I emphasize again and again. That had better be the gospel.” DA Carson

Prayer isn’t where we change God, but He changes us. Instead of praying for OUR desires, lets pray He burden us with HIS.

“Be the kind of man that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says, ‘Oh crap, he’s up!’” – James MacDonald

“Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once, and He volunteered.” -Sproul

Two indications of a person’s character are what makes him laugh and what makes him weep.

“If I have a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the explanation is – I was made for another world”

- C.S. Lewis

Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness. -Martin Luther

If you have a moderate response to Jesus Christ, you are not being intellectually honest.
-Timothy Keller

“Men are not chosen because they believe, but they believe because they are chosen”

Belief in God’s will being bound by man’s freedom is atheism.

Entertainment does not merely gratify taste, after all, but creates it.

At conversion, Christ becomes the center of our universe, the source, the purpose, the goal, and the motivation of all that we are and do. – Paul Washer

“Calling believers to holy obedience isn’t legalism, it’s Christ-united and spirit-empowered fruit-bearing faith in Christ.” – Burk Parsons

It is astonishing how many people deal with their sin casually.
-John Piper

“The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves that he has no brains of his own. Friends, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers and expositions of the Bible.” Charles Spurgeon [1834-1892]

“I find it telling that you can find plenty of young Christians today who are really excited about justice… serving in their communities…evangelism… precise theology… But where are the Christians known for their zeal for holiness? We need more Christian leaders who will say with Paul, ‘Look carefully then how you walk’ (Eph. 5:15).” — Kevin DeYoung

“If you want the church to be something other than a peculiar people, then you want something that God does not want.”

“Let this be to you the mark of true gospel preaching – where Christ is everything, and the creature is nothing; where it is salvation all of grace, through the work of the Holy Spirit applying to the soul the precious blood of Jesus” -Spurgeon

If you are beginning to think the Gospel is too good to be true, then you are just starting to get it.

“Backsliding generally first begins with neglect of private prayer.” J. C. Ryle

If you don’t believe in heaven, it makes sense that retirement should be as heaven-like as possible.

Spend your time in nothing which you know must be repented of; in nothing on which you might not pray for the blessing of God; in nothing which you could not review with a quiet conscience on your dying bed; in nothing which you might not safely and properly be found doing if death should surprise you in the act. – Richard Baxter

Our Lord has many weak children in his family, many dull pupils in his school, many raw soldiers in his army, many lame sheep in his flock. Yet he bears with them all, and casts none away. Happy is that Christian who has learned to do likewise with his brethren. – J.C. Ryle

“A Christian who does not pray is like prince in beggars clothes who stands but a few inches from His father’s throne and yet does not ask.”

-Paul Washer

“Behold the infinite love of God to mankind and the love of Jesus Christ, that rather than see the children of men to perish eternally, He would send His Son to take our nature upon Him, and thus suffer such dreadful things. Oh, what a powerful, mighty, drawing, efficacious meditation this should be unto us!” Jeremiah Burroughs [1600-1646] Gospel Worship

June 19, 2011

There are countless truths to be investigated within Christianity, nevertheless the Gospel of Jesus Christ ranks high above them all.
-Paul Washer

Book Review: The Book That Made Your World

May 28, 2011

This is a review of the book The Book That Made Your World, authored by Vishal Mangalwadi and published by Thomas Nelson.

When I first received The Book That Made Your World, I was surprised to find it was almost four hundred pages. That did not compare though to my surprise when I started reading it.

I thought I knew some of the impact the Bible had on the world. Yet while I was reading through this, I realized I didn’t have any idea. With excellent research and phenomenal intrigue, Vishal Mangalwadi explores every aspect that the Bible touched, and the practical results of it. I found myself sucked into the book, and constantly talking about what I was reading with friends.

The Bible transforms lives. When lives are transformed, history is transformed. This is not something meant to be limited to church – it radically changes everything, including mindsets, work, innovation, education, science, music, and many many other things. If you think the Bible doesn’t have any relevance today, get this book!

This is not a quick read, yet it is probably one of the best books I have read in a while. I highly recommend it, and encourage anyone who is interested in the power of the Bible to get a copy and read it.

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Book Review: The Story of the Bible

March 23, 2011

This is a review of the book The Story of the Bible, authored by Larry Stone and published by Thomas Nelson.

Even at first glance, The Story of the Bible is very intriguing and impressive. It is a high quality hardback book filled with stunning images dating all the way back through church history. In a creative and educational way, they display both the history of the preservation of scripture as well as the impact it has had on society.

The content of the book is also great. It contains depth that will intrigue and benefit those with deep theological backgrounds, yet is understandable and enjoyable for novices. This book follows the Bible from its origin through church history, highlighting the translations and preservation of God’s Word. Captivating and intriguing insights are given into the men who were instrumental in this work, as well as the impact it had on society.

The most unique aspect of this book is that it has pockets throughout which contain 23 life-sized pull-out pages from the most important manuscripts or Bibles throughout history. On the back it describes that that copy is, as well as the importance of it. I found these extremely fascinating to examine and read.

The Story of the Bible is meant to show the history of the Bible. Thus, Stone does not go in depth to prove the inspiration of scripture (although he shows it throughout history). It would have been fun to see Stone include more on the inspiration of scripture as well as the attacks on the inspiration of it, but he chose to focus more on the preservation and translation of it. Overall, I greatly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it.

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