“If you aren’t developing a generous heart, then you don’t get grace. Grace gives.”\n-@JoshPatterson (unrelated, I think) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Grace gives", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2009/11/01/grace-gives/" });

“The shattered relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the cross provides the basis for our reconciliation. No other relationship ever suffered more than what Father, Son, and Holy Spirit endured when Jesus hung on the cross and cried, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Jesus was willing to be the rejected Son so that our families would know reconciliation. Jesus was willing to become the forsaken friend so that we could have loving friendships. Jesus was willing to be the rejected Lord so that we could live in loving submission to one another. Jesus was willing to be...

Last time I pointed out there may be three Gospel-distorting approaches to change (proving ourselves to God, to others, and to ourselves). We distort God’s grace when we think we can earn it, that others opinions matter more than God’s, or having a higher or lower view of ourselves than is true (Rom. 12:3). The root problem is that we see the source of our solution as in us. It’s not. It’s in Christ, who is God come to live and die in our place. When He is our motivation, and what He did becomes the basis of what we do , then life begins to make sense, and we will be transformed...

Two posts are worth investing further: John Piper asks, Does God "Lead Us Into Temptation?" (Desiring God blog). The short answer: yes. Tim Chester (author of Total Church , and pastor in the UK), contrasts Communities of Grace vs. Communities of Performance (the Resurgence), an expansive of some of his thoughts earlier (a third comes to mind too: "Community: Convenience vs. Grace" by church planter/pastor Jonathan Dodson) The connection is that we shall enjoy a mysterious union of Christ leading us into temptation, and our participation in being victorious by viewing...

"Before you can ever make a clean and unamended confession of your sin, you have to first begin by confessing your righteousness. It’s not just your sin that separates you from God; your righteousness does as well. Because, when you are convinced you are righteous, you don’t seek the forgiving, rescuing, and restoring mercy that can be found only in Jesus Christ." (p. 22) “Grace is for the willing and we only become willing when we confess not only the gravity of our sin, but our inability to deliver ourselves from it. Then our willingness opens to us all the sustenance...

" ‘Tis not that I did choose Thee, For Lord, that could not be; This heart would still refuse Three, Hadst Thou not chosen me … My heart owns none before Thee, For Thy rich grace I thirst; This knowing, if I love Thee, Thou must have loved me first." – Josiah Conder, 1836 Found in the front matter of the Jesus Storybook Bible we bought Dutch. Wow, that’s the type of Christ-exalting humility and truth I hope our young son to grasp. We hope to swim with him in the deep end of God’s perfections and grace (even from this young age). "We love becaus e...

Sometimes we say our words must be a balance of love and truth . Think about that phrase. A balance? As if truth and love are to be weighed in comparison? Shall we have 50% love and 50% truth, or if we are really bold, then 80% truth but keep the loving flowing a little at 20%. The concept comes from Ephesians 4:15 : "speaking the truth in love." Our truth must be filtered in love, and our love must be filtered in truth. There is a happy tension in there for sure. People deserve 100% of both, for love and truth are not enemies but rather best of friends. God is Truth; He is Love; He...

“God did not create us to get the cosmic, infinite joy of mutual love and glorification, but to share it. We were to join in the dance. If we center our lives on him, serving him not out of self-interest, but for the sake of who he is, for the sake of his beauty and glory, we will enter the dance and share in the joy and love he lives in. We were designed, then, not just for belief in God in some general way, nor for a vague kind of inspiration or spirituality. We were made to center our lives upon him, to make the purpose and passion of our lives knowing, serving, delighting, and resembling...

Today at Cornerstone School of Ministry we are studying perhaps the most important paragraph in all the Bible. It’s truths are so compellingly beautiful I can hardly contain myself; teaching God’s Word ignites my soul. Romans 3:21-26 is the paragraph in view, and verse 20 sets the stage. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Romans 3:20-26", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/04/17/romans-320-26/" });

Kari is preaching/teaching a sermon in a communications lab class on Monday, and has 20 minutes to develop the themes of Philippians 2:1-4. I was eager and to have her practice on me today, receiving her words of wisdom and exhortation as the food my soul needed. She’s posted the rough draft of her manuscript over on her blog. Her four points are the Premise, Picture, Path and Pursuit of unity as believers in the church. One of my favorite parts is centered around verse 3 on the Path: Verse 3 provides us with a Path to unity. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but...