I’ve launched a new website, happytensions.com to capture explorations of God’s mysteries, which make us supremely happy. Readers here on this site may be familiar with the fact that “happy tensions” are one of my favorite themes about which to muse. Here’s a new-old thought on a key one. Promises Made, Promises Kept We wait in the middle, between when God’s promises were made, and when they will be fulfilled, kept to their fullness. On this, John Calvin writes: “Let us also remember that we are all in the same condition as Abraham. Our circumstances are all...

May the Strength of God guide us. May the Power of God preserve us. May the Wisdom of God instruct us. May the Hand of God protect us. May the Way of God direct us. May the Shield of God defend us. May the Angels of God guard us. —Against the snares of the evil one. May Christ be with us! May Christ be before us! May Christ be in us, Christ be over all! May Thy Grace, Lord, Always be ours, This day, O Lord, and forevermore. Amen. (attributed to Saint Patrick) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Prayer for the Faithful by St. Patrick", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2010/03/17/prayer-for-the-faithful-by-st-patrick/"...

Two quotes stuck with me yesterday morning, with truth connected to identity and hope. This one from a college student whose life has been utterly transformed by Christ: “I didn’t realize it but over time my faith in Christ was shifting into some quazi self/church based faith where my only real relationship with God was intellectual… it was really lame, and it’s been a necessarily painful shift back.” There’s obviously a who context to that statement, which I won’t get into here. The growing pains are worth it. I commended this disciple to “Let...

Merry Christmas, all! Not Only Christmas Day Lord, this is my prayer Not only on Christmas Day But until I see You face to face May I live my life this way: Just like the baby Jesus I ever hope to be, Resting in Your loving arms Trusting in Your sovereignty. And like the growing Christ child In wisdom daily learning, May I ever seek to know You With my mind and spirit yearning. Like the Son so faithful Let me follow in Your light, Meek and bold, humble and strong Not afraid to face the night. Nor cowardly to suffer And stand for truth alone, Knowing that Your kingdom Awaits my going home. Not...

The Gospel is powerful, deep and completely life-altering (Romans 1:16-17). “All of our personal & church problems come because we don’t come continually back to the gospel to work it in and live it out.” — Tim Keller, The Centrality of the Gospel (We work out what God has first worked in — Philippians 2:12-13) “Most necessary it is therefore that we should know the gospel well, teach it unto others, & beat it into their heads continually.” — Martin Luther (Let’s beat it into our own heads first — Ephesians 3:14-21; Romans 12:1-2) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title:...

“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/" });

“My love of consistency with my own doctrinal views is not great enough to allow me knowingly to alter a single text of Scripture. I have great respect for orthodoxy, but my reverence for inspiration is far greater. I would sooner a hundred times over appear to be inconsistent with myself than be inconsistent with the word of God.” —Charles Spurgeon (more via Randy Alcorn, Spurgeon’s Theology: Embracing Biblical Paradox) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Consistent & inconsistent", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2009/10/27/consistent-inconsistent/" });

“The quest for a contemplative life can actually be self-absorbed, focused on my quiet and me. If we love people and have the power to help, then we are going to be busy. Learning to pray doesn’t offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart. In the midst of outer busyness we can develop an inner quiet. Because we are less hectic on the inside, we have a greater capacity to love … and thus to be busy, which in turn drives us even more into a life of prayer. By spending time with our Father in prayer, we integrate our lives with his, with what he is doing in us. Our lives...

“By becoming a Christian, I belong to God and I belong to my brothers and sisters. It is not that I belong to God and then make a decision to join a local church. My being in Christ means being in Christ with those others who are in Christ. This is my identity. This is our identity. . . . If the church is the body of Christ, then we should not live as disembodied Christians.” —Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and community, 41. Reminds me of Romans 12:1-8, especially vv. 3ff: 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present...

I have a special aversion for the concept of “balance” when it comes to thinking about God and the Christian life. I’m not against balanced lives, just that balance is not the end goal. Devotion is. Giving our lives for Jesus’ fame is a worthy goal. Balance as a mindset has a self-focus. Yet, the purpose of our lives transcends self, for through Christ we can bearing for God. No one can stay “balanced” while being thoroughly God-centered and others-directed. To plant ourselves like a seed in this world, dying for Jesus, means our khakis will get dirty, our lives...