“The prophets searched. Angels longed to see. And the disciples didn’t understand. But Moses, the prophets, and all the Old Testament Scriptures had spoken about it — that Jesus would come, suffer, and then be glorified. God began to tell a story in the Old Testament, the ending of which the audience eagerly anticipated. But the Old Testament audience was left hanging. The plot was laid out but the climax was delayed. The unfinished story begged an ending. In Christ, God has provided the climax to the Old Testament story. Jesus did not arrive unannounced; his coming was declared in advance...

“Fear of the Lord means that I carry around with me such a deep awareness, awe, and reverence for the power, holiness, wisdom, and grace of God that I would not think of doing anything other than living for his glory. Fearing the Lord means that this worshipful awe is the single and unchallenged motivator of everything I think, desire, say, and do.” ~ Paul David Tripp, A Quest for More (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2007), 126. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Healthy fear of the Lord", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2009/04/21/healthy-fear-of-the-lord/" });

In conversations I often find supposed "Christians" playing with the notion that there are other paths to God. Or, at least, He will accept us if we try really hard. Isn’t God gracious and forgiving? Doesn’t God believe in us? As if Christ came to set an example, and nothing more. He gave His life away for others, and that pleased God. So we need to serve others too. Do what Jesus would do. The problem with such reasoning is three-fold (at least): First, it makes Jesus merely a good person Second, it rests on the notion that we are good people too Third, it makes Jesus sacrifice...

Gospel-centered. Gospel-driven. That is what I hope to always be, from now through eternity. The Gospel is all about Jesus. We must see all things through His worth, work, words and ways, and be driven by His Gospel. (These are not terms I’ve invented. Nor did Tim Keller, but he has been so instrumental in our day on reminding us that every problem in our lives is really a Gospel problem.) In this audio message from the 2007 Gospel Coalition, Pastor Tim Keller speaks on "Gospel-centered ministry" from 1st Peter 1-2. Listen up, it’s well worth your time. [download mp3] In...

Rend the Heavens [ web | myspace ] is quickly becoming one of my favorite bands. Not just because I know the four band members a bit, or because they lead worship at our Saturday night church gathering. Actually started listening to them a short while before we met, and have found the deep, God-centered content of their songs to take me deeper into theology. I want to know more the God they sing to and about. The band’s name Rend the Heavens comes from Isaiah 64:1: "Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence" It is an audacious...

“The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God Himself is the great good which they are brought to posses and enjoy through redemption. He is the highest good and sum of all good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints. He’s the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, the tree of the paradise of God, their life, their dwelling place, their ornament, their diadem, their everlasting honor and glory. They have none in heaven but God. He is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death and which they are to rise to...

I may be the only man ever to receive for a wedding present from his new bride the complete works of Henry Scougal. I read the book on our honeymoon, and have been greatly impacted by the short earthly life and long-lasting passion of this godly man. The Scottish Scougal (1650-1678) (whom I’ve mentioned before) died of tuberculosis at 28 years old, yet his enduring legacy through from his most well-known book: The Life of God in the Soul of Man. The book is a description of Christianity to a friend with additional spiritual counsel for daily life. The title alone — that God’s...

Many want to do great and big things for God. This morning I had a conversation with a man who has a "God-sized vision" for mentoring. He’s right, for God has to show up to do this great work. I urged him in a few key things, and one of them was for do little things for God . It is only in our willingness to do anything, small or menial, that God gets the glory and can share it with us. While many want to be God’s instrument to accomplish great things, as D.L. Moody said over and over, God is looking for those people who are willing to do the little, unnoticed things for His...

I’ve been returning to some of my roots, reading the Nicene Creed a lot lately. In preparation to teach on the life of Athanasius — to our high school group, in a series called INSPIRED — I’ve been contemplating the first official church creed (AD 325). Here’s the modern wording of the Nicene Creed (edited again in 381 at Constantinople and of course translated into English, after the Reformation): We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only son of God, eternally...

Our church begins a new series in Colossians this weekend. We’re calling it "The Source ." As in Jesus is the source of everything. The whole letter of Colossians shouts forth descriptions of His infinite worth. All things are from and through and by Him. Indeed, all things exist for Him. (Col. 1:15-17) He is of course, the source of time, though He lives outside it. He did step into our world, the fulness of God dwelling in bodily form (Col. 1:19). Which got me thinking about the New Year, and how this one-second holiday leads to 31,535,999 more seconds full of opportunity after...