Religion Versus The Gospel

The primary difference is that of motivation. In religion, we try to obey the divine standards out of fear. We believe that if we don't obey we are going to lose God's blessing in this world and the next. In the gospel, the motivation is one of gratitude for the blessing we have already received because of Christ. While the moralist is forced into obedience, motivated by fear of rejection, a Christian rushes into obedience, motivated by a desire to please and resemble the one who gave his life for us.

...

The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued and that Jesus was glad to die for me.

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller, pp 186-187

Music is the Moon

This quote in a wonderful book I have been reading has stuck with me for days.

Andrew Peterson is one of my favorite artists. His music, his writing and his creative talent are gifts from God that I am so thankful that he shares with the world.

Three Disciples and a Stooge

A couple of nights ago, according to our nightly bedtime routine for the girls, we were reading the story of when Jesus called the first disciples in Luke 5. You'll recall that Jesus climbs into Peter's boat and tells the men to catch some fish by casting in a certain area. Peter explains the fruitless time they had already spent that morning not catching any fish and yet declares "at your word I will let down the nets." After doing so, they catch so many fish that they need help to haul it in. This event leads to Peter, James and John leaving their boats and becoming the first disciples of Jesus Christ.

At the end of the story, we reviewed it by asking the girls a couple of questions.
One of the questions was "Who decided to stop fishing and follow Jesus?"
Lydia responded "Peter... John... and... Curly!"

 I could immediately hear Curly Howard responding to Jesus request to lower the nets: "Soitenly!"

Sanctification Through Planned Neglect

"The more you study the Word of God, the more it saturates your mind and life. Someone is reported to have asked a concert violinist in New York's Carnegie Hall how she became so skilled. She said it was by "planned neglect". She planned to neglect everything that was not  related to her goal.

Some less important things in your life could stand some planned neglect so that you might give yourself to studying the Word of God."  - John MacArthur, Found: God's Will

On the Fiscal Cliff

Thomas Sowell expresses his thoughts about the Fiscal Cliff, and these portions echo exactly what I think and feel:

First of all, despite all the melodrama about raising taxes on "the rich," even if that is done it will scarcely make a dent in the government's financial problems. Raising the tax rates on everybody in the top two percent will not get enough additional tax revenue to run the government for ten days.

No previous administration in the entire history of the nation ever finished the year with a trillion dollar deficit. The Obama administration has done so every single year.

Referring to the Federal Reserve System's creation of hundreds of billions of new dollars out of thin air as "quantitative easing" makes it seem as if this is some soothing and esoteric process, rather than amounting essentially to nothing more than printing more money.
Debasing the value of money by creating more of it is nothing new or esoteric. Irresponsible governments have done this, not just for centuries, but for thousands of years.
It is a way to take people's wealth from them without having to openly raise taxes. Inflation is the most universal tax of all.

But it is not the same politically, so long as gullible people don't look beyond words to the reality that inflation taxes everybody, the poorest as well as the richest.

And there are these nuggets from Part 2:

A key lie that has been repeated over and over, largely unanswered, is that President Bush's "tax cuts for the rich" cost the government so much lost tax revenue that this added to the budget deficit-- so that the government cannot afford to allow the cost of letting the Bush tax rates continue for "the rich."

What is remarkable is how easy it is to show how completely false Obama's argument is.

What both the statistical tables in the "Economic Report of the President" and the graphs in Investor's Business Daily show is that (1) tax revenues went up-- not down-- after tax rates were cut during the Bush administration, and (2) the budget deficit declined, year after year, after the cut in tax rates that have been blamed by Obama for increasing the deficit.  

And here are the table and images referred to above:

The Fall and God's Love

Lydia's preschool teacher has a blog that she updates every day with lots of photos and updates on what they are learning and doing. This was how today's blog began:

Proud.
Humbled.
Blessed beyond measure.

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6

Nearing Home - Book Review

Billy Graham is known the world over for his decades of preaching the Word of God to millions of people during thousands of sermons delivered at small revival tents, large churches and arenas and stadiums filled to capacity. He has offered advice and counsel to Presidents and has become an icon of modern Christianity. In his book "Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well, Mr. Graham takes a look back at the life he has lived and offers advice and encouragement to readers young and old.

Being in my mid-thirties, I am certain that I do not fit the target demographic for this book. I do not doubt that many of my peers would not pick up this book to read it, when there are so many other books on the shelf that are being written by the current group of up-and-coming, popular, mostly young pastors and theologians. While this is understandable, and there is a lot of great content being generated by that group, it is unfortunate that the words of a man who has lived a life dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ might be overlooked.

In this book, we get to hear the heart of a man who is fondly recalling not only events in his life but one who is also pleading for others to learn from his own mistakes. We get to hear the humility of a man who fully understands that he is far from perfect, but knows that he is loved by God. We get a glimpse into the frailty that comes with age and the heartache that is generated by the loss of so many loved ones. We get to see a man who is calling us all to live in the here and now, fighting our sinful nature and sharing hope with the world, all the while anticipating the joy that will come when we are called home to Heaven.

I would encourage anyone at any age to read this book. While it is geared more toward the older generation, there are many wonderful sections that are directly applicable to people of all ages. For those of you who, like myself, do not have a grandfather to listen to share the Biblical wisdom they have gained through their life experience, I would wholeheartedly recommend taking a couple of hours to read through what Mr. Graham has penned.

A Brief Excerpt:

"Christians are not to be preoccupied with death; God has put within each of us a will to survive. But neither are we to shrink from death or act as if we must fiercely resist it until the breath. The time may well come, in fact, when life's burdens and pains overwhelm us so much that we will welcome death as a friend - and that is as it should be. If we know Christ, we know that Heaven is our true home, and (like the saints of old) we are "longer for a better country - a heavenly one" (Hebrews 11:16). Remember that one day everyone will be facing old age. I can recall as a young adult worrying about my parents as they aged. I always try tried to give them the respect they earned and deserved, and I was cautious not to insult them by suggesting that they could no longer make important decisions about their lives. A fine line sometimes separates preserving your parents' dignity and ensuring their well-being." -- from pages 66-67

Patriotism and the Christian

Kevin DeYoung on patriotism and the Christian:

"I understand the dangers of an unthinking “God and country” mentality, let alone a gospel-less civil religion. But I also think love of country–like love of family or love of work–is a proximate good. Patriotism is not beneath the Christian, even for citizens of a superpower.

So on this Independence Day I’m thankful most of all for the cross of Christ and the freedom we have from the world, the flesh, and the devil. But I’m also thankful for the United States and the freedoms we enjoy. I’m thankful for the big drops of biblical truth which seeped into the blood stream of Thomas Jefferson. I’m thankful for our imperfect ideals. I’m thankful for God-given rights and hard-fought liberty. I’m thankful for the idea of America."

Read the rest.

Is it Miserable Outside? Perspective Matters

I read the following Wednesday evening, prior to our thermometer going triple digits.
Things have been much worse around St. Louis.

"In June, the weather in St. Louis often turns into a blast furnace that lasts until mid September. That year (1934), on schedule, the grass in Sportsman's Park faded to a well-baked brown. Adding to the misery ushered in by the miles-long dust cloud in mid May, the Midwest was now caught in the grip of a heat wave that would last all summer and kill more than a thousand people. A two-year drought caused the Mississippi River to continue to drop and thus led to Missouri's worst farm crisis ever. St. Louis was also registering the highest temperatures since 1871. For thirty consecutive days, the thermometer reached 100 degrees or more."
- from "The Gashouse Gang " by John Heidenry, pp138-139

What Kind of Shower?

I woke up feeling really groggy this morning.
Lydia and Lainey were getting ready to eat breakfast and Lisa was getting ready to go out for a run, when I said "I am going to take the world's longest shower". Prior to heading toward the bathroom, I joined the girls at the table to pray at breakfast time.

Lydia agreed to pray for us and this was her prayer:
"Dear Jesus, thank you that Mommy's running, Daddy's taking the worst shower and for our food. Amen."

As it turns out, my shower was neither what I had stated nor what Lydia had stated.

But it was better than this poor kids shower:

The Marriage Commitment Reflects the Depth of Love

In contrast to how the world defines love and the importance of marriage:

"But when the Bible speaks of love, it measures it primarily not by how much you want to receive but by how much you are willing to give yourself to someone. How much are you willing to lose for the sake of this person? How much of your freedom are you willing to forsake? How much of your precious time, emotion, and resources are your willing to invest in this person? And for that, the marriage vow is not just helpful but it is even a test. In so many cases, when one person says to another, "I love you, but let's not ruin it by getting married," that person really means, "I don't love you enough to close off all my options. I don't love you enough to give myself to you that thoroughly." To say, "I don't need a piece of paper to love you," is basically to say "My love for you has not reached the marriage level."  - Tim Keller "The Meaning of Marriage", p78

Albert Pujols - The Choice

On January 6, 2012, I posted this status update:

Albert Pujols is a generous man. I pray that God uses him powerfully in California, as He is still doing in St. Louis. http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2012/01/06/dnt-mo-pujols-surprise-gift.ktvi.html

My sentiments toward that end have not changed. However, reading the following from Albert today kind of altered how I view him:

Pujols says his preference was to stay a Cardinal for the rest of his career, envisioning the day he would be revered in the city, just as Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Red Schoendienst were. He would have his number retired and have a statue erected outside Busch Stadium along with the other greats.   (Source: USA Today)

Albert Pujols was already revered in St. Louis. He was a living legend, with nothing but further respect and support to gain as the years ticked passed towards his retirement. He could have coasted into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot, wearing the Cardinals hat that gave him a chance to play, prove himself and become one of the best players in history. He could have spent his entire career with the organization and town that held their breath every time he winced or appeared even slightly injured. He could have been the shining example of how a player can stick with a club that may not be the most glamorous, or have the largest payroll, but is dedicated to winning and representing their city and fans well.

So much could have been different.

I'm not saying that Albert Pujols should have turned down the Angels offer. He is a professional athlete and if he wants to maximize his earning based on his abilities and skills, then more power to him. He has every right to make the decision he made. I'm praying that God uses him to dramatically impact his new hometown.

I don't think the Cardinals should have paid him anything near that contract. It wasn't in the organization's best interest long-term. Did they want Albert to retire a Cardinal? You bet. Could they compete with the big money that was thrown at him from the West Coast? Absolutely not.

Sometimes the numbers just don't compare well, and it appears that this is one of those instances where the disparity between dollars and years in the contract offered were apparently too large to overcome for a smaller ball club. The Cardinals made their stand. The Angels made their offer. Albert made his choice.

And I guess that is what bothers me about this statement in this article. St. Louis did not drive Albert Pujols away. The Cardinals didn't ride him out of town on a rail. It's not as if the extremely loyal fan base of the St. Louis Cardinals collectively removed their numerous Pujols jerseys, set fire to them at first base in Busch Stadium and then march down to the Mississippi River and chucked them in.

I'm pretty sure that Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Red Schoendienst, along with numerous other former Cardinals all wanted to see Albert remain a Cardinal. In fact, Stan Musial, the man that is, according to Albert Pujols, the only player worthy to be called "The Man" went to the internet to do his part to get Albert to stay in St. Louis.

If Albert Pujols wanted to remain a Cardinal for life, he could have made that happen.

If Albert wanted a statue next to the greats of Cardinal nation, he could have made that happen.

If Albert wanted to see his number 5 retired at Busch Stadium, he just had to keep playing ball.

If Albert wanted to be revered as a Cardinal, then all he had to do was stay in town.

But he didn't choose that for himself.

It was all right there for the taking.

If that was his dream, if that was his hope, then I'm afraid he gave it up for some numbers that the dedicated, hard working, baseball loving, intelligent St. Louis Cardinal fans recognize as detrimental to the team's future.

Albert made his choice. Now he has to work really hard at making that dream happen over the waning years of his career as an Angel. Something tells me that the people of California may have other stars to follow when Albert's productivity starts to decline.

I wish him well, but I wish he would stop talking about how desperately he dreamed of staying a Cardinal for life. You had that choice Albert, and you chose to move on.

And now, so shall we.

We Meet to Meet

"When an organization has more of its decisions made by committees, that gives more influence to those who have more time available to attend committee meetings and to drag out each meeting longer. In other words, it reduces the influence of those who have work to do, and are doing it, while making those who are less productive more influential." - Thomas Sowell

I have found this to be incredibly true.

If you look around your company, you can probably identify several people who seem to be on all sorts of project teams or committees or groups or whatever they may be called at your place of employment.

The natural response to recognizing this fact is usually "How do they have time for all of that?".

The answer to that question is quite simple: they either don't have enough work to do or they don't do the work they are supposed to do, usually pushing it off onto other people.

The sad thing is that managers love to see people who are "great team members" running from meeting to meeting to meeting and are so busy. Although they might never accomplish a single thing of significant value, the effort and time involved in those meetings is valued far greater than the value of the person with his head down in the cubicle cranking out work that adds to the bottom line of the company. In fact, more often times than not, the person in the cube is also carrying the workload of the meeting monster next door.

It's a shame that managers who love to meet for the sake of meeting breed people who meet for the same reason. Meetings do not get work done. While it is useful to pull groups together from time to time to strategize how the workload will get completed, most meetings that are on the schedules of many employees are not helpful and add little, if any, value to the bottom line of the company.

So managers - Kill the meetings and get back to allowing your employees to do some real work. Hold your employees equally accountable for the work that they are accomplishing, not the work they are talking about doing someday.

That is what the employee in the cubicle would love to tell you.

God's Praise is Unstoppable

"Sometime praise is impossible to contain. It is a violently full river for which there is no dam high enough or wide enough to contain it. He will be on the tip of our tongue. He will spill out."
- David Crowder (Praise Habit, p53)

Virtue is Not Hereditary

Today's quote comes from the section entitled "OF THE PRESENT ABILITY OF AMERICA, WITH SOME MISCELLANEOUS REFLEXIONS":

We ought to reflect, that there are three different ways, by which an independancy may hereafter be effected; and that ONE of those THREE, will one day or other, be the fate of America, viz. By the legal voice of the people in Congress; by a military power; or by a mob: It may not always happen that our soldiers are citizens, and the multitude a body of reasonable men; virtue, as I have already remarked, is not hereditary, neither is it perpetual.

- Above quote is Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"

This is the fifth and final post in a series of my favorite portions of Thomas Paine's book "Common Sense". It is a worthwhile read and is available free from Amazon for download to Kindle or other device.

An Apostate From Manhood

Today's quote comes from the section entitled "OF THE PRESENT ABILITY OF AMERICA, WITH SOME MISCELLANEOUS REFLEXIONS":

The Speech if it may be called one, is nothing better than a wilful audacious libel against the truth, the common good, and the existence of mankind; and is a formal and pompous method of offering up human sacrifices to the pride of tyrants.
...
And he who can so calmly hear, and digest such doctrine, hath forfeited his claim to rationality—an apostate from the order of manhood; and ought to be considered—as one, who hath, not only given up the proper dignity of a man, but sunk himself beneath the rank of animals, and contemptibly crawls through the world like a worm.

- Above quote is Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"

This is the fourth post in a series of my favorite portions of Thomas Paine's book "Common Sense". It is a worthwhile read and is available free from Amazon for download to Kindle or other device.

Debt Without Advantage

Today's quote comes from the section entitled "OF THE PRESENT ABILITY OF AMERICA, WITH SOME MISCELLANEOUS REFLEXIONS":

But to expend millions for the sake of getting a few vile acts repealed, and routing the present ministry only, is unworthy the charge, and is using posterity with the utmost cruelty; because it is leaving them the great work to do, and a debt upon their backs, from which, they derive no advantage. Such a thought is unworthy a man of honor, and is the true characteristic of a narrow heart and a pedling politician.

- Above quote is Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"

This is the third post in a series of my favorite portions of Thomas Paine's book "Common Sense". It is a worthwhile read and is available free from Amazon for download to Kindle or other device.

The Present State of American Affairs

Today's quotes come from the section entitled "THOUGHTS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF AMERICAN AFFAIRS":

The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not the affair of a city, a country, a province, or a kingdom, but of a continent—of at least one eighth part of the habitable globe. 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected, even to the end of time, by the proceedings now.

And:

Besides, what have we to do with setting the world at defiance? Our plan is commerce, and that, well attended to, will secure us the peace and friendship of all Europe; because, it is the interest of all Europe to have America a FREE PORT.

And finally:

As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that THIS GOVERNMENT is not sufficiently lasting to ensure any thing which we may bequeath to posterity: And by a plain method of argument, as we are running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully.

- All quotes are from Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"

This is the second post in a series of my favorite portions of Thomas Paine's book "Common Sense". It is a worthwhile read and is available free from Amazon for download to Kindle or other device.

An Honest Man Versus the Crown

This week, I feel like sharing some of my favorite portions of Thomas Paine's book "Common Sense". It is a worthwhile read and is available free from Amazon for download to Kindle or other device.

Today's quotes come from the section entitled "OF MONARCHY AND HEREDITARY SUCCESSION":

Male and female are distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth enquiring into, and whether they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind.

And:

Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.

Finally, his conclusion on this topic:

Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.

- All quotes are from Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"

Sunday's Comin'

Sunday's Comin' by S.M. Lockridge
It’s Friday
Jesus is praying
Peter’s a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
Pilate’s struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don’t even know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary’s crying
Peter is denying
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s a comin’

It’s Friday
The Romans beat my Jesus
They robe him in scarlet
They crown him with thorns
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
See Jesus walking to Calvary
His blood dripping
His body stumbling
And his spirit’s burdened
But you see, it’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The world’s winning
People are sinning
And evil’s grinning

It’s Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior’s feet
To the cross
And then they raise him up
Next to criminals

It’s Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are questioning
What has happened to their King
And the Pharisees are celebrating
That their scheming
Has been achieved
But they don’t know
It’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
He’s hanging on the cross
Feeling forsaken by his Father
Left alone and dying
Can nobody save him?
Ooooh
It’s Friday
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit

It’s Friday
Hope is lost
Death has won
Sin has conquered
and Satan’s just a laughin’

It’s Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place

But it’s Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a comin’!

(HT: Justin Taylor)