#not.you.‏

Romans 11:36

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

From whom?

Him

Through whom?

Him

To whom?

Him

Who is the "star" of the show?

#not.you.

He initiated, mediated, performed, and perfected our faith to bring Himself glory.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

#the.end.

an exodus from virtue to grace‏

“The Christian life is not an exodus from vice to virtue, but rather from virtue to grace.” ~ Gerhard Forde

I first heard this quote on an episode of the White Horse Inn.

I love its simplicity and complexity in so succinctly nailing on the skull the very teeth I had been sinking into the heel of Jesus.

Our lives are not made right with God by finally cleaning ourselves up.

Christianity is not finally caving and doing the things we’re supposed to do.

Everyone should do what they are supposed to do.

There is no DNA of anything distinctly Christian in being moral, good and upright.

Everyone should strive to be what they deem to be good.

Virtue is not God.

Virtue is godly.

Do not mistake the one for the other or you will find yourself worshipping at the feet of a god who cannot save you and forsaking the feet of the God nailed for you.

Virtue cannot save.

It can only tell you what to do.

Like a lighthouse.

Lighthouses do not save ships.
They tell ships where to go.

If a ship goes off course, the lighthouse cannot steer them, stave the wind or calm the seas.

It just stands there.
Relentless.
Here is the mark.
Aim for this.

That is not to say that we don’t aim for the mark.

That is silly to even assume.

It is to say, however, that we do not ask the lighthouse to save us.

It can’t.

The lighthouse tells you where to go and that you aren’t going there.

Virtue does the same.

Turn to Jesus.

Not lighthouses.

Fall upon Jesus.

Not virtue.

Romans 9:30-33

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,33 as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

i urge you to pitch your tents (it's easier to avoid Blake's big mistake when typing)

Friday evening Paige and I saw a home.
Saturday we bought it.

After seeing many houses, God showed us the house we would call home (for now).

This was an answer to a specific prayer that God would help us find and come to terms on a house by the end of last week. 

We asked specifically.
He answered mercifully.

Our tents will have more permanent walls come July 12.

Woot!
Woot!
PTL.

:)

todd the grey‏

So apparently the jury is still out on the whole “grey” v. “gray” thing.

I noticed one stray grey hair northeast of my passenger side temple a few months back. I got excited.  I have been excited about gray hair for a while now.  Don’t know when or why, but I have.

I just saw in the mirror several little grey warriors popping through my chin, a few scattered throughout my cheeks and some companions joining Christopher Columbus on my temple to explore this brave new world.

Proverbs 16:31

Gray hair is a crown of glory;
it is gained in a righteous life.

My crown of glory is apparently claimed in victory by a very sporadic, slow-moving army.

Proverbs 20:29

The glory of young men is their strength,
but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.

My splendor’s website is apparently under construction.

Psalm 71:18

So even to old age and gray hairs,
    O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
    your power to all those to come.

I want to live longer because I have kids who do not yet know Jesus.

I want to be the one to tell them about Him.

In the meantime, I will have to settle for being only a slightly silver fox.

Watch yo back Clooney, you aren’t the only one who likes salt-n-pepa.

 .

(but you do pull it off far better than most)

spell-check yo self before you wreck yo self‏

In a recent e-mail, spell-check changed “Deo” in Deo volente to: doe.

Nice work spell-check.

Top shelf.

Never before have I so LITERALLY experienced Romans 1:22-23:

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Deo to doe.

God to deer.

Immortal God for animals.

Good call Paul.

Score another one for the prophetic pen of Scripture.

(although at this point Scripture is kind of running up the score)

the world did not know God through wisdom‏

We come hard-wired for Law.

We like being wise.

It is familiar to us.

We must receive the Gospel.

We do not like being fools.

It is foreign to us.

1 Corinthians 1:21

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

We know that wisdom is better than being foolish.

Everyone knows that.

But one man’s wisdom is another man’s folly.

So what is more accurate, then, to say is that we know that we like our wisdom better than other men’s folly.

By our wisdom, we frequently find ourselves faultless.

But by our wisdom, we do not find God.

We find God by repenting of our wisdom and embracing the foolishness of God in killing the Christ on our behalf.

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.

It is the pleasure of God to save people who confess that their wisdom has failed them.

Your own understanding is a pointy stick upon which if you lean you will be pierced.

God’s wisdom is to pierce Jesus on your behalf so that upon Him you can fully lean.

diligent indifference‏

Oswald cut to the quick with this tasty bit.

 

Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends . . .” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus,I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.

 

Most people who call themselves Christians know enough to say that they would say, “Yes” to whatever Jesus asked. I would not disobey on purpose. I sin by accident.

 

Oswald on this particular point is not calling into question the genuine discipleship of those who disobey Jesus. He is wanting to highlight the fact that many disobey Jesus not because they say, “No” when He says, “Go,” but because they never went because they were not paying attention to what He was saying in the first place.

 

Do you read your Bible?

Do you spend time in prayer?

 

If not, when do you hear from Him?

 

We disobey daily not only in our destructive deeds, but also in our diligent indifference.

 

We work hard at hardly working at all.