I'm a Grandpa!

This has been a special day for us. I find it hard to believe that my baby girl is now the mother of a baby boy!
Ethan Miles Hartfield was born today at 1:42 pm, weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces, 21 inches long.  Mother and son are doing great, and he is beautiful!

Remembering the Heroes

"Gospelling One Another"

"Christians are persons who no longer seek their salvation, their deliverance, their justification in themselves, but in Jesus Christ alone. They know that God’s Word in Jesus Christ pronounces them guilty, even when they feel nothing of their own guilt, and that God’s Word in Jesus Christ pronounces them free and righteous, even when they feel nothing of their own righteousness … [So] ‘they watch for this Word wherever they can. Because they daily hunger and thirst for righteousness, they long for the redeeming Word again and again … The Christ in their own hearts is weaker than the Christ in the word of other Christians. Their own hearts are uncertain; those of their brothers and sisters are sure. At the same time, this also clarifies that the goal of all Christian community is to encounter one another as bringers of the message of salvation."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, page 32

Hat Tip: Tim Chester

Too Easily Pleased

“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are halfhearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mudpies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

    - C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of the Glory"

Hat Tip:   Adrian Warnock: A Sentence can change your life

For Preachers and Pagans

Martin Luther often employed the phrase simul Justus et peccator to describe his condition as a Christian. It means “simultaneously justified and sinful.” He understood that while he’d already been saved (through justification) from sin’s penalty, he was in daily need of salvation from sin’s power. And since the gospel is the “power of God for salvation” (Rom. 1:16), he knew that even for the most saintly of saints the gospel is wholly relevant and vitally necessary—day in and day out. This means that heralded preachers need the gospel just as much as hardened pagans.

    -  Tullian Tchividjian, Surprised By Grace  pages16-17

Hat Tip:   Kevin DeYoung

Shrinking to Our True Size

“Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.”

—John Stott, The Message of Galatians (London: IVP, 1968), 179

Hat Tip: Of First Importance

Facebook Dangers

Check out this interesting, challenging and possibly convicting article at Ligonier by R.C. Sproul, Jr., asking the question Should Christians Be on Facebook?

Obviously, since I am on Facebook, I do not see it as in any way wrong. However, he does bring up some cogent warnings.

"..... here are some very real concerns I have about Facebook. First, has it become a god to us? When God commands that we have no other god’s before Him He doesn’t mean ranked higher than Him, but rather He means in His presence. If Facebook is too needful for you, you may need to stop. Second, has it become a graven image? Have you confused its reality with real reality? Do you really think you have 200 friends? Third, have you taken the Lord’s name in vain? That is, have you, in weaker moments, put a bad face publicly on your Christian witness? Are you laughing at your old sins with that old buddy from college or high school?...."

He concludes:

"Please don’t misunderstand this little thought experiment. I suspect we could walk through the Ten Commandments in light of our church, and find many of the same temptations. That doesn’t mean you should stay away from church. It does mean we ought to be deliberate enough to know what we are doing, and why we are doing it. And deliberate begins by affirming that our own hearts are not just desperately wicked, but deceitful as well. We don’t need to protect our privacy. We need instead to expose our sins to the light, the light of Scripture that we might repent and believe, that His face might shine upon us."

Why Grace is Given

“For grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them.”

- Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Hat Tip: Of First Importance

Picture from Wikipedia article.

Before A Fall

Upon reading this, I could only say OUCH!

Pride…

-It’s why you’re not satisfied with the house you live in
-It’s why you feel entitled to that job or that promotion
-It’s why you won’t say you’re sorry
-It’s why you talk to your wife like she’s a dog
-It’s why you pretend to be closer to God than you really are
-It’s why you spend money you don’t have to impress people you don’t even like
-It’s why you won’t forgive
-It’s why you don’t respect your husband
-It’s why you refuse to admit you’re wrong

"Pride is a spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment or even common sense."  - C.S. Lewis

From:  Take Your Vitamin Z...

Spirituality vs. Jesus

After looking at the Gospel vs. Religion, let's talk about Spirituality vs. Jesus:

• Spirituality invites you to explore your inner self. Jesus invites you to explore his glory and forget yourself.
• Spirituality invites you to find yourself. Jesus invites you to lose yourself.
• Spirituality is a journey that ultimately results in you “saving” yourself. Following Jesus is a journey that begins when you stop trying to save yourself.
• Spirituality leads to self-expression which results in self-fulfillment. Jesus calls you to die to yourself and find your fulfillment in him.
• Spirituality begins when you resolve to “try harder”. Following Jesus begins when you give up.
• Spirituality says you’re worth it. Jesus says that he’s worth it.
• Spirituality allows you to take charge of your life. Jesus commands you to acknowledge him as King of your life.
• Spiritual gurus dispense “wisdom”. Jesus saves sinners.

Link from The Blazing Center