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Currently, I have several books I am reading.  Here are a few quotes from recent chapters: Miracles are associated in the Bible with the prophetic office far more frequently than they are with priests or with kings. The miracles that God worked through prophets were not merely acts of raw power to compel awe. The form of the miracle reinforced the message delivered in the words that the Lord gave his prophets. The message that the Lord conveyed through prophets can be summed up in the contrasting terms prosecution and promise. Contentment trusts God to be God. We don't find our strength in the stuff of the world; we find it in the work of the Spirit. But to be filled with the Spirit and learn this supernatural contentment, we must often be emptied by the Spirit of all else that might satisfy. Fasting from anything is a sign that we are denying "more" and saying "enough." Prayer and fasting are expressions (and embracings) of our weakness and,...

Here are some quotes from books I am currently reading: We daily face the temptation of self-worship. the Holy Spirit's purpose is to point our attention continually to Jesus. Regardless of whether you're conscious of the Spirit's work in your life, he is still working. He doesn't need you to help him. He is who he is and he does what he does. The preaching is the steering wheel of the church. Is it enough simply to get sheep in the pasture while leaving them thereafter unfed? Gospel-driven preaching that proclaims and exults in the revealing of God's glory in Christ. The point is to point them to he living God in the content and through your passion so that that they might respond to God's good news in worship. for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savor of Christ in it. The worship gathering ought to seek to orchestrate an encounter with God, not an experience of him. The worship service is primarily about helping people...

Here are some of my favorite tweets from the last few weeks.  This is one of the blessings of social media where we can hear the gospel from people all over the world. If you like the tweet, go and follow the person on Twitter. By sheer grace and his Spirit’s sovereign power, the Lord has launched a new-creation project to reclaim, revivify, and re-create covenant-breakers into covenant-keepers... (Dennis E. Johnson) "It is finished.” There’s nothing more to be done, concerning our salvation. Once and for all, perfectly and fully, we have been reconciled to God. The Just died for the unjust, the Beautiful One for the broken ones, the Lamb of God for the rebels from God. # ThankYouJesus @ScottyWardSmith The cross is a symbol of torture, cruelty, blood and death. Jesus turns it into the perfect display of a scandalous, unmerited love. @rjgrune Jesus, because you were fully forsaken, we are forever forgiven. Because you exhausted God's judgment against our great unrighte...

Here are some quotes from books I have been reading over the last few weeks: "The natural realm and the spiritual realm exist side by side, and we interact with both every day." "More than the gifts the Holy Spirit brings, I want you to know the amazing person of the Holy Spirit! Fellowship, communion, and intimacy--in other words, the friendship--with the Holy Spirit is the greatest blessing of all." "The Holy Spirit causes the process that Jesus referred to as "being born again," and the Holy Spirit seals those who are born again to ensure they stand blameless before God at the end of the their days, and the Holy Spirit sustains those who are born again every millisecond between those two moments." "If we want to participate in the truly supernatural life in this earthly world, we have to stop looking for earthly solutions to our problems." "What are the signs that a genuine move of God is taking place? What, in ...

Here are some of my favorite tweets from the last few weeks.  This is one of the blessings of social media where we can hear the gospel from people all over the world. If you like the tweet, go and follow the person on Twitter. “Confession frees us. It equips others, and sometimes it frees others, too. It is worth it.” - Tam Hodge @CL_USMB #usmbyouthcon Jesus commanded believers to love one another. Because of Jesus’ great mercy to us, we can show mercy to others. #thegospelprojectkids Every Christian is vitally connected to the person and work of the Spirit of the living God! @jaredcwilson In every believer who walks across the pages of Scripture we see the dark shadows of Adam’s legacy as well as glimmers of the bright beauty of Jesus, the second Adam. (Dennis E. Johnson) If we were dismayed that Adam’s offense has rendered us, his children, guilty, how grateful we can be that another Servant, acting on our behalf, withstood the test in complete obedience, so that his o...

Here are some of my favorite tweets from the last few weeks.  This is one of the blessings of social media where we can hear the gospel from people all over the world. If you like the tweet, go and follow the person on Twitter. The early church agreed that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, He alone is all we need to be saved #thegospelprojectkids The people saw firsthand how Jesus ministered not only to the spiritual needs but also to their physical and material needs. Healing, teaching, and sustenance came from his hand, and all for their good.  @russramsey We read the New Testament & Old Testament through the lens of Jesus. It is a Christ centered hermeneutic. (Tim Geddert) @usmbchurches A church that is deeply aware of its misery & nakedness before a holy God will cling tenaciously to an all-sufficient Savior, while one that is self-confident & relatively unaware of its inherent sinfulness will reach for religion & morality whenever convenien...

Here are some quotes from three books I am currently reading: "the role and nature of this person (Holy Spirit) is to "help". "Jesus presents the Holy Spirit to us as the ultimate answer to overcoming and undoing the work of Satan, the great Deceiver and "the father of lies" "This conviction is the only way people become aware that they need the Savior. The truth is that no one ever comes to believe in Jesus as Savior without first coming to the conviction that he or she needs the Savior. That's the Holy Spirit's job." "Good advice requires a person with a plan; Good News requires a person with a message." "Radical discipleship means bringing to the world--including Christians--the wonderful, surprising, and offensive news of the gospel." "If people are withering on the vine with perpetual exhortations without Good News, praise without being reminded what they are praising God for, calls to active im...

Here are some of my favorite tweets from the last few weeks.  This is one of the blessings of social media where we can hear the gospel from people all over the world. If you like the tweet, go and follow the person on Twitter. Love is not the fruit of our labors, but the fruit of the Spirit. Love is not about trying harder, but allowing God‘s love to flow to us & through us to others. @simplestapleton So the law reveals the righteousness that God is, by which we are judged (and therefore condemned); the gospel reveals the righteousness that God freely gives to sinners through faith in Jesus Christ. @MichaelHorton_ Just love God and people is not the gospel; it is precisely that holy demand of the law that we have grievously failed to keep.… Our love toward God and neighbor is the essence of the law; God’s love toward us in Jesus Christ is the essence of the gospel. @MichaelHorton_ Many people use the Bible merely as a manual of doctrine or a guidebook for living. But ...

Here are some of my favorite tweets from the last few weeks.  This is one of the blessings of social media where we can hear the gospel from people all over the world. If you like the tweet, go and follow the person on Twitter. We can never overestimate the unleashing of new-creation power that Jesus brought about when he took his seat at the right hand of God the Father & then celebrated his enthronement by lavishing the great gift, the Holy Spirit of God... (Dennis Johnson) When affection turns to annoyance, delight to drudgery, grace to a grudge, rest to restlessness, we have forgotten about Jesus and grace. # IrresistibleFaithBook @scottsauls Conformity to Christ’s image (sanctification) is the process of dying to self (mortification) and living to God (vivification) that results from being regularly immersed in the gospel’s story of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.  @MichaelHorton_ Reduce Christianity to good advice & it blends in perfectly with t...

I am currently reading through two books: Christless Christianity by Michael Horton and Walking with Jesus through His Word by Dennis E. Johnson.  Here are some quotes I read recently: It is through God's Word of judgment (law) and salvation (gospel) that we are transferred from our own pointless scripts and inserted into the grand narrative that revolves around Jesus Christ. Reduce Christianity to good advice and it blends perfectly with the culture of life coaching...What distinguishes Christianity at its heart is not its moral code but its story...At its heart, this story is a gospel: the Good News that God has reconciled us to himself in Christ. The worst thing that can happen to the church is to confuse law and gospel...We naturally think that if you want people to do the right thing, you just need to tell them what to do and exhort them to do it with sufficient passion and effective methods. This, however, avoids both the law and the gospel...The law commands, but...

This past week, I started a new book by Elyse Fitzpatrick titled, Counsel from the Cross which she has written with Dennis Johnson.  I loved Elyse's book, Found in Him and have already enjoyed the first few chapters.  Here are a few quotes from the opening chapters: Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing...It is always on His "blood and righteousness" alone that we can rest.(Warfield) When we lose the centrality of the cross, Christianity morphs into a religion of self-improvement and becomes about us, about our accomplishments, and about getting our act together. We become become who ask WWJD (What would Jesus do?) without ever considering the gospel or WDJD (What did Jesus do?). We need to hear the gospel again because if we have forgotten his work on our behalf, it will skew the way we think of God, the way we think of ourselves, and the way we think of others. God's disposition toward us is entirely different because we are beloved. As...