daddy4ms

Culture and the counter cultural cross Our crisis today is not that we are losing religion but we are more religious than ever. religion is the justifying story of your life. religion is your preferred guilt management system. religion is about “enoughness” We have never been more pious. Thesis 2 and 3 from Heidelberg Disputation No matter how close we get, we never arrive at enough.  Fresh targets have become our focus of enoughness (food, exercise, work, parenting, politics, romance) Seculosity-religiosity that is directed horizontally rather than vertically.  We have created a million different religions to secure our righteousness. They maintain all the demand. These things are not bad, but they cannot bear the weight of making us righteous. Theology of Glory-It’s up to you.  Performanicism.  The Good Place—our attempts to secure righteousness actually go backwards because of our motives Real love does not recoil at weakness, it is where it ...

Our first speaker on Saturday morning at Here We Still Stand was David Zahl from Mockingbird. Here are his thoughts: "Repeating What We Have Heard" Social media basically exists to send signals. Those people of Facebook have received their reward in full. Most of our signaling is not overt. We are signaling all the time. Signaling is about self-justification. Signaling is connected to the Law. It flows from guilt and shame. Whatever you are using to self justify yourself is the Law to you. The Law is everywhere.  We are more religious now than ever before. Religion is all Law. Law disconnected from the Gospel turns into a competition. There are two signals at the heart of the Reformation-Law and Grace. Documentary of Daryl Davis-picture of grace This righteousness needs to come from outside of us. This means that the church thrives when people don't have it all together rather than appearing as good people. Matthew 22-Parable of the Wedding Banquet-The U...

This is a now a regular feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts and this usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth. May we never think that pondering the Almighty's love is only for beginners. @ElyseFitz Keep giving each other the gospel. Articulate it, explain it, pull it apart--don't let it just become a word. @jonmoffitt In Christ, it's already been done. So now, doing can just be a response to already being. @mockingbirdnyc in the immediate aftermath of a broken experience, we need his presence not a prescription. @mattbheard I'm moving from a prayer life to a praying life. Praying is affected by how much I need Christ for all of life. @cbc_theocast God's plan is not to st...

This is a now a regular feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts and this usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth. Christ's death, Paul says, has not only saved us from something but for something. @mockingbirdnyc We are called to a discipleship that grows out of living on the Vine-in Union w/Christ & together w/the communion of saints. @MichaelHorton_ What belongs to Jesus?-His righteousness. He gives his righteousness to law keeper, law breaker & everyone in between. @ElyseFitz God pours truth through broken vessels. There is no perfect theologian or teacher--including the men who wrote the Bible. @faithandlifeks We have done a disservice to parables by naming them. W...

This is a now a regular feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts and this usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth. That's what faith is--a looking away from yourself to Someone else...Faith, then, is trusting in the love & mercy of God. @ElyseFitz There is nowhere you can go to get away from being known & loved & defended & sought by the Spirit of God. @mockingbirdnyc #goodnews  "It is finished" is the indicative lens through which every imperative of scripture must be viewed! @JeremyG220 Without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants & credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness & holiness of Christ @MyOnlyComfort Hall...

This is a now a regular feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts and this usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth. Israel looked at the snake on the pole to live. Anyone who looks to Jesus on the cross and trusts in Him will live. #thegospelprojectkids Where does joy come from? You cannot manufacture joy. #RealJoy comes in Christ, in the gospel & from the Holy Spirit. @revburk The goodness of God is not based on how good we have been. It is based on how good he is. @thecalebstanley Child of God, you may feel God is mad, but "there is no condemnation," and "nothing can separate you from His love." He isn't mad! @ZachMaldo Only when we rest in God's perfect love for ...

This is a now a regular feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts and this usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from previous weeks which include great wisdom and truth. Christianity that is based on "self" looks at the world in fear. Christianity that is focused on Christ, looks at the world with Hope. @cameans   We are made right by the work of Jesus Christ, not by our behavior. (Romans 5:1) @ZachMaldo The Gospel is what God has done in Christ through His life, death and resurrection to reconcile sinners to Himself--not something you do.@Nick_Batzig The gospel is not, "You do." The gospel is, "Jesus did."   @edstetzer   because of Jesus, you are loved & accepted by God, right now, as you are, & not as you shou...

This is a now a regular feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts and this usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth. Jesus, who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it. Take heart! @scottsauls "I'm not right w God because the HS is in me. The HS is in me because I am right w God by grace through faith." @RScottClark via @Byronyawn know our love for God flows from a response to the love that God has freely given & reconciliation we have w/Him thru Christ @mockingbirdnyc Is #church a safe place? @JL_Martin @1C13P We realize that our righteousness is found in Christ alone. @JL_Martin

This is a now a regular feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts and this usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth. Grace frees us from operating out of "have to" at a flesh level and allows us to operate out of "want to" at a heart level. @JeremyG220  A low view of the Law leads you to think if you try harder you can keep it. A high view of the Law leads you to trust Jesus 4 daily living. @ZachMaldo While we finger point & blame shift, Jesus says the only direction a finger rightly points is toward the self. @mockingbirdnyc Christian, you do not have to "prove yourself" to Jesus. Justified by faith and sealed by his Spirit, there is nothing left to prove. @jaredcwil...

This is a now a regular feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts and this usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth. The law shows what God requires—perfect righteousness. We aren’t perfect. Jesus is and He paid our punishment for sin. #thegospelprojectkids The but God in Neh. 9 reminds us God is gracious & merciful despite us as humans being stubborn & disobedient @JL_Martin God's approval comes before our strivings & successes & failures, not after them. It is not contingent on performance. @mockingbirdnyc The most repeated command in the Bible? “Do not fear.” The reason? “For I am with you.” @scottsauls  God told Israel to build a tabernacle so He coul...

This is a new feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts.  This usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth. We want the Lamb to be beheld, so we must hold him up high and long. We proclaim not helpful hints but eternal visions. @jaredcwilson  The empty tomb is the "Amen" of the Father to the "It is Finished" of His Son. @pauldunk  the way to engage the will, the path to a willing spirit, is not effort but prayer. @mockingbirdnyc  As soon as juice ran down Adam's chin, the Snake said, "You're finished!" As soon as juice ran down Jesus' chin, He cried, "It is finished!" @benjimagness  the Christian story reveals a God who sacrifices for His creation out...

This is a new feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts.  This usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth.  Real hope, freedom & protection comes as I put my faith in Christ & never in my efforts for Christ. @jonmoffitt Christ's death at Calvary brings victory to all...The message of the Gospel is that victory has been won. @mockingbirdnyc  The gospel is the good news that I need every day, leading me away from myself to Christ "who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). @MichaelHorton_  We do not have to lie or trick God to get a blessing. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross and gives us eternal life. #thegospelprojectkids  When Christians...

This is a new feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts.  This usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth.           "The law cannot do any more in sanctification than it did in justification." ~John Murray via @JustinHolcomb          The gospel is a shocking transfer. Without it, Sundays wouldn't be celebrations, they'd be performance evaluations followed by pep talks- Paul Dunk via @Trent_Stutzman People who believe in the glory story put their faith in whatever happens to be this week's 6 steps (or 7 habits) to success. In doing so, they intrinsically put faith in themselves as p...

I have enjoyed reading a small book published by Mockingbird Publications called Law and Gospel. It is helpful in understanding how both words shape and influence the Christian life.  I finished the book last week so here are some quotes to think about: the Law must continue to convict us of our utter unrighteousness, and the Gospel must continue to save us...So where the Law is a closed fist, the Gospel is an open hand. Gratitude is a natural response to salvation. It does not require coercion or encouragement; to the extent that individual understands what has happened, gratitude will flow organically and abundantly from their heart. The precise form it takes will be different every time, but such is the nature of fruit. Belovedness can actually beget love itself. God's presence and promise are objective comfort, not to be conjured or obtained but only recognized. Thus the wild, absurd, unconditional truth of God's love in Emmanuel--"God with us," just a...

I am currently reading Law and Gospel published by Mockingbird.  Here are a few quotes that I liked from my reading last week: Jesus does not relate to lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes, and reprobates on the basis of what they bring to the table but on the basis of who he is. Though the law is conditional--a two-way street--the gift of Christ is unconditional.   The injunction to forgive may be a good and noble command, but it cannot inspire us to do so. Again, the Law commands that we love perfectly. The Gospel announces that we are perfectly loved. The Gospel announces that we are justified by grace through faith: not by what we do, or even who we are, but by what Christ has done and who he is.

I am reading four books right now.  Here are my favorite quotes from my recent reading at the Perk: The great theme of Walter Marshall's book is that Christians grow in obedience by the power of the gospel, not by their own strength. Christians are in union with Christ, and their Christian growth flows from this union, not from their own efforts. The gospel is essential for growth in holiness. Only the gospel can empower obedience. That is why every generation of the church must discover afresh the sufficiency of the gospel of grace, and the power of the cross of Jesus Christ both to save and to sanctify. the key error of the Christian life is that people think that even though they have been justified by a righteousness produced totally by Christ, they must be sanctified by a holiness produced totally by themselves. The Old Adam lives in the world of control, of constant self-measurement and self-reliance. The Law, on most every occasion, draw...