daddy4ms

For the rest of 2018, I will be sharing books I recommend because they are some of my favorites.  New Book Friday will resume in January. Enjoy!

Maybe selfishness is not a generational thing.  Maybe it is something that started in the Garden of Eden. Luther described this as “curved in on himself”  For Luther, the book of Romans is what wrecks his life.  This leads to 95 theses. Romans was essential to his understanding of Jesus. Luther lectured on the book of Romans in 1515-1516. He lectured on law/gospel, sinners/saints, justification by faith. Romans exposes us.  It is not just about exposing us, but pointing to Jesus.   The Bible does a great job of not hiding the mess. The Christian life is the battle between the old man and the new man. The way you become a new man is by gift not your efforts or intentions.   Grace is the pronouncement that you are a son/daughter and it has nothing to do with what you do. Theology of the Cross-The cross alone is our theology. It’s time to get back to forgiveness of sin. The abuse and misuse of the law is bad and it is prevalent....

Theology of the Cross is theme of Here We Still Stand 2018 is 500 years after Heidelberg Disputation was written by Martin Luther. “Being Crucified With Christ”-Galatians 2:15-21 The Law cannot help us. Christ is not a second Moses. The goal of the Law is to kill you.  The goal of Christ is to raise you from the dead, forgive you. You are dead. But Christ lives in you.  The life you live is by faith. His crucifixion is mine. His resurrection is mine. See 2 Kings 13:20-21-All that matters is who you are buried with.  It doesn’t matter what you did before, after, who are you, what you did. You are buried with the Word of God made flesh. It really is faith alone, Christ alone. Sometimes faith alone is as simple as “Remember Me” You are remembered by God.  You are free in Christ. You are His!

40 Minutes in the Old Testament and 30 Minutes in the New Testament Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:13-15 The people are impatient and they speak against God and Moses They think God has redeemed them to lead them to death (Why did you bring us out of Egypt?) If it’s weird, it is important.  There’s a lot of foreshadowing in this passage. The people of Israel like us do not want to die to self.  What are they supposed to learn?  God can heal, God can make alive. Ultimately, what this text is about is about One who will come and die and make us alive. The altar is made of bronze in the temple. Is this why the serpent is bronze? Jesus is the fulfillment of Numbers 21 on our behalf. Christ takes all of the evil, death, and sin on the cross and gives us His righteousness. What must I do to be saved?  LOOK, BEHOLD Front Porch with the Fitz’s With special guests, Bonnie and Kelsi We started all of this (podcasts)  and we can’t even get on the banner...

Today, I am on my way back to San Diego for the Here We Still Stand Conference.  I attended last year and loved my time in beautiful California along with some great messages and great people.  This year's theme is the "Theology of the Cross."  I look forward to hearing from my favorite speaker, Elyse Fitzpatrick and one of my new favorites, Chad Bird. Check back over the next few days for quotes and pictures from the conference. Here are a few pictures from last year.

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. Holy Spirit, with blazing speed, convict us when we begin to forsake the gospel for some self-help, self-salvation, self-glory narrative @ScottyWardSmith Power and Compassion are brought together in one ruler, who is also your advocate. Unlike the priests and kings who came before, Jesus will never be replaced because his work is finished. He is the conqueror who has defeated death, the devil, and sin. (Jack Miller) You begin to pray when you say I don’t know how. The first thing you need is the Holy Spirit. The last thing you need is the Holy Spirit. And the thing you need in the middle is the Holy Spirit. (Jack Miller) Ultimately and fundamentally, what makes Christianity unique is not its commandments but its announcement. Every other religion is ...

We often forget.  We see throughout history the Israelites and the church forgetting. We need to be reminded often of who God is in Scripture, church history and in our lives and churches. The names of God are important because these names are not just what God does, it is who He is.  I hope this will encourage you as you are reminded of how good, great, and awesome our God is. Immanuel Immanuel means God with us. 23   “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,      and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:23) What it reminds me?  God is with me always.  This used to cause fear because I believed God knew all of sins and was wanting to punish me.  Now, it a great assurance because I know God is for me and cares about me because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.  He is with me empowering me to love Him and others.  You are never alone