The Good Portion

I don't know about you, but I was curious about who this group was that defeated the surprise phenomenon, Susan Boyle, in the Britain's Got Talent competition. It was no small feat, but I've managed to find three of the performances which had not yet had the embed function disabled, and collected them here. I've got to say, with no dishonor intended toward Miss Boyle, their victory was no fluke. They earned the prize. In case you haven't been acquainted, let me introduce you to Diversity :

I've repaired the link for liberal at Liberty. I apologize for the inconvenience. You would think that by now I would know to check these things before I put them up!

What happens when a liberal college student decides to learn by experience, fairly, open-mindedly, and respectfully, what the world of fundamentalist Christianity is all about by attending for a semester the most conservative fundamentalist university you could probably imagine? Well, he writes a book, as you might expect, and talks about it on NPR.

What about Gideon? He put the Lord to the test and everything turned out fine. Have you ever known, through the word of God, exactly what God would have you do or not do, but "put out a fleece" anyway - just to be sure? Well, the temptation to do this is very strong, and I have found myself putting out my own modern-day "fleece" a few times over the years. The temptation to look for signs and read omens is strong in the hearts of men, even in our more "sophisticated" days; and I have been acquainted with many Christians who still practice versions of this. So what are we to make of Gideon? Here's a response to that question from Daniel Block at Koinonia

As a believer, my most frequent prayer, and the prayer I hear my husband pray most frequently as well, is that we will glorify God in all that we do. And though we pray wholeheartedly, and seek to live to that end, we often at the same time wonder what on earth that means, and what it looks like. We've no way to measure, really, whether or how that prayer is being answered. We know we will never be great names like Martin Luther, or John Calvin, or John Wesley, or Charles Spurgeon, or Billy Graham, or John Piper, or ....fill in your favorite if I've left him out. So what does a God-glorifying life look like for ordinary folks like us? And here is where Martin Luther has left us a great legacy - the hope of glorifying God from our place of seeming obscurity. "Our expression 'vocational guidance' comes directly from Luther. God has called men to labor because he labors. He works at common occupations. God is a tailor who makes for the deer a coat that will...

I've found it to be the case that who I am, and how I behave, in my most difficult relationships, is the most reliable measure of my character.

"The law is for the self-righteous, to humble their pride: the gospel is for the lost, to remove their despair." -C.H. Spurgeon HT to Bryan Gumpy Thank God for the Gospel!

It may not look like it, but I'm dying. No, not in the way you're thinking. It may not seem like it, but you are dying too. All of us are dying. From the moment of our birth, our end is inevitable. We may, perhaps, be able to delay it; but we cannot escape it. And yet, by the grace of God and the sacrifice of His Son, even Death, our great enemy, is made to serve us. How can that be? Well, "I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the say...

“Saving belief is not mere mental assent, but a believing in – a living in – the knowledge of that news. It is a leaning on, a relying on. We must come to grips with the fact that we are unable to satisfy God’s demands on us, no matter how morally we try to live. We don’t want to end up trusting a little in ourselves and a little in God; we want to realize that we are to rely on God fully, to trust in Christ alone for our salvation.” - Mark Dever , The Gospel and Personal Evangelism (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books , 2007), 41.

"You ask me what I shall do if I am called by the emperor. I will go even if I am too sick to stand on my feet. If Caesar calls me, God calls me. If violence is used, as well it may be, I commend my cause to God. He lives and reigns who saved the three youths from the fiery furnace of the king of Babylon, and if He will not save me, my head is worth nothing compared with Christ. This is no time to think of safety. I must take care that the gospel is not brought into contempt by our fear to confess and seal our teaching with our blood ." -Martin Luther I like to hope I would face the threat of a horrific death with the courage Martin Luther did back in his day. But for today I will gratefully settle for the courage to go and do my daily work with joy and a thankful heart. "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much." (Luke 16:10)

I've got another busy work-day today and no time to write. But here's a word of encouragement I found in my inbox this morning: “ True spirituality is not a superhuman religiosity; it is simply true humanity released from bondage to sin and renewed by the Holy Spirit . This is given to us as we grasp by faith the full content of Christ’s redemptive work: freedom from the guilt and power of sin, and newness of life through the indwelling and outpouring of his Spirit.” - Richard Lovelace , Dynamics of Spiritual Life (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press , 1979), 19-20.

“ Obedience must be in and through Christ. ‘ He hath made us accepted in the beloved’ (Eph. 1:6). Not our obedience, but Christ’s merits procure acceptance . In every part of worship we must present Christ to God in the arms of our faith. Unless we serve God thus, in hope and confidence of Christ’s merits , we rather provoke Him than please Him. As, when king Uzziah would offer incense without a priest, God was angry with him, and struck him with leprosy (see II Chron. 26:20); so, when we do not come to God in and through Christ, we offer up incense to Him without a priest; and what can we expect but severe rebukes?” - Thomas Watson, “ Obedience " (emphasis mine)

After our Sunday evening Bible study, Paul and I had a lengthy discussion with our pastor and a few others in the room regarding the nature of Communion, or the Lord's Supper, if you prefer. It was a fascinating and thought provoking discussion comparing the various non-Catholic views. My husband, holds to the Lutheran belief commonly referred to as consubstantiation. Though sympathetic to his view, I have a more "Reformed" perspective, more like Calvin's than the bare "memorial" view associated with Zwingli and adhered to by the bulk of modern evangelicals. This is the first time, however, that I've devoted such extensive thought to the matter. I've found it a very edifying subject for study; and as I said, it has provoked a lot of thought, on a variety of related themes - blood for instance. There is something innately horrifying about blood, something offensive. My sister faints at the sight of it, hers or anyone else's. My son hate...

Over the last several months I've learned some valuable lessons about the grace of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ from professor (Reformed Theological Seminary) and radio host Steve Brown . Because of his strong stand against legalism and hypocrisy within the church, he receives his share of criticism and unfounded (but understandable) accusations of anti-nomianism. Most recently he's faced some rather harsh criticism for having reviewed Paul Young's book The Shack favorably . This review led to substantial financial support being withdrawn from his ministry. Let me go on the record at this point by saying I am no fan of that book. My orthodox and theological way of thinking can not tolerate Young's "artistic license" with the Trinity, or his unqualified disdain for Christian establishments of higher learning. My review of The Shack, were I to review it, would not be favorable; and I would no doubt receive considerable criticism from its fans. Tha...

Today I've decided to deviate from my normal routine to take a look out of my windows (literally and figuratively) at my little world. I hardly know what to say or how to begin. When we bought our home, it was 2007, and hints of whispers of a possible recession were all we heard. It was also the beginning of prices falling - a slight recession perhaps. The sellers market was waning. A good time to buy thought we. We didn't have much, but we had jobs and a decent down payment. Our home was in a poorer part of town, not the poorest, but a poor neighborhood that seemed to be undergoing that charming process of gentrifying. It is amazing what two years and an economic downturn can do to one corner of a community, in this case ours. We've had repeated bouts of graffiti on the structures along our alley and all the businesses visible from our front yard. That our own garage was spared by the grace of God was evidenced by a single black spot of what appears to be the final...

Rather than leave my blog dark today, I thought I'd point you in the direction of my husband's blog. Just as my mental lights have dimmed over the last couple of days, someone flipped his genius switch to the "ON" position. I recommend you head on over and poke around his brightly lit cranium. Today he's on about Alexander Woollcott . Don't know who that is? Don't worry, Paul will take care of that.

How do you speak to the world about abortion - or any other sin for that matter? With humility and broken-hearted love. Here's a fine example: HT to Barry at Who Am I?

“All change comes from deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ and living out of the changes that understanding creates in your heart. Faith in the gospel re-structures our motivations, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without heart-change will be superficial and fleeting.” - Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God (new York, NY: Dutton, 2008), 121.

Yesterday, for Mother's Day, we did what we do every Sunday. We went to church. We came home and I made lunch for my husband and 18 year old son. Then we brought my mother a restaurant lunch, just like we do every Sunday; and my 20 year old daughter came with us. We did not bring anything special. My mom throws away cards immediately after looking at them and doesn't like plants or flowers or chocolates, just Mountain Dew and visits - which is what we did bring. When we left her place, Gina took Paul and I to B&R for ice cream for my Mothers' Day treat, which was a pleasant surprise. When we got home later I found a card and a PayDay bar from Tony and his girlfriend. This, too, was a pleasant surprise. Over the years I've learned to expect nothing from Mothers' Day. It's been many, many years since I was married to the father of my children, who is traditionally the one whose job it is to make sure Mothers' Day is special while the children are ...

Here are some words of exhortation and comfort from an Irish Calvinist to all of us who have fallen short in motherhood or any other thing: The gospel message is not a call for us to get busy doing the best we can to please God but rather a call to realize our sinfulness and to trust upon one who truly did please God. In other words, the essential message of Christianity is never about what you and I can do but about what God has done in Christ! Sadly many professing Christians have unwittingly wandered to Sinai and tried to package it as good news. Do you not still see the bright lightening and the dreadful mountain wrapped in smoke? Do you not hear its trumpet blast, peals of thunder, and knocking of Moses’ knees? As God descends upon this Mountain to proclaim his inflexibly rigid standard of righteousness he is to be seen as holy, unapproachable, and worthy of awe. This is devastating. If you ask Christians what we are all about many will give this summary of the Law [Mat 22....

people were disregarding out of hand those who study the Word of God in a critical and scholarly fashion as cold and un-spiritual. It just goes to show how true it is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The following quote is pulled in its entirety from the blog of Christian apologist James White . [I]t has been painful to hear earnest and real desire definitely to study the Word of God regarded and termed by some, as being "occupied with the letter of Scripture." But do those who say this know what they mean? They speak of principles, and of having their minds occupied with Christ; but how do we obtain true principles except from God's revelation in the Word? and how does the Spirit lead the mind to be occupied with Christ, except from the definite truth of Holy Scripture? In fact, those who thus speak, putting the spirit in contrast to the letter , appear not to know what they are discussing; and as to Scripture itself, by paying but little he...

“The voice that spells forgiveness will say: ‘You may go: you have been let off the penalty which your sin deserves.’ But the verdict which means acceptance [justification] will say: ‘You may come; you who are welcome to all my love and my presence.’ “ —Sir Marcus Loane , quoted in John Stott , The Message of Romans (Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press , 1994), 110 (HT to: http://firstimportance.org/)

I'm thoroughly enjoying my read through Roland Bainton's, Here I Stand, a Life of Martin Luther . It is a fine piece of writing, about an extraordianry man. What I think I'm enjoying most is watching Luther's understanding of the gospel develop and mature steadily and so rapidly that he seems to be always one step ahead of his opponents. It worked to his advantage, of course, that communications of his day were limited by the speed of printing presses and horses. By the time his famous 95 Theses were published, distributed, and brought to the attention of Rome, his theology and concerns about the Church had already grown beyond the objections and accusations that would finally wind their way back to him. Luther was a man bound up by the fear and guilt that almost inevitably accompany a religious system designed to appease God by works. As a man originally trained in law, he took the requirements of God's law and the rules of the Church very seriously. He saw t...

to start a very busy day: “Do not worry about what you feel. The truth about you is glorious. If you are in Christ, rise to it ‘o’er sin and care. Take your full salvation and triumph and prevail.” - Martyn Lloyd-Jones , Spiritual Depression (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 2002), 175.

I've just finished reading Kevin DeYoung's book, Just Do Something, a Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will . I plan to gush about - I mean - review it in the near future. But for now, here are a couple of quotes from John Newton (writer of Amazing Grace) which I found there. These speak particularly to the practice some make of removing a Scripture from its context and intended use, in order to construe it as direct personal guidance from God. "I remember, in going to undertake the care of a congregation, I was reading, as I walked in the green lane, 'Fear not, Paul, I have much people in this city.' But I soon afterward was disappointed to find that Paul was not John and that Corinth was not Warwick." "Others, when in doubt, have opened the Bible at a venture and expected to find something to direct them in the first verse they should cast their eye upon. It is no small discredit to this practice that the heathens, who knew not the Bible, use...

Thanks to my friend, Deb, at Counting My Blessings , for this one: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding." Job 38: 4