Reading this morning and these sentence struck me as profoundly applicable to the "parable" of the watermelon. It is easy to look on the outside and something that seems good, all the while forgetting the inside must match for it to really be good. In the same fashion, real change always begins first in the heart.
"How people change", TS Lane and PD Tripp, pg 14
When we forget how desperate our condition really is, Christian activity begins to replace a heartfelt reliance on Christ and his grace. We get more excited about changing the world than we do about the radical changes of heart and life that the Gospel promises because of Christ's presence in our hearts.
It's amazing how long it took me to really understand the gospel. Like many Christians, I understood early on that my sins had been forgiven [past grace] and that I was going to spend my eternity with Christ [future grace]. But I did not grasp the depth of my need for the benefits of the work of Christ now [present grace].
"How people change", TS Lane and PD Tripp, pg 14
30 comments:
this cuts very deep.
i am going to have to read this a couple more times.
Some solid thoughts. Thanks.
Jerry Bridges says that we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day. The good news of the Cross is beyond amazing to sinners, and we need to ask the Lord to keep it fresh in our hearts.
"When we regularly hear and receive Christ's forgiveness, we are filled with love for Him and for others." -Michael Horton
"When I survey the wondrous Cross,.."
I think you should plough your way through the water melon! After all, Jesus didn't like waste! Don't forget he got the disciples to gather up the remains after the feeding of the 5,000 rather than throwing it in the garbage!
I know this! And yet I don't...Looks like something that would benefit me to read...
It cuts deep for all of us, Nancy, if we're really seeking to understand our real and continuing need of a Savior.
Sharon, it's a great read as is the companion book by Paul David Tripp, "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands".
Yes, I agree we need the gospel, and I believe we need the whole Book to get the gospel right.
And I believe it's not either/or, but and/both.
We're changed from the inside out, but Jesus sent his disciples on mission doing things during his stay with them. So we need to both do the right things, yet realize that it is a heart change from Christ, no less, that we need.
I have a juicer but don't always use it if a blender or even a food processor will do the trick. I liked lorenzothe llama or Jill's comment on making a juice or smoothie with the flesh of the tasteless watermelon. I have seen it written "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade".
Blending it with another melon like a honeydew or cantelope would make a good juice. And the few times I have bought a watermelon which is not a favorite of Ted's, I have done as anonymous said.
I also have a compost pile going as it will help fertilize the garden I hope to plant next spring.
Yes, I need to focus on present grace. Thanks for the reminder. Paul Tripp was recently at our church doing a seminar series on "Lost in the Middle" - it was very thought provoking.
I have that book on the shelf, ESI - just haven't had a chance to read it yet. Really do like PD Tripp's writing style - very clear, very practical.
Don, I've never read any Bridges but have just purchased a book that I think is called Respectable Sins - sounded very interesting.
Juicer - compost - sorry ladies, the "meat", which was a tough as meat, went down the disposal and the rest went out in the garbage. It gave me a tummy ache so I didn't save it!
Aw Susan!!
I hadn't thought of juicing melons together. Thanks Deb for the idea!
today's word is: poped
I suppose, Llama, since we have been discussing compost, that it might have been more appropriate if it had been "pooped"
Um, not sure what 'poop' means in the States. In England it is a rather vulgar word for excrement!
I really thought a lot of President Obama's speech about the health service. You have got a good man there.
"I really thought a lot of President Obama's speech about the health service. You have got a good man there."
Obama is very dishonest. I'm not sure if that makes for a good man. It makes for a terrific political master of rhetoric though.
I wouldn't trust this man as far as I could kick him. (Not that i would kick the President. It's a figure of speech Llama.)
Why do you say Obama is dishonest Donsands? He strikes me as a man of integrity.
He must surely be a more honest man than Bush, taking our countries into unnecessary wars?
We have a $2,000,000,000,000 deficit, and he says that his Health Care Bill will not add one dime to the Deficit.
He says the new Bill will not help Illegal immigrants.
This guy says things that tickle the ears.
He also said there's no provision in the bill for abortion.
And there's so much more this president has to answer for, but the liberal media likes him, and so protects him. Powerful thing the media.
They can make you look bad, when you're good, and make you look good, when you're not.
I do pray for Barak Obama to be blessed by our sovereign Lord, and that he would see the horrors of partial birth abortion, and infanticide, and also see the Cross of Christ as God's one and only great mercy for sinners. Amen.
It's not just about abortion though is it? There are millions of poor people who can't afford the basic health care.
Llama,
America is headed down a dark road. This nation with all it's faults was a fairly decent country. Built on the Bible, not exclusively of course, the people who dared to write a Declaration of Independence, and Constitution, and Bill of Rights, had a good thing, better than most. Why?
Because these men and women knew the nature of man, and so tried to put enough checks and balances in place to keep this nation a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Little by little this nation has left it's roots of the Holy Bible, and turned to humanistic pluralism. And so, the crumbling begins.
We are now on our way to a Socialist nation. nationalized health care is a biggie.
The government is not to be so huge. And it's definitely not supposed to take 65% of people's money, and make it seem like being bless financially is a crime.
Obama quite clearly seems to embrace Socialism and also Black Liberation Theology. Here's a video for your consideration.
The facts are out there for us to hear, there's no doubt. But politicians have a way of turning things around so that whatever the facts are, the facts aren't really facts.
That's just the way man is.
The hope we have in such a mess is Jesus Christ, who died and rose from the dead. he lives even now at the right hand of His Father, and He will return one day to judge all wickedness, and make all things new and righteous.
Have a terrific and lovely weekend Llama. God bless.
The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv1ShidiN2g&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftheologica.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Freformed-blacks-on-black-liberation.html&feature=player_embedded
Don, you are of course entitled to your own opinions. However, I ask that you speak respectfully of President O'bama. I remind you that, in light of Romans 13, we know that President O'bama is president specifically because this is what God has ordained for His own reasons. Therefore, because we know that that God is sovereign, we can trust that He will use this situation for His glory.
"However, I ask that you speak respectfully of President O'bama."
I truly do respect his office. And I respect him as a man, created in the image of God.
I am just saying what is true about who he is, which is quite clear ans evident. No disrespect, just fact, I thought.
I'm willing to be corrected though, especially here on your blog Susan.
If I'm disrespectful, then please do delete my comments.
I simply want to speak the truth, with humility in Christ's great grace.
Llama has asked some questions, and I tried to reply from my heart, and with the facts.
Lord bless, and have a wonderful Lord's day in His grace and joy.
I simply think that there are at least some possibilities that should be considered and each may result in a different conclusion than the one you draw.
1) we do not have all the facts and that may make it seem one way when it really is not, or 2) that being deceived is not the same thing as being dishonest - although they both result in misleading speach, one attributes motive whereas the other does not.
Remember, the heart is deceitful and wicked and cannot be known without the Holy Spirit - so I am simply trying to allow as much grace as is possble under the circumstances that God has allowed.
Let us take his words to task if we must rather than attacking the man since that is exactly what we would want someone to do with us.
Bur surely Donsands, it IS Biblical to look after poor people? Why should the rich just have the benefit of insured health? A lot of people can't afford insurance. I know a lot of people can't be bothered to get it either, but that is not the point. A good health service should be available to everyone. Afterall, as you keep reminding us, we are made in God's image! Would Jesus refuse an ill person because they couldn't afford to pay?
As for Obama and his Black Liberation stance .. well can you blame him? After all, the Blacks have had a pretty raw deal haven't they?
We have the BNP (British Nationalist Party) here. They are so right wing to be Nazi. Because of 'free speech' we have to listen to these people bang on about 'immigration' 'over-population' 'blacks' 'browns' etc. etc. I realize there will always been extremists, but we really can't watch our countries going down that route, can we?
I haven't got time to watch the video at the moment. I am off on holiday in a couple of hours. Don't know whether I'll be able to look in at all while I am away.
Thank you Susan for such a lovely blog with such interesting subjects and people.
Here's a good source to weigh what people are saying in politics. Like Susan says, I believe sometimes President Obama is mistaken in what he is saying, just like every president and human is at times. On this source one can click to read the facts and reasoning, and they continue to work on it if more information comes out. I don't trust Fox News or MSNBC, especially on the shows where they yell at their political opponents and put down their character- and talk radio is bad for that as well.
My opinion on Obama is vastly different than yours, Don. That he is influenced by Reinhold Niebuhr I think is clear in his policies and who he has appointed to work with him. He will make neither the far left or the far right happy, which is playing out in the health care debate, though I think it makes sense to say the Democrats will probably rally behind him to push something through, remembering the fallout when they didn't with President Clinton. Then probably some Republicans will get on board if they see something is going to pass to bring something (probably needed) of their own solutions into the final bill.
"..so I am simply trying to allow as much grace as is possble under the circumstances that God has allowed."
And that's an excellent rule for us to follow.
I surely at times misjudge people.
We are to judge, as Jesus taught us (John 7:24), and the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 5:12).
But you're right we need to lean very heavily on grace, and not presume. For Jesus also told not to judge.
It's difficult at times.
I shall try to be more accurate when I do have to make judgments.
"the Blacks have had a pretty raw deal haven't they?"-Llama
I'm going to leave all this alone for now Llama. If you get a chance, watch the video, and consider it. Maybe it's wrong.
We surely are to look after the poor as well. Amen.
The subjects seem to pop up at will, Llama, so I don't think I deserve any credit for that!
While I am not contradicting your statement about Jesus not refusing an ill person because they could not pay, I think it prudent to remember that Jesus did not heal all who came to Him. Sometimes He chose to walk away from the people from the throngs that surely had lots of sick and poor left in them.
I do not pretend to understand the how or why of it, I just note that He did. I have a really hard time doing it at all and in fact have to lean rather heavily on the wisdom of my elders for some things like that because I always feel that I have somehow let the people down if they are not "prospering" spiritually and doing at least "ok" physically. But, as my young friend Laura sometimes laughingly says, I kinda have a god complex :(
Don, "black oppression/raw deals" - having worked alongside my daughter in an inner city elementary school of 100% African American children I've seen something that I did not think existed - a raw deal passed on for generation upon generation. It looks different than you would think, seems to have little to do with poverty and in many cases does not even seem to be alleviated by the gospel - so I'm still thinking on that subject. It almost looks like a type of national character passed from generation to generation without, in many cases, knowing that it is happening.
ps "not...alleviated by the gospel" - somehow it is such an insidious lie of the enemy and so deeply ingrained in cultural identity that I have seen few believers actually move beyond it, regardless of financial status. I do not at all intend to say that the gospel is not efficacious for such a thing as you all know that I think it efficacious for all things!
"He [became] perhaps the first Christian theologian with ecumenical influence who developed a view of the relations between Christianity and Judaism that made it inappropriate for Christians to seek to convert Jews to their faith."-Niebuhr
That's a scary thought.
We should be more like Paul I would think:
"I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. ...Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." Romans 9:1-2; 10:1-4
Ted, I always respect your views. You think deeply about issues, and you consider the Scriptures always.
We do disagree about Obama, but like Susan says, we can't judge his heart. God will judge him on that Day, as he will judge us all.
In the mean time, I'll keep listening and learning and praying and proclaiming the Gospel of grace. By His grace of course.
Don,
For an accurate picture of Niebuhr you have to consider everything. I'm sure we can learn much from him. Though he differs significantly in some important aspects from my Anabaptist leanings. We have to judge all in the light of Scripture and the kingdom of God come in Jesus.
Susan,
Jesus did heal all that came to him at least according to one account I believe in Matthew. But often people did not have faith, or there wasn't much faith in the area, so that he couldn't do many healings. It seems like Jesus was at least in a significant degree operating according to the faith people have, which is what God does.
If I can get my two cents worth in about African-Americans, of course prejudice exists, and on both sides. Some hate us for what was done to them in the past. They need the gospel of grace in Jesus. On our side we often look down on them and in polls evangelicals have been as reticent to have them move into their neighborhoods as the rest of the public, if I remember correctly even more so (this, according to my recollection, a hard one not to forget :(. No matter how polls can be misleading at times and not take into account other issues this at least involves sin, and shows how steeped we can be in what's in it for us.
On Niebuhr's ecumenicalism:
Do read him in context- and look at quotes from him. Some important truth there within the justice at work in this world.
His line of thinking would likely have some important parallels to one who is in the orthodox Christian faith, Os Guinness, in his most excellent book, The Case for Civility.
America's founding fathers envisioned a nation in which all would have freedom to worship or not, according to their beliefs. And that in a certain sense within this nation-state we have to work together, in spite of differences. That no one religion should be the state religion imposed on all, though it took our nation decades to live that out.
Great quote - Tripp was just at our church and he said the same thing at the Lost in the Middle Seminar. It stuck with me - he is a teacher of profound but practical truth
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