Who for the Joy set before Him

Hebrews 12:2

²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³

But to him who does not work

Romans 4: 4-5

⁴Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

The Supremacy of Christ

Colossians 1:15-23

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²²But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

BibleMap.org

Ever wondered where all the churches in Revelation 1 actually were? Maybe not...but if you did, you can now see their location on a satellite image of earth courtesy of BibleMap.org. Just type in the book and chapter of the Bible your reading and you'll see a map of locations found in that section of scripture....pretty cool huh?

Infinite, and an infant

“I do believe that the very angels have never wondered but once and that has been incessantly ever since they first beheld it. They never cease to tell the astonishing story, and to tell it with increasing astonishment too, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, and became a man. Is he not rightly called Wonderful? Infinite, and an infant — eternal, and yet born of a woman — Almighty, and yet hanging on a woman’s breast supporting the universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms — king of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph — heir of all things and yet the carpenter’s despised son. Wonderful art thou O Jesus, and that shall be thy name for ever.”

- Charles Spurgeon

Better news the Gospel brings

“Run, John, run. The law commands
But gives neither feet nor hands.
Better news the gospel brings;
It bids us fly and gives us wings.”

—John Bunyan, quoted by Jerry Bridges in The Discipline of Grace

Gospel remorse

“Legalistic remorse says, ‘I broke God’s rules,’ while real repentance says, ‘I broke God’s heart.’ Legalistic repentance takes sin to Mt. Sinai, gospel repentance to Mt. Calvary. Legalistic repentance is convicted by punishment, gospel repentance becomes convicted by mercy.”

- Tim Keller

Trinity & Incarnation

“Trinity and Incarnation belong together. The doctrine of the Trinity declares that the man Jesus is truly divine; that of the Incarnation declares that the divine Jesus is truly human. Together they proclaim the full reality of the Savior whom the New Testament sets forth, the Son who came from the Father’s side at the Father’s will to become the sinner’s substitute on the cross (Matt. 20:28; 26:36-46; John 1:29; 3:13-17; Rom. 5:8; 8:32; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; 8:9; Phil. 2:5-8).”

- J.I. Packer, Concise Theology

God Incarnate

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

“The paradox is amazing. The Creator assumed the human frailty of his creatures. The Eternal One entered time. The all-powerful made himself vulnerable. The all-holy exposed himself to temptation. And in the end the immortal died.”

- John Stott, The Incomparable Christ

In Christ Alone

“It is not faith that saves, but faith in Jesus Christ… It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power resides exclusively, not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith or in the nature of faith, but in the object of faith.”

- B. B. Warfield quoted by Sinclair Ferguson, In Christ Alone

Politically Incorrect Guide To Politics

John Stossel lays out a convincing case against government intervention by showing why we should not expect our politicians to keep their promises, and also how their attempt at keeping their promises usually backfire on us.




Parts 2-6 can be found at the Campaign for Liberty website.

Bulls & Bears

I thought that these videos of Peter Schiff were sort of funny (in a sad way). Peter Schiff was the economic advisor for Ron Paul and both of them were laughed at and ridiculed by the "experts" for their gloomy predictions about the "invincible" American economy.

Some of these videos of Peter Schiff go back to 2006 and you would think that he was actually able to go to the future and then come back and report what he saw. I mean everything that he said would happen, as far as I can tell, has happened and everybody thought that he was Chicken Little just running around screaming "The sky is falling".








8/28/2006 - Peter Schiff Predicts the US Economic Collapse with Unbelievable Accuracy

Peter Schiff vs Steve Forbes - Part 1

Peter Schiff vs Steve Forbes - Part 2

"From the same mouth come blessing and cursing."

I have to admit that this describes me pretty well on some Sunday's.

James 3

Baptism Resources

After a long summer blog hiatus we are back in action with a new format for some of our Wednesday night meetings. This week we have chosen to host a discussion on Baptism and as a result everyone (hopefully) in the group who will do some research on the topic and check out some of the resources listed below so that each person will be able to add something valuable to the discussion. Since we have readers of our blog who aren't able to join us in our meetings we hope that you can refer back to these blog posts when confronted with the topic. If you can't make it to meeting you can also share your views or ask questions on the topic in the comment section. Also feel free to post any relevant resources you may know of as a comment.

Baptism Resources

Audio

Doctrine of Baptism in and Filling with the Holy Spirit mp3
Wayne Grudem

The Case for Infant Baptism
Gregg Strawbridge

The Case for Believer's Baptism
Tom Schreiner



Text

Wikipedia Article

BAPTISM
THIS RITE EXHIBITS UNION WITH CHRIST
by J. I. Packer

The Evangelical Doctrine of Baptism
John Stott (pdf)

United Methodist Church- Baptism Overview

Southern Baptist Convention & IMB- Baptism Overview




Compiled List of Other Resources

Credobaptism- Believer's Baptism

Paedobaptism- Covenant Infant Baptism

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

The following is taken from the first question in the Heidelberg Catechism.

Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.