my burg

"Then I [Wisdom] was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always... Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors." (Proverbs 8:30, 34 ESV) Wisdom ( hokmah = wisdom, good sense, skill, insight) is using what God has revealed in order to live skillfully. It is more than just following the commandments of God, it is how to apply God's revelation (both in the word and in nature) to the intricacies of daily living. Wisdom is how to navigate life's difficulties, avoiding pitfalls, solving problems, dealing with paradoxes, and concluding with a well-lived life, all through a God-given skill. It is more than content, it is an art, which calls for self-discipline and practice. How then do we "listen, watch, wait" for wisdom? Observe nature -- this is one way God reveals truth to us... Jonathan Edwards wrote, “I believe that the whole universe, heaven and earth, air ...

Tech takes on TAMU at the beginning of the national championship .

"I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me." (Proverbs 8:17) Two truths we must always keep before us, in balance, as it were: that in Christ I am complete, justified by the "once for all" sacrifice of Jesus; and, that I am to pursue God in an ongoing relationship, almost as if I didn't have that relationship. What I mean by that is [somewhat paradoxically] that having found God I must still seek him, and that I cannot seek him properly until I've already found him. But having found him, I do not cease seeking him. The difference is that I seek him in security, not insecurity. He has much yet to give us and to show us: "The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them." (Psalm 25:14 NIV) I think the best analogy is dating and marriage. Once married we should not give up dating our spouse. We should pursue them in much the same way as we did when we were dating. The problem with us is t...

The amazing thing about forgiveness -- both in giving it and in receiving it -- is that it involves a humbling of self. If I ask to be forgiven (of another or of God), I humble myself by admitting my failure and offensiveness. I must receive as one unworthy to receive, but still I must admit my need to receive forgiveness. "I'm sorry. I was wrong. Will you forgive me?" (I ask couples in pre-marital counseling to practice these words every day.) If I am asked to give forgiveness, this too involves humbling. And maybe this is why we find it so hard to forgive others sometime. To forgive I must give up my own superior position and forfeit my "right" to satisfaction. (If it's conditional, it's really not forgiveness.) I must admit I was hurt, and must let go of that by trusting God to be Judge of the universe. I must release my (righteous?) anger and say, in effect, "I'm no different than you, and just as I have been forgiven, so I forgive...

I picked up D A Carson's biography of his father . Have just begun -- was impressed by Tim Challies' review on Amazon: There are some Christians whose ministries God blesses in extraordinary ways. They preach to thousands and their books are read by millions. But this is the exception far more than the rule. Most Christians labor in relative obscurity, largely unseen and unnoticed. In the past couple of years I have read biographies of some truly great men--William Wilberforce, William Tyndale, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards. It is good to study the lives of great men and to seek to understand how they were able to gain such prominence. Biographies teach so much about character, opportunity and just plain hard work. Rarely, though, do we read biographies of ordinary men--men who gained no earthly fame and who lived their lives in the shadow of obscurity. In Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor , theologian D.A. Carson shares the life of his father, Tom Carson. He was an ordinar...

Fantastic time in Cleveland! Alistair Begg, Jerry Bridges, Voddie Baucham, 650 pastors, and the loving folks at Parkside Church. Got out tanks filled. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves daily. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) “Do ye, my brethren, understand the sweet mystery of salvation? Have you ever seen Jesus standing in your place that you may stand in his place? Christ accused and Christ condemned, and Christ led out to die, and Christ smitten of the Father, even to death; and then you cleared, justified, delivered from the curse, because the curse has spent itself on your Redeemer? You are admitted to enjoy the blessing because the righteousness w...

"This then is the formula which describes the state of the self when despair is completely eradicated: in relating to itself and in wanting to be itself, the self is grounded transparently in the power that established it." (--Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death ) Isn't this the same as the first question in the Heidelberg Catechism, I wonder.