my burg

Been thinking about my salvation in Christ, and more specifically about justification by faith. The reformation underscored that we don't trust our own works for salvation, but it must be maintained that neither do we trust in faith, as if faith is something of merit. Solus Christus comes before sola fide. Oswald Chambers said it well in today's My Utmost For His Highest : For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life . (Romans 5:10) I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me, repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause. It is my obedience that puts me right with God, my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals I can accept, instantly...

The assignment for one of my kids was to clip pictures from magazines which showed people in all stages of life. Problem: no old people. Now, these were not magazines like Vanity Fair or Vogue , where you would expect only beautiful people. These were magazines like Family Fun , Southern Living , and Better Homes and Gardens . Where are the older people? There were a few, but they looked... well, good for their age. Nice weight, trim, youngish, still jogging. That is, old-er with a touch of gray and a glass of wine. Are we so enamored with youth and beauty that we are afraid to publish pictures of people in wheelchairs or with walkers? (Thank you, UP !) I'm reminded of the old movie, Logan's Run, where everyone over 30 is expected to pass out of existence. They just disappear, leaving the world young and beautiful. Now that I'm a grandparent I am becoming more aware of ageism. I'm thankful that where I am, in a college town, I still get many requests to mentor...

I prefer collecting and restoring vintage fountain pens (which began when I inherited my grandfather's pens). Most of these are U.S.-made, such as Parker, Sheaffer, Conklin, and Wahl-Eversharp. Not many fountain pens are made in the U.S. anymore, except by smaller, specialty pen-makers, like Bexley and Edison. Here are a few of my modern fountain pens, mainly from other countries: From the left: Hero 100 (Chinese) Parker 45 (UK) Sheaffer Balance II (US) Haolilai 801 (Chinese) Pelikan Technixx (German) Aurora Ipsilon (Italian) Pelikan m250 (German) Waterman Kultur (French)

I was totally surprised to hear our president being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. For what accomplishment? Not that he won't one day deserve it, who knows? But I agree with the assessment given by Ross Douthat in this New York Times Op-Ed ... Here was a place to draw a clean line between himself and all the overzealous Obamaphiles, at home and abroad, who poured their post-Christian, post-Marxist yearnings into the vessel of his 2008 campaign. Here was a chance to establish himself, definitively, as an American president — too self-confident to accept an unearned accolade, and too instinctively democratic to go along with European humbug. He didn’t take it. Instead, he took the Nobel Peace Prize. Big mistake. And Douthat's conclusion... .... the prize leaves Obama more open to ridicule. It confirms, as a defining narrative of his presidency, the gap between his supporters’ cloud-cuckoo-land expectations and the inevitable disappointments of reality. It dovetails perfectly w...

"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your f...

Jesus replied, "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I AM!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him. (John 8:55-59 NIV) Outline and quotes from David's sermon last Sunday: 1. The Importance of the Doctrine a. It is central to Christian faith. b. The fact that Jesus Christ is God distinguishes Christianity from other major religions c. If Jesus was not God, than His death had no special significance, and we are still the objects of God’s wrath. d. If Jesus was not God, than He is not coming back again to establish His kingdom. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Thr...