Tag Archives: Reason

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On this Resurrection Sunday, I am reminded that

The assurance that Christians can never be separated from the love of God is one of the greatest comforts of the Christian life. To deny this doctrine is to destroy the grounds for any rejoicing among the saints on earth; for what kind of rejoicing can those have who believe that they may at any time be deceived and led astray? If our sense of security is based only on our changeable and wavering natures, we can never know the inward calm and peace which, should characterize the Christian.

(From "Reformed Doctrine of Predestination" by Loraine Boettner)

When Jesus died on that cross, He bought us with His blood. When He rose, the conquered death.

We live because He died, we die to ourselves because He lives.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

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I'm not going back. Here's a rundown of what I read and explored this week:
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God Did it. Man Did it! Which Is It?

If I asked you who wrote the book of Romans, would your answer be Paul or would your answer be God? Both answers are true. But it's not right to give them both equal credit. Why not? Because God is the ultimate source; they are the words that He wanted written, so we must give Him full credit. And yet, Paul and the other human authors of scripture were not merely puppets on a string; they used their own words, mind, and personality in their writing. Do you agree with everything I've just said? If so, then you also have the basic framework in place for understanding how a soul is saved.

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The Salvation of Babies Who Die (part one)

when I was making the move to the Reformed camp, Phil and I had dinner with a Calvin Seminary student and the question about babies was the first one I asked. This answer is a good answer.
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Most Perfect and Complete - a sermon and Sola Scriptura in the Belgic Confession

Virtually every cult and false religion is founded upon the following premise: “Of course, we believe the Bible. But . . . We have additional holy books that no one else has. We receive new revelations from God. We have sacred tradition in addition to the Bible. We have an inspired prophet or leader who interprets the Bible correctly unlike everyone else.” So at the end of the day, the essence of false religion is basically this: We believe in the Bible, plus, we have an additional religious authority which corrects or explains what the Bible “really” teaches, or else supplements what the Bible supposedly leaves out.

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Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing

This was in my daily reading and it hit me again...without Jesus, I can do nothing, I can accomplish nothing...I AM nothing.

I'm not clean because of the works that I do, the choices that I make. It's not my works, it's the WORD that Jesus has spoken.

Before they (I) even knew..."Already you are clean because of the Word that I have spoken to you."

Sola Scriptura...The Word.

One letter apart...one very small difference...

"...for apart from me you can do nothing"

No longer are my works making me "good enough" - my works are a result of the Word and my gratitude that Jesus spoke.

worK
WorD

yet, such a huge impact on my life. I got off of the works treadmill, to rest gently in the Word.

Maybe I'll start counting...Reason #1; I'm Not Going Back

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I'm starting to do this...not only with places I visit, but also my own blog.  What is the "mood"?  I'm all for controversey - iron sharpens iron.  But when it's all about that, moods change.

Look at the last 10 20 posts.

Are the posts (okay, take away the "fluff", which definately has its place in the fun) about what that person believes and feels?  Do the posts challenge you, without being insulting (unless you are insulted because people disagree with you )?

Do the posts primarily tell you what's wrong with everybody else?  This person's sin and that person's heresy?  That can get wearying.  I visit a couple of those because they sometimes have news items that are useful, but I can come away with an eye toward the worst of people, not the best.

I have strong opinions and I want to be able to put forth those strongly.  Positively:  This is what I believe.

I have (and will) at times write strongly about somebody I disagree with, but I don't want the message of my blog to be hate.

And I do see that out there.  One blog, in particular..was started as a (frustrated) response to being ignored and simultaneously attacked - and having their denomintion attacked with falsehood.  Their comments were deleted (as were mine, actually) so this blog was started that (in the earlier times) focused a lot on "this is what ___ has wrong".  I watched to see what would happen and over time it became less of that and more of an apologetics blog, "this is what we believe and the basis on which we believe it".  It is a pleasure to read because (even though I disagree with a few points) it is written (primarily) in a positive perspective - although at times it points back to the original reason for the creation of the blog.  Which is fine, since the disagreement is no longer the only focus, the apologetics contribute much.

Another blog I read...there is no such balance.  Nearly every post has invective in it.  It's in my blogfeed so I get new posts when they come out, but I skim and seldom stay long.  The impact on my emotions is not the best.  (If you think it's you, it mostly likely is not...if you're that curious, ask)
So, there it is in a nutshell.  Test the mood...