A Marker of Healthy Theology

All too often those in the reformed circles get the reputation of the stuffy, stodgy, cantankerous curmudgeon who is chomping at the bit for any opportunity to beat people over the head with a doctrinal bat. Unfortunately, that reputation exists for a reason. I see that in myself as well as others. While robust doctrine is absolutely necessary to live lives pleasing to God, it derails when we use it to drive unnecessary wedges in the body of Christ.

In George Marsden's biography of Jonathan Edwards, he explains how Edwards (usually the Superman of the reformed circles) held tightly to particular and confessional convictions while simultaneously yearning for unity in thought and deed in the church.

This, I'm convinced, is a marker of healthy theology.

"Edwards' call for peace was so strong that he sounded almost like one of Boston's Calvinist moderates.

 'The gospel spirit is a catholic spirit, a noble and unconfined benevolence, like unto that of our Creator, not confined to any particular part of mankind exclusive of others...To make the wickedness of men the cause of contention and strife in us, is to make one sin the cause of another. We cannot please the devil better than by hating men's personals under pretense of duty.'

Even doctrinal differences are no excuse for hatred. People can not help what they believe.

'Tis as unreasonable to strive with others because they can't be in everything of our minds, as to quarrel with another because he differs in the color of his hair or the features of his face...However pernicious his tenets, yet we ought, as much as in us lies, to endeavor to live peaceably with him.'"

"You No Longer Have to Spend the Rest of Your Life Chasing Your Tail"

Just Then I Saw a Man Dressed in White

HT: Thabiti Anyabwile

Winnie the Pooh Theology

Winnie the Pooh: "You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think!"

Tim the Pastor: "You are more sinful than you could ever dare imagine, yet more loved an accepted than you could ever dare hope"

Paul the Apostle: "Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord"

"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

He Has Mercy on Those Who are Wretched

"Therefore, God accepts only the forsaken, cures only the sick, gives sight only to the blind, restores life to only the dead, sanctifies only the sinners, gives wisdom only to the unwise fools. In short, He has mercy only on those who are wretched, and gives grace only to those who are not in grace. Therefore no proud saint, no wise or just person, can become God's material, and God's purpose cannot be fulfilled in him. He remains in his own work and makes a fictitious, pretended, false, and painted saint of himself, that is, a hypocrite."

-Martin Luther, "The Seven Penitential Psalms."

Church Planting, Heroes-->Idols

The Church Planter’s Rude, Great Awakening


Certainly guilty of this.

Why I'm Thinking of Naming My First Son Isaiah

In reading the ESV Study Bible's introduction to Isaiah, the key themes as summarized by Ray Ortlund opened my eyes to the beauty of the book. Isaiah's name means literally "Yahweh is salvation"

Key themes (for the sake of brevity, just a few)

1. God is offended by religious ritual, however impressive, if it conceals an empty heart and a careless life (1:10-17, 58:1-12, 66:1-4)
2. God's true people will become a multination community of worship and peace forever (2:2-4,19:19-25, 25:6-9, 56:3-8, 66:18-23)
3. God opposes all manifestations of human pride (2:10-17, 10:33-34, 13:11, 16:6, 23:9, 28:1-4)
4. Though God's judgment will reduce his people to a remnant, his final purpose is the joyful triumph of his grace (1:9, 6:1-12:6, 35:1-10, 40:1-2, 49:13-16, 51:3, 54:7-8, 55:12-13)
5. The only hope of the world is bound up in one man--the promised Davidic king (4:2, 7:14, 9:2-7, 11:1-10), the lone victor over all evil (63:1-6)

Still gotta find a girl, but ill let you know when little Isaiah is on the way

Into the blogosphere

After much deliberation...this website now exists. A few thoughts/apprehensions pertaining to the process:

1. Hopefully this doesn't exist as a means for my pride to manifest in a big way
2. In the midst of a polarized year riddled with highs and lows, hopefully this website will serve the purpose of capturing the moments where Christ consistently pulls me back out of idolatry and into His righteousness
3. In reference to #1, and ultimately why this blog exists, an eye opening point made by Dan Orr : Prayerfully this blog will bring my deepest pharisaical tendencies to light, reveal the full darkness of a heart that yearns for fame and recognition, and thus highlight my desperate need for grace.

Romans 5:20-21 "Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."


I wanna live in that Kingdom, under that righteous reign of grace. My only hope.