"He does all that He pleases....."

A brief overview of Scripture passages concerning God's sovereignty.

"My song is love unknown"

The power of grace:  "Love to the loveless shown, that they might lovely be."

Always begin again with the Gospel

“Martin Luther said this in his lectures on the Book of Romans, as he taught about believers growing spiritually

“He said that true spiritual progress was ‘always to begin again.’ In other words, he said we must daily “embrace the love and kindness of God . . . and daily exercise our faith therein; entertaining no doubt of God’s love and kindness.”    

“Always ‘begin again’ with the gospel. Abide in it; swim in it; make your home in it. See more and more of your life through it. Be absolutely convinced at every moment of every day of the goodness of God in your life. That’s the only way you’ll ever really grow.”

-- J.D. Greear, “Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary”

"First take the plank out of your own eye..." (Matthew 7:5)

“Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others, whereas a humble saint is most jealous of himself.  He is so suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart.  The spiritually proud person is apt to find fault with other saints . . . and to be quick to discern and take note of their deficiencies.  But the eminently humble Christian has so much to do at home, and sees so much evil in his own heart, and is so concerned about it, that he is not apt to be very busy with others’ hearts.” -- Jonathan Edwards

"The amount which you understand the gospel is measured by your ability to be joyful in all circumstances. If you grasp what a treasure the presence and acceptance of God are, then even when life goes really wrong you will have a joy that sustains you, because you’ll recognize the value of what you have in Him."


-- J.D. Greear, "Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary" (p. 81). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

“To image God in the fullness of our humanity is our highest calling.” (

-- Arthur Holmes, "The Idea of a Christian College" p. 35

Deeper Grace from Before the Dawn of Time

"Before all time; prior to all worlds; when there was nothing ‘outside of’ God Himself; when the Father, Son, and Spirit found eternal, absolute, and unimaginable blessing, pleasure, and joy in Their holy triunity — it was Their agreed purpose to create a world. That world would fall. But in unison — and at infinitely great cost — this glorious triune God planned to bring you (if you are a believer) grace and salvation.

"This is deeper grace from before the dawn of time. It was pictured in the rituals, the leaders, and the experiences of the Old Testament saints, all of whom longed to see what we see. All this is now ours. Our salvation depends on God’s covenant, rooted in eternity, foreshadowed in the Mosaic liturgy, fulfilled in Christ, enduring forever. No wonder Hebrews calls it ‘so great a salvation’ (Heb. 2:3)."

— Sinclair B. Ferguson

In Christ Alone

(Orlando, Fl.: Reformation Trust, 2007), 136

"How to think on your feet..."

Charles Spurgeon:

You will not be able to extemporize good thinking unless you have been in the habit of thinking and feeding your mind with abundant and nourishing food. Work hard at every available moment. Store your minds very richly, and then, like merchants with crowded warehouses, you will have goods ready for your customers, and having arranged your good things upon the shelves of your mind, you will be able to hand them down at any time without the laborious process of going to market, sorting, folding, and preparing. . . .  Take it as a rule without exception, that to be able to overflow spontaneously you must be full.

HT: Trevin Wax; Justin Taylor

Tolerating everything...caring for nothing

“In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair. . . . the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.”

-- Dorothy Sayers, quoted in D. A. Carson, The Gagging of God (Grand Rapids, 1996), page 53.

Carrying out God's purpose

“You will certainly carry out God’s purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John.” -- C. S. Lewis, "The Problem of Pain"

Experiencing the power of the Gospel

"It is one thing to understand the gospel but is quite another to experience the gospel in such a way that it fundamentally changes us and becomes the source of our identity and security. It is one thing to grasp the essence of the gospel but quite another to think out its implications for all of life."

-- Timothy Keller, in the preface to  Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary by J.D. Greear;  B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Feasting on the Father's Declaration

"Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he tried to redirect Jesus’ attention from the Father’s declaration on to other sources of validation (Matt. 4:1–7). '[Since] you are the Son of God . . .'   Embedded in that question is a doubt. The enemy was implying, “Well, since You are the ‘Son of God,’ Messiah boy. . . shouldn’t You be able to make things different? Why would the ‘Son of God’ be out here in the desert all alone? Shouldn’t You be able to make bread from the stones, or have the angels catch You when You fall?” What was significant about that was the Father had just declared over Jesus in the previous chapter: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). Rather than feasting on the Father’s declaration, the enemy wanted Him to look to other forms of validation for His divine Sonship. Jesus told the enemy that He did not need bread or protection to prove He was the Father’s Son; the Father’s declaration was sufficient."

-- J.D. Greear; Keller, Timothy (2011-09-13). Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary (p. 49). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The Bible and the Puzzle of God's Providence

‎"...the Bible is not like a jigsaw puzzle that guarantees all the pieces have been provided. It is rather more like a jigsaw puzzle whose Maker has guaranteed that all the pieces he has provided belong to the same puzzle, even though for various good reasons he has not given us all of them (see Deut. 29:29).   ‎That means that we will always have gaps as we construct the puzzle; it means that clumsy players will try to force some pieces into slots where they do not belong and may be tempted to leave some pieces out because they cannot see where they fit in.”

-- D.A. Carson, "A Call to Spiritual Reformation"

Super Pastor?

More gracious, Bible-based wisdom from Ray Ortlund, Jr.:

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. . . . For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 11:30; 12:10

I am a pastor.  And I am weak.  I value strength, because God wired us men for strength.  And His grace imparts real strength (2 Timothy 2:1).  But for me, one of the surprises in Christ is strength-in-weakness.

In a way, I wish I could be a formidable, always successful, always smart, always witty, always energetic, always cool, always positive Super Pastor.  Then people would admire my astonishing wonderfulness, and then I could always feel good about myself.  I would love that.  It’s one thing Jesus is saving me from.

How does He save me?  He reduces me to weakness and need, and He allows me to see it for myself time after time.  Then, and only then, do I humble myself and ask Him for His grace.  Then, and only then, is He is exalted as my Super Savior.

I am weak.  I am boring.  I get cranky.  I fumble my words in interviews.  I get into ruts.  I forget people’s names.  I don’t have all the answers.  I could go on and on with my remarkable inadequacies.  But I have come to believe that the power of Christ resting on a weak man makes more impact for Him than my fantasy Self batting a thousand ever could.  In fact, I have come to like the current arrangement.  Yes, I want to be strong in the right ways.  No one has ever accused me of being a wimp.  But my own carnal strength need no longer apply.

When the power of Christ rests on me in all my weakness, everything gets better.

"Love, Pride and Speaking Truth"

A balanced, wisely-written essay from Dane Ortlund, quoting Luther to make a crucial point:

 In the letter to Pope Leo X that prefaces Luther's The Freedom of a Christian, Luther says:

Now I will admit to attacking false or unchristian teachings. I have not criticized the bad morals of my opponents but rather their ungodly doctrines. I am not going to repent of this! After all, I am only following the example of Christ, who did not hesitate to call his opponents such things as 'a brood of vipers'. . . . And think of the stinging criticism of the prophets! However, our ears have become more finely attuned to the empty praises of the endless lines of flatterers. As a result, we protest when any of our opinions meets with disapproval. . . .

Therefore, blessed Leo, when you read this letter and understand my intentions, I hope you see that I have never meant ill toward you personally. I have only the best wishes for you. I have no argument with any person with regard to morals. But I am unyielding when it comes to contending about the word of truth. In all other things, I will gladly yield, but I have neither the power nor the will to deny the word. If others view my motives differently, they either are not thinking straight or have failed to understand what I have said. (The Freedom of a Christian, Fortress 2008, p. 35)