Counting The Cost

Random thoughts on walking with Jesus in this turvy-topsy world

Thursday quote mix

“Those who reject "In the beginning” leave themselves with no beginning, no end, and no reason to be in-between. “

-– Ray Comfort, Way of the Master Ministry

 

 

 

 

"Forced love is rape; and God is not a divine rapist. He will not do anything to coerce their decision. God will not save men at any cost. He respects their freedom and concurs with their choice. He is not a puppet master, but a lover wooing men to Himself."

-- Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, When Skeptics Ask

(Michigan: Baker Books, 1990), p. 73.

 

 

 

“Many things I have tried to grasp, and have lost. 

That which I have placed in God's hands I still have.”

-- Martin Luther

posted by: Jrobbins at 20:26 | link | comments |
quotes i love

Merry Christmas!

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved [loved ones!], we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”  1 John 3:1-2

 

Excerpts from Pastor John Piper’s message

“The Reason the Son of God Appeared”:

 

“Now the bridge between that message and this text today is the great love of God that comes to people who are dead in trespasses and sins and who are his enemies, not his children, and makes them alive. Ephesians 2:4-5 puts it like this: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love [!] with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”

 

So the greatness of the love of God is magnified in that it gives spiritual life—that is new birth—to those who have no claim on God at all. We were spiritually dead and in our deadness were walking in lockstep with God’s archenemy, the devil (Ephesians 2:2). The justice of God would have been well served if we had perished forever in that condition. But for that very reason our new birth—our being made alive—is a magnificent display of the greatness of the love of God. “Because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ.” You owe your spiritual life, and all its impulses to the greatness and the freedom of the love of God.

 

All of this because he was born. He was incarnate. He was the God-man. No incarnation, no regeneration. No faith. No justification. No purification. No final glorification. Christmas was not optional. And therefore being rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, while we were dead in trespasses, God sent his Son into the world to live without sin and die in our place. What a great love the Father has shown to us! What a great obedience and sacrifice the Lord Jesus gave for us! What a great awakening the Spirit has worked in us to bring us to faith and everlasting life!

Amen.”

 

 

 

 

 

Click HERE to read more

from Pastor John

posted by: Jrobbins at 15:09 | link | comments |
christmas

Celebrating the humble birth of God

“[Jesus] left because of you. He laid his security down with his hammer. ... Since he could bear your sins more easily than he could bear the thought of your hopelessness, he chose to leave. It wasn't easy. Leaving the carpentry shop never has been.”

 

-- Max Lucado

 

 

 

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in ^(J)Christ Jesus, who, although He ^(K)existed in the ^(L)form of God, ^(M)did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but ^[a](N)emptied Himself, taking the form of a ^(O)bond-servant, and ^(P)being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, ^(Q)He humbled Himself by becoming ^(R)obedient to the point of death, even ^(S)death on a cross.

^(T)For this reason also, God ^(U)highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him ^(V)the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus ^(W)EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of ^(X)those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is ^(Y)Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:5-11

 

 

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a Child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her Firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Luke 2:1-7

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:30 | link | comments |
christmas

Christmas Mix

Excerpt from “Willing Consent”

a Christmas Devotional

 

by Fern Host

 

From Purposeful Singleness

 

 

“We often think of Christmas as being about family togetherness, and indeed it is a special time for many families. But that focus has evolved over time. The first Christmas was about a poor yet unmarried couple, traveling on foot to fulfill the government's demand to be accounted for, at the time when the woman was about to give birth to a difficult-to-explain pregnancy. It was anything but a scene of merriment and feasting with family and friends.

 

 

The true meaning of Christmas, which we all know but often forget, is that God gave us the greatest gift ever - His Son, who would become our Saviour. He is the heart and focus of the Christmas story.”

 

 

 

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“The historical facts around Christ's life are both outward and clear. Certainly the theological truths that define Jesus are sure. Yet the realities of faith are always a matter of the heart. The fullness of his great love defies definition, and yet the open glory of his salvation spills over the edges of our most private selves.”

 

-- Calvin Miller

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Excerpt from “Silent Night, Lonely Night” by Carolyn McCulley

From Boundless Webzine:

 

“Christmas often staggers under the weight of human emotion and expectation — just as it has from the very start.

From a human perspective, the first "Christmas," so to speak, was simultaneously crowded and lonely. Dispirited Jews shuffled around the region, required to be part of a new, universal Roman census for possibly the first time. (Previously Palestine had been excluded from the Roman census because Jews were exempt from serving in the Roman army.) Among those sojourners was a young couple with a whiff of scandal about them.

Despite her advanced pregnancy, Mary and Joseph traversed 70 miles of difficult, mountainous terrain to be counted and most likely taxed. Her questionable pregnancy may have deprived Mary of the friendship of other women back in Nazareth, but there in Bethlehem, it's very likely she gave birth without the usual crowd of womenfolk there to support her and rejoice with her at the birth of a son. And then, because there was no room at the inn, Mary placed her son in a manger.

Lowly shepherds — excluded from society because their work was dirty and it prevented them from participating in the religious activities of the community — and stargazing pagans from the East were the only people who seemed to note the birth of Jesus. Scripture does not record that any other human beings noticed or celebrated.

Heaven, however, was bursting with praise. A multitude of the heavenly host (host being a term to describe an army encampment — in other words, an enormous number) suddenly appeared, saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14).”

 

posted by: Jrobbins at 13:45 | link | comments |
christmas

A joyful Christmas

All My Heart with Joy is Springing

A Hymn by Paul Gerhardt, 1656

 

All my heart with joy is springing,
While in air everywhere
Angel choirs are singing.
Hear them to the shepherds telling:
“Christ is born! On this morn
God with man is dwelling.”

 

To this lower world descendeth,
From above, He whose love
All our sorrows endeth.
He who breath and being gave us,
Quits the skies, lives and dies
In our flesh to save us.

 

Christ our Lamb so meek and loving
Dries our tears, calms our fears,
All our sins removing;
Christ our Lamb, who suffers with us;
He can quell death and hell,
And to peace restore us.

 

Hark, from yon dark manger lowly,
Breezes soft seem to waft
Gentle words and holy:
“Sigh no more, away with sadness
Brethren dear; I am here,
Bringing hope and gladness.”

 

Come ye now, and kneel before Him;
Mortals all, great and small,
Worship and adore Him:
Love your King, whose love invites you:
Lo, His star from afar
To His dwelling lights you.

 

Ye, whom galling want oppresses
Here ye find comfort kind,
Balm for your distresses:
Noblest treasures here are given;
Riches true wait for you
Poor of Christ, in Heaven.

 

Ye who strive with fierce temptation,
Sorrow-stung, conscience-wrung,
Here is consolation:
For the woes which men inherit
Christ can feel, Christ will heal
Every wounded spirit.

 

Kind Redeemer, knit Thee to us;
Quelling sin, reign within,
With Thy grace renew us:
Make us Thine by true repentance;
Let us hear, free from fear,
Lord, Thy final sentence.

 

Ours be Thy pure love, O Savior,
Ours Thy faith, strong in death,
Ours Thy meek behavior;
Here let us, on Thee depending,
In Thee die, with Thee fly
To the bliss unending.

posted by: Jrobbins at 13:38 | link | comments |
christmas

Digging deeper into Christmas

This week, Nancy Leigh DeMoss is running a series on Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ on her radio program, Revive Our Hearts. She always manages to bring a special perspective to any subject, but I think she’s really outdone herself this Christmas. Check it out by clicking the link below! -Joy

 

From Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ radio broadcast:

 “A Christmas Psalm”

 

“I want to receive Christ with joy, faith, and humility. I want to be satisfied, saying, “Lord, it is enough that I have Christ.”

Jesus came to deliver us from death and from the fear of death. If we have placed our faith in Christ, then when it comes our time to die, we can depart in peace.

Each of us must see the Savior and the salvation of God before we see death. You can’t be prepared for death if you haven’t seen God’s salvation.”

 

Click HERE for the entire radio series

posted by: Jrobbins at 13:32 | link | comments |
christmas

Keep the "controversy" out of Christmas

Yesterday, I saw a bumper sticker that read “Keep Christ in Christmas.”  I suppose it was written in response to the American Christmas “controversy” – which really isn’t a controversy at all. I can understand the sentiment (I like wishing people a "Merry Christmas" as much as the next gal), but the reality of Christmas -and the reality of Christianity- doesn't change if you don't like it or you don't believe in it. Jesus Christ came to this earth as a Child to be the Messiah and Savior of all humankind. That fact doesn’t change even if American soccer moms file a lawsuit to make you take down your manger scene or North Korean soldiers hold a gun in your face and tell you to renounce Christianity. As John Morley once said, “You have not converted a man simply because you have silenced him.” If –many, many years from now- my great-grandchildren aren’t allowed to wear red and green and wish others a Merry Christmas, it won’t change the facts of Christmas or the reality of their relationship with Christ Jesus. I have been blessed this Christmas to read several stories from Christians all over the world who can’t celebrate our Savior’s birth out in the open for fear of being imprisoned or murdered. The Voice of the Martyr’s monthly newsletter even had smuggled photos of underground Christmas services. This was a wonderful reminder that our greatest hope lies in the living Jesus Christ, sitting right now by the throne of God, and that the baby lying in the manger scene is just a reminder of that amazing day that God reached down to earth to bring us salvation. Now that is cause for celebration, no matter what the season! –Joy

 

 

 

Click HERE to read a great article about Christmas

on TrueU.org

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:08 | link | comments |
christmas

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