Glory in God's Glory!

"God’s great work in Christ Jesus in bringing glorious salvation to fallen beings is designed to bring praise to God’s great glory. This merits repeating: Salvation is not an end in itself. The praise of God is the highest good. God’s work in the lives of His people, according to Paul, is centered in the context of the praise of His glory. In other words God’s worship is the divine goal of His redemptive work."

-- Ronald B. Allen
The Wonder of Worship: A New Understanding of the Worship Experience, p. 21

Posted via email from Jace's posterous

The Present Reality of Justification... that is, the need to realize justification everyday.

“Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives.  Many have so light an apprehension of God’s holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin that consciously they see little need for justification, although below the surface of their lives they are deeply guilt-ridden and insecure.  Many others have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification... drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience.  Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform:  you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude."

--- Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life

Posted via email from Jace's posterous

Jerry Bridges' Soap Box

You must draw a line in the sand regarding these two doctrines: (1) the inspiration of Scripture and (2) the penal substitutionary atonement. Of course there are other doctrines that are foundational to Christianity (i.e. the Trinity), but the above mentioned doctrines are the two most central doctrines of Christianity that are under attack in our day.

II Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is breathed out by God

II Corinthians 5:21
For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Posted via email from Jace's posterous

Joshua Mikel Hudson

He's finally here!!

If you haven't heard, here are the details:

• Name: Joshua Mikel Hudson
• Born: 9:00 pm on November 10, 2009
• Weight: 7 pounds and 8 ounces
• Length: 21 and 1/2 inches
• Labor: Over 19 hours of active labor (go Jenny!)
  

Everyone is healthy, and Jenny and I can't believe how perfect our son is! I'll get some more pictures out soon.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Jace's posterous

I think the Prosperity "Gospel" is wicked

<p>The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.</p>

Posted via email from Jace's posterous

The image of God in man

“...the essence of the image of God in man is that we rejoice in God’s presence, love Him above all else, and live for God’s glory, not our own.  As we learn by grace to love God and love our neighbor, we express the glory-image of God.  The center of gravity in the universe is God and His glory-holiness - not our longings.  And the most basic question of human existence becomes ‘How can I bring glory to God?,” not ‘How will I meet my longings?’  The differences yield very different tugs on our hearts: one constantly pulls us outward to God as servants of His will; the other pulls God inward as servant of our longings.”

-- Ed Welch

Posted via email from Jace's posterous