Links & Quotes

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“When we meet with our kinsfolk and acquaintances, let it be our prayer to God that our communion may be not only pleasant, but profitable; that we may not merely pass away time and spend a pleasant hour, but may advance a day’s march nearer heaven, and acquire greater fitness for our eternal rest.” —Charles Spurgeon

“When Scripture says that Christ died ‘for’ us, I think the word is usually υπερ (on behalf of), not αντι (instead of). I think the ideas of sacrifice, ransom, championship (over death), substitution et cetera are all images to suggest the reality (not otherwise comprehensible to us) of the atonement. To fix on any one of them as if it contained and limited the truth like a scientific definition would in my opinion be a mistake.” —C.S. Lewis

“Christ will really help us in our fight. He really will help you. He is on your side. He didn’t come to destroy sin because sin is fun. He came to destroy sin because it is fatal. It is a deceptive work of the devil and will destroy us if we don’t fight it. He came to help us, not hurt us.” —John Piper

A really cool timeline of the events surrounding Christ’s birth.

“You will not experience the real presence of Jesus until you have within you a growing hatred for sin—a piercing conviction for your failures and a deepening sense of your exceeding sinfulness. Those without Christ’s presence become less and less convicted by sin. The further they withdraw from His presence, the bolder, more arrogant and more comfortable in compromise they grow.” —David Wilkerson

Have you seen Unbroken or read the book? This post—Unbroken Uncut—is very interesting.

This is a disgusting twist of Scripture that perverts God’s Word to make it sound like those who are pro-abortion are the evildoers.

“You will never forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven you.” —Max Lucado

[VIDEO] A sweet video of a 10-year-old boy who finds out he is going to be a big brother—

Is Jesus Immanuel?

Immanuel & sinI’ve read these two passages of Scripture so many times during the telling of the Advent story, but I never saw this apparent mistake. I’ve highlighted the troubling phrases below—

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with Child and will give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are you to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21)

Did the angel make a mistake? Was he supposed to tell Joseph “give Him the name Immanuel”? Or maybe Immanuel and Jesus mean the same thing?

The answer to all three of those questions is NO. There wasn’t a mistake; His name should be Jesus; and Immanuel and Jesus don’t mean the same thing.

Immanuel & JesusImmanuel is a cool name, appearing only three times in the Bible. The prefix “im” means with, and the suffix “el” means God. The root word in its broadest sense means people, but when we’re talking about God saving “HIS people from their sins,” the best translation would be His kinsman. Thus Immanuel = with His kinsman God.

Just before giving us the prophesy about Immanuel, Isaiah experienced the horror of being with God. When Isaiah was in God’s presence he said, “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a sinful man and I have seen God Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5-6). Here’s the simple fact: Our sin separates us from God’s presence. Jesus (in the Hebrew Yeshua = God saves) is the only One Who could remove the penalty of our sin!

Only Jesus could atone for our sin and remove our guilt (see Isaiah 6:7), so that God could stay with us (Immanuel)! 

Jesus (our salvation) makes Immanuel (with His kinsman God) possible. So as the Christmas carol O Come, O Come, Emmanuel implores us: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee!

May you live in the forgiveness of Jesus and the joy of His Immanuel presence this Christmas season!

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you may check them out by clicking here.

Links & Quotes

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“How shall a holy and just God treat us sinners with so much kindness as to give us the greatest Reality in the universe (His Son) to enjoy with the greatest joy possible? The answer is that God put our sins on His Son, and judged them there, so that He could put them out of His mind, and deal with us mercifully and remain just and holy at the same time.” —John Piper

This Christmas, enjoy the fruit of the first coming, but anticipate the glory of the second. We live between the advents. Let the first one whet your appetite for the final one.” Read more in Max Lucado’s post Between The Advents.

I marvel at the discovering scientists make, but I also marvel at how adamant these scientists are that there isn’t a Creator. In this study on how the earth’s deep crust could support life, one scientist says, “If you identify a source of energy that’s everywhere, it’s no longer a limiting factor for the spread of life.” The Bible does identify The Source of life!

If you love studying the Bible, here is a list of 5 free Bible study tools on the web.

[VIDEO] Lecrae gives us a good word on how to engage race issues—

John Bunyan On Prayer

John BunyanSome great quotes from John Bunyan on prayer—

“Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Spirit, for such things as God has promised.”

“The best prayers have often more groans than words.”

“Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for satan.”

“When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart.”

Links & Quotes

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Pastor Saeed Abedini is an American citizen imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith. This letter he has written from prison is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. After reading this letter I hope you will sign this petition to let your voice be added to those calling on Iran to release Pastor Saeed.

“Prayer is not a lazy substitute for work. It is not a short cut to skill or knowledge. And sometimes God delays the answer to our prayer in final form until we have time to build up the strength, accumulate the knowledge, or fashion the character that would make it possible for Him to say ‘yes’ to what we ask.” —Roy M. Pearson

“Whoever, therefore, thinks that he understands the divine Scriptures or any part of them so that it does not build the double love of God and of our neighbor does not understand it at all.” —Augustine

As you prepare for Christmas and celebrate Advent, check out these beautiful words from Max Lucado in What Love Does.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit will like this post: Bilbo’s Last Goodbye.

What this so-called ethicist says about “post-natal abortion” is truly horrifying.

Links & Quotes

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“Lord, show me just so much (neither more nor less) about myself as I need for doing Thy will now.” —C.S. Lewis personal prayer

“The whole problem of our life was neatly expressed by John the Baptist when he said (John 3:30) ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’ This you have realised. But you are expecting it to happen suddenly: and also expecting that you should be clearly aware when it does. But neither of these is usual. We are doing well enough if the slow process of being more in Christ and less in ourselves has made a decent beginning in a long life (it will be completed only in the next world).” —C.S. Lewis

For my pastor friends: “Our preaching and teaching must endeavor to promote three kinds of love: a proper self-love, love for God, and love for our neighbors.” —T.M. Moore

“Among those who are able to enjoy God with us, we love some whom we help, some by whom we are helped, some whose help we need and whose wants we supply, and some on whom we bestow no benefits and from whom we await none ourselves. Be that as it may, we should desire that all enjoy God with us and that all the assistance we give them or get from them should be directed toward this end.” —Augustine

[VIDEO] John Maxwell on the value of exploring new things—

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Who is GodPastor Tom Kaastra continued our series The Carols Of Christmas by looking at the well-known Christmas hymn O Come, All Ye Faithful. The line he especially highlighted comes from the third stanza—Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.

It is so vital that we keep both of those aspects of Jesus Christ in mind: He is both the Word of the Father and the Word become flesh. As Tom pointed out, this fact helps us answer the two most vital questions that humans have:

  • Who is God?
  • Who am I?

I can learn more about who I am when I know more clearly Who God is. And when I know this, I can more fully—as the song says—come and adore Christ the Lord.

Jesus is fully God:

Jesus revealed to us the Father’s love; after all, God is love (1 John 4:16). Jesus came to show us the love of God.

Jesus is fully Man:

  • He got tired and hungry (John 4:6)
  • He limited Himself to do only what the Father told Him to do (John 5:19-20)
  • He limited Himself to say only what the Father told Him to say (John 12:49)
  • He felt anguish and pain (Luke 22:44)

As C.S. Lewis said, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” And as sons of God, we have access to the Heavenly Father—

Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, “Abba! My Father! (Romans 8:14-15)

Word of the Father now in flesh appearing is cause for adoration because Jesus has made it possible for us to become sons and daughters of God!

O come let us adore Him!!

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you may check them out by clicking here.

Links & Quotes

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“The Lord has many lovers of His crown but few lovers of His Cross.” —Thomas á Kempis

Charles Spurgeon on the power of unity: No Bigotry In Unity.

David Witt asks: Is It Time To Rethink Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs?

“The degree of blessing enjoyed by any man will correspond exactly with the completeness of God’s victory over him.” —A.W. Tozer

Dr. Benjamin Mast has a lot of initials after his name (which means he’s really smart!). Check out this interview with him: Alzheimer’s, The Brain and The Soul.

Here is an amazing admission from scientists regarding stem cell formation: “No one, not even the dozen or so groups of scientists who intensively study reprogramming, knows how it happens. They understand that differentiated cells go in, and pluripotent cells come out the other end, but what happens in between is one of biology’s impenetrable black boxes.” Read more in this article about stem cells, but I am glad I can trust the Creator to reveal to us what may be in “the black box”!

I love ReverendFun cartoons! Here is one of my favorites—

Eternal Life

Thomas á Kempis On Prayer

Thomas a KempisSome great quotes from Thomas á Kempis on prayer—

“He who aims at inward and spiritual things must, with Jesus, turn aside from the crowd.”

“Grant me, oh most merciful Jesus, Your grace, that it may be with me, and labor with me, and abide with me even to the end. … Let there be between You and me but one will, so that I may love what You love, and abhor what You hate; and let me not be able to will any thing which You do not will, nor to dislike any thing which You do will.”

“Let no pride or self-seeking, no impure motive or unworthy purpose, no little ends or low imagination stain my spirit, or profane any of my words and actions.”

Inspire To Be Great (book review)

Inspire To Be GreatIn my dictionary if you look up the word “inspiring,” you’ll find a picture of Zig Ziglar. Zig had such a unique and memorable way of blending quotes, personal examples, motivation, and helpful next-steps, that few have ever inspired to action like him. In Inspire To Be Great you will find a collection of Zig’s inspiring, insightful quotes.

This book is a part of the “Life Wisdom” series, which is a very appropriate title for the folks featured in these books because they are people who have lived their lives successfully. They don’t just talk-the-walk, they walk-the-talk.

Zig, like others in this series, never hid the fact that his personal relationship with Jesus Christ made him a better man, a better husband, a better father, a better salesman. Tapping into the principles found in Scripture, Zig had a God-given gift to make those principles applicable to every walk of life.

Truly this book is an inspiring read for anyone!