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Please pray for Pastor Paul.
We learned today he is returning to the U.S for good.He has faithfully served us here in Asia for ten years.I have knpwn him for two.
We will all miss him very much
Please pray his family has a safe return | |
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How do you distinguish a simple mistake from a sin?
Ie, when do you downplay some mistake you've made, and when do you see it's a big thing and you must ask for forgiveness?
Jesus seemed to distinguish between camels and gnats. But other christians have told me that all sins are the same, all anger God equally. I've kinda gone away from this, the route of God is angry with me. I don't believe God gets angry so quickly as some make Him out to be. Yes, sin is bad, but if you ask for forgiveness, it is easily forgiven and repaired.
Oh yes, and do you believe there are sins of thought? Or are thoughts always free, like the song says? I am trying not to value my thoughts so much. When I fall into bad thoughts I stop them and go on, I'm trying to avoid all this "I sinned so terribly, God must first forgive me before I can go on with life". When it's been really bad I say a prayer and then go on. But I'm trying not to wait for feeling forgiven. Would you say that's ok? There are many drawbacks to believing in sins of thought. The thing is, if you say to yourself that particular thought is incredibly evil ... then it happens that the mind even more cannot detach itself from such thoughts.
What do you think? | |
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hey my names heather and im 22 yrs old and i live with my mom in a apartment in bullhead city arizona =D heres my room =D ( my room ) | |
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Hello everyone ♥My name is Johanna and I am a 19 years-old girl from Munich, Germany. I love a japanese band called Kanjani8. They've sneaked into every corner of my room. Not in the creepy, over-the-top way though ♥And this would be my room:  Welcome to my room! ♥( lots of mint green & white ahead ) | |
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Hi all!
I'm so glad I found this community :)
Well anyways, I plan on redecorating my room to look more antique-ey,goth/victorian :)
I would like to stick with blacks off whites and teals/turqouise colors, BUT I cannot paint my walls due to me living in an apartment.
I can put shelving up though :)
So any good ideas or refrences you can show me? And good places to go to get little nick naks? (Besides the local antique store ;p)
I will be going to a local craft/fabric store called hobby lobby as the have amazing fabric there for curtains :)
Any help would be appreciated!
P.S.-if this is too long, lemme know and I'll attempt to make a cut :)
<3<3<3 | |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/OVUym1Py6lU/ http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2159_dwyl_on_every_continent/ (Author: John Knight)
A couple of years ago, Rick Steen, a military chaplain and friend of DG, received copies of Don't Waste Your Life to give to members of the military. Recently, he was assigned to the National Science Foundation base in Antarctica where he distributed his last copies!
He's also sending a copy to the library at the South Pole. As Rick wrote to us, "I think it is safe to say that "Don't Waste Your Life" has made it to every continent!"
Pictured below are some of the men who received a copy. Thank you, Lord, for giving us passionate spreaders!
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I have just recently encountered the idea of the ' Blue Christmas', i.e. holding services of commiseration, rather than celebration, for the benefit of those who are hurting. Not only is this psychologically valuable to those who are suffering and are within the Church, it is also much more attractive to many outside than is the triumphalism which we see so much. P.S. There is nothing in this which suggests that these services are replacing the traditional ones. They are, instead, additional means of reaching people not reached by the ordinary means. | |
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My name is Victoria. I am a transfer student, originally from Alabama but I moved to a school in Northeast Georgia. This is the first time I lived on campus, and so the pictures are from the first few days I was there. The room was moved about 3 times since then but I have no pictures. :[ It looks pretty plain but I was sharing a room with someone so I kept a lot of stuff at home. Next semester I will be here again posting new pictures of my own room and (so far) my own bathroom. ( My Dorm Room )I also have a question/request. I was wanting to do my poloroids and some fun pictures I found online, hung up with clothespins. It's a dumb question but how do I keep the clothes pins from scrunching together if the string curves down? (I hope someone understands what I am saying.) I was also wanting to see people post pictures if they have the photo-clothespin in their room. Thanks in advance! :] | |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/7H-RBeTwyvM/ http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2155_hopeful_postchristmas_melancholy/ (Author: Jon Bloom)
Each year Christmas night finds members of my family feeling some melancholy. After weeks of anticipation, the Christmas celebrations have flashed by us and are suddenly gone. And we're left standing, watching the Christmas taillights and music fade into the night.
But it's possible that this moment of melancholy may be the best teaching moment of the whole season. Because as long as the beautiful gifts remain unopened around the tree and the events are still ahead of us, they can appear to be the hope we are waiting for. But when the tree is empty and events are past, we realize we are longing for a lasting hope.
So last night, as Pam and I tucked our kids into bed, we talked about a few things with them:
- Gifts and events can't fill the soul. God gives us such things to enjoy. They are expressions of his generosity as well as ours, but gifts and celebrations themselves are not designed to satisfy. They're designed to point us to the Giver. Gifts are like sunbeams. We are not meant to love sunbeams but the Sun.
- Putting our hope in gifts will leave us empty. Many people live their lives looking for the right sunbeam to make them happy. But if we depend on anything in the world to satisfy our soul's deepest desire, it will eventually leave us with that post-Christmas soul-ache. We will ask, "Is that all?" because we know deep down that's not all there is. We are designed to treasure a Person, not his things.
- It is more blessed to give than receive. What kind of happiness this Christmas felt richer, getting the presents that you wanted or making someone else happy with something that you gave to them? Receiving is a blessing, but Jesus is right—giving is a greater blessing. A greedy soul lives in a small, lonely world. A generous soul lives in a wide world of love.
It's just like God to let the glitter and flash of the celebrations (even in his honor) to pass and then to come to us in the quiet, even melancholic void they leave. Because often that's when we are most likely to understand the hope he intends for us to have at Christmas.
(Originally posted 12/26/07)
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My personal attributes have slid so far into the negative and undesirable.. that my emotions swell unreasonably and out of my control.. blah blah airi and her egocentric sob story. i made and make the bed i lie in my feelings of jealousy, inadaquacy and defeat are weakness i welcomed in my tragic loss of will. i am nothing but a pathetic bag of bones desperate for love and stability. and in my blind and frantic quest i have let the want to believes cloud truthand leave me with neither. and worse, nothing. Post from mobile portal m.livejournal.com | |
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иосифкобзон и девушка в розовом на улице  | |
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Regardless of how one feels about Pope Benedict XVI, what is unmistakable is his great gift as a homilist. As with every great preacher, some of his best homilies come during the Christmas season, and especially at the Christmas vigil Midnight Mass. Following is, in my opinion, one of the best homilies I have ever read from this pope, and I've read a lot of them. If ever a message will remind us of what we celebrate in this Christmas feast, in what it means to be a Christian, this is it. Merry Christmas everyone!
Benedict XVI's Christmas Vigil Homily
"God Is Important, by Far the Most Important Thing in Our Lives"
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave tonight at the Christmas Vigil Mass in the Vatican.
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( Continue reading... ) | |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/XxWw4XAFRMc/ http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2158_a_christmas_greeting_and_poem/ (Author: John Piper)
Noël and Talitha and I recorded a Christmas greeting for you and a "glimpse" into our home and traditions.
And since I didn't write the advent poems this year, I wrote this Christmas poem to read at our Christmas Eve services last nigh, in the hopes of sharing my love for Jesus and my joy in him.
In this smelly place he lay,
Smelly like the swine,
Smelly like the rotting hay,
Like your sin, and mine.
Do you see how low he lay?
Do you see how low?
There is lower yet to go.
Lower yet to go.
He is lying where they eat,
Lying where the swine—
Lying like a piece of meat
Where the hungry dine.
Do you see the flow complete
Do you see the flow?
There is greater love to show
Greater love to show.
Such a happy toddler there,
Happy like the birds,
Happy like the morning air
Filled with happy words.
Does he see or know or care?
Does he see or know:
O, how deep will be his woe
Deep will be his woe?
Knowing God was born like this
Knowing this is he,
Knowing somehow this is bliss
For the swine and me,
Is this love's full glow and kiss?
Is this love's full glow?
There are deeper things to know,
Deeper things to know.
Mary musing every year,
Musing on her son,
Musing with a rising fear
Who will be the one:
Who will strike the blow and spear?
Who will strike the blow?
Does she know that blood must flow?
Know that blood must flow?
Jesus hanging on the tree,
Hanging like the meat,
Hanging there for swine like me,
Gives his flesh to eat.
Here is Life brought low and free.
Here is Life brought low.
O, how vast the debt I owe
Vast the debt I owe.
I hope you feel the same undeserved debt to the grace of God this year because of Christ. What an amazing Savior we have!
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/YpwyG3LwXkg/ http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2156_god_in_a_manger_part_3_jesus_is_treasure/ (Author: David Mathis)
We've looked at Jesus' full divinity under the heading "Jesus Is Lord" and his full humanity under "Jesus Is Savior." Now we turn to his single personhood and utter uniqueness that makes him our soul-satisfying Treasure.
The term hypostatic union is much easier than it sounds, but the concept is as profound as anything in the universe—the personal union of the eternal Son of God with our humanity.
The English adjective hypostatic comes from the Greek word hupostasis. The word only appears four times in the New Testament—maybe most memorably in Hebrews 1:3, where Jesus is said to be "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature." Here the author of Hebrews uses the word in reference to the oneness of God. Both the Father and the Son are of the same "nature." Jesus is "the exact imprint of his nature."
However, in early church discussions, as Greek speakers tried to find agreeable terms with those who spoke in Latin, the word hupostasis came to denote not the sameness in the Godhead (the one divine essence) but the distinctness (the three divine persons). So it began to be used to refer to something like the English word person.
The Personal Union of Jesus' Two Natures
So "hypostatic union" may sound fancy in English, but it's a pretty simple term. Hypostatic means personal. The hypostatic union is the personal joining of Jesus' two natures in one person.
Jesus has two complete natures—one fully human and one fully divine. What the doctrine of the hypostatic union teaches is that these two natures are united in one person in the God-man. Jesus is not two persons. He is one person. The hypostatic union is the joining of the divine and the human in the one person of Jesus.
What Is the Significance?
Why bother with this seemingly fancy term? What good is it to know about this hypostatic union? At the end of the day, the term can go, but the concept behind the term is infinitely precious—and worshipfully mind-stretching.
It is immeasurably sweet—and awe-inspiring—to know that Jesus' two natures are perfectly united in his one person. Jesus is not divided. He is not two people. He is one person. As the Chalcedonian Creed (451 A.D.) states, his two natures are without confusion, without change, without division, and without separation. Jesus is one.
This means Jesus is one focal point for our worship. And as Jonathan Edwards preached, in this one-person God-man we find "an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies."
Because of this hypostatic, one-person union, Jesus exhibits an unparalleled magnificence. No one person satisfies the complex longings of the human heart like the God-man.
God has made the human heart in such a way that it will never be eternally content with that which is only human. Finitude can't slake our thirst for the infinite. And yet, in our finite humanity, we are significantly helped by a point of correspondence with the divine. God was glorious long before he became man in Jesus. But we are human, and unincarnate deity doesn't connect with us in the same way as the God who became human. The conception of a god who never became man will not satisfy the human soul like the God who did.
One Person, For Us
And beyond just gazing at the spectacular person of Jesus, there is also the amazing gospel-laced revelation that the reason Jesus became the God-man was for us. His fully human nature joined in personal union to his eternally divine nature is a permanent showcase that Jesus, in perfect harmony with his Father, is undeterrably for us. He has demonstrated his love for us in that while we were still sinners, he took our nature to his one person and died for us.
(For more on the permanence of the incarnation, see "The Permanence of Christmas" Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.)
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Today, the twenty-fifth day of December,
unknown ages from the time when God created the heavens and the earth
and then formed man and woman in his own image.
Several thousand years after the flood,
when God made the rainbow shine forth as a sign of the covenant.
Twenty-one centuries from the time of Abraham and Sarah;
thirteen centuries after Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt.
Eleven hundred years from the time of Ruth and the Judges;
one thousand years from the anointing of David as king;
in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel.
In the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;
the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome.
The forty-second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus;
the whole world being at peace,
Jesus Christ, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,
desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming,
being conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and nine months having passed since his conception,
was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary.
Today is the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.
May the peace and blessings of Our Lord Jesus Christ with you this Christmas and always. | |
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For unto us a child is born -- unto us a son is given.
-Isaiah 9:6a
The great gift we have from God of Himself is reason to rejoice. What wonder and mystery and grace! May the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, that we may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe -- according to the working of His might.
Merry Christmas to everyone! | |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/p5omtP6IIxI/ http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2157_veiled_in_flesh_the_godhead_see/ (Author: Jon Bloom)
Our good friend, Rick Gamache, preached a wonderful sermon on Isaiah 9:6 last Sunday. And he quoted C.H. Spurgeon reveling in the incarnation:
"Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given." As Jesus Christ is a child in his human nature, he is born, begotten of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. He is as truly-born, as certainly a child, as any other man that ever lived upon the face of the earth. He is thus in his humanity a child born. But as Jesus Christ is God's Son, he is not born; but given, begotten of his Father from before all worlds, begotten—not made, being of the same substance with the Father. The doctrine of the eternal affiliation of Christ is to be received as an undoubted truth of our holy religion. But as to any explanation of it, no man should venture thereon, for it remaineth among the deep things of God—one of those solemn mysteries indeed, into which the angels dare not look, nor do they desire to pry into it—a mystery which we must not attempt to fathom, for it is utterly beyond the grasp of any finite being. As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God. A God whom we could understand would be no God. If we could grasp him he could not be infinite: if we could understand him, then were he not divine."
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th'incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
(Charles Wesley, "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing")
A worshipful Christmas to you all!
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Following is the second reading from the Office of the Readings for December 24. It is a portion of a Christmas sermon delivered by St. Augustine. Over the next few days I hope to post various bits of his Christmas sermons, as they typically represent some of his finest preaching. Enjoy! ( Truth has arisen from the earth ) | |
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