'...as of first importance...'

a reminder that our worship must, without exception, be centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ...

'for i delivered to you as of first importance what i also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.' -1 cor. 15.3

'the cross stands for all that was accomplished through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God. it focuses on his substitutionary death at calvary but includes everything that gave meaning to that act. his preexistent state in glory. his incarnation. his life of perfect obedience. his suffering. his ressurection. his ascension. his present intercession and reign in glory. his triumphant return. it is Christ's atoning sacrifice for our sins that the new testament writers continually return to as a main focus both for worship and for life.' -bob kauflin

'Christ is to us just what his cross is. All that Christ was in heaven or on earth was put into what he did there... you do not understand Christ until you understand his cross.' -p.t. forsyth

'as long as You are glorified'

i've really been appreciating the truth in this song recently. i know that God is good... i've seen it many times. but i don't always believe it in my present circumstances.

its good to be reminded that God IS good, and everything He does is in orchestration of His perfect, loving, good plan for our lives. my desire for my own comfort in this life wars in my mind with God's design of sometimes using difficulties as a chisel on my heart in my sanctification. but though i sometimes cease to belive and falter in my praise... He is faithful... and ALWAYS good.

'as long as You are glorified'
mark altrogge

shall i take from Your hand your blessings
yet not welcome any pain
shall i thank You for days of sunshine
yet grumble in days of rain
shall i love You in times of plenty
then leave You in days of drought?
shall i trust when i reap a harvest
but when winter winds blow, then doubt?

oh let Your will be done in me
in Your love i will abide
oh i long for nothing else, as long
as You are glorified

are You good only when i prosper
and true only when i'm filled?
are You King only when i'm carefree
and God only when well?
You are good when i'm poor and needy
You are true when i'm parched and dry
You still reign in the deepest valley
You're still God in the darkest night

(c) 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

are we penetrating the world?

so i just came across this quote from Bill Hull in my prep for lifegroup tonight (my church's name for small groups). i have no time to expound on what i'm thinking about it, but i will pose a question. for those of us who go to corporate worship on sunday mornings at our church... what are we doing with what we're being taught? are we leaving with intention to grow in grace with the truth we've just heard, that we may affect the world for the glory of Christ and the salvation of the lost?

'the test of a congregation, apart from personal holiness, is how effectively members penetrate the world. american churches are filled with pew-sitting, sermon-tasting, spiritual schizophrenics, whose belief and behavior are not congruent.' - Bill Hull

in all honesty, that cuts me deeper than i want to admit. oh that, for the fame of Christ and the glory of His Gospel, we as a church would prove this wrong...

'...be killing sin, or it will be killing you...'

so i've been reading john owen's 'the mortification of sin'. i just started it actually... only a couple of chapters in, but i'm already hooked. intensely convicting! its like one of those addictive pains. you know what i mean? like when you get a canker sore... it hurts like crap! but you can't stop poking it with your tongue. ok... so am i the only one that does that? anyway... if i just lost you... come back. heh heh... ;)

what i mean by that is that in reading it, i feel as thought i am willingly subjecting myself to an assault (which is really the truth)... but a much needed one. as much as i'd love to sit here and type out a bunch of thoughts... i don't have the time or the thought for it right now. but i want to post some quotes from it, that if nothing else, might encourage you to pick up the book. perhaphs i'll get some time to post some processed thoughts on it later. for now though... read these through the lens of the Gospel. God is holy, and demands perfect holiness... which is a standard that we cannot meet. but there is SO MUCH JOY in understanding and reveling in the reality that Christ became man and lived in perfect holiness, and then died, taking to the cross ALL of our sin, and imputing to us the perfect righteousness that God demands! and the same grace that saved us, trains us in righteousness (titus 2.11), and provides us ALL we need to live a life glorifying to God (2 tim. 3.16-17).

colossians 3.5a, 'put to death [mortify] therefore what is earthly in you...'

here are some of the lines that have hit me the hardest... mostly from chapter two...

'do you mortify? do you make it your daily work? be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin, or it will be killing you.'

'sin aims always at the utmost: everytime it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin of that kind. every unclean thought or glance would be adultery, if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression; every thought of unbelief would be atheism, might it grow to its head. men may come to that, that sin may not be heard speaking a scandalous word in their hearts; that is, provoking to any great sin with scandal in its mouth: but every rise of lust, might it have its course, would come to the height of villainy. its like the grave, that is never satisfied. and herin lies no small share of the deceitfulness of sin, by which it prevails to the hardening of men, and so to their ruin (heb. 3.13). it is modest, as it were, in its first motions and proposals; but having once got footing in the heart by them, it constantly makes good its ground, and presseth on to some further degrees in the same kind.'

'let not that man think he makes any progress in holiness, who walks not over the neck of his lusts. he, who doth not kill sin in his way, takes no steps towards his journey's end. he, who finds not opposition from it, and who sets not himself in every particular to its mortification, is at peace with it, not dying to it.'

'the root of an unmortified course is the digestion of sin, without bitterness in the heart. when a man hath fixed his imagination to such an apprehension of grace and mercy, as to be able without bitterness to swallow and digest daily sins, that man is at the very brink of turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and being hardened by the deceitfuness of sin.'

'mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world.'

nuovo inizio...

so there's always a first post. i've been sitting here for a few minutes trying to come up with something clever or catchy to start this thing with, but alas, in my lack of present creativity, a humble beginning will have to do. i'm no stranger to blogging (www.xanga.com/liv2praz), and i will keep my xanga up for old or new readers, but i've been out of it for a while, and i'm a bit bored of xanga's format and limitations. so, i'm starting new here... partly for a new look and features, partly in attempt to stimulate creativity... or at least verbal expression. God has done so much in my life in the last couple of years. i have not desired much through this past season to be very expressive about it. but that is changing... so here goes...

i love to post lyrics to songs as well as personal thoughts or lessons the Lord is teaching me. my goal with this is appropriate, honest expression of the work the Lord is doing in my life... and general edification to all who read. i am a wreck of a sinner, saved by God's grace, through Christ crucified... rescued FROM slavery to sin, and TO slavery to Christ.

this song has become my favorite as of late. i am affected every time i sing it, because it is my story. what an awesome thing it is realize God's initiative in my salvation... and to worship Him from that starting point. even the fact that my heart responded to His grace is an evidence that His grace was already at work!

all i have is Christ
(by devon kauflin)

i once was lost in darkest night
yet thought i knew the way
the sin that promised joy and life
had led me to the grave
i had no hope that You would own
a rebel to Your will
and if You had not loved me first
i would refuse You still

but as i ran my hell-bound race
indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
and led me to the cross
and i beheld God's love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
now all i know is grace

hallelujah! all i have is Christ!
hallelujah! all i have is Christ!

now, Lord, i would be Yours alone
and live so all might see
the strength to follow Your commands
could never come from me
oh Father, use my ransomed life
in any way You choose
and let my song forever be
'my only boast is You!'

(c) 2008 sovereign grace praise (BMI)