“No one’s been a greater cause of misery in your life than you have. You have perpetually pursued your own happiness at the detriment of your own joy.”
“You have been the greatest enemy of your own joy.”
–The Mission of the Church by Matt Chandler
Asides
THE GOSPEL-CENTERED LIFE PROMOTION
THE GOSPEL-CENTERED LIFE PROMOTION
20% off 5 copies or more at Publisher’s Website or Westminster Books
Free download of the Leader’s Guide through 8/27/2010
We want improvement not regeneration or transformation
We want improvement not regeneration or transformation
Has Jesus Been Worth It?
“you care less for God and truth than for security and comfort. Your fear of losing them powers your unbelief. Jesus once said, ‘whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?’ So I need to ask you: is security and comfort worth that,”
Christ Formed in You
“The Heart Is the Organ of Worship Because the heart is so active with its passions, affections, and desires, it is the organ with which we worship. Deuteronomy 11:16 warns, “Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.” Jesus says, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:8–9).” (location 1307 Kindle edition)
“We need more than moral reformation and behavioral modification. We need inner cleansing, spiritual renewal, and new hearts, and God does that for us!” (location 1522 Kindle edition)
Christ Died For The Sins Of Christians Too
Christ Died For The Sins Of Christians Too blog Post by Tullian Tchividjian (Guest Post by Dr. Rod Rosenbladt)
External compliance and the grace of God
“There is no way to get people to do more than to constantly show them what Christ has already done for them”
“External compliance without heart change is shallow and short lived”
men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God
“men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.”
-John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Henry Beveridge; Accordance electronic ed. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1845), n.p.
heaven isn’t a place for those who fear hell; it’s a place for those who love God
“heaven isn’t a place for those who fear hell; it’s a place for those who love God”
–Grace Driven Effort: The Weapons Grace Provides by Matt Chandler
People do not drift toward holiness
“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, and obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”
–For the Love of God (Vol. 2) by D.A. Carson
The Gospel Centered Life 