Love Broke Thru

Those Who Are Being Made Holy - A Closer Look at Hebrews 10:14

Fewer books of the Bible are more precious to me than the book of Hebrews.  In the book of Hebrews, Jesus is better.  He is better than the angels (Hebrews 1:5-6).  He is better than Moses (Hebrews 3:3-6).  He is better than Joshua (Hebrews 4:8-11).  He is better than Abraham (Hebrew 6:13-20).  He is better than Aaron (Hebrews 7:11).  He is the Mediator of a better covenant (Hebrews 7:22).  The covenant that He mediates contains better promises (Hebrews 8:6).  He offered a better sacrifice (Hebrews 9:14).  And He is a better Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20-21).  In the book of Hebrews, Jesus is better.

A central theme in the book of Hebrews is the cross.  More than any other single book of the Bible, Read the rest of this entry »

Do You Love Jesus, Or Do You Just Admire Him?

I was blessed by this blog I read today at Grace for Life.  Good reminder of the gospel and grace.  Check it out…

http://www.graceforlife.com/2006/03/loving-jesus-vs-admiring-jesus.html

Mike

Grace to Live

This morning I hit Alan Knox’s blog at the Assembling of the Church and read his latest post called, Grace to Live.  I think his summary nailed what we are to be about and I want to share it with you.  He said,

So, to repeat something that I said earlier: God does not save us by grace so that we must then live according to the law. God saves us by his grace so that we can then live according to his grace. If we trust God for salvation, let’s also trust him to teach us how to live. If someone is not living a godly life, don’t teach them to change their behavior. Instead, point them to God and teach them how to live in his grace. If someone is not demonstrating righteousness and justice toward others, don’t try to change them by forcing them to serve others. Instead, point them to God and teach them how to live in his grace.

This was a good reminder to stay gospel focused in all we do and think and it’s something that the Lord has been teaching me lately.  We live in the gospel and we never leave it.  If we do, we can quickly get into trouble and become hard and legalistic.  It’s sometimes easy to think that the gospel is something we master and then we move on to other things.  Instead, we should be reminding one another of the cross because it is grace that brought us into the kingdom and it is grace that teaches us how to live to God’s glory (Galatians 3:3).  You can see Alan’s entire blog post [HERE].

Paul Tripp on Psalm 73

This afternoon I came a across a few blogs that Paul Tripp has recently written on Psalm 73.  I hope you’ll be as encouraged from reading them as I was.  It looks like he may be adding more, but here’s what I found so far:

• Psalm 73: Too Good to be True?

• Psalm 73: Envy is a Window

• Psalm 73: The Destiny Hermeneutic

• Psalm 73: The Old Story

Enjoy!

Taking the Greek Plunge!

It’s official.  I’m probably crazy to do this, but I’m going to dust off my Greek skills and give myself a refresher this summer.  I’m finding my vocabulary isn’t hurting like I thought it would be, and things seem to be coming back ok so far.  Like riding a bike?  I don’t think so, but rewarding if I can pull it off.  Using Mounce.  I don’t think he was around when I first learned Greek in the late 70s.  Wish me providence - or Calvinistic luck!  I’ll keep you posted on progress or lack thereof.

Conviction vs. Self-Condemnation

When I was in High School, I had a job as a cook at Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Let me put that in perspective (and date myself) by telling you that Colonel Sanders (the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken) was still alive and doing T.V. commercials when I worked there.  It wasn’t called KFC way back then either, so we’re talking waaaay long ago!  It was acceptable back then to use the word “fried” when referencing food.  In spite of being a hot and steamy place to work, the job had some perks.  I got to handle the “eleven secret herbs and spices” on a daily basis.  I also got to eat some of the profits free of charge.  It also made me very popular with some of my friends who would pull up to the back door at closing time because they knew that any food that was left over, was up for grabs and they Read the rest of this entry »

The Perils of Performance-Based Christianity

I think this subject is something that affects us all.  Or at least the potential is there.  It’s one of those frog in the kettle experiences that sneak up on you unnoticed and then you suddenly realize you’re in the throes of it.  I don’t think any of us wakes up one day and thinks, “Today would be a good day to start down the road of performance-based Christianity.”  Instead, it takes us by surprise and that’s one thing that makes it necessary to talk about from time to time.  In my own experience, being caught in the trap of performance-based Christianity has a subtle beginning and when you’re in the midst of it, you can be blind to it, apart from the Lord showing it to you.  Like any other trial, Read the rest of this entry »

The Legacy of Edmund Clowney and the Preaching of the Gospel from All of Scripture

I guess this amounts to the lazy man’s guide to blogging, but if it’s good, it’s justified, right?  And this is good.  I’m still not sure what I did before Twitter, but here’s another tweet that appeared this morning on TweetDeck, from Justin Taylor and Between Two Worlds.  I really enjoy Clowney.  Check it out…

http://tinyurl.com/qv3b9w

What’s My Motivation?

In 1978, I was cast as an extra in a made for TV mini-series called Great Stories from the Bible.  I think that’s what it was called.  If you were a fan of late 70s mini-series, you probably remember the “Shick Sun-Classic” production company that produced a good number of them.  That’s the company that did this series and that “discovered” me as I was eating breakfast with my wife in a local restaurant in northern Arizona.  That series was a real blockbuster and I’m sure you’ve all heard of it.  No? I actually found it on Amazon a couple of years ago, but I couldn’t bring myself to put out the shekels to buy it.  I was curious to see what I looked like at that age, dressed up as a pagan with a spear, but not curious enough to buy it.  I was in the Walls of Jericho episode and I played one of the pagan soldiers living in Jericho before the walls came-a-tumblin-down.  In 1978, I was 23 years old.  But I had a beard.  I had a real beard.  The other extras on the set were kids my age or younger, but they all had fake beards that the makeup crew had to glue onto them every day.  Since my facial hair was real (and long), they put me in most of the closeup shots with the stars.  Read the rest of this entry »

Total Church

I’ve been reading some encouraging blogs that Alan Knox has written at The Assembling of the Church, reviewing the book, Total Church, by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis.  I thought I would pass them on to you.

The first one is entitled, Total-Church-Principles. The second one is called, Gospel, Community, and Beyond, and the third one is, Gospel and Community Based Discipleship.  Check them out and see what you think.

What Is Our Highest Motive?

Today, Terry Rayburn started following me on Twitter (what did I do before the days of Twitter?), so I hit his web site, Grace for Life, and found the following blog post entitled, What is Our Highest Motive? I thought I would link it here for you.  He begins,

I was listening to some instruction on the difference between secular psychology’s “Behavior Modification” and Biblical change of behavior. It was pointed out that the important difference is motive, and I couldn’t agree more. However, a chart was drawn on a white board showing two motives. Behavior Mod’s motive was portrayed as “pleasing self”. The motive for biblical change was shown as “glorifying God”.

So far, so good. But it occurs to me that there are at least two other motives that should be mentioned. One is bad, one is good. [Continue reading]

Do You Use Twitter?

I had to ask this sooner or later.  You probably saw it coming.  With all of the social networking software and sites out there, I’m just curious to see how many of you are on Twitter.  I am.  Want to follow me?  It’s pretty exciting!  You’ll need a Twitter account to track me.

[Follow Love Broke Thru on Twitter]. 

Please take a moment to do this poll.  It’s harmless.  Maybe I should do one on Facebook too.

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Scrapbookers Need Not Apply

Wondering what’s up with the new look?  Well, I had 3 different people tell me over the last few days since putting up the red theme on LBT, that it looked like a scrapbook.  Say no more! :)  I don’t scrapbook.  So I started scrambling to bring a new look to LBT that wouldn’t have a hint of scrapbooking to it.  I had to move quick before my self esteem took any more hits.  I think this look’s going to stick!  One nice thing about Wordpress these days is the enourmous amount of themes you can get for it.  It’s a blessing and a curse if you’re a perfectionist!

Rethinking Retirement

Crossway Books posted this link on Twitter earlier today.  John Piper, Rethinking Retirement: Finishing Life for the Glory of Christ.  ”

The World’s suggestions for retirement call us to live in a way that would make this world look like our treasure.

It looks good.  I think I’ll get a copy.

http://bit.ly/jgwK

Waging War Against Fellow Believers

This link to a short article called “Waging War Against Fellow Believers” surfaced on Twitter today.  It is very good, convicting, and thought-provoking, so I am passing it on to you.  Please take a look and see what you think.

http://tinyurl.com/dj5qa6

Believers Still Need the Gospel

This morning, my first wife (and my only wife) and I started reading Comforts from the Cross, by Elyse Fitzpatrick.  It’s subtitled, Celebrating the Cross One Day at a Time.  If you haven’t read it, it’s a series of daily devotionals about the gospel.  I was reminded this morning of my ongoing need for the gospel and what that means.  Check out this quote from Day 1 - Celebrate Jesus, which talks about remembering the gospel when taking the Lord’s Supper, and how that fleshes out in real life:

We do that [proclaim the Lord's death until he comes] by intentionally focusing our thought on him instead of on ourselves or on what we think we’re missing.  I think it’s very easy for me to focus my attention on myself.  I don’t mean that I just sit around thinking about me and how wonderful I am (although I am not above that!).  No, I mean that I tend to focus my thought on my Christianity-how I’m doing, what I’m learning, how my prayer time was today, how I avoided that pesky sin or fell into it again.  I think about what I’m supposed to accomplish for Christ and I interact with others on that same works-oriented ground.  But this day isn’t about me at all.  It’s about him: his sinless life, death, resurrection, ascension, reign, and the sure promise of his return.  It’s the gravity of his life that should attract my thought toward him.

Something that really jumped out at me in that quote was how easy it can be to focus on my Christianity-how I’m doing, what I’m learning, or how my prayer life is instead of on the Lord and what he did for me and on my behalf.  It’s easy to fall into the trap (and I have been guilty of doing this) of becoming performance based in my walk with the Lord, and to Read the rest of this entry »

Give Me Your Take On It

Be honest.  What do you think of the red template?  Now that it’s been active for a day, I’m not sure I like it.  I liked it more at first, but now I’m having second thoughts.  I do like the grungy look though.  What do you think?  Too much red, or just right?  It does match the inside of my house, but if you’re not inside my house, it’s hard to appreciate that.  Let’s do a poll.  Give me your thoughts.

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Retooling Love Broke Thru

There has been a lot going on in my life the last two years.  The last two months in particular have brought major changes (via trials) in some of my thinking and in the ways I’ve been doing things over the years and even in some of my theology - all for the good.  I am excited to retool Love Broke Thru to reflect some of those changes as I move ahead.  I’m still not completely sure what things are going to look like once all the dust settles, but that contributes to the anticipation.  If you’ve been a regular visitor here, you’ll notice some changes on Love Broke Thru.  Some of my previous posts are gone now because they either no longer accurately reflect my views on things, or I just want to be able to restate them, but in different ways.  It’s usually the latter.  In some ways, I’m almost starting over with Love Broke Thru because I want to say what I want to say in different ways than I’ve said them in the past.  I have discovered that in the past, I was writing mostly with my head and very little with my heart.  What the Lord has brought me through, particularly in the last couple of months, has impressed upon me the need for more grace in that area and Lord willing, that will be reflected in future posts on Love Broke Thru.  Please stay tuned… Mike

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6)

T4G Conference

Registration opened yesterday for T4G’s conference, The Unadjusted Gospel.  The title alone grabbed my attention.  It’s scheduled for April 13-15, 2010 in Louisville, KY.  Registration, lodging, and speaker info is posted on Together for the Gospel’s web site.  Check it out at http://www.t4g.org/conference/t4g-2010/.

The Heart of a Servant Leader

Has anyone read the book, The Heart of a Servant Leader, by C. John Miller?  I’m just starting it.  I was on Skype with a friend the other day and he recommended it to me, along with another one called, God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible, by Vaughan Roberts.  Lord willing, I’ll be devouring that one once I’ve finished Miller’s book.

The Heart of a Servant Leader is a compilation of letters written by Jack Miller to different people that he mentored at different times and in many different circumstances.  I’m enjoying it.  Not just because it’s a good read (it is that!), but because it’s challenging me to return to the basics.  It’s causing me to embrace the gospel all over again and to see it anew.  I think most of us view life as a series of events.  That’s good I guess because life is a series of events most of the time.  But I’m beginning to notice that I’ve done the same thing with my theology as well.  I get one theological thing “down” and then move on to the next one.  Read the rest of this entry »

Treasure in Jars of Clay

I’m going to write this blog, not knowing exactly where it’s going.  But that’s ok because spontaneity doesn’t ALWAYS have to be planned!  Just most of the time.  I’ve been coming back to 2 Corinthians 4 over the last week or so, and reading and rereading it as a devotional.  Maybe I should put it here for you so you can have it in front of you.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  (2 Corinthians 4:7)

The treasure that Paul is speaking of is “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” from verse 6.  It is the life-altering power of the gospel.  It is the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  It is a participation in God’s glory because of the cross of Christ.  It is knowing Christ intimately and knowing the power of his resurrection (Philippians 3:10) firsthand.  It is the forgiveness of sin and unconditional acceptance with the Father because of the cross.  It is a knowledge OF God, not a superficial knowledge ABOUT God.  This is experiential knowledge because every believer experiences God.  Every believer experiences saving grace.  This is treasure!  This is true and lasting treasure!  This is priceless treasure (Matthew 13:44) that never fades away and is reserved in heaven for those who believe (1 Peter 1:3-5), and it can never spoil, fade, or rust away.  God himself is its keeper.  This is true and lasting treasure.  This is ours in Christ by grace alone.  And yet, we have this all surpassing power in jars of clay to demonstrate that Read the rest of this entry »

The Problem of Evil and the Origin of the Devil

A friend of mine shot me an email asking for my take on the problem of evil in the world and how to walk someone through it.   My reply to her is below and I thought I would post it here as well.  Short and (hopefully) sweet.  Here it is…

———

First, God is the first cause of everything, including evil. He doesn’t just allow evil, but in a way we don’t understand, he causes evil. But God is not evil and can never be blamed for the evil done. God is the first cause, but man gets blamed for the evil that he does. Man is evil to the core and God is righteous, holy, and good all the time.  He is separate from sin, even though he is the first cause of everything, including evil.

That God is the first cause of everything is evident in passages like Ephesians 1:11 where God is actively working out everything in accordance with his will. Everything.  He is not passive and never taken by surprise, but he is actively accomplishing his sovereign will. The crucifixion is a good example of God being the first cause of evil and man being blamed for it.  Read the rest of this entry »

12-Year-Old Speaks Out on the Issue of Abortion

When I try to embed a video here, it always messes up my RSS feed for some reason, so I’m just posting the link this time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOR1wUqvJS4

Please let me know your thoughts…

New RSS Feed

I’ve had some problems with my RSS feed.  One of my readers brought it to my attention (thanks Lionel!)  If you’re a subscriber to my site, please change the RSS feed to:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/LoveBrokeThru

The old one can be deleted from your reader.  Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

My Starbucks Coffee Cup

This morning I made a quick stop at Starbucks on my way to a meeting.  The meeting was long and pretty boring, so I’m glad I stopped off first for a morning caffeine jolt.  I used to frequent Starbucks every day but now that I’ve aged a little more (I won’t say how much more), I can’t do every day.  It proves to be too much.  I’m also a creature of habit.  When I find something I like, I tend to stay with it.  I don’t quickly venture out of my comfort zone into new things, so on this trip to Starbucks, I ordered what I usually order - plain old hot coffee.  That’s my default Starbucks drink, but I went for the gold this time.  I usually order the Grande drip, but this time I ordered the Venti drip!!  I’m living on the edge now!  Of course I ordered it with room for cream.  I have to have cream to mask some of the flavor and to make it a kinder, gentler, beverage.

Once I have my hot cup of java in hand, I don’t usually pay any attention to the cup, other than to make sure it has that heat sleeve on it.  As long as that’s in place, I’m good to go.  This morning was different though. Read the rest of this entry »