This evening Jackson was playing with a holly branch and it got caught in his hair. I tried to keep him still but it was bothering him too much.
Second coming of Absolam
Author: Brett Eubank
Because of the gospel of God's grace, I am a beloved son of God, which provides the power and motivation to be a faithful husband, loving father and hospitable neighbor.
Second coming of Absolam
This evening Jackson was playing with a holly branch and it got caught in his hair. I tried to keep him still but it was bothering him too much.
some pictures of Jackson
Some pictures of Anna Sloan
oh the humility of it all + fool moon rising
While studying Philippians 2:1-11 for our Sunday night teaching time, I came across an excellent quote from John Calvin contrasting Christ’s humility with our own.
Christ’s humility consisted in his abasing himself from the highest pinnacle of glory to the lowest ignominy: our humility consists in refraining from exalting ourselves by a false estimation. He gave up his right: all that is required of us is, that we do not assume to ourselves more than we ought.
Simply put, Christ’s humility was shown by emptying himself of his glory while our humility is shown in not filling ourselves with glory. If there was ever a reason to center my life on the gospel, this is it because my heart is riddled with conceit (vain glory) though I am adept in hiding it well. Only the gospel can reveal the true nature of my heart and forgive and cleanse me of that vain glory so that I can “glory” in Christ. With that thought in mind, there is a wonderful children’s storybook aimed at teaching this very truth to children called, Fool Moon Rising. I heartily recommend it as the truths of the book come home to me every time I read it to Jackson. If you click on the link you can actually read the entire book online before you purchase it.
oh the humility of it all + fool moon rising
While studying Philippians 2:1-11 for our Sunday night teaching time, I came across an excellent quote from John Calvin contrasting Christ’s humility with our own.
Christ’s humility consisted in his abasing himself from the highest pinnacle of glory to the lowest ignominy: our humility consists in refraining from exalting ourselves by a false estimation. He gave up his right: all that is required of us is, that we do not assume to ourselves more than we ought.
Simply put, Christ’s humility was shown by emptying himself of his glory while our humility is shown in not filling ourselves with glory. If there was ever a reason to center my life on the gospel, this is it because my heart is riddled with conceit (vain glory) though I am adept in hiding it well. Only the gospel can reveal the true nature of my heart and forgive and cleanse me of that vain glory so that I can “glory” in Christ. With that thought in mind, there is a wonderful children’s storybook aimed at teaching this very truth to children called, Fool Moon Rising. I heartily recommend it as the truths of the book come home to me every time I read it to Jackson. If you click on the link you can actually read the entire book online before you purchase it.
Loving the gospel and the people the gospel loves
In my inbox this morning was the challenging gospel defining quote from John Stott. From his book, Christian Mission in a Modern World he writes:
We are sent into the world, like Jesus, to serve. For this is the natural expression of our love for our neighbours. We love. We go. We serve. And in this we have (or should have) no ulterior motive. True, the gospel lacks visibility if we merely preach it, and lacks credibility if we who preach it are interested only in souls and have no concern about the welfare of people’s bodies, situations and communities. Yet the reason for our acceptance of social responsibility is not primarily in order to give the gospel either a visibility or a credibility it would otherwise lack, but rather simple uncomplicated compassion. Love has no need to justify itself. It merely expresses itself in service whenever it sees need.
Stott’s words remind me that I don’t love my neighbor as I love myself in order to get the gospel into their heart but because loving my neighbor is the outworking of the gospel in my heart. I love my neighbor because I have been richly loved first and foremost by my Heavenly Father. Therefore, loving my neighbor isn’t to be a means to a gospel end, but rather it is a gospel means to a loving end. Elsewhere Stott says (as does the apostle John) that you can’t be truly converted to God unless you are converted to your neighbor. Easier said than done, as often the conversion work that needs to happen is in my own life when it comes to my neighbors. “Lord remind me of your great love for me when I have a difficult time loving my neighbor. Help me to see them as you see them and to love them as you love them. Amen.”
Loving the gospel and the people the gospel loves
In my inbox this morning was the challenging gospel defining quote from John Stott. From his book, Christian Mission in a Modern World he writes:
We are sent into the world, like Jesus, to serve. For this is the natural expression of our love for our neighbours. We love. We go. We serve. And in this we have (or should have) no ulterior motive. True, the gospel lacks visibility if we merely preach it, and lacks credibility if we who preach it are interested only in souls and have no concern about the welfare of people’s bodies, situations and communities. Yet the reason for our acceptance of social responsibility is not primarily in order to give the gospel either a visibility or a credibility it would otherwise lack, but rather simple uncomplicated compassion. Love has no need to justify itself. It merely expresses itself in service whenever it sees need.
Stott’s words remind me that I don’t love my neighbor as I love myself in order to get the gospel into their heart but because loving my neighbor is the outworking of the gospel in my heart. I love my neighbor because I have been richly loved first and foremost by my Heavenly Father. Therefore, loving my neighbor isn’t to be a means to a gospel end, but rather it is a gospel means to a loving end. Elsewhere Stott says (as does the apostle John) that you can’t be truly converted to God unless you are converted to your neighbor. Easier said than done, as often the conversion work that needs to happen is in my own life when it comes to my neighbors. “Lord remind me of your great love for me when I have a difficult time loving my neighbor. Help me to see them as you see them and to love them as you love them. Amen.”
of what country?
I received great encouragement from the first couple of verses from chapter 3 of John’s first epistle in which he writes, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!..Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (NIV) John Stott points to John’s amazement of our adoption as God’s children by his use of the Greek word potapen, which the NIV renders “how great” in the beginning of verse 1. Stott writes:
The expression how great translates potapen which meant originally ‘of what country’. It is as if the Father’s love is so unearthly, so foreign to this world, that John wonders from what country it may come. The word ‘always implies astonishment’. This love God has not only ‘shown’ us, but actually lavished on us.
May you and I grow in our astonishment and wonder of God’s grace which flows down upon us wholly and completely in Christ.
of what country?
I received great encouragement from the first couple of verses from chapter 3 of John’s first epistle in which he writes, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!..Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (NIV) John Stott points to John’s amazement of our adoption as God’s children by his use of the Greek word potapen, which the NIV renders “how great” in the beginning of verse 1. Stott writes:
The expression how great translates potapen which meant originally ‘of what country’. It is as if the Father’s love is so unearthly, so foreign to this world, that John wonders from what country it may come. The word ‘always implies astonishment’. This love God has not only ‘shown’ us, but actually lavished on us.
May you and I grow in our astonishment and wonder of God’s grace which flows down upon us wholly and completely in Christ.
brett eubank | unfinished 