Letter to my softball buddies

I wrote this letter this morning, thought I would share it with you. Any further thoughts on the matter?

I have been thinking about our discussions as of late, particularly as it regards assurance of salvation and the goodness of God.

It seems to me that there are four things that work in harmony with each other, where if they get out of sync or one overpowers the other it can cause problems of doubt.

They are:
Faith
Grace
Knowledge
Responsibility

Faith is informed. We have been led to believe. Someone or something has led us to faith. It isn't blind. But, If we put all our understanding in faith, eventually we will ask, "what was it we have faith in?" and we could get shallow, trite or naive.

Grace is the power God gave us to come to him. Its getting something we don't deserve because of our sin nature. But over emphasis on grace can lead us to sin (see Romans 6).

Knowledge is often ripped on in the NT, but we need to KNOW what it is we are to believe and he we are to live. Romans 10 addresses this. The reason I want to do missions or engage with people at home depot is to share truth with them, so they will know the savior. But, if we lean to heavily on knowledge, eventually we will derail because there are so many things in the world/life that just don't make knowledgable sense to me.

Responsibility is ever present. The bible is clear that we are to work out our salvation. There is accountability all over the bible. For me, if I put too much stock in my responsibility, I feel close to God when I'm doing good, and I feel far from God when I'm living sinfully.

I know the word balance has often been overused, but I can't think of a better word.

In my own life, when I'm feeling askew, I can usually pin it down to one or more of these principles being misappropriated.

Just a Monday thought for you brothers. Hopefully it brings some peace amidst a bummer of a game last night.


Phil

Phil Carlson Custom Woodcraft LLC

651.246.7359

www.philcarlsoncwc.com

Sent from my mobile phone. 

Morning encouragement

I found his little meditation to be very encouraging and convicting this morning. It was very tender in it's correction, and practiced what it preached. It gets at the heart of some of the topics we have had as of late concerning language and worm theology. 

I hope it blesses you today. Jesus cherishes all of you!

Phil

"Babes in Christ."

1 Corinthians 3:1

Are you mourning, believer, because you are so weak in the divine life: because your faith is so little, your love so feeble? Cheer up, for you have cause for gratitude. Remember that in some things you are equal to the greatest and most full-grown Christian. You are as much bought with blood as he is. You are as much an adopted child of God as any other believer. An infant is as truly a child of its parents as is the full-grown man. You are as completely justified, for your justification is not a thing of degrees: your little faith has made you clean every whit. You have as much right to the precious things of the covenant as the most advanced believers, for your right to covenant mercies lies not in your growth, but in the covenant itself; and your faith in Jesus is not the measure, but the token of your inheritance in him. You are as rich as the richest, if not in enjoyment, yet in real possession. The smallest star that gleams is set in heaven; the faintest ray of light has affinity with the great orb of day. In the family register of glory the small and the great are written with the same pen. You are as dear to your Father's heart as the greatest in the family. Jesus is very tender over you. You are like the smoking flax; a rougher spirit would say, "put out that smoking flax, it fills the room with an offensive odour!" but the smoking flax he will not quench. You are like a bruised reed; and any less tender hand than that of the Chief Musician would tread upon you or throw you away, but he will never break the bruised reed. Instead of being downcast by reason of what you are, you should triumph in Christ. Am I but little in Israel? Yet in Christ I am made to sit in heavenly places. Am I poor in faith? Still in Jesus I am heir of all things. Though "less than nothing I can boast, and vanity confess." Yet, if the root of the matter be in me I will rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the God of my salvation.

Phil Carlson Custom Woodcraft LLC

651.246.7359

www.philcarlsoncwc.com

Please excuse any spelling errors. This message was sent from my mobile phone. 

Meditation

Emily and I were both blessed by this meditation this morning. Hope you are too. 

"I will meditate in thy precepts."

Psalm 119:15

There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on his Word spiritual strength for labor in his service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser's feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the wine of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone, is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it. Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve this morning, "I will meditate in thy precepts."

Phil

Phil Carlson Custom Woodcraft LLC

651.246.7359

www.philcarlsoncwc.com

New Creation

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

Rejoice today brothers and sisters, we are NOT who we used to be, we have been made new by Jesus! Amen!!!

We don't have to even think about who we were unless it helps us appreciate who Jesus has made us. When we think negatively about ourselves we are forgetting who we are, God smiles over us, even rejoices over us with loud singing!

Love you and miss you all.

Phil

Great Day

I had a great day at work today! Terry helped me, the Lord was merciful, I felt successful, and the homeowner was happy.

I had such a great day that it wasn't burdensome to take care of our needy kids when I got home tonight. It was a joy to spend time with them, and give my bigtime wife a much needed break.

I hope y'all had a wonderful day.

Phil

Matthew 6:34

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

I sense we are all a little heavy hearted right now. I'm praying for us today, that we would rest in the fully capable arms of Jesus.

Cliffs Post

http://philthecarl.blogspot.com/2010/09/cliffs.html

Gods beauty

Emily and I spent all day rock climbing at Palisade Head along the north shore. Spending all day gazing down and out toward the water will only cause to you gaze to heaven and praise God for the beauty of his creation.

The weather was perfect, and the fellowship was spectacular. We count it an immense blessing to be able to do these sorts of things.

Psalm 34

I have been immersing myself in psalm 34 lately and the Lord has used this psalm to encourage my soul. I would encourage you to read this psalm when you're feeling heavy hearted and in need of encouragement.

Phil

ESV Bible App

For those of you who have an iPhone or iPod touch, there is a free ESV Bible app that is really awesome. You probably already have it, but I'm finding it to be an awesome way to open Gods word throughout the day.

Phil

This Weekend...

We had a spurt of good, consistent blogging... I thought I'd ramp it up again as a means to getting some ideas together for our "stay-cation". Let the creative juices flow and the fingers type people, we have a weekend to plan!

some reflections...

...after attending the first Saturday men's connection - topic: sexual sin/purity.

If it's only by grace that a man can be pure, why focus on things we can do? Why not dwell on how to allow God to reign his grace in our hearts? All else is fleeting legalism, that is if it's only by grace.

The advice to "run to God" during temptation is irrelevant advice to some who is blinded by sin.

On the edge of a knife cutting my feet;
to remain, bloody soles endure,
or fall, soul lost for sure.

(inspired after hearing the phrase "on the edge of a knife")

Seven sure ways to fight sexual sin:

1. revel your sin to God and others
2. repent of your sin
3. renew your commitment to Jesus
4. replenish your walk with Jesus
5. request help from the Jesus and others
6. refrain from situations that allow sin to creep in
7. rejoice in Jesus

If we could do all these steps no one would sin...then how is it that it's all by grace?

I was reminded on how "instant gratification" is somewhat like a plague to those of us in the west (even thought I hate talking like that, I mean about generalizing about those of us in the west). I need to remember that though I could have instant victory from sin right now (and oh how I pray for that), I need to be ready to battle it out for 2 years, 20 years, or til I die. I should not loose heart in battling sin because I don't receive instant, complete victory, but keep on fighting. Jesus fought the temptation to the point of sweating blood...have I ever fought that hard? Am I willing to fight that hard for the rest of my life...? I need help if I am to do that. Praise God he gave us Jesus, his Spirit, and the church. With out these, we would be toast.

Cry out to God because he's the only one that can change your heart.

It is only by grace that any of us don't sin. So...what does that mean practically? Especially when we do sin? For the believer?

It's very confusing to talk about sin in this manner when you're a Calvinist.

I have yet to attend a seminar on sexual purity that is actually helpful or gets at the heart of the matter and focuses on that. What the hell is the heart of the matter anyways? And why don't we talk about this subject all the time if it's so pervasive??? Especially in the church???

Micah 7:7-8

But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.

He is Jealous for you!

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

I feel heavily the adulterous longings of the old man still in me today. I feel wretched and hopeless, but I remembered that he who is in me is greater than he who is in the world, and that it doesn't depend on the man who runs or wills, but on God who has mercy.

He yearns jealously over the spirit he made to dwell in me. I take this to mean he will not let me utterly slip away to ruin. He made a spirit to dwell in me, and he's jealous over it. He will go head to head with my opponents for me, just like I will take out anyone or anything that stands in the way of me and my wife and children.

Our right standing with God is not dependent on how well the day goes, but on how well Jesus lived, which was perfectly. We have been filled with Jesus, therefore our days are well, forever!

A line from one of my favorite hymns, "I am his, and he is mine!" This is true and worthy of rememberance when I feel my heart pull toward things that are but a shadow of a thought of satisfaction.

More Tess

Congratulations Harms!

Yay for another healthy happy baby girl! Tess Matea (?? sorry, i probably totally botched that spelling) Harms. Born Saturday April 24th at 3:30pm. Right? 7 lbs something ounces. :) I'm totally botching all of these facts too. One thing I do know is that she is a beautiful little bundle of preciousness. And blessed to be a Harms.

We love you guys!

Suffering

As I spend time reading the new testament concerning suffering, it seems to me that it is in fact a central concept. I have heard mentioned a few times in the past few weeks at small group that BBC focus on suffering, while other churches focus on etc, etc, etc...

This morning I realized perhaps what is going on. The new testament talks about it in a way that's like this, "and after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you!" This is encouraging right?! At BBC it seems to be more like this, "you're going to suffer if you're a Christian, this life isn't easy, deal with it!" Not really encouraging to me.

(I'm making a point here so I'm being drastic about it...)

But I think the real difference is that the NT talks about it in a way that focus more on the end result of the suffering, namely your reward in heaven, and BBC talks about it in a way that mainly combats the American, fluffy, desire to be happy and have everything handed to us on a platter, complaining spirit (which I'm never guilty of). I don't thing BBC has a wrong view, I think they're probably just trying to not foster a "lazy" spirit.

What do you think? I think I'm on to something here. Realizing this will help me hear it now and deal with it more healthily.

Last Tuesday's Activity

Member #1:

• Learning a new language without a text book
• Gardening - planning, planting, weeding...flowers
• Talking with one person who is very different from me (after getting over the anxiety...)
• Sailing on a small boat, with a special person, on a sunny (but not too hot) day, with a great but not too strong wind.
• Learning something random; a new skill, fact.

Member #2:

• Being outside in beautiful weather
• Exercising - especially outside
• Traveling - experiencing new places/people
• Sitting with a cup of coffee or tea and a book in the morning
• Wine and cheese picnics

Member #3:

• Photography
• Volleyball
• Snowmobile
• Hike
• Play music

Member #4

• Wake-board
• Songs
• Learning
• Creating
• Casual-competitive sports

Member #5:

• Cooking
• Sitting in the library or bookstore
• Shopping
• Staying in resorts/hotels
• Traveling/camping/living in less than desirable circumstances
• Anything Latin/living and being with Latino/Latin food/salsa dancing

Member #6:

• Bake break
• Watch old movies
• Go on walks
• Read
• Quilt

Member #7:

• Befriending people not like myself
• Photo-taking and editing
• Learning (example: a language)
• Exploring place I have not seen before (new place in the world, state, city, etc.)
• Driving all sorts of vehicles over all sorts of terrains.

See if you can remember who was who. Terry, can you figure out who's who?

Convicted

I was convicted after small group for my flawed thinking, so I changed the way I think.

After we read our passage from Colossians, I was convicted that I'm not extending our children the same grace and patience that I extend to the adults. This was manifest to me when I was getting frustrated that all the children we crying instead of sleeping.

They are just as much a part of our small group as the adults, therefore I ought to extend the same amount of grace to them, and therefore complete our vision for the group. It is nothing short of contradiction that I talk about adjusting our agenda to accommodate the needs of the group members, but have only the adults in mind - pure selfishness.

So, I'm sorry for my lack of compassion.

This will definitely help me to temper myself when we have our discussion concerning childcare and group functionality.

I'm blessed by all of you (that includes you Jamin, Ira, Graydon, Baby Harms, Elijah, Corban, and Jadon).

lean mean grillin' machine

Man = ?

Emily and I had a good discussion after church today. It was spawned by hearing the words "man" and "sin" used many, many times together frequently.

Is "man" synonymous with "sin"?

Emily and I came to the conclusion, "not entirely", but it is sure talked about that way a lot. It is incomplete to stop at man = sin, because man equals at least one more thing that is very, very important, namely, created in the image of God.

Is it fair to say, "apart from God all we can do is sin."?

It says at the end of Romans 14 that "whatever does not come from faith is sin." True for both the believer and non-believer.

Here's the progression I have trouble with.

1. A non-believer performs an act of service (like helping save someone's life at a car accident scene).
2. It's a sin because it does not proceed from faith.
3. Sin deserves punishment.
4. A non-believer doesn't have a propitiator.
5. Therefore the non-believer suffers more of God's wrath in hell because the performed an act of service.
6. It would have been the same for the non-believer if he had just sat there and watched the person die, even though he could have helped.

I don't know about this, it's troubling to me, and perhaps I thinking about things all wrong.

Emily and I came to the conclusion that for the non-believer, an act of service toward someone else out of a "genuine" heart isn't a wrath-heaping act, though it doesn't achieve the ultimate purpose of glorifying God. Our rational for this is that, the non-believer is created in God's image, and when performing acts of service is doing what he or she is created to do, and that shouldn't be something that produces for them more wrath.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. I know there really isn't such a thing as "neutrality" in Christendom, but I'm a little confused on this one.

Let me sum up my thoughts with these statements:

1. When the believer serves it blesses God and people.
2. When the believer sins and repents, the wrath is absorbed through Jesus' atonement.
3. When the non-believer serves it blesses people, but not God.
4. When the non-believer sins and they don't repent (ie, get saved), they incur wrath for their sin.

word association

What's the first word (or concept) that comes to your mind when you hear the word:

"people"

"man"

"men"

"humans"

Be honest, I'm curious.

Passover Seder

It's been great reading all of the posts. They have been very encouraging to me. It seems like the recognition of and struggle with "worm theology" as Phil referred to it as, is something that has been impressed upon a lot of our hearts recently. Would be good to discuss more.

Thanks also, Em for your post. Also very encouraging and very non-worm theology-ish. :)

On another note, Terry and I were wondering if anyone would be interested in participating in a traditional passover seder at our house next Tuesday by a very non-traditional messianic rabbi. Our brother-in-law, Matt Rosenberg (Terry's sister's husband) and his family will be staying with us next Monday and Tuesday night. Terry and I have always wanted to start the tradition of having a passover seder in our family and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to start! As most of you know, Matt is a messianic rabbi and is currently between synagogues. We asked him if he would want to do a seder with our family and any of our small group members who would want to join us and he was really excited about it.

SO...you are all welcome to come to our house next Tuesday! Just let us know if you are planning on coming or not. Maybe I will try and set up child care as well??? What does everyone think? Childcare? Or no childcare? If we do childcare maybe we can meet earlier in the evening, so the sitter does not have to put the kids to bed. And all chip in a few bucks. We might need two sitters because our two nieces will be here too. OK, please let us know your thoughts/opinions about all of this!

Stacy

raised to be shown His kindness

The other morning I had a sweet time meditating on Ephesians 2:4-7. 

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when

we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

It is a text I have read and heard hundreds of times. But that morning, the Spirit impressed something new upon my heart and mind. I was raised with Christ, SO THAT God could lavish me with His kindness today and for all eternity. He raised me from the dead to show me His kindness! 

Other Thoughs on Worm Theology

This is a great post [Worm Theology], thanks Phil. This is a topic Mel and I have talked quite a bit about, not particularly using the phrase “worm theology,” but just how there is a tendency to beat ourselves up within the theological circles we are currently in. I was really encouraged just yesterday by the message at Jubilee. It was about how Paul planted churches and then went around encouraging and building up the believers at those churches. An illustration was given of Mike Tyson, and how his trainer made him into the great boxer that he was by constantly telling him how great he was, how many talents he had, etc.. Even though there was obviously much work to be done in the training.

There is a word that is used all over the book of Acts (and all over the N.T., for that matter). It is paraklesis, the same word used of the Holy Spirit as Comforter and Counselor. The idea is of one coming alongside to encourage and exhort. It’s the word used when describing Barnabas as the son of encouragement, and even N.T. prophets are spoken of as ones who strengthen and encourage (Acts 15:32).

I heard a ministry leader from North Carolina once say that he thought that there was an incredible spirit of ‘unworthiness’ over this whole area (Minnesota) among many of our churches. That churches tended to beat on their flocks, contributing to this general sense of ‘unworthiness’ and spiritual depression. I believe this was an accurate discernment of some the enemy’s schemes here. We need to move in the opposite spirit, namely that of grace and and of mercy, as Phil mentioned.

Brothers and sisters, you are transformed (1 Cor 3:18), beloved children (John 1:12; Luke 15:20), possesors of a good heart (Ez 36:26; Luke 6:45), and incredibly gifted (Eph 4:8; 1 Cor 12:7) for many works of service that will glorify our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s strive to excel in building up the church!! (1 Cor 14:12)

Stinkin English (Language)!

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Ez 36: 26-27

"My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Ex 33:14

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt 11:28

"Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." Rev 2:10

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever..." John 14:16

"Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything." 2 Tim 2:7

"...and he will give you the desires of your heart." Ps 37: 4b

So, do you think the Psalm 37 reference should be taken literally like the above texts, or do you think they should have translated it "fulfill"?

How have you always understood this text? This text has always confused me. I hear people reference it like it means he will "fulfill" the desires you have, but it reads like he will "put the desires in you."

It seems recently that I'm really baffled by the word choices they use in Bible translations. I suppose they just want to be consistent and translate a word the same every time it's used.

Someone should make a translation for white, middle class, 30 year-olds who were raised in a rural setting but now live in the metro as a carpenter.

Thoughts?

Happy Birthday Emily

Happy birthday love, I love you so much!

Worm Theology

Excerpt taken from Wikipedia:

Worm Theology is a term used for the conviction in Christian culture that in light of God's holiness and power an appropriate emotion is a low view of self. Some might suggest that because of this view God is more likely to show mercy and compassion. The name may be attributed to a line in the Isaac Watts hymn Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed (Pub 1707) [1], which says "Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?" This thinking was prevalent in the days when this hymn was originally written, perhaps because there was also a higher view of God. Furthermore, worm theology can be attributed to a recognition of the ugliness of sin, resulting in contrition.

Some might suggest adherents of worm theology have inner wounds that they are not necessarily aware of, and such a belief just matches what they feel about themselves and sometimes others. On the other hand God detests sin so much because it separates us from Himself; it could then be argued that in our sin we are as worms in God's sight.

C.S. Lewis expresses the view, "Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good-above all, that we are better than someone else-I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil. The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object." (Mere Christianity 1952, P.124)

I have been wrestling with this lately, and been having some discussion with the pastors at BBC. The older I get, and now especially that I have children, I am noticing a "way of speaking" that I don't think gets as the heart of God for us, his children.

For example, the last line of the Lewis quote above, "The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object." Is this really how God wants me to view myself? If I (me, Phil Carlson in the flesh just as I am) "have been filled with him" (Col 2:10), should I really see myself as a "small, dirty object?" Wouldn't this be to the disgrace of Jesus in me?

For many years I used to think that the concept of Jesus in me was like eating food, that Jesus wasn't really a part of me, he was just inside me. If I have been "transformed" (Rom 12:2), there should be no divorce of Phil Carlson and Jesus Christ. I am NOT saying I am Jesus, but I have been completely transformed into his image, and I'm being made into his likeness as we dwell here in both kingdoms. I'm not solely who I once was, I'm something different.

Perhaps the problems therein lies, we are in two worlds. There is still the venom of the old man in me, yet I have been transformed, decisively forever. If I only view myself as being the old man, and Christ as being something outside me, I fall pray to worm theology, something I think grieves the heart of God.

So, the way of speaking I am getting at is language often heard at BBC. I think it spoken out of a heart of humility before God, and a way of glorifying God.

Here are some examples that I can recall:

• We are nothing, you are everything!
• There is nothing good in us.
• Love isn't you making much of us, it's you allowing us to make much of you.

There is nothing theologically wrong with these phrases, it's just after hearing them for 10 years there are starting to causing me to develop a condition that is unhealthy, namely depression.

God revealed himself as a father, so I think I'm warranted in drawing conclusions like this. When I think about my relationship with Corban, there are a times when he's disobedient and we have a break in the relationship. Once we have been restored, the last thing I want him to think is, "daddy sees me as a disobedient child who screws up all the time, and he wants me to dwell on the fact that I'm a failure." I want him to, and hope he does think, "daddy loves me unconditionally as his son, and he loves me even when I make mistakes, and once we are healed, he forgets about what I did, and wants me to forget about it too"

Just like a diet of too many carbs, with too few proteins and fibers is unhealthy, a spiritual walk that has too much depravity and not enough grace and mercy is unhealthy.

You are not a worm, you are a beloved child of God.

From Faith For Faith

“The righteous shall live by his faith” Habakkuk 2:4

I was reading in Habakkuk this morning and wanted to pass on some encouragement. Paul quotes the verse above twice in his epistles. He writes that in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed “from faith for faith." (Rom 1:17) What does this mean?

In Galatians 3:11-14 says “it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law… Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us… so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” No one is justified before God by their own works of righteousness according to the law, because this is not reliant on the faithfulness of God, but on the faithfulness of humans. The life of faith is built upon the faithfulness of God!


Application for me this morning (simple yet hard for me to grasp): the life of faith is NOT based on my own faithfulness to God!! It is based on His faithfulness to me, as one who He has grafted in to the faithful remnant of His people. We are being made faithful because He IS faithful!!

From faith (His faithfulness to us) for faith (the life of faith in Him)

(See also Micah 7:18-20)

-B

Happy Birthday Terry

We love you brother!