Sunday 31 May 2009

John Hosier on the Word of God

"Scripture doesn't tell us everything we want to know but it tells us all we need to know for living a godly life".

John Hosier cited in Terry Virgo - "Farewell to John & Sue Hosier" - CCK Blog - May 22nd, 2009.

Thursday 28 May 2009

Terry Virgo on MY Kind of Church!!

"Independent individuals retain their personal devotions, do their personal evangelism and sustain their personal walk with God, but where is the family? Where is the intimacy? New converts need to encounter not simply a series of meetings and events but a family dwelling together in love and light where grace is not simply ‘in the air’, but in personal relationships which communicate life, support and strength".

Terry Virgo - "The Family of God – part 2" - Terry Virgo's Blog - May 28th, 2009

Monday 25 May 2009

Rob Rufus on the Number 1 Cause of Stress and Anxiety

"The number one ultimate reason for living with stress and worry and anxiety in your life - and I got this revelation by worry and stress in my life and learning over years! - is not lists that you get in books but it is simply this (and I say this tenderly and without judgement) - stubborn, arrogant pride and a refusal to trust the awesomeness of God".

Rob Rufus - "Stress-Free Living" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 17th May 2009.

Monday 18 May 2009

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Possible "Abuse" of Grace

"The true preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge being brought against it. There is no better way to test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will rebound all the more to the glory of grace".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans; An Exposition of Chapter 6; The New Man" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1972) - (p8).

Jerry Bridges on the "Danger" of License

"Paul realised that his unqualified presentation of the grace of God left him open to being misunderstood. Paul himself knew that his insistence on the pure grace of God without any admixture of commitment or discipline or obedience on our part could cause us to misunderstand him. He knew his readers could respond with this attitude; "Well if that's true, let's go out and sin all we want. The more we sin, the more we cause God's grace to abound".

This type of response is always a possibility. In fact if our concept of grace does not expose us to that possible misunderstanding then we do not throughly understand grace. I believe it is because we are afraid of this attitude that we often change the doctrine of grace into a doctrine of works".

Jerry Bridges - "Transforming Grace - Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love" - Navpress (1991) - (p74).

Jerry Bridges on Praying Our Needs to God

"Think now of what you feel your greatest needs are, both spiritually and temporally. As you bring those needs to God in prayer, which would you rather present to Him as a consideration for meeting those needs; your spiritual disciplines, your obedience and your sacrifice imperfect as they are; or the infinite and perfect merit of Jesus? To ask the question is to answer it - is it not?".

Jerry Bridges - "Transforming Grace - Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love" - Navpress (1991) - (p72).

Jerry Bridges on the Promises of God

"The Bible is full of God's promises to provide for us spiritually and materially, to never forsake us, to give us peace in times of difficult circumstances, to cause all circumstances to work together for our good and finally to bring us safely home to glory. Not one of those promises is dependent on our performance. They are all dependent on the grace of God given to us through Jesus Christ".

Jerry Bridges - "Transforming Grace - Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love" - Navpress (1991) - (p71).

Jerry Bridges on the Operative Kingdom Principle

"In the Kingdom of heaven the operative principle is not merit but grace".

Jerry Bridges - "Transforming Grace - Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love" - Navpress (1991) - (p62).

R C Sproul on Relying on God's Grace

"Perhaps the most difficult task for us to perform is to rely on God's grace and God's grace alone for our salvation. It is difficult for pride to rest on grace. Grace is for other people - for beggars. We don't want to live by a heavenly welfare system. We want to earn our own way and atone for our own sins. We like to think that we will go to heaven because we deserve to be there".

R C Sproul - "Suffering and Merit?" - Tabletalk Magazine - Volume 13 - No 1 - (February 1989) - Ligonier Ministries - Orlando, Florida - (p5).

Jerry Bridges on Experiencing God's Grace (or Not)

"Perhaps the larger reason why we do not experience more of God's grace is our misconception that, having been saved by grace, we must now at least to some degree, "pay our own way" and earn God's blessings in our daily lives ... In fact this misconception that we must pay our own way is more than a mistaken theological notion. It actually springs from the perverse disposition of our hearts - the disposition of pride".

Jerry Bridges - "Transforming Grace - Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love" - Navpress (1991) - (p58).

Jerry Bridges on the Superabundance of God's Grace

"Because we do not comprehend the superabundance of God's grace and generosity, we ask Him for paltry blessings, the fifty-cent variety, when we could be drawing on the abundance of His riches".

Jerry Bridges - "Transforming Grace - Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love" - Navpress (1991) - (p58).

Friday 15 May 2009

Terry Virgo on God's Attitude Towards Us

"Is that how it is with you? Do you obey because you are thoroughly persuaded that God can be trusted? When you know that God plans for you in love and that He is indeed totally for you, why should you not completely trust Him and therefore do what He says?".

Terry Virgo - "Do I have to? (Continued)" - Terry Virgo's Blog - May 15th, 2009

Thursday 7 May 2009

Terry Virgo on Victory Through Promises

"Your giants will hurl cruel taunts at you: ‘You’re stupid and feeble!’ ‘You weren’t wanted in the first place.’ ‘You’re a nobody and no one cares about you.’ You feel the wounds and despise yourself – but you needn’t trail off dejected and despairing. God has given you his stones, his promises. He wants you to lift up your head, pick up those promises and fling the truth at the enemy: ‘God has called me by name. He loves me. I’m chosen and precious and I have a glorious inheritance! I’m going to move on with Jesus. I’ve lived with these negative feelings for years but I’m not going to put up with them any more. From now on I’m going to use the Word of God to overcome. I’m going to step out into the freedom and victory that Jesus has won for me!".

Terry Virgo - "His precious and magnificent promises" - Terry Virgo's Blog - May 6th, 2009.