The Tension of Love, Forgivness, and Justice

D. A. Carson’s  book, Love in Hard Places (Wheaton: Crossway, 2002) has  challenged me in the past  on the topic of love and forgiveness.   I have and will continue to have the tension that he talks about in the following paragraph from page 83-84:

“The preceding Scriptures suggest that Christians experience an
unavoidable tension. On the one hand, they are called to abandon bitterness,
to be forbearing, to have a forgiving stance even where the
repentance of the offending party is conspicuous by its absence; on the
other hand, their God-centered passion for justice, their concern for
God’s glory, ensure that the awful odium of sin is not glossed over. The
former stance without the latter quickly dissolves into a mushy sentimentality
that forgets how vile sin is; the latter stance without the former
easily hardens into rigid recriminations, self-righteous wrath,
unbending retaliation.”

You can read the book for free as a pdf file by clicking this link: Love in Hard Places

I look forward to worshiping with you on the Lord’s Day!

With prayer,  Pastor Mark

What are your plans for Bible reading in 2012?

If you are looking for a Bible reading plan for 2012, check out the esvbible.org site for 12 different plans from which to choose.

http://about.esvbible.org/resources/reading/

You can sign up and log on to read the ESV with any of these plans and have your progress tracked.  Watch the short video to lean all about it.   Or you can chose to print the plan of your choice or choose from a number of other ways to get the plan delivered to you for daily use.

God’s Word does its work in our hearts in every age and time:

Nehemiah 8:5-10  And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood.   And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.  Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places.  They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.   And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.
Neh 8:10  Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Learning to Know God! Books other than the Bible that have helped me . . .

Today I picked up “The Pursuit of God” by A. W. Tozer  to read it again. If you have never read this book, I encourage you to get a copy and read it in 2012

Quote from Chapter one: “Following Hard after God”

“When religion has said its last word, there is little that we need other than God Himself.  The evil habit of seeking God-and  effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation.  In the and lies our great woe. if we omit the and  we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our loves been secretly longing” (pg.18).

Click here to read “The Pursuit of God”  online

As I thought of this book I asked myself the question, “What other books have helped me to know God and build my relationship with Him?”

Two books immediately came to my mind:

“Knowing God”  by  J. I. Packer

“When People are Big and God is Small”   by Edward T. Welch

These books would make good gifts for a person who likes to read, think, and be challenged spiritually in their walk with God.

With prayer,  Pastor Mark