Just got 4 new books (one in the mail and three from Tattered Cover Bookstore - a completely splendid independent bookstore out here in Colorado)!

- Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
- The Little Flowers of Saint Francis
- Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon
- The Right Doctrine from the Wrong Text? edited by G.K. Beale

Add them to the stack...
Add them to the stack...
Add them to the stack...

Fascinating

Prepare for your mind to be blown...

Hurray!

Happy Anniversary, favorite book.

On this day in 1951, J.D. Salinger's book The Catcher in the Rye was published.
Thank you, you old hermit, you.

Just In Case You Hadn't Heard...

I am home.

My life has consisted of:
- eating delicious foods
- sleeping in a real bed
- purchasing a beautiful new road bike
- reading for pleasure/personal growth
- hanging out/hiking with my parents
- exploring Denver

Call me!

Beautiful, Humbling Words

I am currently reading a "modernized" version of William Wilberforce's book titled Real Christianity. If you want the original title, Google it - it is pretty lengthy. Anyways, I came across this passage in the second chapter, and absolutely had to put it up here...

"It is my opinion that the majority of Christians overlook, deny or, at the very least, minimize the problems of what it means to be a fallen human being. They might acknowledge that the world has always been filled with vice and wickedness and that human behavior tends towards the sensual and selfish. They might admit that the result of these facts is that in every age we can find innumerable instances of oppression, cruelty, dishonesty, jealousy and violence. They might also admit that we act this way even when we know better. These facts are true; we don't deny them. They are so obvious that it is a mystery why so many still believe in the goodness of human nature. But even though the facts might be acknowledged, the source of the facts is often still denied. These things are rationalized as small failures or periodic problems. Other explanations are given that fail to get to the heart of the matter. Human pride refuses to face the truth. Even the majority of professing Christians tend to think that the nature of humanity is basically good and is only thrown off course by the power of temptation. They believe that sin and evil are the exception, not the rule. The Bible paints a much different picture. The language of Scripture is not for the faint of heart. It teaches that man is an apostate creature, fallen from his original innocence, degraded in his nature, depraved in his thinking, prone toward evil, not good, and impacted by sin to the very core of his being. The fact that we don't want to acknowledge these truths is evidence of their veracity" (28).

But, the Question that Plagues My Mind...

"Is grace enough?"

It will never cease to amaze me how much the natural mind fights against the concepts that the Bible promulgates. Ideas like grace are seemingly unfathomable - almost too simple to even grasp. Truly, our Savior has made foolish the wisdom of the "wise."

Peace.

Do Not Try to Go Beyond this Gospel, Brethren

Phil Johnson over at the Pyromaniacs Blog shares the weekly dose of Spurgeon, in which the sermon chosen deals with the importance of substitution in the atoning work of Jesus.

Here's some notable excerpts:

"He was there, on the cross, in our room, and place, and stead; and as the sinner, by reason of his sin deserves not to enjoy the favor of God, so Jesus Christ, standing in the place of the sinner, and enduring that which would vindicate the justice of God, had to come under the cloud, as the sinner must have come, if Christ had not taken his place."

"The modern doctrine of the apostles of 'culture' is that Jesus Christ did something or other, which, in some way or other, was, in some degree or other, connected with our salvation." (I love that one)

"...if you bring me a gospel which can only be understood by gentlemen who have passed through Oxford or Cambridge University, I know that it cannot be the gospel of Christ."

You can read the whole sermon here.