Tried With Fire

“Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” Jude 1:24, 25. But to the people of God, I have to say this. Dear Brothers and Sisters, we need keeping , therefore let us adore Him who can keep us! As saved souls, we need keeping from final apostasy. “Oh,” says one, “I thought you taught us that those who are once saved shall never finally apostatize.” I do believe that doctrine and delight to preach it—yet it is true that the saved ones would apostatize—everyone of them—if the Lord did not keep them! There is no stability in any Christian, considered in himself. It is the Grace of God within him that enables him to stand. I believe than the soul of man is immortal, yet not in and of itself, but only by the immortality which God bestows upon it from His essential immortality. So is it with ...

I finally started reading  Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch this morning. I had gotten the book on the strength of this podcast interview . His concept of authority and vulnerability is intriguing. Based on the following grid, he argues that we need both. If both are absent or one trait is taken away, we can no longer flourish . Yes, it's a popular buzzword, but think of it as simply being able to fully live as image-bearers of God. pg. 27 Flourishing is NOT : -  the perfect life as seen on TV commercials. - health. - growth. - affluence. - gentrification. Flourishing IS : - a description of a community , not just the property of an individual. (I found this aspect very interesting.) - the presence of true authority, which is the capacity for meaningful action  and a gift given by God to his image bearers. "The sorrow of the whole human story is not that we have authority, it is the way we have misused and neglected authority." (pp. 35, 39) - the p...

I have very strong opinions about books for Christian women. I am tired of the bad theology, and I'm tired of the promotion of cultural norms as being more godly. But I am also very hopeful. I am thankful for women like Hannah Anderson, Aimee Byrd, and Wendy Alsup, whose latest book I have just reviewed. Their books have raised the bar and taken us beyond the pink passages and the pink ghetto of Titus 2-onlyism. Is the Bible Good for Women? tackles Dinah's rape and other passages that would cause many to question the goodness of the Word and ultimately God Himself. How many books for Christian women would dare do that without writing off the very real concerns of women who have suffered abuse and trauma? We need less fluff and more substance. We need sound theology but also its application to real life, not the Christian fairytale. Is the Bible God for Women? does that. Read the review here .

"We love him because he first loved us."—1 John 4:19 I want you not to listen to me so much as to listen to your own hearts, and to God's word, a minute, if you are believers. What is it we have been talking about? It is God's love to us. Get the thought into your head a minute: "God loves me—not merely bears with me, thinks of me, feeds me, but loves me. Oh, it is a very sweet thing to feel that we have the love of a dear wife, or a kind husband; and there is much sweetness in the love of a fond child, or a tender mother; but to think that God loves me, this is infinitely better! Who is it that loves you? God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Almighty, All in all, does he love me? Even he? If all men, and all angels, and all the living creatures that are before the throne loved me, it were nothing to this—the Infinite loves me! And who is it that he loves? Me. The text saith, "us." "We love him because he first loved us." But this is the ...

I smiled when I read this passage by Amos Yong  in Aliens in the Promised Land  (pg. 52 ) because I've had almost those exact thoughts cross my mind. My variation would be: "I wonder sometimes if being Asian in what for some is still a starkly black-and-white American South protects me to some degree. I also wonder if people will like me less if I begin to write and speak more intentionally about racism and racialization. Perhaps I am "safe" because I have blended in so well by talking and writing about matters that are acceptable for a reformed, Christian woman. Because...    If you discuss domestic violence, oppression of women, or misogyny, you might be labeled a feminist.    If you raise issues regarding poverty or race, people may begin to wonder if you are sliding down the slippery slope toward religious liberalism." My blog started out with personal accounts of life struggles and the dawning of the doctrines of grace on my heart, which I st...

 “If Christ is not risen, then is our preaching in vain, and your faith is also in vain; you are yet in your sins.” But if Christ is risen, then I know where I am. If it is really so, that He is God in human flesh—if He took my sin and bore the consequences of it, and made a clear sweep of it from before the judgement seat of the Most High—and if His rising, again, is God’s testimony that the work is done and that Christ, who stood as Substitute for me, is accepted for me, oh, hallelujah, hallelujah! What more do I need, but to praise and bless the name of Him who has saved me with an effectual salvation? Now will I work for Him! Now will I spend and be spent in His service! Now will I hate every false way, and every sin, and seek after purity and holiness, but not, in any sense, as the groundwork of my confidence! My one hope for time and eternity is JESUS, only JESUS! Jesus crucified and risen from the dead!  I do not know any passage of Scripture which, more thoroughly th...

Several years ago, we helped my parents move to an independent living facility. For those of you who have moved elderly parents, you know what it's like. If your parents lived through the Great Depression or a similar economically trying circumstance, you also know the added challenge. Not only is there the accumulation of decades' worth of stuff, nothing is thrown away for fear it might be needed. Consequently we sorted through trunks, boxes, and bags not sure of what we would find. There were treasures such as correspondence between my dad and his siblings during his college days. But there were also many items over which we just shook our heads and then tossed into the trash. This wasn't my junk. I didn't tuck it away in the attic, but it was my problem because it was my family. I was talking to my daughter recently about the difficulty in discussing racial issues among Christians. Some think others are making it out to be more of a problem than it currently is....

“Come now, you that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. For that you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live, and do this or that. But now you rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:13-17 Still, whether you write, “If the Lord wills” or not, always let it be clearly understood. And let it be conspicuous in all your arrangements that you recognize that God is over all and that you are under His control. When you say, “I will do this or that,” always add, in thought, if not in words, “If the Lord wills.” No harm can come to you if you bow to God’s sovereign sway.  We should recognize God in the affairs of the future, because first, there is a divine will ...

ht: Savage Chickens

"Hidden Figures" is one of the best books that I've read in a long time. It combines history, science, and some of the most inspiring women you could ever meet. I was so proud of Dorothy, Katherine, and Mary and the strides they made as scientists and black women during an era that discriminated against them as African Americans and women. I could not help but think about the women scientists in my family who immigrated to North America. Their circumstances were different from the women in the book, but there were strong similarities. In fields dominated by white men, they worked hard to get an education and jobs in their respective fields with the goal of making life better for their families here and back home. It wasn't about pursuing self-actualization but to help as many of the extended family as possible to immigrate. I am very proud of my parents and aunts and uncles. But it hit me recently that it took "Hidden Figures" to make me realize that I ...

I have several missionary heroes, and one of them is J. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission (CIM). My roots hail from China, and the first Christians in my family were my paternal grand-grandmother and my maternal grandparents. Their conversions were the act of the Holy Spirit, of course, but through the means of missionary labor. These unknown saints may not have been associated with CIM, but Taylor left his mark on missions in general and China in particular. European imperialism was sweeping through Asia at the time. Countries were subject to gunboat diplomacy and trade agreements in favor of the conquerors. I don't know if the British opinion of the Chinese was the same as the sentiments in North America , but I think it would be safe to say that there was very little sense of equality. However, Hudson Taylor's attitude was quite different, which is perhaps one of the reasons he is so respected. Taylor adopted the dress, living quarters, eating habits,...

Now, notice very carefully that if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, and this certifies that a new creation has taken place upon every man who is in Christ, whether by nature he was a Jew or Gentile, a moralist or a rake, a philosopher or a fool! When a man is converted and brought to Christ, he has invariably become a new creature. If he has believed in Jesus only three minutes, yet he is a new creature! And if he has known the Lord 70 years he can be no more. A new creation is a new creature and in this matter there is no difference between the babe in grace and the father in Israel! As this creation is common to all the saints, so is it immediate and present . “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature.” It is not spoken of as a something that is to happen to him in the last article of death, wherein some seem to hope that many wonderful changes will be worked in them! But he who is in Christ is a new creature now . “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails a...