How to confess like a legalist
Have no sorrow for sin, only fixation. A man may well see himself as a sinner and only have a metal tablet of law in the room of examination instead of the God of the universe. A true sense of sin must see it in relation to God, the personal Triune God who is offended by his defamation in our sin.Have no joy hoped for, only the desire for the burden of condemnation lifted. We are called into enjoying God and in sin we turn from that. True sorrow for sin consists of seeing our fellowship with God broken and longs for its restoration. Should one merely desire the weight of condemnation lifted they might as well stop being a Christian.

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...I don't know why, but the sorrow just won't go away. Tomorrow will be three months since we found out we were pregnant; which means that it's been two and a half months since we miscarried. It's strange, my attention for the longest time was towards Michelle - helping her walk through the sorrow and pain. I don't think I lost sight of caring for my own soul before the Lord - there were several nights on my face before God. But lately the miscarriage has continued to be a struggle.In the midst of sorrow, especially prolonged sorrow, the heart becomes difficult to discern. The questions constan

No Lesser Fountain!
Just a quick quote:God has so constituted man, implanting in him such a capacity for happiness, and such boundless and immortal desires for its possession, as can find their full enjoyment only in infinity itself. He never designed that the intelligent and immortal creature should sip its bliss at a lower fountain than himself. ~ Octavius Winslow, Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul, p. 41-42

Exploiting God for All Joy
(A journal meditation from this mornings reading in James 1.)Count trials of various kinds 'all joy' for it produces a faith that is steadfast. For faith to endure, it must be filled with joy. For growth in godliness it must have this deep undertow of joy-filled-persevering faith. Joy (all joy) is the only right response to a God 'who gives generously to all without reproach.' Fear or reproach is not love, and is not the perfected 'all joy' that grows in persistent confidence before the father in loving requests (1 John 4:18). We must grow in exploiting the generosity of God in a desire for the things of God. That is the only way of truly loving God. This is the right way of cou

The Dependent Character of Theology
Last week in class we started out by doing a general overview of what we're covering in the course, and set some basic foundations for the content. One of the best things - and main emphasis - of what we talked about was the fundamentally dependent nature of theology. Dr. Garner read the following quote to the class which I found very powerful:In this sense we speak of a dependent character for Theology. When an absolute stranger falls into the hands of the police, which is no infrequent occurrence anywhere, and steadfastly refuses to utter a single syllable, the police face an enigma which they cannot solve. They are entirely dependent upon the will of that