By It I See

C. S. Lewis:

We believe that the sun is in the sky at midday in summer not because we can clearly see the sun (in fact, we cannot) but because we can see everything else. . . 


I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

To Sacrifice A Higher For A Lower?

John Piper in 1977:
 The only reason for living is the achievement of what you value. Nobody should ever sacrifice a higher value to a lower one. You should always aspire to deciding what you value. Until that happens you cannot make any reasonable steps toward choosing a vocation (or anything else). My highest value is to see God glorified. The way God has guided me to realize that value is through ____________ .

Stop. Think. The only reason for living ... Never a higher value for a lower value ... Always aspire ... My highest value ...

Now fill in the blank.

The Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do

we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go

we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

~Wendell Berry

But one thing I do:

Forgetting what is behind and straining

toward what is ahead,

I press on . . .

~St. Paul

All Head No Heart?

Psalm 63: 1-5 ~ Beautiful words ~ Your love is better than life!

Blaise Pascal was a 17th century Frenchman, who at age 31 experienced the presence of the God and wrote his memoriam that he then sewed inside his coat as a reminder. He was a mathematician and theologian (what a combination!), a real smart and heady guy; an academic, a thinker. Read what this man of the mind wrote:

In the year of grace 1654, Monday 23 November . . .
From about half-past ten in the evening till about half an hour after midnight.

FIRE
God of Abraham. God of Isaac. God of Jacob.
Not of the philosophers and the learned.
Certainty. Joy. Certainty. Emotion. Sight. Joy.
Forgetfulness of the world and of all outside of God . . .
Joy! Joy! Joy! Tears of joy . . .
My God, will you leave me? Let me not ever be separated from you.

A Thought

I heard this said the other day: "The universe is one of God's thoughts."

What does that mean? In light of Colossians 1: 15-20? Do share.

Glory Story

From "Counsel From The Cross":

Living for the glory story is like chasing a mirage: it looks so good out there in the distance, but once we attain the sought-after accomplishment, transformation, or acclamation, we see another on the horizon, and the pool we're standing in is not the refreshing spring we thought it would be; it is only a putrid mud hole or another stretch of bone-dry sand.

We Fix It

Bill''s Testimony from Easter Sunday from Grace Bible Church on Vimeo.