known by the fruit

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Luke 6:43-45

Jesus is hope incarnate

We cannot treat the Bible as a collection of therapeutic insights. To do so distorts its message and will not lead to lasting change. If a system could give us what we need, Jesus would never have come. But he came because what was wrong with us could not be fixed any other way. He is the only answer, so we must never offer a message that is less than good news. We don't offer people a system; we point them to a Redeemer. He is hope.

From Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, Paul David Tripp, pg. 9

On every day, and not just Thanksgiving, we have something - Someone - to be truly thankful for: a Redeemer that came to lead us out from Darkness and into Light.

"Jesus is to be mass-produced, imprinted on metal, given a reflective coat and sold for money."

Jesus on a license plate.

His crown of thorns will lie just beneath the "FLORIDA" across the top of the plate; his outstretched arms will be truncated to the left and right by the tag numbers, so that one does not actually see the cross, the nails, the wounds — no, we would not have that! The words "SUNSHINE STATE" will be stamped across his unscathed, unlashed torso. And yet, if even this censored Passion is still too strong for one's taste, the Legislature is producing an alternative "faith" plate as well, that one with a stained-glass window, a prettied-up cross and the slogan, "I Believe."

Is Jesus Enough?

That's the question Brant Hansen has had on his mind.

My name is Brant, and I'm on mind-altering drugs. And that is both the best first line, ever, on this blog, and -- distressingly --it's also quite true.

Read the rest, please.

What would Jesus damn?

Read this. And don't forget to have your brain with you when you do.

goodbye, Cindy

It seems that everyone - even the mighty MSM - is talking about this post over at Markos' place. There are some who bemoan her decision to drop out of the spotlight, while many more are castigating her for not doing so sooner. I'm sure it was a hard decision for her to make, and a hard letter to write. It's not like there's a lot of people out there who would speak openly about the despair and heartache they feel at the loss of a child.

Consider this:

The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing. His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives. It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most.

I wonder if Cindy considers that the way she views her son's death is the way many Christians may think about the work of Christ on the cross. So many people don't believe in Him. His own followers, except for maybe a few women, left him to hang on the cross. People would rather spend time amusing themselves than following Christ's example of "taking up the cross and following Him."

I've never felt anything, really, but sadness and fear for Ms. Sheehan. Sadness about the loss of her son, and fear that she won't be able to see anything beyond that. She seems to have now given up on the one thing that kept her going. Where does that leave her?


(Thanks to Mark Byron for linking to this post. If you haven't stopped by his blog, you need to - he has a great way with words!)

the atonement

Go to Dr. Warnock's blog for his series.

Can the Democratic Party truly understand Christians?

Not if the chairman of their party expresses ignorance about what Easter really means.

"Middle Class American culture is not the reason the Son of God spilled His own blood."

Read this post, and not just because I make a comment in the meta about how I think people don't read Rolling Stone much anymore - noting Frank's age demographic at the same time - and he puts me on a list.

A taste:

But the question is this: is it the secular culture we have to win? See: I thought that Jesus came to establish a new Heavens and a new Earth, not to try to make the one we have wrecked into one in which Victoria's Secret only sells stuff to married women, but doesn't target unmarried women because that would be profitable.

Jesus didn't come here, giving up His rightful place on the throne of Heaven and the active praise of creatures which will make you cry out in fear because they are flames of fire, and die on a cross so we can have a global America. Middle Class American culture is not the reason the Son of God spilled His own blood. He did not walk out of the tomb to hand you the keys to a new SUV or a house with a nice, flat sod yard.

Happy Easter

I have returned from hiatus. My sojourns to Florida are over... for the present. Who knows when I shall make it down there again? Certainly not on Duke's dime, which - I don't think that I ever mentioned it by name - is my wife's former place of employment. Surely you got from my coy post below that she was let go, right? Ah, injustice! It happens to so many people. Several family members were unfairly terminated from their jobs, so it's nothing new to us. Since my wife is no longer there, I have no problems pointing them out.

Some of you may ask: Brownie, do you have pictures from your sunny journeys? To that I will say: I had pictures, but no longer. The story - and there is one - will be forthcoming...

Anyway, I am back. Let me direct you to this post by La Shawn, which gives the right sentiments on this most-celebrated day of the Christian faith.

[6+1 thoughts about Jesus]

Joe Carter writes that he doesn't often mention Jesus by name on his blog, but he has put together six thoughts he currently has about the Son of God.

Let me add one of my own:


Jesus didn't come to earth to be a nice guy.

He didn't come so that I could feel comfortable. He didn't come so that I could live my life as I please without receiving any judgments whatsoever. He didn't come so that I could drive around in an SUV while ignoring the sufferings of others. He didn't come so that I could, as Fleetwood Mac might say, go my own way.

He didn't say to the woman at the well (who had been married numerous times and was currently living with some guy), "Yeah, relationships are tough, aren't they? Keep trying to work on yours, and don't let other people's opinions get you down."

He didn't say to the rich young ruler who asked how to obtain eternal life, "You got all that money, so you must be doing something right to be blessed by God like that. Whatever it is, keep it up."

He didn't say to Zaccheus (who, as a tax collector for the Roman empire, regularly stole money from his own people), "Man, you're working for the government. Represent!"

He didn't say to the woman caught in adultery, "At least you were loving someone. Love is the only thing that matters, and it's all you need."

No, Jesus said to follow Him. He is calling us to deny ourselves and to take up our cross daily (Mark 8:34,35). He says that if we do not take up our cross and follow Him, we aren't worthy of him (Matthew 10:38) He wants us to die to ourselves (Romans 6:11). His desire is that we go and sin no more (John 8:11). He wants us to lose our life for his sake and the Gospel's sake. He longs for us to kill our own passions and desires (Galations 5:24).

Crystal Lewis sings that Jesus wants us to "come just as you are." That's certainly true, but He doesn't expect us to stay that way.