JD Summers

"His every word of grace is strong As that which built the skies; The voice that rolls the stars..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:26:00 -0400

“His every word of grace is strong
As that which built the skies;
The voice that rolls the stars along
Speaks all the promises.”

- Isaac Watts in “Gadsby’s Hymns” #14

"If a man has Christ, then what does he want else? If a man has Christ, he has everything. If I want..."

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 17:05:00 -0500

“If a man has Christ, then what does he want else? If a man has Christ, he has everything. If I want perfection, and I have Christ, I have absolute perfection in him. If I want righteousness, I shall find in him my beauty and my glorious dress. I want pardon, and if I have Christ, I am pardoned. I want heaven, and if I have Christ, I have the Prince of heaven, and shall be there by-and-bye, to live with Christ, and to dwell in his blessed embrace for ever. If you have Christ, you have all.”

- C.H. Spurgeon

"Oh, to think of heaven without Christ! It is the same thing as thinking of hell. Heaven without..."

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:15:20 -0400

“Oh, to think of heaven without Christ! It is the same thing as thinking of hell. Heaven without Christ! It is day without the sun, existing without life, feasting without food, seeing without light. It involves a contradiction in terms. Heaven without Christ! Absurd. It is the sea without water, the earth without its fields, the heavens without their stars. There cannot be a heaven without Christ. He is the sum total of bliss, the fountain from which heaven flows, the element of which heaven is composed. Christ is heaven and heaven is Christ.”

- C.H. Spurgeon

The Authority of Scripture

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:44:00 -0400

The bible is the word of God the Creator, the Designer, the King and the Judge. As such, it gives us more than a list of do’s and don’ts: it tells us what REALITY is. All other truth claims are counterfeit, myth, or wishful thinking.

"What is the point of the whole Bible? Kill the dragon, get the girl."

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 16:46:01 -0400

“What is the point of the whole Bible? Kill the dragon, get the girl.”

- Doug Wilson

"To run and work the law commands, Yet gives me neither feet nor hands; But better news the gospel..."

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:37:00 -0400

“To run and work the law commands,
Yet gives me neither feet nor hands;
But better news the gospel brings:
It bids me fly and gives me wings.”

- John Berridge, quoted in F.F Bruce’s Romans (TNTC)

"From all my lame defeats and oh! much more From all the victories that I seemed to score; From..."

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:47:00 -0400

“

From all my lame defeats and oh! much more
From all the victories that I seemed to score;
From cleverness shot forth on Thy behalf
At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh;
From all my proofs of Thy divinity,
Thou, who wouldst give no sign, deliver me.

Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, instead
of Thee, their thin-worn image of Thy head.
From all my thoughts,
even from my thoughts of Thee,
O thou fair Silence, fall, and set me free.
Lord of the narrow gate and the needle’s eye,
Take from me all my trumpery lest I die.

”

- CS Lewis, “The Apologist’s Prayer”

"You can’t know what you need to know about God until you know that you need Him"

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 11:04:43 -0400

“You can’t know what you need to know about God until you know that you need Him”

- Pastor Scott Nicoll

"God has preached His gospel through music too."

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:38:59 -0400

“God has preached His gospel through music too.”

- Martin Luther

"Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world..."

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:06:00 -0400

“

Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity - it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God.

In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that - and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison - you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.

”

- CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

"God does not need your good deeds; your neighbor does."

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:17:15 -0400

“God does not need your good deeds; your neighbor does.”

- Martin Luther

Think on These Things

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:35:00 -0400

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
- Philippians 4:8

This is a familiar verse, one that is often memorized and repeated. It seems that often it is stressed in a negative sense … “DON’T think about things that fail to meet this criteria.” While this is a true application and a necessary one, it is easy to miss the admonition to positively set your mind upon these kind of things. We are called to actively and intentionally think. How easy it is to neglect purposefully filling our minds with things that are excellent and honorable and true and worthy of praise.

Paul gives a similar exhortation to the Colossians when he says “set your mind on things above” (Colossians 3:2). This is the call to all who have been made alive in Christ.

And it is ultimately Christ himself, the Incarnate Word, who ultimately represents the most noble and glorious subject to think upon. He is to be the focus of our mind, the Person that we think about and set our mind on.

"I have taken all my good deeds, and all my bad deeds, and have cast them together in a heap before..."

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:35:14 -0400

“I have taken all my good deeds, and all my bad deeds, and have cast them together in a heap before the Lord, and have fled from both to Jesus Christ, and in Him I have sweet peace.”

- David Dickson on his death bed in 1662

"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so..."

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 11:22:00 -0400

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

- The Apostle Paul, Philippians 1:9-11

"What is sin? The glory of God not honored. The holiness of God not reverenced. The greatness of God..."

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:32:00 -0400

“

What is sin?

The glory of God not honored.
The holiness of God not reverenced.
The greatness of God not admired.
The power of God not praised.
The truth of God not sought.
The wisdom of God not esteemed.
The beauty of God not treasured.
The goodness of God not savored.
The faithfulness of God not trusted.
The promises of God not relied upon.
The commandments of God not obeyed.
The justice of God not respected.
The wrath of God not feared.
The grace of God not cherished.
The presence of God not prized.
The person of God not loved.

THAT is sin.

”

- John Piper

Tune My Heart to Sing Thy Grace

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 08:41:00 -0400

The familiar line from Come Thou Fount by Robert Robinson (1758) is one worth thinking on.

The mercies we have received from God in Christ call for “songs of loudest praise” in response, but this song needs to be taught to our hearts by God himself because it does not spring naturally from within us.

A humble and open heart that feels the urgency of this glorious task and at the same time knows its own need is the heart that is prepared to enter into the weekly corporate worship of the church. It will come hungry for the word and longing to participate in song.

Christless Christianity

Thu, 31 May 2012 17:14:17 -0400

One of several books I am reading right now, the analysis of modern day evangelicalism given by Michael Horton in Christless Christianity is pretty intense. In a good way. His concern is that Christianity today is often void of a Christ exalting gospel that portrays man’s greatest need as deliverance from God by God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. He takes steady aim at the narcissism and self-help works-righteousness that permeates the mainline denominations, the Word of Faith movement and even broader evangelicalism.

"I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want..."

Thu, 31 May 2012 17:02:49 -0400

“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”

- CS Lewis, God in the Dock

"16. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less,..."

Thu, 31 May 2012 15:14:02 -0400

“16. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.”

- The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (1722-1723)

"Once you make peace of mind rather than peace with God the main problem to be solved, the gospel..."

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:13:00 -0400

“Once you make peace of mind rather than peace with God the main problem to be solved, the gospel becomes radically redefined.”

- Michael Horton, Christless Christianity