Praise Jesus for such a good day. T&T invited me over for breakfast again today and took me to church early. After that we dodged out at the end to go feast with Tanya’s parents and siblings and in-laws. One of them is going to be out of commission on Thanksgiving because of surgery, so they had an early dinner for him and his wife together. I love Tanya’s family. (They love me, I know. They told me so.) A few weeks ago when I wasn’t sure about my plans for turkey-day these people were ready to set a place for me. Ma and Pops claim to have adopted me. I have yet to meet their youngest son, Logan, who’s my age, but they assure me that we’ll get along well when we do.
T&T invited me to go see A Streetcar Named Desire at the Naval Academy, but I decided to let this opportunity slide and relax for the rest of the day. I love them, and I’m grateful to everything they do, but I also have a reservation about how much time I spend with them. Maybe it’s social conscientiousness. Maybe it’s self-consciousness. I want them to be a part of my life and I want to spend time with them, but I also want them to enjoy their weekends with each other when they may. They would tell me not to think that way at all and insist that I’m welcome, and I know they’re not lying, but I want to give them breathing room if only for my conscience’s sake.
Praise Jesus for such a good day. The sermon this morning was outstanding. Bret is continuing his series focusing on the way of wisdom. Today’s sermon will eventually be posted here. Last week he spoke about the sexual life of the wise—one of the best sermons I’ve heard in a while—and this week he spoke about humility and pride. After such a weekend as this, with my don rags doing little to temper my pride and produce an ounce of humility, I needed a good reminder of where I stand before God and among men. He’s an excellent teacher, in my opinion.
The topic today was very timely. My roommate and I had a discussion even last night about God’s desire for brokenness, flexibility, and humility in His people. Ethan’s currently dealing with the paradox of wanting to approach God but being afraid to approach God with impurity. He assumed that meant he had to purify himself in some way. This morning as Bret spoke, the Holy Spirit brought up the verses in Luke 18 describing one of Jesus’s parables about self-righteousness and self-justification of the proud versus God’s justification of the humble. The “sinner” (a tax collector in the parable) approached God knowing that he had no righteousness in and of himself and he was completely unworthy in his sin to come before the Lord, but that man left justified. But a “righteous man” (a self-righteous Pharisee) next to him left completely unjustified because he thought that he could justify himself. I explained to Ethan that it’s good to desire purity and justification before God, but I also explained (even from the standpoint of the law) that no man can ever purify or justify himself exclusive of God’s grace.
Praise Jesus for such a good day!
T&T invited me to go see A Streetcar Named Desire at the Naval Academy, but I decided to let this opportunity slide and relax for the rest of the day. I love them, and I’m grateful to everything they do, but I also have a reservation about how much time I spend with them. Maybe it’s social conscientiousness. Maybe it’s self-consciousness. I want them to be a part of my life and I want to spend time with them, but I also want them to enjoy their weekends with each other when they may. They would tell me not to think that way at all and insist that I’m welcome, and I know they’re not lying, but I want to give them breathing room if only for my conscience’s sake.
Praise Jesus for such a good day. The sermon this morning was outstanding. Bret is continuing his series focusing on the way of wisdom. Today’s sermon will eventually be posted here. Last week he spoke about the sexual life of the wise—one of the best sermons I’ve heard in a while—and this week he spoke about humility and pride. After such a weekend as this, with my don rags doing little to temper my pride and produce an ounce of humility, I needed a good reminder of where I stand before God and among men. He’s an excellent teacher, in my opinion.
The topic today was very timely. My roommate and I had a discussion even last night about God’s desire for brokenness, flexibility, and humility in His people. Ethan’s currently dealing with the paradox of wanting to approach God but being afraid to approach God with impurity. He assumed that meant he had to purify himself in some way. This morning as Bret spoke, the Holy Spirit brought up the verses in Luke 18 describing one of Jesus’s parables about self-righteousness and self-justification of the proud versus God’s justification of the humble. The “sinner” (a tax collector in the parable) approached God knowing that he had no righteousness in and of himself and he was completely unworthy in his sin to come before the Lord, but that man left justified. But a “righteous man” (a self-righteous Pharisee) next to him left completely unjustified because he thought that he could justify himself. I explained to Ethan that it’s good to desire purity and justification before God, but I also explained (even from the standpoint of the law) that no man can ever purify or justify himself exclusive of God’s grace.
Praise Jesus for such a good day!
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