tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48244804925315552822024-03-12T19:32:01.754-07:00I, Michael, The SinnerMike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-19947603356169338412024-02-10T01:54:00.000-08:002024-02-10T01:54:07.818-08:00You Must Be a Good Listener in Order to Become a Great Speaker - Brian Synnott <p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yFjVuUv7dmOxHNOLRKC-l0tI_PwaYnMZaZyQPBh769FyOOe_nCP1Dc-UJk_tO9-ZsNj5MNyQMlgui987Q5W5TqlHdDVkMcuhLtnEn1ObNLcEmjONt3wRZuwPZ5PCioGtDcnEAIlRdraiy10wUPiCbm3xOFlp6lBvH2_FcjklRFCDor0BKOtkfRA3DuU/s1500/BrianSynnot.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yFjVuUv7dmOxHNOLRKC-l0tI_PwaYnMZaZyQPBh769FyOOe_nCP1Dc-UJk_tO9-ZsNj5MNyQMlgui987Q5W5TqlHdDVkMcuhLtnEn1ObNLcEmjONt3wRZuwPZ5PCioGtDcnEAIlRdraiy10wUPiCbm3xOFlp6lBvH2_FcjklRFCDor0BKOtkfRA3DuU/s320/BrianSynnot.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> https://open.spotify.com/episode/5CzFhElNFm2wZa91PvraQt?si=03c5c5c596ed4140 </p>Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-61193254086836992972024-02-10T01:50:00.000-08:002024-02-10T01:50:06.484-08:00Expository Teaching Inoculates Congregations Against False Teaching<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Brian Synnott on how expository preaching combats heresy </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyRA5sx5ZcWlB2f5njI-JukSXATlfb19de_s4mqYa03VWytWeDKGnriZSVSzXnXO8AC2H0W1Fwh5GcoNi3fXg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> https://expositorscollective.org?ppplayer=e241c0aeaf9fe7d23a97dbdba7a0b780&ppepisode=22275f7df16d461e904ed3deb90ac40c </div><br /> <p></p>Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-84495771648088546992024-01-31T03:58:00.000-08:002024-01-31T04:04:23.070-08:00Carey Nieuwhof interview for Expositors Collective Podcast <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/4SHUjRbgu3Y0gbrxjocSVL?si=c35604991230422f" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw41DY3K0TDiQZwvugSWUvmrWfBdpqxSbhpI6pbDEi-ie08nry8kLTwi1L4iNFKvfSuJ2b7OYvVWsB6UogN3SmWc4Yu2T9Rh0OfigVtUZc40ya5YtG8OYFnK51jITmbfTdnPIRxP7R35OAfZN79rEQg9DyCzNowbRIH5LeKa4WZw0uU69rmF7gexjjg6I" width="240" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">https://youtu.be/lhvlqYdEUrc?si=juPKhf6qVjIrUgm3 </div><p></p>Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-44214966381943033602017-04-27T02:00:00.003-07:002017-04-28T02:43:06.515-07:00What is the responsibility that God has given us? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1ilBJv1BtGg/WQGzH0rRCqI/AAAAAAAACes/dwZAkr5g4QwPv0JvsfQAoiiUUuKl23nNQCLcB/s1600/33125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1ilBJv1BtGg/WQGzH0rRCqI/AAAAAAAACes/dwZAkr5g4QwPv0JvsfQAoiiUUuKl23nNQCLcB/s1600/33125.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1">One of the most tragic errors the church can make is to emphasise the work that believers should be doing for God. How many times have you heard heavy, condemning sermons that tell you, “You ought to be praying more! You ought to be giving more! You ought to be witnessing more, or reading your Bible more, or serving God on some committee more!” How often do you go to church looking for encouragement only to hear about your failure and how disappointed God must be with you? </span></div>
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<span class="s1">The last thing I need i for someone to lay a heavy burden on me about my failures. I know I ought to be doing more. No one needs to tell me that I don’t pray enough or read my Bible enough or give to God enough. All I get from such messages is a huge guilt complex. My frustration increases because I really want to love God more, to pray more, to have a deeper fellowship with Him. When we place our emphasis on areas of failure, we end up creating defeated, discouraged Christians who give up and drop out of the race. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">What a different message we see when we turn to the New Testament! It highlights not what we ought to be doing for God, but what God has already done for us. What we can do for God can never be enough. Our efforts at righteousness are always marred by our imperfections. What what God has done for us is perfect, beautiful, complete, and fantastic. How sad that we have reversed the equation and constantly harp upon our responsibility instead of God’s wonderful grace! This is why we see so much of the church on the verge of dying out. We don’t need someone to remind us of our failures as much as we need someone to show us the way out of our predicament. We need grace, not guilt. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">God has given you one simple responsibility: to believe in His promise. You can enjoy the blessing of a relationship with God even though you may not pray enough, or give enough, or sacrifice enough because of your faith in what God has already done for you.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">God made Jesus to be sin for you that you might be made the righteousness of God through Him. Jesus imparts to you His righteousness when you simply place your faith and trust in the work He has done for you. His work is all of grace. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Why Grace Changes Everything</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Harvest House Publishers, 1995 </span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-77712732364005268282016-12-20T05:18:00.001-08:002016-12-20T05:18:48.950-08:00My attempt to encourage Gospel centred preaching <div class="aHz" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/183215461">E8 Gospel Centered Preaching</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/calvarychapel">Calvary Chapel</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-67641054690668369262015-04-13T14:16:00.003-07:002015-04-13T14:16:38.818-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its not enough that we simply know truth. God wants us to <i>feel it,</i> to believe it, and to apprehend it in the deepest, most personal way. He wants us to be able to say, “The cross is for me. The empty tomb is for me. Forgiveness and adoption and redemption are mine because I am united with Jesus Christ! <i>Jesus loves me!</i> Jesus is with me!”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joshua Harris, </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dug Down Deep </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Multnomah, 2010, pg 191</span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-2594538899908020932015-04-07T04:29:00.002-07:002015-04-07T04:29:34.847-07:00What does it mean to be forgiven? <div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The forgiveness of all sins! From your childhood to your old age! The sins of fourscore years, if you have lived so long! Your public misdemeanors, your private trespasses, your overt acts, your secret thoughts, your uttered words, your smothered wishes—the whole catalog all unrolled of your transgressions and [iniquities] shall be at once blotted out from the book of God's remembrance, if you trust in Jesus Christ! <u>They shall not be laid to your charge</u>. However black the list, or long the inventory, do but trust in this Man and they shall be all forgiven you! He that confesses his sin and comes to Jesus shall find mercy! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />- C.H. Spurgeon<br />Simple Fact and Simple Faith</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(No. 3547)</span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-68524354374724373682014-11-15T01:23:00.001-08:002014-11-15T01:23:20.306-08:00Why Preach Leviticus?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M9H7e7GysAY/VGcbYgHoCyI/AAAAAAAABwI/OPmFAyMgltA/s1600/Leviticus-Sermon-Art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M9H7e7GysAY/VGcbYgHoCyI/AAAAAAAABwI/OPmFAyMgltA/s1600/Leviticus-Sermon-Art.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Similarly, if you only look at the highlights of the Pentateuch, you’ll preach the famous stories, but you’ll probably also miss what the Holy Spirit has to say through much of Leviticus. Chapter after chapter of regulations about sacrifices, offerings, washings, purifications, and the like does not seem at first to make for good, exciting sermons. Yet all that concern for purity in sacrifice is a crucial part of the Christian story. <i>It was pointing to the ultimate sacrifice of the perfectly obedient One, who shed His blood so that we could be forgiven once for all.</i> Jesus paid it all. His blood washes clean. <br />That is why the book of Leviticus is important, and why we need to preach it even if it’s not filled with dramatic stories. Do our people feel the burden and weight of sin that called for such detailed regulations and rituals? Do they feel the release and exaltation of not having to do these things every day, of not having to sit outside the tent, of not having to worry about being ritually unclean? By the power of the gospel, there is no one who needs to be unclean or unrighteous in God’s sight, for sinners are washed one for all in the blood of the Lamb. Every text - not just the ones we know well - cries out about the Lord Jesus Christ. <br /> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Al Mohler, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He is not silent, Moody Publishers, 2008 Pg. 96-97 </span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-22976081884058923072014-09-24T08:13:00.003-07:002014-09-24T08:13:46.665-07:00Forgiven AND Accepted.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://cache.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/465414-bigthumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cache.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/465414-bigthumbnail.jpg" height="255" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The voice that spells forgiveness will say: <br />"You may go, you have been let off the penalty which your sins deserve." <br />But the verdict which means acceptance [justification] will say: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"You may come; you are welcome to all My love and My presence." <br /><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Marcus Loane </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1911-2009 </span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-15176929326282452032014-04-19T09:30:00.000-07:002014-04-19T09:30:01.161-07:00Holy Saturday <div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Grant, O Lord, that as we are baptised into the death of Thy blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, so by continual mortifying our corrupt affections we may be buried with Him; and that through the grave, and gate of death, we may pass to our joyful resurrection ; for His merits, who died, and was buried, and rose again for us, Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Book of Common Prayer<br />Easter Even, Collect</span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-33086294798251926172014-03-27T04:16:00.000-07:002014-03-27T04:16:00.149-07:00Why does God explain Himself?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.wycliffe.ca/wycliffe/ck_assets/blog-16/images/Lois%20father%20Bible.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.wycliffe.ca/wycliffe/ck_assets/blog-16/images/Lois%20father%20Bible.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Providential happenings may serve to remind us, more or less vividly, that God is as work (cf. Acts 14:17), but their link, if any, with His saving purposes cannot be known until He Himself informs us of it. No event is self-interpreting at this level. The Exodus, for instance, was only one of many tribal migrations that history knows (cf. Amos 9:7); Calvary was only one of many Roman executions. Whoever could have guessed the unique saving significance of these events, had not God Himself spoken to tell us? <br /> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">J.I. Packer, God Has Spoken, Revelation and the Bible, Hodder and Stoughton Ltd, 1979, pg. 76</span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-41898160034282671012014-03-25T04:02:00.003-07:002014-04-18T14:56:57.152-07:00Why have we been made acceptable before God?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wORVCzJCSMo/UzFiMSnhMPI/AAAAAAAABlI/-6cQhCTkLYg/s1600/ZechariahJoshua.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wORVCzJCSMo/UzFiMSnhMPI/AAAAAAAABlI/-6cQhCTkLYg/s1600/ZechariahJoshua.jpg" height="400" width="251" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of Satan’s favourite ploys is to accuse us before God, pointing out that we have no righteousness of our own and therefore no right to stand in God’s presence. Once again, we are faced with a half truth that can easily lead us astray, if we are not careful. As a statement of fact, Satan is right to say that we are unworthy to stand before God, but in saying this he is not reckoning with God’s grace and mercy, to both of which he is a stranger. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A classic example that illustrates this occurs in Zechariah 3:1-2, where the prophet has a vision of the high priest who is clothed in filthy rags and is therefore unworthy to perform the all-important task of making atonement for the sins of the people. But the high priest, who is called Joshua, is saved by God, and Joshua’s atoning sacrifice is accepted because he has taken the sins of the people on himself. His filthy clothing is not a sign of his character but the sins of the people for whom he is making atonement, and the fact that the high priest takes this on himself reveals a deeper righteousness than anything that Satan can grasp. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />The vision of Zechariah was fulfilled in the sacrifice of Jesus, when He became sin for us in order to take it away and make it possible for us to share in the righteousness of God Himself. We who are filthy inside and totally unworthy of God’s grace have been covered by a cloak of righteousness dyed in the blood of the One who was slain in our place. It is because of that covering that we who have no merit of our own have been made acceptable to God. Satan has no right to accuse those whom Jesus has chosen and united to Himself - because we have been set free from the condemnation that we would otherwise deserve. That does not stop Satan from trying, of course, and it is here perhaps more than anywhere else that we must be constantly on our guard, so as not to fall into the trap that he wants to set for us. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Gerald Bray, God is Love, pg. 363-364 </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Crossway, 2012</span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-49113918775106336412014-03-06T08:42:00.001-08:002014-03-06T08:42:25.768-08:00Love Lustres at Calvary<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Enlarge my heart, warm my affections,<br />
open my lips,<br />
supply words that proclaim ‘Love Lustres at Calvary.’<br />
There grace removes my burdens<br />
and heaps them on Thy Son,<br />
made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me;<br />
There the sword of Thy justice smote the man,<br />
Thy fellow;<br />
There Thy infinite attributes were magnified,<br />
and infinite atonement was made;<br />
There infinite punishment was due,<br />
and infinite punishment was endured.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,<br />
cast off that I might be brought in,<br />
trodden down as an enemy<br />
that I might be welcomed as a friend,<br />
surrendered to hell’s worst<br />
that I might attain heaven’s best,<br />
stripped that I might be clothed,<br />
wounded that I might be healed,<br />
athirst that I might drink,<br />
tormented that I might be comforted,<br />
made a shame that I might inherit glory,<br />
entered darkness that I might have eternal light.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">My Saviour wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,<br />
groaned that I might have endless song,<br />
endured all pain that I might have unfading health,<br />
bore a thorny crown that I might have a glory-diadem,<br />
bowed His head that I might uplift mine,<br />
experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,<br />
closed His eyes in death that I might gaze on unclothed brightness,<br />
expired that I might forever live. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">O Father, who spared not thine own Son<br />
that Thou mightest spare me,<br />
All this transfer Thy love designed and accomplished;<br />
Help me to adore Thee by lips and life.<br />
O that my every breath might be ecstatic praise,<br />
my every step buoyant with delight,<br />
as I see my enemies crushed,<br />
Satan baffled, defeated, destroyed,<br />
sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood,<br />
hell’s gates closed, heaven’s portal open.<br />
Go forth, O conquering God, and show me<br />
the cross, mighty to subdue, comfort and save.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />~ Love Lustres at Calvary, in <em>The Valley of Vision</em></span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-9612553581636047582013-12-24T00:32:00.001-08:002013-12-24T00:35:25.610-08:00Gift of Gifts<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">O source of all good,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of what shall I render to Thee for the gift of gifts, <br /> Thine own dear Son, begotten, not created, <br /> My Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute, <br /> His self-emptying incomprehensible,<br /> His infinity of love beyond the heart’s grasp.<br />Herein is wonder of wonders:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He came below to raise me above</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He was born like me that I might become like Him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Herein is love;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> when I cannot rise to Him He draws near on wings of grace,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> to raise me to Himself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Herein is power;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Herein is wisdom;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> when I was undone, with no will to return to Him,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and no intellect to devise recovery,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> as man to die my death,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> to work out a perfect righteousness for me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and enlarge my mind;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">let me hear good tidings of great joy,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> to look with them upon my Redeemer's face,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and in Him account myself delivered from sin;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">let me with Simeon clasp the new-born Child to my heart,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> embrace Him with undying faith,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> exulting that He is mine and I am His,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">in Him Thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">-Valley of Vision, Arthur Bennet, Editor, <br />Banner of Truth Trust, 1975</span>Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-63661685063514728982013-11-02T23:43:00.000-07:002013-11-02T23:43:55.127-07:00Not forgetting, but remembering. <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the end of the meal, Jesus arises, takes off His outer garments, ties the towel around His waist, and fills the basin with water. He couldn’t be about to do what you think He’s about to do! This is Lord God Almighty. This is the Son of God, the promised King, the Creator of all that is. This One is the fulfillment of all the covenant promises. This is the Saviour Lamb. He can’t be thinking of doing something so unseemly, so undignified, and so slave-like. But that was exactly His intention. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And it is vital to understand that He knew exactly who He was and how this connected to His true identity and mission. John says that Jesus went at this low and dirty task knowing exactly who He was, where He’d come from, and what He was sent to do: “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God, rose.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This stunning act of humble love resulted not from Jesus’ forgetting who He was but from remembering who He was. This was the holy mission of the Son Saviour. He had to be willing to enter the lowest human condition, to do the most debased thing, and to let go of His rights of position in order that we might be redeemed. It was a high and holy calling, and it was the only way. His identity, as the Son of God, didn’t lead Him to be arrogant and entitled, unwilling to do what needed to be done to accomplish redemption. His identity didn’t cause Him to assess that He was too good for the task. No, His identity motivated and propelled Him to do what the disciples were convinced was below them. </span><br /><br />Paul David Tripp, Dangerous Calling, Inter-Varsity Press, Nottingham, 2012, pg. 172-173</span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-71819554917896677862013-10-26T02:14:00.000-07:002013-10-26T02:14:00.665-07:00Jesus truly was one of us. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As we behold the mystery of His tears, hunger and thirst, let us remember that the one who wept also raised the dead to life, rejoicing for Lazarus. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From the very One who thirsted flowed rivers of living water. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He who hungered was able to wither the fig tree which offered no fruit for His hunger. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">How could this be, that He who was able to strike the green tree dead merely by His word could also have a nature that could hunger? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This was the mystery of His hunger, grief, and thirst, that the Word was assuming flesh. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">His humanity was entirely exposed to our weakness, yet even then His glory was not wholly put away as He suffered these indignities. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">His weeping was not for Himself, His thirst was not for water, nor His hunger merely for food. He did not eat or drink or weep just to satisfy His appetites. Rather, in His incarnate humbling He was demonstrating the reality of His own body by hungering, by doing what human nature does. And when He ate and drank, it was not a concession to some necessity external to Himself, but to show His full participation in the human condition. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hilary of Poiters </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">(c. 315 – c. 367) </span></span></span></span></div>
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Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-1274044127565421162013-10-23T11:20:00.000-07:002013-10-23T11:20:01.072-07:00God is Good. God is Love. <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">If God were good but not loving, He would condemn and destroy anything that turned away from His goodness. Conversely, if He were loving but not good, he could not turn against anyone who rejected His nonexistent goodness. Nor is there anything remarkable about a good God who loves creatures who are as good as He is; that is just what we would expect. But the Christian gospel says that, in His love, God has reached out to those who have rebelled against Him and embraced evil. <span style="font-size: small;"><br />Gerald Bray, God is Love : A Biblical and Systematic Theology, </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Crossway, 2012, pg. 70 </span></span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-54334785161318230772013-10-23T02:06:00.000-07:002013-10-23T02:06:05.462-07:00Who controls our frail lives?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HcuBvt9i1J0/UmeRLNaQ7xI/AAAAAAAABeg/V0Kt2_li5XA/s1600/throne-of-God.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HcuBvt9i1J0/UmeRLNaQ7xI/AAAAAAAABeg/V0Kt2_li5XA/s400/throne-of-God.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Moreover, believers must turn their eyes to Jesus the enthroned Lord. He is at the throne of God. His redemptive work complete, He waits for the consummation of the ages and for the great moment when every tongue shall confess His lordship. These first century believers were about to be exposed to the cruel hands of Caesar’s lordship. As the social pressures gave way to physical assault, they would need this assurance of the enthroned Christ. They took heart from the assured fact that their destiny was not in the hands of Caesar, his provincial governors or their local magistrates. Their frail lives were in the strong hands of Jesus, the enthroned Lord. <span style="font-size: small;"><br />Raymond Brown, The Message of Hebrews, Inter-Varsity Press, 1982 Pg. 230 </span></span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-42135063126650173992013-09-25T06:01:00.000-07:002013-09-25T06:01:00.063-07:003 ways to read the genealogies in the Bible<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vA2clVjdprA/UkGNCv_7QuI/AAAAAAAABc8/Y45pi8KPWBQ/s1600/family-tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vA2clVjdprA/UkGNCv_7QuI/AAAAAAAABc8/Y45pi8KPWBQ/s400/family-tree.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />What do the genealogies reveal about God? They tell us that He is a faithful Lord, who keeps His covenant from one generation to another. Whoever we are and however far we may have descended from the source of our human life in Adam, we are still part of God’s plan. Over the centuries we have developed differently, we have lost contact with one another, and we have even turned on each other in hostility, but in spite of all that, we are still related and interconnected in ways that go beyond our immediate understanding or experience. <br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Secondly, what do the genealogies say about us? They say that from the world’s point of view, most of us are nobodies. We live and die in a long chain of humanity, but there is not much that anyone will remember about us as individuals. Yet without us, future generations will not be born and the legacy of the past will not be preserved. We are part of a great cloud of witnesses, a long chain of faithful people who have lived for God in the place where he put them. Even if we know little about our ancestors, we owe them a great debt of gratitude for their loyalty and perseverance, when they had little or nothing to gain from it or to show for it. <br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, what do the genealogies say about God’s dealings with us? They tell us that we are called to be obedient and to keep the faith we have inherited, passing it on undiminished to the next generation. They remind us that there is a purpose in our calling that goes beyond ourselves. Even if we are not celebrated by future generations and leave little for posterity to remember us by, we shall nevertheless have made an indispensable contribution to the purpose of God in history. So the genealogies bring us a message from God, even if they appear on the surface to be barren and unprofitable. All we have to do is ask the right questions, and their meaning will be quickly opened to us. <br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Gerald Bray, God is Love : A Biblical and Systematic Theology, Crossway, 2012, pg. 59</span></span></span>Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-86106259827651003872013-09-24T05:15:00.000-07:002013-09-24T05:15:58.214-07:00Why had Isaac not been sacrificed?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uSQqqOPx9lE/UkGB7KDIe3I/AAAAAAAABcs/cB7SUpO5104/s1600/Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uSQqqOPx9lE/UkGB7KDIe3I/AAAAAAAABcs/cB7SUpO5104/s400/Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_035.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This famous incident was also about something that Abraham could not see, or at least could not see very well in his time. Why had Isaac not been sacrificed? The sins of Abraham and his family were still there. How could a holy and just God overlook them? Well, a substitute was offered, a ram. But was it the ram’s blood that took away the debt of the firstborn? No. <br />Many years later, in those same mountains, another firstborn Son was stretched out on the wood to die. But there on Mount Calvary, when the beloved Son of God cried out “My God, My God- why hast Thou forsaken Me?” there was no voice from heaven announcing deliverance. Instead, God the Father paid the price in silence. Why? The true substitute for Abraham’s son was God’s only Son, Jesus, who died to bear our punishment. “For Christ died for sin once for all, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Paul understood the true meaning of Isaac’s story when he deliberately applied its language to Jesus: “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) <span style="font-size: small;"><br />Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods, Dutton, 2009, pg. 17 </span></span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-38701158781092995112013-09-14T12:59:00.003-07:002013-10-23T02:07:17.935-07:00Calvary Cork Welcome Video<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_8CQ5ZgX9ew" width="459"></iframe>Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-19265528793036860392013-08-16T06:14:00.000-07:002013-08-16T06:14:00.259-07:00We Gain Far More than We Ever Lost<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In redemption God opens Himself to us and surrenders His inner life to our possession in a wholly unprecedented manner of which the religion of nature can have neither dream nor anticipation. It is more clearly in saving us than in creating us that God shows Himself to be God. To taste and feel the riches of His Godhead, as freely given unto us, one must have passed not only through the abjectness and poverty and despair of sin, but through the overwhelming experience of salvation. He who is saved explores and receives more of God than unfallen man or even the unfallen angel can. The song of Moses and of the Lamb has in it a deeper exultation than that which the sons of God and the morningstars sang together for joy in the Creator. <br /><br />Geerhardus Vos, Grace and Glory: Sermons Preached in the Chapel of Princeton Theological Seminary, Solid Ground Christian Books, 2007, pg. 12-13</span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-29654320683015131422013-08-15T06:02:00.001-07:002013-08-15T06:02:48.108-07:00Unchanging<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> What peace it brings to the Christian’s heart to realise that our Heavenly Father never differs from Himself. In coming to Him at any time we need not wonder whether we shall find Him in a receptive mood. He is always receptive to misery and need, as well as to love and to faith. He does not keep office hours nor set aside periods when He will see no one. Neither does He change His mind about anything. Today, this moment, He feels towards His creatures, towards babies, towards the sick, the fallen, the sinful, exactly as He did when He sent His only-begotten Son into the world to die for mankind. <br />God never changes moods or cools off in His affections or loses enthusiasm. His attitude toward sin is now the same as it was when He drove out the sinful man from the eastward garden, and His attitude toward the sinner the same as when He stretched forth His hands and cried, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!” <br /> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, Harper Collins, 1961, pg. 53 </span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-45041565524930249242013-04-21T12:13:00.001-07:002013-04-21T13:09:37.174-07:00True and False Theologians <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What we call “theology” is a work in progress. It is not a fixed body of<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>knowledge that can never grow or develop; it continues to expand as our relationship with God deepens. At the same time, it does not change, because God does not change. Theologians may have to express themselves in new ways when challenged by fresh discoveries that raise questions our ancestors never dreamed of. We may have to adapt our language to different circumstances and present the age-old message of Christ in ways previously unknown. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Many theologians are goats, who relish these opportunities and use them to take the church away from its foundations. This has given theology a bad name in many circles. But these are false teachers who must be exposed and avoided. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">True theologians are sheep who hear their Shepherd’s voice and interpret His words for the benefit of the rest of the flock. In this task, theology will continue until the time comes when it will no longer be needed. When that happens we shall know all things, and be enfolded forever in the unchanging and all-encompassing love of God. <br /><br />Gerald Bray, God is Love : A Biblical and Systematic Theology, Crossway, 2012, pg. 27</span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4824480492531555282.post-12582717391040953922013-03-11T11:10:00.000-07:002013-03-11T11:10:00.425-07:00Unceasing Thanks<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So I’ll never stop giving thanks to my God, who kept me faithful in the time of my temptation. I can today with confidence offer my soul to Christ my Lord as a living sacrifice. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He is the one who defended me <i>in all my difficulties</i>. I can say: Who am I, Lord, or what is my calling, that you have worked with me with such divine presence? This is how I come to praise and magnify Your name among the nations all the time, wherever I am, not only in good times but in the difficult times too. Whatever comes about for me, good or bad, I ought to accept them equally and give thanks to God. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He has shown me that I can put my faith in Him without wavering and without end. However ignorant I am, He has heard me, so that in these late days I can dare to undertake such a holy and wonderful work. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">- Patrick of Ireland (390-461), Confessio, Paragraph 34</span></span></div>
Mike Negliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00856048615105523087noreply@blogger.com0