God is Love and God is God

I found the posting below very insightful and encouraging. It speaks to me profoundly, but mainly in these ways: that I want a personal, balanced understanding about God; that I want a church/pastor with this type of perspective and determination; that I want to be a husband/parent/friend with this type of knowledge and wisdom...and that gaining and keeping this "low and high" view of God takes hard work with lots of testing, reading, praying, talking, thinking, listening and learning. These words help explain what I am committed to for the rest of my life, why I read and follow the Christian leaders that I do, why I love/associate/believe in the reformed doctrines of grace and heavy doses of a highly exalted view of God's glory, and why I dislike Christian catch-phrases, lazy/unlearned/content spiritual leaders and inch-deep Christianity. May our spiritual desires never cease to strengthen and may our lives, fruit and methods never cease to change. - Aaron

God Is Love, and God Is God

Here’s a helpful meditation from a sermon from John Piper (”Why God Inspired Hard Texts“) from several years ago reflecting on the fact that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), and that God is God (Isaiah 45:22; 46:9).

In the truth that God is God is implied that God is who he is in all his glorious attributes and self-sufficiency.

But in the truth that God is love is implied that all of this glory is moving our way for our everlasting enjoyment.

Now those two truths unleash through the Bible very different impulses. And we will see that a balance is introduced here, lest we make of Christianity an elitist affair, which it definitely is not.

That God is love unleashes the impulse of simplicity, and that God is God unleashes the impulse of complexity.

That God is love unleashes the impulse of accessibility, and that God is God unleashes the impulse of profundity.

That God is love encourages a focus on the basics, and that God is God encourages a focus on comprehensiveness.

One says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). The other says, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

That God is love impels us to be sure that the truth gets to all people, and that God is God impels us to be sure that what gets to all people is the truth.

That God is love unleashes the impulse toward fellowship, and that God is God unleashes the impulse toward scholarship.

That God is love tends to create extroverts and evangelists, and that God is God tends to create introverts and mystics.

That God is love helps foster a folk ethos, and that God is God helps foster fine ethos.

One ethos revels in the intimacy of God and sings softly,

Lord, You are more precious than silver.
Lord, you are more costly than gold.
Lord, you are more beautiful than diamonds,
Nothing I desire compares with you.

(”More Precious than Silver,” Lynn DeShazo, 1982, Integrity’s Hosanna! Music.)

And the other ethos revels in the transcendent majesty of God and sings with profound exultation,

Far, far above thy thought His counsel shall appear,
When fully He the work hath wrought
That caused thy needless fear.
Leave to his sovereign will
To choose and to command:
With wonder filled, thou then shalt own
How wise, how strong His hand.

(”Give to the Winds Thy Fears,” Paul Gerhardt, 1653.)

Bennett Luke Barnard

Bennett is here. Go to our blog at www.aaronandcarolyn.blogspot.com

Piper and Inmates Q&A at Angola Prison

You gotta watch this. Only 30 minutes long. Amazing questions and answers and Biblical insight.

Copy this link into your browser line:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/2009/4462_Questions_and_Answers/

Luke: Investigating the Man who is God

We have been thoroughly blessed by this series from Driscoll. He will be preaching through the book of Luke for the next year or more. Expository preaching at it's finest with everything pointing to Jesus! If you have some time or in the car, you will be grateful for putting this on your ipod.

http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke

Ben and Abby were married August, 2008. In September we went fishing at Perry Jones' grandfather's pond. What a catch!

These two are now mounted somewhere in Ben and Abby's house!

A recent Piper tweet on twitter...

"The fallen human will is free the way a sky diver is free until he discovers he has no parachute. "

Thoughts?

Happy Birthday Lilly!

These are some pictures from Lil's party today! We are so thankful for our amazing friends and family who came to celebrate with us! (And of course, everyone who WANTED to be there but couldn't!) We are truly blessed. Enjoy the pics!

Outside food table... Richard and Aaron cleaned that porch for HOURS!

Our cake was AMAZING! Looked JUST like the invitation! Hooray!

Gorgeous weather, so thankful

Lilly's Little Smash Cake!

Pink decorations are awesome :)

Inside table

YAY for the Black-Eyed-Peas!!! Y'all are awesome!!!

Lauren and Libby the poodle!!

Friends!

More friends :)

Look at all the mommas and boys! (Bennett will be playing soon!)

Lilly the Bee and Daddy the Bee-keeper!

Yes, her wings are upside down... no, she didn't like them... no, they didn't last

She played so nicely!

Birthday girl

Checking out her cake

Such a cutie

Yay for the Philippino bib! :)

Everyone was singing... we didn't light the candle

Pulled off the candle first

Yummy pink icing!

MMM!

Family pic!

Love it

Priceless

MMMM this stuff is GOOD

I just can't stop eating!

Time to open presents!

This is fun!

Opening my new car from Meme and Granddaddy!

Yay! What a fun car!

Lucy was not thrilled to pose

Rare photo of Aaron loving on the buddies... they were a big hit with the kids!

Mom was happy to not have on her costume anymore!

Meme and Granddaddy... SO thrilled they were here!

Time for bed!

Happy birthday Punkin!!!!!!