Saved From Wrath I

The name of this blog is SFW - Saved From Wrath. I hope you can answer that you are saved from wrath. I will expound more on wrath and being saved from it in more upcoming posts.

Here is an excerpt taken from Pierced For Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution (Crossway, 2007).

Romans 5:8-10 contains two parallel statements, both of them reasoning from what was accomplished by Christ at the cross to what can be expected on the future day of judgment. In outline, the logic runs as follows: We were sinners; Christ's death (his 'blood') justified us; we shall be saved from God's wrath (vv. 8-9). We were God's enemies; Christ's death reconciled us; we shall be saved (v.10).

More posts on being Saved From Wrath will be forthcoming

Carlos Comez: Going to the Movies

Here is an excerpt from Twins beat writer, Phil Miller's blog on a story that he observed on the road recently in Kansas City. Phil ran into Twins center fielder Carlos Gomez at the movie theater. Gomez was the major piece that came back to the Twins in the Johan Santana trade.

There's one guy in front of me, and yes, he was like a kid in a candy shop. "Some of those, and a box of those. Wait, you've got Milk Duds? OK, a box of those, too. That's it. That's all. Oh, and a red licorice." Finally, Carlos Gomez peeled off a couple of $10 bills and started scooping up his sweet-tooth loot.

I suppressed a laugh, just as Gomez turned and saw me standing behind him. First he looked surprised, then got that half-embarrassed grin that he so often sports, and shouted, "Hey, que pasa!" He stuck out his hand, then did that half-hug greeting that became the norm among pro athletes about 10 years ago and that makes me appear so hopelessly awkward.

I said, "just wondering if there's anything left to buy," and he smiled and headed for the theater. I noticed his showing of "Indiana Jones" had started about an hour earlier, so I pictured Gomez, his usual bundle of nervous energy, sitting in the theater thinking, "Candy. I need candy." Probably more than once.

Airline Ticket = Calculated By Your Weight?

Check out this story about the interesting ways airlines are cutting costs and also ideas that they have that may be on the horizon

In Pursuit of Humility

This past week I got the privilege and honor to preach at MBC. I chose a very humbling portion of Scripture Philippians 2: 3-8.

Some of the resources that I used to put things together that you may want to check out are the following.

• Mark Driscoll's sermon on humility: If anyone thinks that Mark Driscoll isn't humble - you agree with Mark - as he preaches a sermon to himself on humility. Many quotes and points for my sermon were taken from this sermon on humility.
  
• John Piper and Matt Chandler's Q&A at the Resurgence Conference that I attended.
  
• C.J. Mahaney's book Humility: True Greatness. Some of the quotes that didn't make my sermon transcript, but I felt necessary to share them are as follows:
  

"Every time I claim to be the "author" in my life and ministry of that which is actually God's gift. I'm committing cosmic plagiarism."

"Father, I want to stand as close to the cross as I possibly can, because it's harder for me to be arrogant when I'm there."

"Pride undermines unity and can ultimately divide a church. Show me a church where there's division, where there's quarreling, and I'll show you a church where there is pride."

"Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God's holiness and our sinfulness."

The sermon I delivered on Sunday had more quotes and points taken from others than probably any other sermon that I've done up until this point. I was reminded recently that using others thoughts aren't bad as I was reading a quote that Charles Spurgeon gave from a sermon in 1863 in which he said, "He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own."

A Sport?

Are any of the following actually sports? What makes an activity a sport? Do you have to actually exercise and train and be in good shape? Or is a sport anything that has competition? Any thoughts? I have decided that pro wrestling doesn't make the cut. Sorry to all of you who live in your parent's basement and think Vince McMahon is a sports icon.

I suppose since I am around 225 lbs. I can't ever participate and be a jockey


The jargon of using numbers to identify drivers, teams, and owners is just flat weird


I think just getting into wranglers would be considered a sport for me


Is anything that has an organization called Gamblers anonymous considered a sport?

Hymn Of The Week: My Lord, I Did Not Choose You

Verses written by Josiah Conder (1836). Additional Chorus by Devon Kauflin

Verse 1
My Lord, I did not choose You
For that could never be
My heart would still refuse You
Had You not chosen me
You took the sin that stained me
You cleansed me, made me new
Of old You have ordained me
That I should live in You

Chorus:
Jesus, You have saved me
And taken all my sin, all my sins away
Jesus, You have called me
Before the world began, to glorify Your name
I was without hope and dead inside
But You chose to save my life

Verse 2
Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my darkened mind
The world would have enthralled me
To Your glories I'd be blind
My heart knows none above You
For Your rich grace I thirst
I know that if I love You
You must have loved me first

My Wife's New Job

Today, my bride of almost 5 years starts a new job. She is starting the full-time job of being a stay at home mom. She actually asked me when I got up for work this morning if she could pack me lunch. I have never heard those words before, so I said, "Most definetly." With a 16 month old already running around and another gift from God due in October, we were led to make a decision (amidst several factors) for Shannon not to renew her contract through the Christian school where she had taught the previous 3 years.

Some may say that we have finally come to our senses and made the right choice with having my wife stay at home with the kids. Some may say that in today's world with the price of living (gas, food, etc.) that a wife needs to work to help support the family. I believe in allowing a person's conscience to lead them in discerning how God wants them to make decisions on this issue. This means that I am for whatever God leads, directs, and calls a family to do depending on their situation. I am for my wife working (she will probably go back to work when all our kids are in school). I am for my wife staying at home.

Theologically I have been challenged to think about this differently over the past 4 months. I was challenged by Pastor Mark Driscoll in February on this issue. Mark brought up the idea of do I, the husband think it is fair to carry only one curse while my wife carries two? My wife carries a curse through bearing children, while in Genesis I, the man must work and that is my curse. Why do I have to carry only one curse, while my wife bears children + works full-time on top of that. So if at all possible financially, which we believe now it is, we think it be better to have Shannon stay at home. Hopefully that can cut down on habits like this developing