Often we think the Gospel is just for those who have not yet believed. Yet as you read the New Testament you find the Apostles consistently preaching the Gospel to those who have already embraced it through faith. As I began reading the epistle to the Romans again the other day I saw this so clearly in Paul’s introduction to the letter. Notice what he says in 1:15-17:

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Paul was eager to preach the Gospel to the recipients of the letter in Rome. Paul earlier described the recipients as those who are “loved by God and called to be saints”. In other words, Paul was eager to preach the Gospel to Christians!

You see, those of us who have already believed the Gospel need to hear it over and over again. We need the message of God’s forgiving and justifying grace through Christ just as much as those who haven’t yet believed. For more on this I highly recommend the latest edition of Modern Reformation. Be sure to read Jerry Bridges’ article “The Discomfort of the Justified Life”.

[tags]Gospel, justification, preaching, Modern Reformation[/tags]

Mark Newheiser is both one of the smartest and funniest people I know.

Recently a bunch of us planned a good clean bachelor party (pizza, batting cages, video games) for a friend who was about to be married. In the email exchanges about the party Mark responded with the following:

I am down. Like a clown. Of great renown. In chinatown.

For really, what better way for Bryce to say farewell to a life of freedom and self-determination than to spend an evening of raucous revelry and drunken debauchery with the men who have helped him stave off the desire for feminine companionship for so much of his life? As he retreats into a life of stultifying stability and mind-melting monotonous monogamy, it’s our responsibility to show him everything he’ll be missing, whereas societal standards prevent him from informing us of everything we will be missing.

And if the best we can do is wile away Bryce’s final hours in a park devoted to the notion of good, clean, family friendly fun and watered-down entertainment, that just makes the reality of Bryce’s retreat from the values of masculinity so much more bitterly ironic.

Cheers,
Mark

Maybe I’ll record Mark reading this and post the audio here. It would be even better!

[tags]Mark Newheiser, bachelor party, funny[/tags]

Yesterday I wrote about damaged items I had received from Amazon.com. I wrote an email to customer support explaining the situation. This morning I received a reply stating that a replacement was being shipped to me! Wow, a quick response and no hassle.

[tags]Amazon, customer support, customer service[/tags]

Today I received three items (in three separate boxes) from Amazon. One of the items, a textbook, looked like it had been abused. The paper cover was damaged and the pages had what looked like a coffee stain. As far as I know I ordered a new book. One of the other items, a labeler, was also damaged. The LCD screen was crooked and appeared to be loose inside the labeler housing. Hopefully Amazon will replace the labeler. Otherwise I’ll have to try to fix it myself.

[tags]Amazon[/tags]

On Thursday I start back at school. Lord willing, this year will be my last year in pursuit of a B.S. in Computer Science. As a husband and father of two knowing that this will be my last year of school (for right now at least) brings me great excitement. This semester should be challenging, but fun. I will be taking:

• Introduction to 3D Game Graphics
• Computer Architecture
• Operating Systems
• Spanish 2

This semester’s 13 units should be a nice relief from last semester’s 18.

In addition, I will be the lab instructor for Intro to Programming. A few years ago as I struggled at times through Intro to Programming I never would have thought that I would be the lab instructor one day. Strange!

[tags]school, college, CSU San Marcos, computer science, programming[/tags]