Jesus saves sinners, not the righteous. Sometimes as Christians we don’t really believe that. We tend to be more like the Pharisee who attempted to impress God with his upstanding character and good works rather than the tax collector who could only hope in God’s mercy (see Luke 18:9-14).

Jollyblogger’s recent post “Giving Your Worst to Jesus” hits on this topic and David writes about experimenting with being honest with God about his own lack of godliness. I’ll let him tell you what he’s found.

Lately I have had the opportunity to do a little reflection and self-evaluation… during this time I have taken time to open up what is really in my heart to God, the good the bad and the ugly, but mostly the bad and the ugly.  There is something strangely freeing about that, to acknowledge the worst that is in me before God and to not get zapped is a great experience.  Most of the time, the me I try to present to God in prayer is me at my best, the spiritual guy, the guy who has it under control.  Which would explain the difficulties I have in prayer and other practices of devotion.  The me I try to present to Jesus is often an idealized version of what I hope to become, not the real me…It seems to me that if Jesus came to heal the sick, not the well, that He is far more attentive to those who can only give Him their worst, not their best.  And it also seems that if we come to Him honestly, with our worst, we might find Him to be closer than if we always tried to bring Him our best.

Amen and amen!!

[tags]spirituality, Christianity, Jesus Christ[/tags]

Firefox 2.0.0.2 has been released. For those of you using Vista you can now set Firefox as your default browser.

So Juice, there’s no reason not to upgrade to Vista now, right?

[tags]Firefox, Windows Vista, software[/tags]

While reading an article at CNN Money I came across this digital pen from Logitech. From Logitech’s website:

Eliminate re-keying and slash your paperwork time! Go directly from ink to the software and applications you use most often. Back up and quickly retrieve handwritten documents on your PC. It’s all possible with the Logitech io2 Digital Pen. The io2 pen fits your hand like a premium pen, so you can write comfortably. Take notes or draw sketches in ink on the smart paper, and a tiny camera captures your work, storing up to 40 pages at a time. Intelligent power management maximizes every battery charge.

At $150 I’m certainly not going to be buying one, but it looks like a great gradget nonetheless.

[tags]gadgets, technology[/tags]

If I’m not mistaken, the Bible teaches that salvation is a gift from God to guilty sinners. It is given freely and fully to those who have faith in Jesus Christ. It is not the result of good works done by us.

Oddly enough many of those who are called to proclaim these wonderful truths often get it wrong. Too many preachers deliver a message that conveys the idea that we are saved through law keeping (good works). I’ve had enough of it! Give me the Gospel!!

Mark Lauterbach has been blogging about “The Measure of a Sermon” and his posts go into more detail on the issues I’ve mentioned. I encourage you to take a look at what he’s written so far.

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 1

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 2

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 3

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 4

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 5

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 6

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 7

The Measure of a Sermon: Disabusing Us of Self

[tags]Gospel, Law, preaching, sermons, salvation[/tags]