AT THE HEART...

"The righteous, loving Father humbled himself to become in and through his only Son's flesh, sin and a curse for us, in order to redeem us without compromising his own character... The biblical gospel of atonement is of God satisfying himself by substituting himself for us. The concept of substitution may be said, then, to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone."

— John Stott, The Cross of Christ (1986)

THE WHORE AND HER HUSBAND

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

— Jeremiah 1:4-10 (NIV)

"Has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious God
for worthless idols.
Be appalled at this, you heavens,
and shudder with great horror,”
declares the Lord.
“My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water."

— Jeremiah 2:11-13 (NIV)

“If a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man's wife,
will he return to her?
Would not that land be greatly polluted?
You have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?
declares the Lord.

— Jeremiah 3:1 (ESV)

“‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord,
‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord,
‘I will not be angry forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt—
you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me,’”
declares the Lord.

“Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you..."

— Jeremiah 3:12-14 (NIV)

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

— Jeremiah 9:23-24 (ESV)

Thus says the Lord:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me,

and what is the place of my rest?

All these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

But this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word."

— Isaiah 66:1-2

"Consider who we were,

and what we feel ourselves to be

even now when corruption is powerful in us,

and you will wonder at our adoption."

— Charles Spurgeon on 1 John 3:1-2

WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

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J. COLE FEAT. WALE | WHAT DREAMS MAY COME TOUR

The Mann Center for the Performing Arts

Philadelphia, PA

Self-discipline

If you set out to seek freedom,

you must learn before all things

Mastery over sense and soul...

None learns the secret of freedom

save only by way of control.

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

COSMOPOLITAN CALLING

"I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves, on the town garbage heap, at a crossroad so cosmopolitan they had to write his title in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. It was the kind of place where cynics talk smut, thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. That's where he died. And that's where Christians ought to be and what Christians ought to be about."

— George MacLeod, quote shared at last night's City Rhythms: Fashion & Finance hosted by Redeemer's Center for Faith & Work

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

"'In the end, we stopped the Communists cold,' Reagan later said. It was a brag, but few those days would have argued with his right to it.

And I would add, simply, that it was in this drama that Reagan's character was fully revealed. In a time of malice he was not malicious; in a time of lies he did not falsify; in a time of great pressure he didn't bend or break; in a time of disingenuousness he was clear and candid about where he stood and why. And in a time when people just gave up after a while and changed the subject, he remained on the field through all the long haul."

— Peggy Noonan, When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan (2001)

TEN THOUSAND HOURS

I stand here in front of you today all because of an idea

I could be who I wanted if I could see my potential

And I know that one day I'mma be him

Put the gloves on, sparring with my ego

Everyone's greatest obstacle, I beat him, celebrate that achievement

Got some attachments, some baggage I'm actually working on leaving

See, I observed Escher

I love Basquiat

I watched Keith Haring

You see I studied art

The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint

The greats were great cause they paint a lot

— Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Heist (2012), Ten Thousand Hours

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow.

The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

— Abraham Lincoln, 1809–1865

BIGGER DREAMS, SMALLER YOU

Grandma sitting before mom and dad, partaking in a Korean New Year tradition of paying respect to your elders.
After having lived a full life, laboring for years and raising all of your children and then some, at the ripe old age of 60, would you finally retire or move to a foreign country to start over? At my grandmother's funeral this past weekend, the reminder to never forget the selfless courage displayed through my grandparents' lives kept ringing in my ear, as if there was a cymbal inside that's never been touched 'til now. I grew up knowing, like most second generation kids, the definition of what it meant to be an immigrant—to move to a country not of your native tongue and learn the trade of survival with only the aid of big dreams. What I didn't know was that my grandfather was 60 when he decided to forsake all earned comforts and bring his wife and family over, and that coming to America then would be the equivalent of me moving to Africa now (well, not now, but when I'm old and retired) with the intent of starting a life completely over, in a country not of my native tongue, to learn new trades of survival, with only the aid of bigger dreams, and then penniless to start—for the sake of new freedom, new opportunities, and a new life for someone else.

If that's not grace, and if that's not courage, shown by the hands of human effort, sheer will, love of others, and selfless abandon, guided only by the promises of heaven—of unfathomable riches, security, and a deeper rest tucked away in Christ, as my grandparents lived their entire lives to demonstrate—then I don't know what is. I am a product of that grace, a witness of that love, and a beneficiary of that gospel courage. And I will never forget it.

REST IN PEACE

Clothed in Christ's righteousness.
RIP 할머니, you can rest now.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

— Psalm 23

WHEN CHARACTER WAS KING

"We live in a world shaped in so many ways by his will and heart. As president, Ronald Reagan believed without question that tyranny is temporary, and the hope of freedom is universal and permanent; that our nation has unique goodness, and must remain uniquely strong; that God takes the side of justice, because all our rights are His own gifts..."

"And now, having gone on to other wars and seen our country in other struggles, having lived more years, known more life and seen more things, having come to understand what the meaning of those old days was...well, old resentments and rivalries fell away, disappeared, and what was left was: us. And the meaning of what we'd shared.

We'd been in a war, and we had a leader."

"[Ronald Reagan's mother] believed completely in what was known as, in the title of a popular book of the era, The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life. This was the secret: Jesus is with you, is aware of your life and fully engaged in it; God is in everything; He will let little befall you that will not be to the ultimate benefit of your soul. Sometimes He steps aside for trouble coming your way but only if it will refine you or prepare you to be with Him someday in heaven, where you'll know a happiness beyond all human understanding. So there is no cause then for sadness, only for joy. 'Do not be afraid.'"

— Peggy Noonan, When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan (2001)

Your religion is what you do with your solitude.

— Archbishop William Temple, 1881-1944

GREAT BY CHOICE

"We sense a dangerous disease infecting our modern culture and eroding hope: an increasingly prevalent view that greatness owes more to circumstance, even luck, than to action and discipline—that what happens to us matters more than what we do. In games of chance, like a lottery or roulette, this view seems plausible. But taken as an entire philosophy, applied more broadly to human endeavor, it's a deep debilitating life perspective, one that we can't imagine wanting to teach young people."

"They don't merely react; they create. They don't merely survive; they prevail. They don't merely succeed; they thrive. They build great enterprises that can endure. We do not believe that chaos, uncertainty, and instability are good; companies, leaders, organizations, and societies do not thrive on chaos. But they can thrive in chaos."

— Jim Collins, Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (2011)

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior

— Hillsong United, Zion (2013), Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)

"And in the odd chance
there are any Astronomy aficionados amongst you,
the North Star is... that one."

— Dr. King Schultz (to the slaves after freeing them), Django Unchained

NAKED GREED

"Why can't anyone in the grip of greed see it? The counterfeit god of money uses powerful sociological and psychological dynamics. Everyone tends to live in a particular socioeconomic bracket. Once you are able to afford to live in a particular neighborhood, send your children to its schools, and participate in its social life, you will find yourself surrounded by quite a number of people who have more money than you. You don't compare yourself to the rest of the world, you compare yourself to those in your bracket. The human heart always wants to justify itself and this is one of the easiest ways. You say, 'I don't live as well as him or her or them. My means are modest compared to theirs.' You can reason and think like that no matter how lavishly you are living. As a result, most Americans think of themselves as middle class, and only 2 percent call themselves 'upper class.' But the rest of the world is not fooled. When people visit here from other parts of the globe, they are staggered to see the level of materialistic comfort that the majority of Americans have come to view as a necessity."

— Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (2009)

"I just want to be inspired."

— Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger), Jerry Macguire