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In the end faith always moves beyond mental assent and duty and will involve the whole self--mind, will, and emotions. Why
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Timothy J. Keller |
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God's call to his people (then and now) is to combine spirituality with bravery. True discipleship is radical and risk-taking, because true disciples rely on God to keep his promises to bless them, and not on their own instincts, plans, or insurance policies.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Christianity does not agree with the optimistic thinkers who say, "We can fix things if we try hard enough." Nor does it agree with the pessimists who see only a dystopian future. The message of Christianity is, instead, "Things really are this bad, and we can't heal or save ourselves. Things really are this dark--nevertheless, there is hope." The Christmas message is that "on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." N..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Becoming a Christian is not like signing up for a gym; it is not a "living well" program that will help you flourish and realize your potential."
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Timothy J. Keller |
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At one level, the only reason you can know anything is because of God. God made your mind and your cognitive faculties. At another level, we can't possibly know who God is unless he reveals it to us, which he does in the Bible. Only through him does your reasoning capacity work, and only through his Word can you truly understand who he is and, therefore, who you are, his creation.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Is there any example for me to follow? Is there any command for me to obey? Is there any error for me to avoid? Is there any sin for me to forsake? Is there any promise for me to claim? Is there any new thought about God Himself?360
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Ultimately, the gospel is offensive because the cross stands against all schemes of self-salvation.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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The Swiss theologian John Calvin, in his commentaries on the Hebrew prophets, says that God so identifies with the poor that their cries express divine pain. The Bible teaches us that our treatment of them equals our treatment of God.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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pointing to these underlying realities. But Matthew's Gospel refutes that by grounding Jesus in history, not "once upon a time." He says this is no fairy tale. Jesus Christ is not one more lovely story pointing to these underlying realities--Jesus is the underlying reality to which all the stories point. Jesus"
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Let the knowledge of your grace make me never less but only more intensely devoted to obeying you.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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The Gospel, because it is a true story, means all the best stories will be proved, in the ultimate sense, true. THE
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Timothy J. Keller |
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people who are excluded by culture, excluded by respectable society, and even excluded by the law of God can be brought in to Jesus' family. It doesn't matter your pedigree, it doesn't matter what you have done, it doesn't matter whether you have killed people. If you repent and believe in him, the grace of Jesus Christ can cover your sin and unite you with him. In ancient times there was a concept of "ceremonial uncleanness." If you wanted..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. . . . The babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Work and achievement, without the peace of God in our lives through the Spirit, will never be enough.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Put it this way--are his promises conditional, or unconditional? Judges is crucial, in that it shows that neither answer to that question is right. Nearly all readers of the Old Testament take a "liberal" view (Sure, God will always bless us as long as we are sorry) or a "conservative" view (No, God will only bless us if we are obedient). Judges leaves us with a tension--that both are true, but neither are fully true--and it will not resolv..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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We tend to see gifts as the sign of the Spirit's work in someone. But the Bible never does. Judas and King Saul were used by the Spirit to prophesy, do miracles, and so on... but they did not have Spirit-renewed hearts. To be truly led by the Spirit is to grow "the fruit of the Spirit" (v 22). Gifts may or may not operate out of a grace-changed heart; but the fruit-growth of the Spirit can only happen in a child of God. The only test that t..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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it is far harder than we think to have a self-identity that doesn't lead to exclusion. The real culture war is taking place inside our own disordered hearts, wracked by inordinate desires for things that control us, that lead us to feel superior and exclude those without them, and that fail to satisfy us even when we get them.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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No son sus pecados los que crean una barrera entre el y su padre, es el orgullo que tiene en su buena conducta; no son sus malos actos, sino su rectitud la que le impide compartir el banquete con su padre.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Te das cuenta de lo que esta ensenando Jesus? Ninguno de los dos hijos amaba al padre. Ambos querian usarle para sus propios fines egoistas y no amarle, ni disfrutar de el ni servirle por amor a el. Esto muestra que puedes rebelarte en contra de Dios y estar lejos de el por romper las reglas o bien por cumplirlas todas con esmero. Es un mensaje impactante: una obediencia cuidadosa a la ley de Dios puede convertirse en una estrategia de rebe..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Atheists and agnostics ask for this kind of "proof" for God, but are not alone in holding to strong rationalism. Many Christians claim that their arguments for faith are so strong that all who reject them are simply closing their minds to the truth out of fear or stubbornness.4 Despite all the books calling Christians to provide proofs for their beliefs, you won't see philosophers doing so, not even the most atheistic. The great majority th..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Atheists and agnostics ask for this kind of "proof" for God, but are not alone in holding to strong rationalism. Many Christians claim that their arguments for faith are so strong that all who reject them are simply closing their minds to the truth out of fear or stubbornness.4 Despite all the books calling Christians to provide proofs for their beliefs, you won't see philosophers doing so, not even the most atheistic. The great majority th..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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When evolution is turned into an All-encompassing Theory explaining absolutely everything we believe, feel, and do as the product of natural selection, then we are not in the arena of science, but of philosophy. Evolution as an All-encompassing Theory has insurmountable difficulties as a worldview.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Othniel attacked a city in God's strength; the tribe of Judah concluded they could not do likewise in their own. It is halfway discipleship, and Judges will show us that it leads to no discipleship at all.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Christians, then, should expect to find nonbelievers who are much nicer, kinder, wiser, and better than they are. Why? Christian believers are not accepted by God because of their moral performance, wisdom, or virtue, but because of Christ's work on their behalf. Most religions and philosophies of life assume that one's spiritual status depends on your religious attainments. This naturally leads adherents to feel superior to those who don't..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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children of God" only for those who have received Christ as Savior and Lord: "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children [tekna] of God" (John 1:12). Sonship is given to those who receive him. No one has it naturally except Jesus Christ."
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Timothy J. Keller |
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the gospel is the A to Z of the Christian life. It is not only the way to enter the kingdom; it is the way to live as part of the kingdom. It is the way Christ transforms people, churches and communities.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Jesus's miracles in particular were never magic tricks, designed only to impress and coerce. You never see him say something like: "See that tree over there? Watch me make it burst into flames!" Instead, he used miraculous power to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and raise the dead. Why? We modern people think of miracles as the suspension of the natural order, but Jesus meant them to be the restoration of the natural order. The Bible tells..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Jesus's miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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the illusion that if we find our one true soul mate, everything wrong with us will be healed; but that makes the lover into God, and no human being can live up to that.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Ht~ l'shkhS lldhyn yZlwn 'wfy ln ymwtwn w yrHlwn `n, 'w nmwt nHn w nrHl `nhm
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow travelers.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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We should be glad of success, but not overly glad, and saddened by failure, but not too downcast, because our true joy in the future is guaranteed by God. So we are to enjoy but not be "engrossed" (I Corinthians 7:31) in things of this world."
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Timothy J. Keller |
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We all live as if it is better to seek peace instead of war, to tell the truth instead of lying, to care and nurture rather than to destroy. We believe that these choices are not pointless, that it matters which way we choose to live. Yet if the Cosmic Bench is truly empty, then "who sez" that one choice is better than the others? We can argue about it, but it's just pointless arguing, endless litigation. If the Bench is truly empty, then t..
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religion
philosophy
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Sin embargo, la division de la herencia solo tenia lugar cuando el padre moria. Aqui, el hijo menor pide la herencia ahora, lo cual era una gran falta de respeto, ya que hacerlo cuando el padre aun vivia era igual que desearle la muerte. El hijo menor estaba diciendo basicamente que queria las cosas de su padre, pero no a su padre. Su relacion con el padre era un medio para poder disfrutar de sus bienes, y ahora estaba cansado de esa relaci..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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el amor de Dios y su gracia pueden perdonar y restaurar cualquier pecado u ofensa. No importa quien eres ni lo que has hecho. No importa si has oprimido o incluso asesinado a gente, o cuanto has abusado de ti mismo. El hermano menor sabia que en la casa del padre habia "comida de sobra", pero tambien descubrio que habia gracia de sobra. No hay ningun mal que el amor del padre no pueda perdonar y cubrir, y no hay pecado que desafie a su mise..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Augustine believed that even when you seem to be enjoying something else, God is the actual source of your joy. The thing you love is from him and is lovely because it bears his signature. All joy is really found in God, and anything you do enjoy is derivative, because what you are really looking for is him, whether you know it or not.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Jesus's example and grace heals our will to power. The normal response to our sense of powerlessness is to deny it, to find people to dominate and control in order to live in that denial. But Jesus shows us another way. By giving up his power and serving, he became the most influential man who ever lived. Jesus is not only an example, however, he is a Savior. Only by admitting our sin, need, and powerlessness, and by casting ourselves on hi..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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The book of Genesis is a window into what cultures were like before the revelation of the Bible. One thing we see early on is the widespread practice of primogeniture--the eldest son inherited all the wealth, which is how they ensured the family kept its status and place in society. So the second or third son got nothing, or very little. Yet all through the Bible, when God chooses someone to work through, he chooses the younger sibling. He ..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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To glorify others means to unconditionally serve them, not because we're getting anything out of it, just because of our love and appreciation for who they truly are.
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Timothy J. Keller |
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people appreciate sophistication
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Timothy J. Keller |
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An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, "If I have that, then I'll feel my life has meaning, then I'll know I have value, then I'll feel significant and secure."
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Timothy J. Keller |
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Prayer upon Beginning One's Work or Study My good God, Father, and Savior, grant me aid by your Holy Spirit to now work fruitfully in my vocation, which is from you, all in order to love you and the people around me rather than for my own gain and glory. Give me wisdom, judgment and prudence, and freedom from my besetting sins. Bring me under the rule of true humility. Let me accept with patience whatever amount of fruitfulness or difficult..
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Timothy J. Keller |
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when someone says, "I don't need a piece of paper to show love," you might say, "Yes, you do. If you love the way the Bible describes the love of two people who want to share their lives together, you should have no problem making a legal, permanent, exclusive commitment."
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Timothy J. Keller |
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It is not surprising, then, that after children leave home, many marriages fall apart. Why? Because while the parents treated their relationship with their children as a covenant relationship--performing the actions of love until their feelings strengthened--they treated their marriages as a consumer relationship and withdrew their actions of love when they weren't having the feelings. As a result, after two decades, their marriages were em..
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Timothy J. Keller |