Biblical Repentance

As I asked in my post on brokenness, "why do we not weep over our sin, and fall on our knees for grieving the heart of God - and those whom we have hurt?"

We only give lip service to change, when a desperate need for change in our action is what we need. We need to go beyond the recognition for change, we need to change our heart as well.

This is a difficult charge. We don't need Tony Robbins to aid us in change we need biblical scholars.

Check out this quote from John MacArthur, "Repentance is not just a change of mind; it is a change of heart. It is an inward response not just an inward activity but its fruit will be evident in the true believer's behavior."

"[R]repentance has intellectual, emotional, and volitional ramifications. Berkhof describes the intellectual element of repentance as “a change of view, a recognition of sin as involving personal guilt, defilement, and helplessness.” The emotional element is “a change of feeling, manifesting itself in sorrow for sin committed against a holy God.” The volitional element is “a change of purpose, an inward turning away from sin, and a disposition to seek pardon and cleansing.” (Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 486) Each of those three elements is deficient apart from the others. Repentance is a response of the total person; therefore some speak of it as total surrender."

For more on this from Pastor MacArthur, see Pulpit Magazine's post, "What is Biblical Repentance."

Connecting Scripture to Sigmund Freud to CS Lewis to John Piper

Have you ever read somthing and said to yourself, "that's is really good."

Well this following paper by Jennifer Romanski falls into that category. In this paper Jennifer compares Lewis, Frued and Piper.

She wrote this for school at UF and has subsequently posted it on her blog, Embracing a Humble Orthodoxy.

It is in three parts, check it out:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Whom do Men Say I Am?

And Jesus said unto his disciples, "Whom do men say that I am?" (Matt. 16:13, Mark 8:27)

And His disciples answered unto Him, "Master, thou art the supreme eschatological manifestation of omnipotent ecclesiastical authority, the absolute, divine, sacerdotal monarch."

And Jesus said, "What?"

Brokenness, a Neccessary Component of our Faith

To be broken and have a contrite heart is virtually lost on todays evangelicals.

We don't weep over sin.

We don't confess our sin - to man or God.

We don't even acknowledge it as real . . .

We probably wouldn't even fall to the ground and weep over the glories of the cross as Jonathan Edwards did (when he fell off his horse overhelemed with what Christ did).

Check out this excellant article on brokeness from Cerulean Sanctum:
The Battle for Brokenness

John Piper is BAD!

John Piper is BAD!

Hear him confess (.MP3).

I found this over at Eric Zeller's blog: foolishblog

Where the Streets have No Name

Have you ever heard that the song, Where the Streets have No Name is about the Kingdom of Heaven?

In the first verse of the song Bono states “I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside.” He longs to leave his earthly body.

When he states “when I go there, I go there with you, it’s all I can do,” he is talking to God or Jesus (or perhaps other gods, from other religions).

In longing for heaven he states, “I want to feel sunlight on my face, I see the dust clouds disappear without a trace. I want to take shelter from the poison rain where the streets have no name.”

On the Live in Boston DVD, Bono introduces the song from the more spiritual perspective, saying to the audience, “we’re going to give back to God for the blessings he poured out at the time of the salvation.”

LYRICS:

I wanna run

I want to hide

I wanna tear down the walls

That hold me inside

I wanna reach out

And touch the flame

Where the streets have no name

I wanna feel sunlight on my face

I see the dust cloud disappear without a trace

I wanna take shelter from the poison rain

Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name

We're still building

Then burning down love,

Burning down love

And when I go there

I go there with youIt's all

I can doThe city's a flood

And our love turns to rust

We're beaten and blown by the wind

Trampled in dust

I'll show you a place

High on a desert plain

Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name

We're still building

Then burning down love,

Burning down love

And when I go there

I go there with you

It's all I can do

Our love turns to rust

We're beaten and blown by the wind

Blown by the wind

Oh yes, in dust

See our love turn to rust

And we're beaten and blown by the wind

Blown by the wind

Oh, when I go there

I go there with you

It's all I can do

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