New Graphic - Reckless Grace

A quote by Tim Keller on reckless grace being our greatest hope in English and Romanian. They are HD size (1920 x 1080). You can download them here: English Romanian. If you click directly on the photo Blogger will open it and you can right click and download it that way as well but they will be a bit smaller (1600 x 900). Here is a link to all the graphics I have made so far: William's Graphics.

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Gospel Quotes - The Purpose of Jesus's Coming

"When we look at the whole scope of this story line, we see clearly that Christianity is not only about getting one’s individual sins forgiven so we can go to heaven. That is an important means of God’s salvation, but not the final end or purpose of it. The purpose of Jesus’s coming is to put the whole world right, to renew and restore the creation, not to escape it. It is not just to bring personal forgiveness and peace, but also justice and shalom to the world. God created both the body and soul, and the resurrection of Jesus shows that he is going to redeem both body and soul. The work of the Spirit of God is not only to save souls but also to care and cultivate the face of the earth, the material world." -- Tim Keller

Gospel Quotes - Where Our Problems Come From

"Most of our problems in life come from a lack of proper orientation to the gospel. Pathologies in the church and sinful patterns in our individual lives ultimately stem from a failure to think through the deep implications of the gospel and to grasp and believe the gospel through and through. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts and our thinking and changes our approaches to absolutely everything. When the gospel is expounded and applied in its fullness in any church, that church will look unique. People will find in it an attractive, electrifying balance of moral conviction and compassion." -- Tim Keller

What is a Real Christian? Tim Keller

"A real Christian is a person who says, "it is an absolute miracle that God's loves me. "It's just a miracle that I am a Christian." This is actually an acid test; let me just lay it on you here at the end. There are two kinds of people that go to church: there's religious people and real Christians. And the way you can tell the difference is that a Real Christian is somebody who sees everything that comes as a gift.  In other words a real Christian sees that you are totally in debt to God, but a religious person is someone who is working hard and making an effort and trying to be good, going to Bible studies and just saying "no" everywhere, and denying themselves a lot of pleasures, and so forth, and a religious person is someone who is trying to put God in their debt. That is the difference.  A religious person is someone who is trying to save themselves through their good works. A religious person is somebody who thinks they are putting God in their debt since they have tried so hard. A Christian is somebody who sees themselves as in God's debt." -- Tim Keller

Who is Christianity For? Tim Keller

“Christianity is… for everyone, but especially for people who admit that, where it really counts, they’re weak. It is for people who have the particular kind of strength to admit that their flaws are not superficial, their heart is deeply disordered, and that they are incapable of rectifying themselves. It is for those who can see that they need a savior, that they need Jesus Christ dying on the cross, to put them right with God.” -- Tim Keller

Related Links
What is Christianity? Matt Slick
What is Christianity? Christianity Explored  (3:12)
What is Christianity? Christianity Explored (6:09)  
What is Christianity? Max Lucado

What is Christianity About? Michael Bird
The Heart of Christianity - Mark Driscoll

Three Ways to Live

Christless Christianity - Dr. Michael Horton (5:03)

A List for Self-Examination - Tim Keller

Tim Keller wrote a blog post yesterday on the City to City blog titled Blemishes in Christian Character: a List for Self-Examination. In it he talked about a letter written by John Newton, Blemishes in the Christian Life, in which "Newton points out that while most Christians succeed in avoiding the more gross external sins, many nonetheless overlook blemishes on their character by passing them off as mere “foibles.” They “may not seem to violate any express command of Scripture” and yet, they are “properly sinful” because they are the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit that believers are supposed to exhibit."

Below is a list Tim Keller has come up with for self-examination based heavily on Newton's original list. As we come to the end of one year and the beginning of a new one it would do us good to have a time of reflection keeping in mind that we are not saved by our works but that God has good works for us to do.

Austerus is a solid and disciplined Christian, but abrasive, critical and ungenerous in dealing with people, temperamental, seldom giving compliments and praise, and almost never gentle.

Infitialis is a person of careful and deliberate character, but habitually cynical, negative, and pessimistic, always discouraging (“that will never work”), unsupportive and vaguely unhappy.

Pulsus is passionate, but also impulsive and impatient, not thinking things through, speaking too soon, always quick to complain and lodge a protest, often needing to apologize for rash statements.

Querulus is a person of strong convictions, but known to be very opinionated, a poor listener, argumentative, not very teachable, and very slow to admit they were wrong.

Subjectio is a resourceful and ambitious person, but also someone who often shades the truth, puts a lot of spin on things (close to misrepresentation), is very partisan, self-promoting, and turf-conscious.

Potestas gets things done, but needs to control every situation, has trouble sharing power, has a need to do everything him or herself, and is very suspicious and mistrustful of others.

Fragilis is friendly and seeks friends, but constantly gets his or her feelings hurt, easily feels slighted and put down, is often offended and upset by real and imagined criticism by others.

Curiosus is very sociable, but enjoys knowing negative things about people, finds ways of passing the news on, may divulge confidences, and enjoys confrontation too much.

Volatilis is very kind-hearted and eager to help, but simply not reliable—isn’t punctual, doesn’t follow through on promises, is always over-extended, and as a result may do shoddy work.

As I look at this list I am most grateful for God's grace in Christ Jesus for me. I always fall short but look forward to that day when I will be just like Jesus. It is this hope that helps me get through each day plus knowing that God uses the weak things of the world so that He gets the glory. Draw near to Him and He promises to draw near to you.

Do you fall short? Do you feel weak many times? Welcome to the club!

To God be the glory!!!

The Unique Gift of Christmas | Tim Keller

“No other religion–whether secularism, Greco-Roman paganism, Eastern religion, Judaism, or Islam–believes God became breakable or suffered or had a body. Eastern religion believes the physical is illusion. Greco-Romans believe the physical is bad. Judaism and Islam don’t believe God would do such a thing as live in the flesh.

But Christmas teaches that God is concerned not only with the spiritual, because he is not just a spirit anymore. He has a body. He knows what it’s like to be poor, to be a refugee, to face persecution and hunger, to be beaten and stabbed. He knows what it is like to be dead. Therefore, when we put together the incarnation and the resurrection, we see that God is not just concerned about the spirit, but he also cares about the body. He created the spirit and the body, and he will redeem the spirit and the body.

Christmas shows us that God is not just concerned about spiritual problems but physical problems too. So we can talk about redeeming people from guilt and unbelief, as well as creating safe streets and affordable housing for the poor, in the same breath. Because Jesus himself is not just a spirit but also has a body, the gift of Christmas is a passion for justice.

But Christians have not only a passion for justice but also the knowledge that, in the end, justice will triumph. Confidence in the justice of God makes the most realistic passion for justice possible.” -- Tim Keller

Related Links

• The Christmas Mission (2:32)
• The Story of Christmas - An Animation (12:57)
• O Come All Ye Faithless (1:28)
• New Graphic Quoting C. S. Lewis - English and Romanian
• Christmas Graphic - Luke 2:11 - English & Romanian
• It's About the Cross - E Vorba Despre Cruce (4:07)
• Christmas Creed
• The Christmas Gospel | Scot McKnight
• Christmas and the Gospel - Scot McKnight
• Christmas Spirit (The Right Way) 2:07
• The Christmas Story (3:53)
• Christmas in a Nutshell (2:00)
• Presence (2:16)
• 'Tis the Season (2:07)
• Christmas is About a Tree (4:10)
• A True Christmas Story (5:13)
• Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (3:07)
• The Christmas Scale (2:41)
• The Paradox of Christmas (2:28)
• The Innkeeper - John Piper (11:58)
• Rejoice! It's Christmas Time! (3:25)

Gospel Quotes - The Way of Renewal and Transformation

"The gospel shows us that our spiritual problem lies not only in failing to obey God, but also in relying on our obedience to make us fully acceptable to God, ourselves and others.

Every kind of character flaw comes from this natural impulse to be our own savior through our performance and achievement. On the one hand, proud and disdainful personalities come from basing your identity on your performance and thinking you are succeeding. But on the other hand, discouraged and self-loathing personalities also come from basing your identity on your performance and thinking you are failing.

Belief in the gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom of God; it is the way to address every obstacle and grow in every aspect. The gospel is not just the “ABCs” but the “A-to-Z” of the Christian life.

The gospel is the way that anything is renewed and transformed by Christ — whether a heart, a relationship, a church, or a community. All our problems come from a lack of orientation to the gospel. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts, our thinking and our approach to absolutely everything." -- Tim Keller

What is the Gospel? Tim Keller (video)

Tim Keller explains the gospel. The full Q&A video is available here. (5:04)

What is Sin? Tim Keller

"Sin is the despairing refusal to find your deepest identity in your relationship and service to God. Sin is seeking to become oneself, to get an identity apart from him. . . . Most people think of sin primarily as “breaking divine rules,” but Kierkegaard knows that the very first of the Ten Commandments is to “have no other gods before me.” So, according to the Bible, the primary way to define sin is not just the doing of bad things, but the making of good things into ultimate things. It is seeking to establish a sense of self by making something else more central to your significance, purpose, and happiness than your relationship to God." -- Tim Keller

Tim Keller - Center Church Webcast

Tim Keller talks about ways to reach the lost in a post-modern world. The material he shares comes from his new book, "Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City." (1:02:46)