Mark Driscoll: Men Die

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Repentance Doesn’t Lead to Neutral

Here’s an excerpt from Jonathan Dodson’s blog on biblical, gospel-centered repentance.

Love Doesn’t Lead us to Neutral

In repentance, God’s loving leads to our turning. Turning from sin is turning to Christ. It’s not a hollow confession in the neutral zone of a no man’s land, where we are left drifting, unguarded only to drift back into the same sinful fray all over again. Love doesn’t lead us into neutral. It doesn’t overlook sin and leave us stranded in no man’s land. It confronts, calling us to the better land. To not settle for slums when there is a paradise to be had. This is the love of Christ—reproof and discipline—pouring out upon us, the church.

Click here to read the rest of this very helpful article.

[HT: Creation Project]

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2010 Summer Retreat Info and Registration Packet Download

That time of year is upon us yet again!  This year, High School ministry and Junior High ministry will be going up to the same location at the same time, but will be having separate camps once we get there.  And so, as such, we’ve simplified the registration process and decided to have all of you guys (high school and junior high) fill out the same registration packet.

Below, you’ll see the information for the retreat.  And below that, you’ll see six links where you can download the registration packets.  Every page (except pages 5 and 6) MUST be filled out.  And please pay attention to the registration dates.  Especially to the registration cutoff date (8/8/10) where beyond that date, we will close registrations (no exceptions according to Forest Home Retreat Center’s policy to have a finalized count the week before we go up.)

Registration Info.

** Early Bird Registration: 6/20 – 7/11 ($130.00 per person WITH sibling discount).
** After 7/11 – 8/1 ($145.00 per person WITH sibling discount).
** After 8/1 – 8/8 ($160.00 per person WITHOUT sibling discount).
** NO MORE REGISTRATION AFTER 8/8 **

Registration Packet Download

Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

Note:  (1) Departure time from church and arrival time to church is not set yet.  As soon as it is, you will know. (2) Financial assistance is available to those who qualify.  Talk to either Pastor Phil or myself.

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NEXT Conference Audio

For those of us who wanted to grow deeper in our understanding of the Gospel and other great biblical truths (but, for one reason or another, never had the time), here’s a link to all the audio of the messages that were delivered at the NEXT Conference that was held this past May.  Topics that were covered include:

• What Are You Built On? by Joshua Harris
• The Doctrine of Christ’s Work Accomplished and Applied by Mark Dever
• Scripture by Kevin DeYoung
• Sanctification by C.J. Mahaney
• God by D.A. Carson
• The Church by Kevin DeYoung
• The End Times by Jeff Purswell

Just finished listening to C.J. Mahaney’s message on Sanctification as it was something that I’ve been wrestling with recently to understand – and let me say, God spoke powerfully as C.J. Mahaney clearly and powerfully expounded Philippians 2:12-13.

Again, here’s the link.

[HT: Justin Taylor]

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The Difference Between Worldly and Godly Grief

Here’s a helpful post on Kevin DeYoung’s blog about how one can go about distinguishing between godly grief and worldly grief.  But first, here is how he defines the two terms, as according to 2 Corinthians 7:8-13.

Once we hate sin we are more inclined to run away from it. Grief, you notice, is not the same as repentance. Most people think grief equals repentance. They feel really bad about something, therefore they are repentant.  But notice in verse 9 (2 Corinthians 7:9) that godly grief leads to repentance.

There is an eternal difference between regret and repentance.  Regret feels bad about past sins.  Repentance turns away from past sins. Most of us are content with regret.  We just want to feel bad for awhile, have a good cry, enjoy the cathartic experience, bewail our sin and how selfish/stupid/sorry we are.  But we don’t really want to change. We don’t really want to live different than we have been.

Godly grief produces true repentance, which leads to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10). Instead of obsessing over regrets and feeling bad due to the opinions of others, godly grief mourns for sin, turns from sin, and finds forgiveness for sin in Christ.

Now, here’s a helpful description of how we can go about distinguishing godly grief from worldly grief:

Here’s one way to distinguish between worldly grief and godly grief: one mobilizes you into action and the other immobilizes you.

• Godly grief is a fruitful and effective emotion.  We are not meant to wallow in this grief.  It is supposed to spur us to action, to change, to make right our wrongs, to be zealous for good works, to run from sin and start walking in the opposite direction.

• But worldly grief makes you idle and stagnant.  You don’t change.  You don’t grow.  You don’t fight against the deeds of the flesh.  Instead you ruminate on your mistakes and obsess about what people’s opinions and ponder what might have been.  If you feel sorry for your sin you will be moved to action not to wallow in it week after week, year after year.  Do you want to feel bad or do you want to change?

Some of us, truth be told, would rather feel bad. It’s easier than being changed.

Here’s the link to the rest of the article.

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