The point of every disaster

The point of every deadly calamity is this: Repent. Let our hearts be broken that God means so little to us. Grieve that he is a whipping boy to be blamed for pain, but not praised for pleasure. Lament that he makes headlines only when man mocks his power, but no headlines for ten thousand days of wrath withheld. Let us rend our hearts that we love life more than we love Jesus Christ. Let us cast ourselves on the mercy of our Maker. He offers it through the death and resurrection of his Son.

-- John Piper after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami

Live in Romans 8

Beware of an incomplete Christ

Revelation 5:5,6 - Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered. . . And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain. . .

Consider the admirable conjunction of diverse Excellencies in Christ. In Jesus Christ (there is) infinite highness and infinite condescension; infinite justice and infinite grace; infinite majesty and transcendent meekness; deepest reverence toward God and equality with God; worthiness of good and the greatest patience under the suffering of evil; a great spirit of obedience and supreme dominion over heaven and earth; absolute sovereignty and perfect resignation; self-sufficiency and an entire trust and reliance on God.

- Jonathan Edwards, The Excellency of Christ (paraphrased by John Piper in The Pleasures of God)

For whom is the gospel not fitted

Never lose heart in the power of the gospel. Don"t believe that there exists any man, much less any race of men, for whom the gospel is not fitted.
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon