My late grandfather, Seneca Lowell Griggs
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
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Saturday, September 22, 2007
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
THEY LIKE IT
(From Nationalreview.com - the corner
"Because They Like It, That's Why [Michael Ledeen]
From an email, clear thinking for what lies ahead:
The real question remains “Why at all?” and the status of these would-be murderers as privileged post-graduates debunks the usual Lefty nostrums about terrorism arising inexorably from the poverty, oppression and “disenfranchisement” of the globe’s Darwinian short-bus. The answer lies more plainly in a memorable line of a memorable character. In 1971’s “Dirty Harry” the city of San Francisco is being terrorized by the rampant Scorpio serial killer. Clint Eastwood is in classic formulaic dialogue with the big shots down at City Hall who just don't understand what they’re dealing with. Eastwood says “You're crazy if you think you've heard the last of this guy. He's gonna kill again” and the archetypal skeptical D.A. character responds “How do you know?” (A little imagination here to invoke the Eastwood signature voice enhances the flavor of the closing fastball). “Because he likes it” answers Dirty Harry.
It doesn't matter a whit if these manqu̩ human bonfires are doctors, shepherds, bureaucrats or street vendors Рthis is what they do, and they do it because they like it. They are fanatics, subsumed in a crippling theology that fosters self-hatred and murder. Their economic conditions are irrelevant. The Left doesn't get this of course because Marxist materialism denies belief systems altogether, so they therefore must assume that all human behavior is derived from economic determinism. Tell that to Dr. Kill-dare.
These monsters wish to inflict as much pain and death on as many innocents as they can because… because they’re evil and they’re crazy. And it’s not pretty to say so, but the only reasonable and effective defense is to kill them first. "
"Because They Like It, That's Why [Michael Ledeen]
From an email, clear thinking for what lies ahead:
The real question remains “Why at all?” and the status of these would-be murderers as privileged post-graduates debunks the usual Lefty nostrums about terrorism arising inexorably from the poverty, oppression and “disenfranchisement” of the globe’s Darwinian short-bus. The answer lies more plainly in a memorable line of a memorable character. In 1971’s “Dirty Harry” the city of San Francisco is being terrorized by the rampant Scorpio serial killer. Clint Eastwood is in classic formulaic dialogue with the big shots down at City Hall who just don't understand what they’re dealing with. Eastwood says “You're crazy if you think you've heard the last of this guy. He's gonna kill again” and the archetypal skeptical D.A. character responds “How do you know?” (A little imagination here to invoke the Eastwood signature voice enhances the flavor of the closing fastball). “Because he likes it” answers Dirty Harry.
It doesn't matter a whit if these manqu̩ human bonfires are doctors, shepherds, bureaucrats or street vendors Рthis is what they do, and they do it because they like it. They are fanatics, subsumed in a crippling theology that fosters self-hatred and murder. Their economic conditions are irrelevant. The Left doesn't get this of course because Marxist materialism denies belief systems altogether, so they therefore must assume that all human behavior is derived from economic determinism. Tell that to Dr. Kill-dare.
These monsters wish to inflict as much pain and death on as many innocents as they can because… because they’re evil and they’re crazy. And it’s not pretty to say so, but the only reasonable and effective defense is to kill them first. "
Thursday, June 14, 2007
2007 Mustang GT
My son drove up last night in his brand-new, jet-black, Mustang GT - the classic "throaty purr" indicating the presence of 8 honkin' cyclinders creating 300 horses at 6000 rpm. Oh, it's nice.
He didn't listen to his old Dad. I said, light colors last longer and 6 cylinders will be all the horsepower you'll need.
I was WRONG. I'm glad he got the real thing. At this stage he can afford the gas (he's single) and every guy should have a hot car at least once in his life. It's good to be young when you're young. He bought like a 27 year old, not like a 57 year old and that's good.
Enjoy it Tom. You made the right choice.
He didn't listen to his old Dad. I said, light colors last longer and 6 cylinders will be all the horsepower you'll need.
I was WRONG. I'm glad he got the real thing. At this stage he can afford the gas (he's single) and every guy should have a hot car at least once in his life. It's good to be young when you're young. He bought like a 27 year old, not like a 57 year old and that's good.
Enjoy it Tom. You made the right choice.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Life and death of Judy Garland (Francis Gumm)
(Found on James Lilek's blog in response to his post on Judy Garland Days in Grand Rapids)
The Case of Frances Gumm vs. Judy Garland
Submitted by CivilDefense on Sun, 06/10/2007 - 7:39am.
Do you really "...have to wonder how her life would have unfolded if she’d stayed" home in small-town middle America"?
With respect, I don't think so. Her life would have been better, far happier, and almost certainly much longer. (Her daughter, too, wouldn't have been a bundle of second-generation neuroses and inherited pathologies.)
Google the sad end in summary of Garland's story and you learn that she was just 47, full of sleeping pills, and that "everybody loved her" ... everybody but Frances Gumm, apparently. (As I recall, "everyone loved" Marilyn Monroe, too --- not to mention Elvis, Jim Morrison, etc. ad nauseum)
When you're very, very young, deeply impressed by what you see and unaware of what you don't yet know, Garland's meteoric life story has great appeal. Young people don't see those brassy, rouged twin whores, Glamour and Fame, as the flattering, life-sapping, withering harpies they truly are.
As you age, have a family, enjoy the profound pleasures of a modest life and the peaceful retreat of relative obscurity, I think most of us come to regard a life like that lived by Gumm/Garland as a curse and a tragedy ... even if it's set to music and recorded in Technicolor.
The Case of Frances Gumm vs. Judy Garland
Submitted by CivilDefense on Sun, 06/10/2007 - 7:39am.
Do you really "...have to wonder how her life would have unfolded if she’d stayed" home in small-town middle America"?
With respect, I don't think so. Her life would have been better, far happier, and almost certainly much longer. (Her daughter, too, wouldn't have been a bundle of second-generation neuroses and inherited pathologies.)
Google the sad end in summary of Garland's story and you learn that she was just 47, full of sleeping pills, and that "everybody loved her" ... everybody but Frances Gumm, apparently. (As I recall, "everyone loved" Marilyn Monroe, too --- not to mention Elvis, Jim Morrison, etc. ad nauseum)
When you're very, very young, deeply impressed by what you see and unaware of what you don't yet know, Garland's meteoric life story has great appeal. Young people don't see those brassy, rouged twin whores, Glamour and Fame, as the flattering, life-sapping, withering harpies they truly are.
As you age, have a family, enjoy the profound pleasures of a modest life and the peaceful retreat of relative obscurity, I think most of us come to regard a life like that lived by Gumm/Garland as a curse and a tragedy ... even if it's set to music and recorded in Technicolor.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
"Kakes" graduates
My youngest, "Kakes," graduated from college a month ago. She ended up with a triple major; English, Psych & Linguistics. Through-out her 4 years she received all A's except for one B+. I'm quite proud of my two children. Having graduated from college they should be able to find gainful employment and support my early retirement. That's my plan; not necessarily their's.
Anywho, congrats to Kakes for a job terrifically done.
Anywho, congrats to Kakes for a job terrifically done.
Sitting quietly
This morning while I was unloading my Motobecane racing bicycle, I "twinged" my back. Well I completed the 24 miles with my friend Ron but my back is warning me that I need to be very careful in the next couple of days. Such is life right?
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Live while you can
A D.J. Drummond posted the following on Wizbangblog.com. It is very perceptive.
On Death
Yesterday, I went to the funeral of my old church choir director, the sort of man who achieved greatness the old-fashioned way; he changed the lives of countless people around him by helping them find character strengths and skills they did not know they possessed, and he helped them grow from uncertain youth to a more confident adulthood. Today also happens to be the one-year anniversary of the death of my father. Also, in the past year I have been diagnosed with Cancer, been to several other funerals, and had some unpleasantly direct experience with how the present media culture treats the families of violent crime, so I am a bit more aware of death in my thoughts and ponderings than normal.
We live, we die. These are immutable facts in the human condition. I could make some profound religious or philosophical observation on what happens after we die, I suppose, but it would likely not be original, even if it was worth the effort. And it would be poor, cold comfort to the people left behind to mourn the loss. It's nice to be told that our loved ones are happy and doing well on the other side of the grave, and we might even take some comfort in the hope that we can believe in something more after the death of the body, but in the present we all have to face that death is right here, everywhere all the time. Dying means pain, the grotesque internment of the body as garbage, and the undesired change in reality for everyone connected to the deceased. C.S. Lewis, the Oxford Don and famous as a great apologist for Christianity in the modern age, wrote about the pain he endured when his wife Joy died from Cancer. It was, he felt, grossly unfair and painful to everyone, and it also seemed that everything someone said to him showed how little they understood the situation. If so great an optimist as Lewis felt this way during the passing of his wife, we should not be surprised that anyone else would feel the same suffering.
Yet for all of that, I cannot accept the notion that death should be the focus of a person's life. We are born and we must die, yes, but all that happens in between those events is of tremendous importance. Indeed, all of History comes down to men and women choosing ways to use their opportunities to act in ways that change Reality. Even when they sometimes had to die to do so. And many times, the people who changed the world the most, were far more than they seemed on the outside.
It's no great wisdom to say it, but I think it's a good idea to repeat the fact that living matters more than dying. Anyone can die, and we all get there eventually. Living, and living to a good end, is much much harder and significant. People mourn a person's death, specifically because the way they lived mattered.
By: DJ Drummond
On Death
Yesterday, I went to the funeral of my old church choir director, the sort of man who achieved greatness the old-fashioned way; he changed the lives of countless people around him by helping them find character strengths and skills they did not know they possessed, and he helped them grow from uncertain youth to a more confident adulthood. Today also happens to be the one-year anniversary of the death of my father. Also, in the past year I have been diagnosed with Cancer, been to several other funerals, and had some unpleasantly direct experience with how the present media culture treats the families of violent crime, so I am a bit more aware of death in my thoughts and ponderings than normal.
We live, we die. These are immutable facts in the human condition. I could make some profound religious or philosophical observation on what happens after we die, I suppose, but it would likely not be original, even if it was worth the effort. And it would be poor, cold comfort to the people left behind to mourn the loss. It's nice to be told that our loved ones are happy and doing well on the other side of the grave, and we might even take some comfort in the hope that we can believe in something more after the death of the body, but in the present we all have to face that death is right here, everywhere all the time. Dying means pain, the grotesque internment of the body as garbage, and the undesired change in reality for everyone connected to the deceased. C.S. Lewis, the Oxford Don and famous as a great apologist for Christianity in the modern age, wrote about the pain he endured when his wife Joy died from Cancer. It was, he felt, grossly unfair and painful to everyone, and it also seemed that everything someone said to him showed how little they understood the situation. If so great an optimist as Lewis felt this way during the passing of his wife, we should not be surprised that anyone else would feel the same suffering.
Yet for all of that, I cannot accept the notion that death should be the focus of a person's life. We are born and we must die, yes, but all that happens in between those events is of tremendous importance. Indeed, all of History comes down to men and women choosing ways to use their opportunities to act in ways that change Reality. Even when they sometimes had to die to do so. And many times, the people who changed the world the most, were far more than they seemed on the outside.
It's no great wisdom to say it, but I think it's a good idea to repeat the fact that living matters more than dying. Anyone can die, and we all get there eventually. Living, and living to a good end, is much much harder and significant. People mourn a person's death, specifically because the way they lived mattered.
By: DJ Drummond
Friday, April 20, 2007
The insanity of feminism
Al Mohler and Kathleen Parker clarify our insanity:
"Tragically, the most damaging element of Ahmadinejad's media triumph was handed to him by the Royal Navy in the person of Leading Seaman Faye Turney, the only woman among the captives and the mother of a 3-year-old daughter.
Her presence among the captives taken from the British patrol vessel gave Ahmadinejad the opportunity to make this observation:
"You will know that among the detainees there is one lady who is a mother of a child. Why is it that the most difficult work like patrolling at sea should be given to a woman?
"Why is there no respect for motherhood? Why does the West not value its women?"
Ahmadinejad's questions still reverberate around the Muslim world. Nothing could more effectively demonstrate the immorality of Western values before Muslim eyes than this -- a mother of a little girl sent as a warrior.
As Kathleen Parker remarked in The Washington Post:
On any given day, one isn't likely to find common cause with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He's a dangerous, lying, Holocaust- denying, Jew-hating cutthroat thug -- not to put too fine a point on it.
But he was dead-on when he wondered why a once-great power such as Britain sends mothers of toddlers to fight its battles.
Driven by a fanatical ideology of feminism, the West has turned its back on a reality as basic as motherhood. We have adopted a new morality that insists -- nature's obstinacy notwithstanding -- that there is no difference between men and women. This produces mothers of babies and toddlers in uniform and in the killing zones."
"Tragically, the most damaging element of Ahmadinejad's media triumph was handed to him by the Royal Navy in the person of Leading Seaman Faye Turney, the only woman among the captives and the mother of a 3-year-old daughter.
Her presence among the captives taken from the British patrol vessel gave Ahmadinejad the opportunity to make this observation:
"You will know that among the detainees there is one lady who is a mother of a child. Why is it that the most difficult work like patrolling at sea should be given to a woman?
"Why is there no respect for motherhood? Why does the West not value its women?"
Ahmadinejad's questions still reverberate around the Muslim world. Nothing could more effectively demonstrate the immorality of Western values before Muslim eyes than this -- a mother of a little girl sent as a warrior.
As Kathleen Parker remarked in The Washington Post:
On any given day, one isn't likely to find common cause with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He's a dangerous, lying, Holocaust- denying, Jew-hating cutthroat thug -- not to put too fine a point on it.
But he was dead-on when he wondered why a once-great power such as Britain sends mothers of toddlers to fight its battles.
Driven by a fanatical ideology of feminism, the West has turned its back on a reality as basic as motherhood. We have adopted a new morality that insists -- nature's obstinacy notwithstanding -- that there is no difference between men and women. This produces mothers of babies and toddlers in uniform and in the killing zones."
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
V Tech hero
"Virginia Tech University Prof. Liviu Librescu, described as a family man who once did research for NASA, sacrificed his life to save his students in the shooting rampage yesterday.
"When he heard the gunfire, he blocked the entrance and got shot through the door," his daughter-in-law Ayala Schmulevich said.
"He realized he had to save the students," she said. "That was the kind of man he was."
The hero educator was beginning a class on solid mechanics when all hell broke loose on the second floor of Norris Hall.
First came the terrifying gunshots from a classroom next door.
"It wasn't like an automatic weapon, but it was a steady 'pow,' 'pow,' 'pow,' 'pow,'" student Richard Mallalieu, 23, told The Washington Post. "We didn't know what to do at first."
The students in the class dropped to the floor and started overturning desks to hide behind as about a dozen shots rang out, he said.
Then the gunfire started coming closer. Librescu, 77, fearlessly braced himself against the door, holding it shut against the gunman in the hall, while students darted to the windows of the second-floor classroom to escape the slaughter, survivors said.
Mallalieu and most of his classmates hung out of the windows and dropped about 10 feet to bushes and grass below - but Librescu stayed behind to hold off the crazed gunman.
Alec Calhoun, 20, said the last thing he saw before he jumped from the window was Librescu, blocking the door against the madman in the hallway.
He died trying to protect the students."
INCREDIBLE! GOD BLESS HIM
"When he heard the gunfire, he blocked the entrance and got shot through the door," his daughter-in-law Ayala Schmulevich said.
"He realized he had to save the students," she said. "That was the kind of man he was."
The hero educator was beginning a class on solid mechanics when all hell broke loose on the second floor of Norris Hall.
First came the terrifying gunshots from a classroom next door.
"It wasn't like an automatic weapon, but it was a steady 'pow,' 'pow,' 'pow,' 'pow,'" student Richard Mallalieu, 23, told The Washington Post. "We didn't know what to do at first."
The students in the class dropped to the floor and started overturning desks to hide behind as about a dozen shots rang out, he said.
Then the gunfire started coming closer. Librescu, 77, fearlessly braced himself against the door, holding it shut against the gunman in the hall, while students darted to the windows of the second-floor classroom to escape the slaughter, survivors said.
Mallalieu and most of his classmates hung out of the windows and dropped about 10 feet to bushes and grass below - but Librescu stayed behind to hold off the crazed gunman.
Alec Calhoun, 20, said the last thing he saw before he jumped from the window was Librescu, blocking the door against the madman in the hallway.
He died trying to protect the students."
INCREDIBLE! GOD BLESS HIM
Monday, April 16, 2007
20 plus people murdered at Va. Tech
There is great evil loosened in our world. Nobody yet knows the final tally; the shooter is dead.
Waiting to find out who it is; if there is any explanation to the insanity.
Waiting to find out who it is; if there is any explanation to the insanity.
Finnerty, Seligman & Evans Innocent
I admit to attempting to read EVERYTHING about the Duke Lacrosse Non-rape Case that has fascinated the blogosphere in the last year.
It shoulda gone away the day after it was announced there was NO DNA evidence. But too many people desperately needed it to be true to serve their agenda.
If you were following the case in the blogosphere, it was oh so evident that there was nothing there. Yet Nifong and his MANY enablers toiled on.
I would love to interview Mike. It would take a week before you might actually get to the bottom of his motivations.
Oh well, what's next?
It shoulda gone away the day after it was announced there was NO DNA evidence. But too many people desperately needed it to be true to serve their agenda.
If you were following the case in the blogosphere, it was oh so evident that there was nothing there. Yet Nifong and his MANY enablers toiled on.
I would love to interview Mike. It would take a week before you might actually get to the bottom of his motivations.
Oh well, what's next?
Monday, April 02, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Roger Bennett R.I.P.
Roger Bennett, southern gospel pianist, gentleman and follower of Jesus Christ passed away yesterday. He was 48 years young and leaves behind his wife and 3 children.
He died from Leukemia; first battled the disease in the 90's. But it came back last year and took his life. I like what some poster said:
" The one thing I will never forget was when Roger made the statement "No matter what happens to me, I win". This morning he won the best prize of all. I know heaven is better today with Roger there, but we here or earth will miss him. My prayers are for all of his family and Legacy 5 that are left on this earth. God be with them."
Roger was correct. If you're a believer you simply can't lose. You win!
I went to hear Legacy Five, the group he founded with Scott Fowler, hoping to see him a bout 3 weeks ago. Sadly he was not there and now he's gone from this life.
I didn't know him but his reputation was that of a fine, fine man.
He died from Leukemia; first battled the disease in the 90's. But it came back last year and took his life. I like what some poster said:
" The one thing I will never forget was when Roger made the statement "No matter what happens to me, I win". This morning he won the best prize of all. I know heaven is better today with Roger there, but we here or earth will miss him. My prayers are for all of his family and Legacy 5 that are left on this earth. God be with them."
Roger was correct. If you're a believer you simply can't lose. You win!
I went to hear Legacy Five, the group he founded with Scott Fowler, hoping to see him a bout 3 weeks ago. Sadly he was not there and now he's gone from this life.
I didn't know him but his reputation was that of a fine, fine man.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Let's talk about sex, baby - Columns
An insightful article about the "hook-up" culture at an elite University. It's actually sad.
Let's talk about sex, baby - Columns
Let's talk about sex, baby - Columns
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Stealing the Church
California Pastor Stole the Whole Church
Click here to find out more!
By GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press Writer
February 13 2007, 7:45 AM EST
RIPON, Calif. -- For nearly a decade, members of Ripon's First Congregational Church bared their souls to Pastor Randall Radic. But clearly it didn't work both ways. There were certain things he wasn't telling them.
That became obvious a year ago, when Radic pleaded guilty to betraying his flock and secretly selling the church and its rectory out from under them. He used the money to buy himself a brand-new black BMW and a laptop -- exploits he later chronicled in a cheeky, almost gleeful blog about his double life as a sinner.
"We didn't know anything until we got a call from the bank that he had bought a BMW," said David Prater, who led the church board during Radic's tenure. "He drove that car right down Main Street." MORE
Click here to find out more!
By GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press Writer
February 13 2007, 7:45 AM EST
RIPON, Calif. -- For nearly a decade, members of Ripon's First Congregational Church bared their souls to Pastor Randall Radic. But clearly it didn't work both ways. There were certain things he wasn't telling them.
That became obvious a year ago, when Radic pleaded guilty to betraying his flock and secretly selling the church and its rectory out from under them. He used the money to buy himself a brand-new black BMW and a laptop -- exploits he later chronicled in a cheeky, almost gleeful blog about his double life as a sinner.
"We didn't know anything until we got a call from the bank that he had bought a BMW," said David Prater, who led the church board during Radic's tenure. "He drove that car right down Main Street." MORE
Presidential candidates
(Anon Quote)
Once I asked a political professional if he'd come to like and care about the candidates he'd worked with, and he barked the old Cynical Strategist's line, "Rule one: Never fall in love with the meat!"
(That's so good. By the time we finally get to the presidential election of November 2008 I will be So hating the candidates; heck I don't like them now! But two years of this garbage? We're going to have people jumping off of tall buildings before this cycle is over.)
Once I asked a political professional if he'd come to like and care about the candidates he'd worked with, and he barked the old Cynical Strategist's line, "Rule one: Never fall in love with the meat!"
(That's so good. By the time we finally get to the presidential election of November 2008 I will be So hating the candidates; heck I don't like them now! But two years of this garbage? We're going to have people jumping off of tall buildings before this cycle is over.)
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
If you have questions about God read this
What is NOT an attribute of God?
A. He is Loving
B. He is Righteous
C. He is Merciful
D. He is compromising
Answer: D. It is always polite to let each other speak for ourselves and God is no different. He has explained clearly why He is not willing to compromise, while at the same time remaining loving and forgiving. See below for an understandable explanation…
::God-the object of all worship::
Being eternally perfect, just and loving, God is worthy to receive the worship of all. His supremacy demands the worship of His creation (Psalm 96).
::Humanity-united in rebellion::
The world is clearly not perfect. This is because we have all rejected the authority of God in favor of our own (Rom. 1.21-26). Independence from God is sin. It is rooted in a heart that refuses to submit to the authority of God and therefore rebels against Him. From God’s perspective, rebellion is offensive because it seeks a human or self authority (Rom. 3.10-12, 23).
::God will not let us continue rebelling::
This anger evoking rebellion has brought about God’s judgment; expressed now in terms of death, sickness, and inability to earn His favor, and ultimately in terms of eternal condemnation (John 3.18; Rev. 21.8). God’s perfect character & perfect standard require that He deal justly with us as rebels (Ps. 9.8; Acts 17.30).
::Jesus-the only substitute for rebels::
God’s justice will only be satisfied by perfection (Matt. 5.48). God demonstrates His love for us by sending the only suitable substitute (2 Cor. 5.21).
::Jesus-the God who became a man::
Jesus, Himself being God (Col. 2.9), put on humanity & became a man (John 1.14). In His life Jesus showed dependence upon God through perfect obedience to God & remained without sin (1 Jn. 3.5). Jesus fully satisfied the just requirements of God by offering Himself as the sacrifice for rebels through His death on the cross (Rom. 3.25)
::Jesus-the only means of restoration::
God calls every person to receive His gift of salvation by believing in Him: turning from rebellion & depending upon Jesus’ perfection for forgiveness. God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross as the exclusive basis for restoration. God demonstrated this acceptance through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (Acts 17.30-31).
::Jesus-the believer’s perfection::
On the cross, Jesus died in the sinner’s place. God charged the rebel’s sin to Jesus (though He never sinned), so that through the believer’s full dependence upon the merit of Jesus, God would declare the rebel perfect, based upon the sacrifice of Jesus (Rom. 3.26). Here God is proven to be just, holy, forgiving, & loving of the one who submits to & depends on Jesus.
::There are only two ways to respond::
-1- continue rejecting God’s authority (sin)…result: guilt & judgment
-2- submit to & depend upon Jesus (faith)…result: forgiveness
A. He is Loving
B. He is Righteous
C. He is Merciful
D. He is compromising
Answer: D. It is always polite to let each other speak for ourselves and God is no different. He has explained clearly why He is not willing to compromise, while at the same time remaining loving and forgiving. See below for an understandable explanation…
::God-the object of all worship::
Being eternally perfect, just and loving, God is worthy to receive the worship of all. His supremacy demands the worship of His creation (Psalm 96).
::Humanity-united in rebellion::
The world is clearly not perfect. This is because we have all rejected the authority of God in favor of our own (Rom. 1.21-26). Independence from God is sin. It is rooted in a heart that refuses to submit to the authority of God and therefore rebels against Him. From God’s perspective, rebellion is offensive because it seeks a human or self authority (Rom. 3.10-12, 23).
::God will not let us continue rebelling::
This anger evoking rebellion has brought about God’s judgment; expressed now in terms of death, sickness, and inability to earn His favor, and ultimately in terms of eternal condemnation (John 3.18; Rev. 21.8). God’s perfect character & perfect standard require that He deal justly with us as rebels (Ps. 9.8; Acts 17.30).
::Jesus-the only substitute for rebels::
God’s justice will only be satisfied by perfection (Matt. 5.48). God demonstrates His love for us by sending the only suitable substitute (2 Cor. 5.21).
::Jesus-the God who became a man::
Jesus, Himself being God (Col. 2.9), put on humanity & became a man (John 1.14). In His life Jesus showed dependence upon God through perfect obedience to God & remained without sin (1 Jn. 3.5). Jesus fully satisfied the just requirements of God by offering Himself as the sacrifice for rebels through His death on the cross (Rom. 3.25)
::Jesus-the only means of restoration::
God calls every person to receive His gift of salvation by believing in Him: turning from rebellion & depending upon Jesus’ perfection for forgiveness. God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross as the exclusive basis for restoration. God demonstrated this acceptance through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (Acts 17.30-31).
::Jesus-the believer’s perfection::
On the cross, Jesus died in the sinner’s place. God charged the rebel’s sin to Jesus (though He never sinned), so that through the believer’s full dependence upon the merit of Jesus, God would declare the rebel perfect, based upon the sacrifice of Jesus (Rom. 3.26). Here God is proven to be just, holy, forgiving, & loving of the one who submits to & depends on Jesus.
::There are only two ways to respond::
-1- continue rejecting God’s authority (sin)…result: guilt & judgment
-2- submit to & depend upon Jesus (faith)…result: forgiveness
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