Friday

THE PRODIGAL GOD. This quote from Tim Keller about The Prodigal God, his new book: “First, the elder brother is offended by the father's extravagant and (to him) irresponsible welcome of his younger brother. The father, of course, represents God, and legalists are always offended by the gospel of free grace.”

And my response was, “Yes, sometimes, God is portrayed as far too lavish, like He’d let just anyone into heaven!” What do I mean when I say God is TOO lavish! I am like the older brother! Honestly, sometimes it bugs me who discovers our little Christian clique. It is shameful to admit that. The truth is that a world ruled by a generous, loving, merciful, lavish Father REQUIRES that wanton souls like the younger brother will be received, praise God! Wanton souls like me!

But it gets worse. My aggravation moderated when I thought, “However, only a few will actually take Him up on the offer.” That's what I thought. It's bad enough that the undeserving get into heaven, but at least not too many will. What a wicked thought! And immediately I thought, “How wicked of me to begrudge God His generosity, grace and mercy.”

Wretched man that I am. I do not deserve His mercy, yet He gives it to me. I am a great sinner and should, for joy, rejoice when any sinner finds salvation from our Father!

"And should not I (the Sovereign Lord) pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”Jonah 4:11.

WEARY PARENT, TAKE HEART. Tim Challies can feel your pain - here.

PRESIDENT-ELECT McCAIN. Wow. That's going to leave a mark.
Read the whole thing. File it away for future reference.
If any one cares one whit about America's national security, Obama's campaign is a non-starter.

WHAT'S THIS? Do you forget what you put in your own refrigerator?

I pulled a Key Lime Pie-flavored whipped yogurt out of my fridge today and looked at the foil top. It said ’20 AUG’.

My first response was, “This year?”

DON'T FEED THE CUBS. Jay Mariotti suggests in this article that to be human you must feel for a particular Cubs pitcher: "You have no heart, no human touch, if you don't feel sorry for Kerry Wood."

I’m agnostic about Wood, whether he's healthy or not, but I hope the Cubs sink like a stone.

Meanwhile, the Cards lose again.