J.C. Ryle

Well, I am finally embarking on a first-time read of Holiness, by J.C. Ryle.  I'm excited - I have heard from a few friends over the years about what a great influence this book has been on them, and I have meant to read it for a while.  

To begin with, Ryle's whole premise is that modern "Christendom" has gone and lost a great deal of what it means for a person who has been born-again to fight for holiness and for his/her sanctification. 

Ryle also states that he has purposefully left out names of contemporary preachers, and contemporary works of literature that have influenced his skeptical opinions of much of modern Christianity.  By doing this, his voice seems all the more contemporary as he speaks to common problems going on within the Church.  I am surprised how current the work seems, considering the second edition was published in 1879.  

I am going to go read - I'll be posting some thoughts here and there as I go.

Adios. 

"But God..."

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

I tremble before the truths in this passage. I so often become complacent in my salvation and numb to so much that God has worked in my life; however, in His abounding grace God has purposed to make this passage cut to my core almost every time I come to it. 

“Life! Eternal life!” screamed Christian as he plugged his ears with his fingers and ran from the City of Destruction. God made us alive, together with Christ; being rich in mercy, and with great love, He has made us alive who once were dead. 

He made us alive.

First Blog

This is the first blog on Blogger.com.  I'm giving this site a test-run, but I'll probably end up switching my blog over.  Again, I'll be posting some interesting things - some thoughts, observations, ramblings, lyrics, poetry, quotes that I find, etc.  All my words are ultimately borrowed and unoriginal, but I'll do my best to spark some thought.  This is really an attempt at being genuine and serious about life, as well as finding out where my own inadequacies reside.

If you'd like to check out my old blog, go to www.xanga.com/ellsworth5.

"I am like a mockingbird."

~Derek Webb