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Faith, hope, and love are three virtues often brought together in the New Testament (1 Cor. 13:13; Gal. 5:5-6; Col. 1:4-5; 1 Thess. 1:3; 5:8; Heb. 6:9-11). ... We can also look at this triad in terms of the lordship attributes [of authority, control, and presence]. Faith trusts in God's revealed Word. Hope looks to God's controlling power, which will accomplish his purposes in the future, as in the past. And love treasures the presence of God in the intimate recesses of the heart and the new family into which God has adopted us.

Necessary and Sufficient Criteria of Good Works

[T]here are three necessary and sufficient conditions of good works: right motive, right standard, and right goal. Right motive corresponds to the lordship attribute of covenant presence, for it is God's Spirit dwelling in us who places faith and love in our hearts. Right standard corresponds to God's lordship attribute of authority. And right goal corresponds to the lordship attribute of control, for it is God's creation and providence that determine what acts will and will not lead to God's glory.

The Doctrine of the Christian Life (pages 26-29)

NOTE: The below featured resources related to government and politics are intended as a call to prayer and responsible civic action.

FEATURED RESOURCES:

No friend of freedom

(by Peter Heck)

ADDED 07-03-2009

Prayers for America

(excerpts from Pray for Our Nation:

Scriptural Prayers to Revive Our Country)

ADDED 06-30-2009

Obama Protects Cronies at Taxpayers' Expense

(by David Limbaugh)

ADDED 06-28-2009

EPA's game of global warming hide-and-seek

(by Michelle Malkin)

ADDED 06-26-2009

Redeeming the Rainbow:

A Christian Response to the "Gay" Agenda

(by Dr. Scott Lively)

(810 KB pdf)

ADDED 06-25-2009

Obama fast-tracking the nanny state

(by Star Parker)

ADDED 06-15-2009

Washington can't meet the Cheerios standard

(by Michelle Malkin)

ADDED 06-12-2009

An Open Letter to President Obama

(by Lou Pritchett)

ADDED 06-09-2009

Getting serious about energy independence

(by Peter Heck)

ADDED 06-09-2009

The U.S. Department of Injustice

(by Michelle Malkin)

ADDED 06-06-2009

Obama's Rhetoric Versus Reality

(by AC21DOJ)

ADDED 06-05-2009

ALLOW ME TO ILLUSTRATE

UPDATED 06-21-2009

Humility + Gratitude

Humility involves gentleness, meekness, and mildness. It literally means to bring low and is thus the opposite of pride, which means to raise high. As one source notes, in both the OT and the NT, "humility is an essential characteristic of true piety, or of the man who is right with God. God humbles men in order to bring them to Himself (Deuteronomy 8:2, 3, etc.), and it is when men humble themselves before Him that they are accepted (1 Kings 21:29; 2 Chronicles 7:14, etc.)." [REF] Humility guards against arrogance, since it gratefully acknowledges God as the source of the many good things in our lives. It involves not so much the belittling of oneself as, rather, the exalting or praising of others, most especially God and Christ (who is our perfect example of humility). The humble person is not self-absorbed but, instead, makes a determined effort to focus on God and other people rather than on self. [REF]

Put simply, gratitude refers to our natural response of thankfulness whenever we feel blessed, protected, or loved. [REF]

Add together the two concepts of humility and gratitude, and we have the apostle Paul's words to the Philippians: "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all."

excerpts from

Disappointment with God

UPDATED 06-21-2009

There is no way to pose the question elegantly, so I will simply ask it: What, exactly, does God's plan for the ages accomplish? If one could submit that plan to something like a "cost-benefit analysis" used by corporations, what would be the "gains" and "costs" of such a plan -- for God and for us?

The church's obvious defects would seem to be the greatest cost to God. Just as he committed his name to the nation Israel and had it dragged through mud, he now commits his Spirit to flawed human beings. You don't have to look far -- the church in Corinth, racism in South Africa, bloodshed in Northern Ireland, scandals among U.S. Christians -- for proof that the church does not measure up to God's ideal. And the watching world judges God by those who carry his name. A large measure of disappointment with God stems from disillusionment with other Christians.

Dorothy Sayers has said that God underwent three great humiliations in his efforts to rescue the human race. The first was the Incarnation, when he took on the confines of a physical body. The second was the Cross, when he suffered the ignominy of public execution. The third humiliation, Sayers suggested, is the church. In an awesome act of self-denial, God entrusted his reputation to ordinary people.

Yet in some way invisible to us, those ordinary people filled with the Spirit are helping to restore the universe to its place under the reign of God. At our repentance, angels rejoice. By our prayers, mountains are moved. The gain to God can be seen in a passage already mentioned: Luke 10. "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven," Jesus exclaimed exuberantly when the seventy returned with success stories. He responded like a proud father who had just seen his children perform far above what he had ever thought possible.

We must not press the point so far as to think God "needs" our cooperation. Rather, he has chosen us as the preferred way to reclaim his creation here on earth. He uses human instruments just as my brain uses the instruments of fingers and hand and wrist to write this sentence. That is the metaphor Paul used most frequently to describe Christ's role in the world today: the Head of the body, directing its members to carry out his will. (pages 161-62)

AC21DOJ DISCLAIMER: While Philip Yancey writes about some profound theological concepts, he is not a theologian. In his own words, he writes "as a pilgrim, not an expert." His writing reflects a nonjudgmental, humble willingness to learn from others. His writing style is warm and engaging, and his thorough research results in many beneficial insights. All that said, not everyone will agree with every word he writes.

excerpts from

Pray for Our Nation:

Scriptural Prayers to Revive Our Country

UPDATED 06-21-2009

Part 1: Prayers for the Leaders of Our Nation

The President

Dear Father, in Jesus' name I lift up our president to You. I know that our leader's heart is in Your hand, so I ask You to guide the head of our nation in the way You would have him to go.

Father, I pray that You would surround our president with wise counsel -- men and women of integrity who place Your agenda and the good of this nation above their own and whose motives are for that which is right.

I pray that You would give our leader discernment, understanding and knowledge so that our nation may know stability internally and abroad.

I give thanks for our president according to Your Word and thank You for working in and through his leadership so that we might lead peaceable lives in godliness and honesty.

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Scripture References

1 Timothy 2:1, 2

Romans 13:1 NAS

Proverbs 28:2 AMP

Proverbs 21:1 NAS

Proverbs 16:10 AMP

Proverbs 8:15 NIV

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Direct my thought, words and work,

wash away my sins in the immaculate

Blood of the Lamb, and purge my

heart by Thy Holy Spirit. ... Daily

frame me more and more into the

likeness of Thy Son Jesus Christ.

-- GEORGE WASHINGTON,

1ST U.S. PRESIDENT

AC21DOJ DISCLAIMER: While I am in general agreement with the sentiment expressed by the above prayer, I am quick to add that my Christian convictions force me to very strongly disagree with many if not most of President Obama's plans and policies. For more info, please see Prayer, Submission, and Our New President.

OF SPECIAL NOTE:

Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

In his most powerful book since What's So Amazing about Grace? and The Jesus I Never Knew, Yancey probes the most fundamental, challenging, perplexing, and deeply rewarding aspect -- the very heartbeat -- of your relationship with God: prayer. In theory, prayer is the essential human act, a priceless point of contact between you and the God of the universe. In practice however, prayer is often frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? explores the mysterious intersection where you and God meet and relate. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey explores the questions surrounding prayer that you may wonder about but not know how to express. Above all, Yancey shows you how to pray to a God who sees what lies ahead of you, knows what lies within you, and who invites you into an eternal partnership with Him -- through prayer.

** For excerpts see Prayer. **