Yep- BIG JC Ryle fan! And I have seen your site; I follow you on Facebook and RSS. Love the quotes, my friend. Keep ‘em up. Thanks for stopping by.

Grace and Peace from God,
Nathan

Not sure if you’ve seen my site, but it’s dedicated to the quotes of John Charles Ryle.

http://jcrylequotes.com/

I trust you will be encouraged Nathan.

Soli Deo Gloria!

That is, there are, indeed many people who don’t fit the conservative mold of being a “sinner”. They are faithfully married, care for their children, pay their taxes, give to charities, maybe don’t even drink or smoke. They could even be vegans! What do they need a savior for? What are their crimes that merit eternal perdition?

This is why I tend towards writers like Barth. Though a bit obtuse at times, he does wonderfully illustrate what he believes to be man’s innermost antagonism towards God (which can even be manifested in his religion and amongst the most pious, sometimes even particularly in that).

To those who can’t seem to rid themselves of homosexual desires, I would remind all of us that God, in His wisdom, sometimes allows “a thorn in the flesh” to teach us His sufficient grace. In the same way that someone who struggles with rage should not give in to the impulse to kill, the one struggling with homosexuality shouldn’t feel permission to practice a gay lifestyle simply because the presence of desire remains. It needs to be seen as a tool to drive us toward trusting God and learning the great lesson of “abiding” (John 15): obeying in the absence of feelings. That one should practice abstinence, let some brothers/sisters know about the struggle, remember that there is no condemnation in Christ, and cease to make their struggle the center of their lives.

I like Keller, loved this book, and agree that he isn’t really ’seeker-sensitive’. But I think some may interpret him, in some places, otherwise. I was just a little uncomfortable with that statement, which seems a little pragmatic and short-sighted. I don’t think it should be a shock or cause for concern when our PREACHING fails to attract these outcasts, but it should be when our lives do not attract them.

As I commented on FB: I fear that the church is often imbalanced in this area. In our desire to
protect the local church from worldliness, we often mistakenly let this
spill over into our private lives to where we become isolated, cold,
indifferent, and unfriendly to our unbelieving neighbors.

On the other hand, when we want to reach the outcast, rather than taking
steps within our own lives to be around and minister to these people, we
instead gear the church towards making unbelievers feel welcome. Both
positions are wrong. We are not to make the church like the world, and we
are not to make the world like the church.

The balance, I believe, is recognizing that the church is for the saints,
but that the other 6 days of the week are to be focused on meeting the
needs -both spiritual and practical- of the community. Let’s keep the
corporate gathering of believers holy and aimed at feeding the saints, and
let’s go out and immerse ourselves in-but-not-of the world the other 6 days
of the week for the sake of the gospel and the outcasts.

and that the ministry of the church is to create an atmosphere/message that make unbelievers feel comfortable./blockquote>
You know, I didn’t get that so much from the text you quoted nor do I generally get that idea from Keller’s ministry. From what I’ve seen he does make the worship service inviting and accessible but he doesn’t make it “user friendly.” The gospel is clearly and faithfully preached. He just tries to remove some of the cultural obstacles that some people use as an excuse to not go to church.

Do I look like a Keller fan boy? I don’t mean to. He, like any other man, has feet of clay. He is very good on somethings and those strengths sometimes pull off kilter in some directions. But he is helpful and he is reaching a city I wouldn’t have thought possible.