I couldn’t be at this conference at all were it not for my wonderful wife, Naomi. Not only did she give me this trip as a 40th birthday present (best present EVER, by the way!), but she also is holding down the fort this week, including the start of softball season for one child, final rehearsals for the school play for another child, and the general trials of being a parent of four kids – only she’s doing it without any help from me at all. Only a woman who loves Jesus and loves her husband would do such a thing, and I want to publicly thank her. You’re the best, Naomi!

Also, I want to publicly thank my church. The dear folks at Little Brown Chapel Community Church surprised me yesterday with a check to enable me to purchase some much-needed ministry books at the conference. I love you guys, and I am honored to serve and shepherd you!

What does “reckoned righteous” mean?

It comes from Romans 4:1-5 in the New Testament:

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

The idea here is that my standing before God as righteous does not come from my works, but through faith in Jesus.

But I don’t see the word “reckoned” anywhere in that passage.

In the old King James Version, the quotation in Romans 4:3 from Genesis reads “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

Where did you get that quote on your header from?

I heard John MacArthur say it in a sermon. (Or, to be more precise, MacArthur said something very like it; I don’t have the sermon tape anymore to verify the exact words. I don’t think he’d disagree with the wording, though.)

Why are you blogging?

Because I want to show Tim Challies that Americans can blog better than Canadians.

Really?

No. Tim writes thought-provoking stuff every day, and although I’d like to aspire to that level of output, I’d only want to do it if the quality of my writing were at least in the same ballpark as what Tim puts out.

So why are you blogging, really?

Because sometimes I have something to say. Whether or not it’s worth reading will be for you to decide.