July 31, 2010

Evie and I doing our "biggest smile ever" :)

3 month/2 year pics

July 20, 2010

July 16, 2010

Cousin Fun!

July 14, 2010

Our two little ones recovering from vacation :) Ah it's so nice when they both nap at the same time!

He Gets It!

I don't usually like Sanctus Real, but this guy earned MEGA POINTS for this song. I highly encourage listening to this video.

July 12, 2010

Together at last :)

July 11, 2010

July 10, 2010

Girls Lunch Day :) (Ellie was asleep in her carseat)

Judah ~ 3 months!

Yesterday Judah turned 3 months old! He continues to be a very happy and laid back little man. Currently he is sleeping at least 8 hours straight at night, usually more! Just the other day he started giggling at me :) It is pretty much the cutest sound ever!!

July 9, 2010

Benjamin and Evelyn at the Children's Museum in Dayton; they had a blast!

July 8, 2010

Grandma Borg and her two little girls

July 5, 2010

Michael, Rachel, Benjamin and Ellathea are back from Indonesia! The kids had a fun afternoon playing in the pool.

Grandma's arms are full...I think she has waited a long time for this moment :)

July 4, 2010

It really doesn't get much better than this :)

Faith and Assurance

The topic of discussion at the Borg house lately has been the nature of assurance. You see, both Rachel and I grew up in the evangelical world where assurance of salvation was founded and grounded in the “sinners prayer.” I remember being asked “If you died tonight how do you know you'd go to heaven.” My answer always was based on the fact that I'd asked Jesus into my heart. At which point I was generally patted on the back and told that I had no reason to doubt my salvation.

Having come to the Reformed position I'm quite convinced that my idea of assurance was largely mistaken for most of my life. While easy-believism advocates what we might call a “cheap assurance” the Westminster Confession knows no such thing. In fact it says “a true believer may wait long and conflict with many difficulties before he be a partaker of it” (18.3). The point of the Confession is to teach that saving faith and assurance don't share a 1:1 correlation, true believers may lack assurance—it doesn't belong to the “essence of faith.” A.A. Hodge calls assurance one of the “highest attainments of the divine life.” This seems to be an echo of what the Apostle Paul says in Colossians 2:2 about how he struggled that all might reach full assurance, or rather be brought to complete certainty of their faith. It seems we must be careful to distinguish between faith and assurance.

In this line of thought J.C. Ryle once wrote:

"Faith, let us remember, is the root, and assurance is the flower. Doubtless you can never have the flower without the root; but it is no less certain you may have the root and not the flower.

Faith is that poor trembling woman who came behind Jesus in the press, and touched the hem of His garment (Mark 5:27). Assurance is Stephen standing calmly in the midst of his murderers, and saying 'I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God' (Acts 7:56).

Faith is the penitent thief, crying, 'Lord, remember me' (Luke 23:42). Assurance is Job, sitting in the dust, covered with sores, and saying, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth'; 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him' (Job 19:25; 13:15).

Faith is Peter's drowning cry, as he began to sink: 'Lord, save me!' (Matt. 14:30). Assurance is that same Peter declaring before the council in aftertimes, 'This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved' (Acts 4:11, 12).

Faith is the anxious trembling voice, 'Lord, I believe: help Thou mine unbelief' (Mark 9:24). Assurance is the confident challenge, 'Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth?' (Rom. 8:33, 34). Faith is Saul praying in the house of Judas at Damascus, sorrowful, blind, and alone (Acts 9:11). Assurance is Paul, the aged prisoner, looking calmly into the grave and saying, 'I know whom I have believed...There is a crown laid up for me.' (2 Tim. 1:12; 4:8). Faith is life...Assurance is more than life."

While Ryle's mere distinguishing between faith and assurance doesn't resolve every question, let us be stirred in heart to truly make our calling and election sure, that we might grow up into the full assurance of faith.

July 3, 2010

My two babes :)

What a good big sister!

I heard Evie screaming during naptime and this is how I found her :( I couldn't get her out by myself so we had to call Daddy out of his movie to come rescue her. It was quite the traumatic event. Besides a pretty big bruise, Ev has fully recovered. Good thing she has such a strong Daddy to save her :)

July 2, 2010

July 1, 2010