Familiarity Breeds Contempt
In recent conversations, I have come to the conclusion that I am entirely too familiar with God. I pray to him when it is largely convenient to me, and while God is the Lord of my life, I have a hard time seeing the evidence of that from day to day. Contrast this with Israel’s treatment of God’s name. In the Hebrew, the name of God was supremely sacred. From my understanding, this is where the 3rd of the ten commandments came in. The respect for God’s name was to the extent that the high priest would be the only one to speak it once a year as he went into the holy of holies. Christ came to earth and made Himself more relateable (PRAISE TO THE LAMB WHO WAS SLAIN!), but I feel like something has been lost in my heart. If the phrase...
Predestination – Mostly Misunderstood
According to Scripture, God predestines. Let that get under your skin for a minute. Don’t like it do you? In some ways I don’t either but in some ways it’s a favorite teaching. Let me take a minute to lay out some of what I’ve learned from wrestling with this issue for 30+ years and in my study last week. Arguments Against Predestination - Argument One goes something like this: “God only foreknew what is/was going to happen – people have an inviolate freewill – and God doesn’t decide what happens to people until we chose.” Tried that on for years. Sort of cut into God’s being all-knowing and all-powerful. Major problem. - Argument Two says, “Since God predestines everything, I don’t have to...
How Communities of Performance Impede Mission
Cool Find from here and in an email I received. How Communities of Performance Impede Mission Tim Chester Communities of Performance People talk about grace, but communicate legalism Unbelievers can’t imagine themselves as Christians Drive away broken people The world is seen as threatening and ‘other’ Conversion is superficial—people are called to respectable behavior People are secretly hurting People see faith and repentance as actions that took place at conversion The gospel is for unbelievers Communities of Grace People can see grace in action Unbelievers feel like they can belong Attract broken people People are loved as fellow sinners in need of grace Conversion is radical—people are called to transformed affections People are...
Channels of Grace
As one who is not only prone to wander & indeed has done so to a heinous degree but also prone to perform, I must continually recognize my need for (& plead accordingly) the Lord to graciously bind my wandering heart & quell my propensity to perform. The extent to which I strive to live by my performance rather than by God’s grace will determine how I relate to others: the more “successful” I am in my performance, the more demanding, judgmental & fawning I will be; the more I “fail”, the more I will withdraw and/or deceive. And given the propensity of like-feathered birds for flocking together, I must ask myself why I have chosen to join myself to a particular community as well as how I am contributing to its ethos...
Ambidextrous God
I read and article earlier in the week, Serving a Two-Handed God. It kind of goes along with a conversation my wife and I have been having about the difference between the OT God and the NT God. I especially like the following: First, God wants us to move beyond naïve belief in an all-powerful god who magically rescues us from all our problems and makes us happy. This is the health and wealth god, the 10-steps-to-a-full-life god. This is the triumphalist god of social reformers who imagine that with a little more prayer and social elbow grease, we can establish a pure outpost of the kingdom in our day. This is the god who has nothing better to do than to make us happy or make the world a better place to live. The religion that emerges when we worship this...