Gospel. Community. Mission.
Tonight I attended the newcomer's dinner at the Hanley Road campus for The Journey Church here in St. Louis. God has been calling me to get back into a more traditional church community after a few years without a home church. I have been dragging my feet...to put it lightly. I do love the church and believe it is still the primary means by which God calls and saves the lost. Yet, memories of my last experience in what had become a close church family have been difficult to overcome even after much healing has taken place. There certainly was some selfishness in there as well as I do like freedom on the weekends to do as I please. It's sad that I know in my head that God's way is better than mine yet I have not fully embraced that truth with my heart and life.
I am blessed to have family and friends who have gently held me accountable to being obedient to God's desire for me to be part of a church community once again. They understand my past experiences but don't let me use that as an excuse to drown out the Spirit's calling. But then again...how does one drown out the Spirit? I can't. The Holy Spirit has persisted in this command on my life and my heart has been restless because of it. I am thankful that God is relentless. I am thankful that He allows little peace when I am not walking the path He has laid before me. The worst case scenario would be that He would simply go quiet...that He would become passive. I pray that never happens.
What I appreciated about tonight was the compelling simplicity with which this church operates. They are not big on programs. They aren't big on meetings. You won't find a Tuesday morning men's group. I am OK with that. I already have a men's small group that I greatly cherish. I was wondering how I would juggle multiple groups. Given the fact that their community groups are only opened to new members a couple times a year and space is usually tight, I probably won't have to be concerned with that for awhile.
Yes, some meetings are necessary within a church. It's also true that the more programs you have the more meetings seem to become necessary in order to manage them effectively. What I learned at my old church is that not all meetings are created equal. Some meetings happen out of habit. Some happen because someone is trying to promote a personal agenda. Some are not God saturated. To the extent those kinds of meetings are taking place, I want no part of it. That culture can be debilitating to the hearts of individuals and to the mission of the church.
Tonight I heard about a church that wants to be a place for the sinful, for the skeptics and for those who have been wounded by other churches. Preaching the Gospel and discipling others to live transformed lives is paramount. Another reason why programs are minimized is because they want you spending that time in your community and in your circle of friends, discipling others and being an ambassador for Christ. After all, if you are spending all of your spare time in programs at the church, how many non-Christians are you really interacting with? That makes it kinda hard to live out the Great Commission.
I asked for discernment from the Holy Spirit before I arrived tonight...that I would know whether or not this is where God is calling me. I was given enough conviction to sign up for a membership class that commences at the end of this month. It's been a long time in coming but it is the right step...out of the boat...and onto the water.
Lord...increase my faith and trust in you to not look down.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Don't Water Down the Gospel
Clear your mind, open your heart and listen...
Now replay it and listen again.
Powerful truth being spoken.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tullian/2012/04/29/two-hundred-proof-grace/
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tullian/2012/04/29/two-hundred-proof-grace/
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Easter
"In 36 years of searching, the only thing I've found bigger than the depth of my own sin is the cross Christ died on for it." - Jon Acuff
"Why do bad things happen to good people? Something bad only happened to someone good once and He volunteered for it." - Craig Groeschel
"We share the humility and suffering of Christ and also share His conquest of death and find a new life after we've died." - C.S. Lewis
"The resurrection was God’s way of stamping PAID IN FULL right across history so that nobody could miss it." - Tim Keller
A recent Rasmussen poll found that 77% of Americans believe Jesus rose from the dead. That is a shockingly high number to me because 77% of people I encounter don't live like it. There are plenty of times I don't live like it. To have this truth permeate our minds but not our hearts is a tragedy of untold proportions.
What are the implications of Jesus rising from the dead?
How should that fact change the way we think and live?
Trying to live each day like Easter -- with its power, its promise, its hope, its truth. That should be our mission.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Jason Johnson, lead pastor of Woodlands Point Community Church in Texas...
Throughout Scripture the marriage relationship is used as a picture of God's relationship with his people. The bride and groom imagery highlights not only the covenantal love of God for his people but also their position within that relationship as the beneficiaries of his redemptive pursuit. A common theme woven within the thread of Scripture, from the Old to the New Testament, is God's unwavering, unalterable, unceasing pursuit of his people into the consecrating and cleansing relationship of eternal marriage.
This is why the hallmark of all God's grievances against his people is spiritual adultery, a heinous infidelity on the part of his people as they pursue lesser lovers and stray outside the conditions of the covenantal relationship (Jeremiah 13:27; Mark 8:38). God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:3-5; Deuteronomy 6:14-15), not because he lacks in companionship but because he longs for the exclusive affections of his people, as a groom does for his bride.
Jesus adopts the imagery of bride and groom as it pertains to his present application of the New Covenant and his future consummation of salvation through the great, eternal marriage with the church. In the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), Jesus allegorizes himself as the bridegroom and urges his disciples to stay alert, because they do not know the day or the hour he will return and take them to the eternal wedding celebration, i.e., the kingdom. He again refers to himself as the bridegroom while instructing his disciples on the proper purpose and function of fasting (Mark 2:18-20). As the bridegroom he will return to take his bride home, yet in the meantime, while he is present with them, fasting and longing for his return is not necessary.
Anticipation, Expectation, Preparation
The central focus of the wedding imagery in Scripture is anticipation, expectation, and preparation. It closely mirrors the traditional order of a first-century wedding, which involved a father arranging a bride for his son and paying the predetermined "bride price" on her behalf. The son would then return to his father's house to make arrangements while the bride consecrated herself in eager anticipation for his final return for her. The terms of the relationship were sealed with ceremonial sharing of a glass of wine before the two parted ways and entered a time of anticipation and preparation leading up to the final wedding feast.
In strikingly similar fashion, God the Father has sent Jesus the Son to secure his bride, the church. The terms of the covenantal relationship between God and his people have been outlined in the gospel, and a great price has been paid by the Father to secure the relationship, namely, through the sacrifice of the Son on the Cross (1 Corinthians 6:20). The night before he would go to the Cross, Jesus shared a cup with his disciples as a means of symbolically sealing their new covenantal relationship. He instructed them to partake of this cup after his departure in remembrance of the price he paid for them and in anticipation of his future and final return for them.
Upon departure he will go to his Father's house to prepare a place but will return one day to bring his bride home with him forever (John 14:2-3). The day and the hour of his return are unknown by all but the Father (Matthew 24:26). The bride of Christ, the church, eagerly waits and makes herself ready, setting herself apart for him and him alone, purifying herself for the day when he will return for her forever (1 Peter 1:13-16). He will come, and when he does the eternal wedding feast will commence (Revelation 19:7-8).
The recognition of the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter is not an isolated act of God but a pinnacle point in the ongoing bride-groom narrative running throughout the current of Scripture. It's the celebration of God acquiring a bride for his Son through the ultimate price of death paid on the Cross. It's the height of God's radical, redemptive pursuit of a sinful and broken people to secure them as his beautifully treasured Bride.
Wonder of the Gospel
Easter is the joyous celebration of the wonder of the gospel---that God has gone to great lengths to secure us for his Son. We are forever bound to Jesus by his death that purchased us and his resurrection that secured us into a future inheritance that is "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:4-5).
So we live in this present day as those who are consecrated to our future Groom---holy, set apart, uniquely and distinctively his. We live today with an eager sense of anticipation for the return of our Groom on a tomorrow yet to come. We live today as those who are valued not by the standards of this world but by the infinite price our Savior was willing to pay for us on the Cross. We are invaluably his, and he is ours.
We anticipate, we expect, and we prepare. Our Groom is coming back to take us home.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/25243-a-case-for-resurrection
http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2011/04/21/the-power-of-the-resurrection/
http://marshill.com/2012/04/08/the-day-jesus-rose
"Why do bad things happen to good people? Something bad only happened to someone good once and He volunteered for it." - Craig Groeschel
"We share the humility and suffering of Christ and also share His conquest of death and find a new life after we've died." - C.S. Lewis
"The resurrection was God’s way of stamping PAID IN FULL right across history so that nobody could miss it." - Tim Keller
A recent Rasmussen poll found that 77% of Americans believe Jesus rose from the dead. That is a shockingly high number to me because 77% of people I encounter don't live like it. There are plenty of times I don't live like it. To have this truth permeate our minds but not our hearts is a tragedy of untold proportions.
What are the implications of Jesus rising from the dead?
How should that fact change the way we think and live?
Trying to live each day like Easter -- with its power, its promise, its hope, its truth. That should be our mission.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Jason Johnson, lead pastor of Woodlands Point Community Church in Texas...
Throughout Scripture the marriage relationship is used as a picture of God's relationship with his people. The bride and groom imagery highlights not only the covenantal love of God for his people but also their position within that relationship as the beneficiaries of his redemptive pursuit. A common theme woven within the thread of Scripture, from the Old to the New Testament, is God's unwavering, unalterable, unceasing pursuit of his people into the consecrating and cleansing relationship of eternal marriage.
This is why the hallmark of all God's grievances against his people is spiritual adultery, a heinous infidelity on the part of his people as they pursue lesser lovers and stray outside the conditions of the covenantal relationship (Jeremiah 13:27; Mark 8:38). God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:3-5; Deuteronomy 6:14-15), not because he lacks in companionship but because he longs for the exclusive affections of his people, as a groom does for his bride.
Jesus adopts the imagery of bride and groom as it pertains to his present application of the New Covenant and his future consummation of salvation through the great, eternal marriage with the church. In the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), Jesus allegorizes himself as the bridegroom and urges his disciples to stay alert, because they do not know the day or the hour he will return and take them to the eternal wedding celebration, i.e., the kingdom. He again refers to himself as the bridegroom while instructing his disciples on the proper purpose and function of fasting (Mark 2:18-20). As the bridegroom he will return to take his bride home, yet in the meantime, while he is present with them, fasting and longing for his return is not necessary.
Anticipation, Expectation, Preparation
The central focus of the wedding imagery in Scripture is anticipation, expectation, and preparation. It closely mirrors the traditional order of a first-century wedding, which involved a father arranging a bride for his son and paying the predetermined "bride price" on her behalf. The son would then return to his father's house to make arrangements while the bride consecrated herself in eager anticipation for his final return for her. The terms of the relationship were sealed with ceremonial sharing of a glass of wine before the two parted ways and entered a time of anticipation and preparation leading up to the final wedding feast.
In strikingly similar fashion, God the Father has sent Jesus the Son to secure his bride, the church. The terms of the covenantal relationship between God and his people have been outlined in the gospel, and a great price has been paid by the Father to secure the relationship, namely, through the sacrifice of the Son on the Cross (1 Corinthians 6:20). The night before he would go to the Cross, Jesus shared a cup with his disciples as a means of symbolically sealing their new covenantal relationship. He instructed them to partake of this cup after his departure in remembrance of the price he paid for them and in anticipation of his future and final return for them.
Upon departure he will go to his Father's house to prepare a place but will return one day to bring his bride home with him forever (John 14:2-3). The day and the hour of his return are unknown by all but the Father (Matthew 24:26). The bride of Christ, the church, eagerly waits and makes herself ready, setting herself apart for him and him alone, purifying herself for the day when he will return for her forever (1 Peter 1:13-16). He will come, and when he does the eternal wedding feast will commence (Revelation 19:7-8).
The recognition of the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter is not an isolated act of God but a pinnacle point in the ongoing bride-groom narrative running throughout the current of Scripture. It's the celebration of God acquiring a bride for his Son through the ultimate price of death paid on the Cross. It's the height of God's radical, redemptive pursuit of a sinful and broken people to secure them as his beautifully treasured Bride.
Wonder of the Gospel
Easter is the joyous celebration of the wonder of the gospel---that God has gone to great lengths to secure us for his Son. We are forever bound to Jesus by his death that purchased us and his resurrection that secured us into a future inheritance that is "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:4-5).
So we live in this present day as those who are consecrated to our future Groom---holy, set apart, uniquely and distinctively his. We live today with an eager sense of anticipation for the return of our Groom on a tomorrow yet to come. We live today as those who are valued not by the standards of this world but by the infinite price our Savior was willing to pay for us on the Cross. We are invaluably his, and he is ours.
We anticipate, we expect, and we prepare. Our Groom is coming back to take us home.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/25243-a-case-for-resurrection
http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2011/04/21/the-power-of-the-resurrection/
http://marshill.com/2012/04/08/the-day-jesus-rose
Friday, April 6, 2012
Good Friday
"Jesus Christ did not suffer so that you would not suffer. He suffered so that when you suffer, you’ll become more like him. The gospel does not promise you better life circumstances; it promises you a better life." - Tim Keller
"It cost God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion." - C.S. Lewis
"The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me." - Tim Keller
"No matter how dark the hour, do not lose heart. Redemption is at work here." - Mike Donehey
On the cross, we see the greatest act of love ever demonstrated, its effects reverberating down through history and permanently altering the lives of those who believe. The importance of the cross will never diminish. In heaven, Scripture tells us, the majestic beings around the throne of God worship by saying, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12) When the love of God is extolled, both in heaven and on earth, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is always the focal point, for there God showed his love in the most real and powerful way imaginable—by dying for those who hate him.
But the cross did not simply display love. On the cross, Jesus performed a real, tangible, beneficial action on our behalf. Though we are by nature children of wrath, Jesus died in order to achieve something for us. He “died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), so that we can be “justified by his blood” and “saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:9).
Perhaps no writer in Scripture says it better than the prophet Isaiah, despite the fact that he preceded Christ by centuries: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4–5). Scripture plainly and clearly teaches that Jesus died in our place, as our substitute, taking from God the punishment for our sins.
On the cross, Jesus performed the ultimate act of love, and that act genuinely accomplished something—the Son of God absorbed the wrath of God on our behalf, taking our guilt away and enabling us to receive Christ’s perfect righteousness credited to us, so that we might be presented before him as righteous.
Adapted from Casey Lute, “But God…“ (Kindle Edition)
Mercy there was great and grace was free.
Pardon there was multiplied to me.
There my burdened soul found liberty.
At Calvary.
http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2011/04/6-things-christ-accomplished-by-his-death/
http://marshill.com/2008/06/02/resurrection-god-saves/
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/barabbas-and-me
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile/2012/04/05/the-death-of-death-in-the-death-of-christ-means-victory-over-death-for-those-who-believe/
http://www.gotquestions.org/why-believe-resurrection.html?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Question%20of%20the%20Week&utm_content=QOTW-04-06-12
http://www.apologetics315.com/2012/04/top-ten-myths-about-resurrection.html
http://www.timothypauljones.com/2012/04/06/is-it-possible-that-jesus-body-was-left-on-the-cross/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4iyxR8uE9GQ#!
"It cost God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion." - C.S. Lewis
"The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me." - Tim Keller
"No matter how dark the hour, do not lose heart. Redemption is at work here." - Mike Donehey
On the cross, we see the greatest act of love ever demonstrated, its effects reverberating down through history and permanently altering the lives of those who believe. The importance of the cross will never diminish. In heaven, Scripture tells us, the majestic beings around the throne of God worship by saying, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12) When the love of God is extolled, both in heaven and on earth, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is always the focal point, for there God showed his love in the most real and powerful way imaginable—by dying for those who hate him.
But the cross did not simply display love. On the cross, Jesus performed a real, tangible, beneficial action on our behalf. Though we are by nature children of wrath, Jesus died in order to achieve something for us. He “died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), so that we can be “justified by his blood” and “saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:9).
Perhaps no writer in Scripture says it better than the prophet Isaiah, despite the fact that he preceded Christ by centuries: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4–5). Scripture plainly and clearly teaches that Jesus died in our place, as our substitute, taking from God the punishment for our sins.
On the cross, Jesus performed the ultimate act of love, and that act genuinely accomplished something—the Son of God absorbed the wrath of God on our behalf, taking our guilt away and enabling us to receive Christ’s perfect righteousness credited to us, so that we might be presented before him as righteous.
Adapted from Casey Lute, “But God…“ (Kindle Edition)
Mercy there was great and grace was free.
Pardon there was multiplied to me.
There my burdened soul found liberty.
At Calvary.
http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2011/04/6-things-christ-accomplished-by-his-death/
http://marshill.com/2008/06/02/resurrection-god-saves/
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/barabbas-and-me
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile/2012/04/05/the-death-of-death-in-the-death-of-christ-means-victory-over-death-for-those-who-believe/
http://www.gotquestions.org/why-believe-resurrection.html?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Question%20of%20the%20Week&utm_content=QOTW-04-06-12
http://www.apologetics315.com/2012/04/top-ten-myths-about-resurrection.html
http://www.timothypauljones.com/2012/04/06/is-it-possible-that-jesus-body-was-left-on-the-cross/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4iyxR8uE9GQ#!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
A Puritan Prayer
Lord Jesus, give me a deeper repentance, a horror of sin, a dread of its approach. Help me chastely to flee it and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Thine alone.
Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in Thee, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being. Give me a deeper knowledge of Thyself as saviour, master, lord, and king. Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Thy Word, more steadfast grip on its truth. Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action, and let me not seek moral virtue apart from Thee.
Plough deep in me, great Lord, heavenly husbandman, that my being may be a tilled field, the roots of grace spreading far and wide, until Thou alone art seen in me, Thy beauty golden like summer harvest, Thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.
I have no master but Thee, no law but Thy will, no delight but Thyself, no wealth but that Thou givest, no good but that Thou blessest, no peace but that Thou bestowest. I am nothing but that Thou makest me. I have nothing but that I receive from Thee. I can be nothing but that grace adorns me. Quarry me deep, dear Lord, and then fill me to overflowing with living water.
Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in Thee, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being. Give me a deeper knowledge of Thyself as saviour, master, lord, and king. Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Thy Word, more steadfast grip on its truth. Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action, and let me not seek moral virtue apart from Thee.
Plough deep in me, great Lord, heavenly husbandman, that my being may be a tilled field, the roots of grace spreading far and wide, until Thou alone art seen in me, Thy beauty golden like summer harvest, Thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.
I have no master but Thee, no law but Thy will, no delight but Thyself, no wealth but that Thou givest, no good but that Thou blessest, no peace but that Thou bestowest. I am nothing but that Thou makest me. I have nothing but that I receive from Thee. I can be nothing but that grace adorns me. Quarry me deep, dear Lord, and then fill me to overflowing with living water.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
This Blog
I had one idea about what this blog would look like when I started a few years ago. God had another idea. I thought it would be a place where I could unload thoughts on any subject that were circling my brain. I thought it might bring peace to my mind so I could sleep better instead of lying awake thinking endlessly.
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." - Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)
God's plan was to turn this blog into an online spiritual journal...something I had always meant to start keeping offline but had never really embraced. It became a way for me to spend time with God, to listen to the Holy Spirit, to work through things He was teaching me and to reach a deeper understanding of His truth. It has also become a wonderful resource deposit on a variety of spiritual topics.
I occasionally look at the number of page views this blog gets, which posts are receiving the most views and where readers of this blog are from. In just the last week, this blog has had multiple views from the U.S., Germany, France, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Britain, Ukraine, Hong Kong and Russia. There have been almost 6,500 page views since it began.
That is pretty mind boggling as I never set out to generate any type of audience. I figured just a few friends and family members would ever see this or even have an interest. I didn't know what God had in store. I couldn't see that He would ultimately use this for His glory.
It amazes me what God has done and is doing right here. It amazes me that God chooses to use sinners to advance His kingdom. He always has and it still is shocking. I am a mess. I am a broken sinner. I deal with temptation every day of my life and fail miserably all too often. I am only made alive again through His grace, through the cross of Jesus, through His pursuit of me. And yet, here I am, called to be part of His redeeming work in this fallen world.
It is incredibly humbling and sobering...and awesome. All the glory goes to God for what is written on these pages. Thank you Lord.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." - 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)
"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." - 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." - Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)
God's plan was to turn this blog into an online spiritual journal...something I had always meant to start keeping offline but had never really embraced. It became a way for me to spend time with God, to listen to the Holy Spirit, to work through things He was teaching me and to reach a deeper understanding of His truth. It has also become a wonderful resource deposit on a variety of spiritual topics.
I occasionally look at the number of page views this blog gets, which posts are receiving the most views and where readers of this blog are from. In just the last week, this blog has had multiple views from the U.S., Germany, France, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Britain, Ukraine, Hong Kong and Russia. There have been almost 6,500 page views since it began.
That is pretty mind boggling as I never set out to generate any type of audience. I figured just a few friends and family members would ever see this or even have an interest. I didn't know what God had in store. I couldn't see that He would ultimately use this for His glory.
It amazes me what God has done and is doing right here. It amazes me that God chooses to use sinners to advance His kingdom. He always has and it still is shocking. I am a mess. I am a broken sinner. I deal with temptation every day of my life and fail miserably all too often. I am only made alive again through His grace, through the cross of Jesus, through His pursuit of me. And yet, here I am, called to be part of His redeeming work in this fallen world.
It is incredibly humbling and sobering...and awesome. All the glory goes to God for what is written on these pages. Thank you Lord.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." - 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)
"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." - 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Tim Keller at Oxford
I love Tim Keller. I love his heart for God and for people. I love his ability to teach plainly yet with insight. He makes the Gospel relatable and compelling. His book, "A Prodigal God" greatly changed and improved the way I viewed my relationship with God.
I aspire to teach like Keller, preach like Chandler and love like Chan. OK...my ultimate example is, of course, Jesus Christ, but I think these men are great examples to follow on my way to Him.
In the following videos, Keller takes on some big questions about Christianity from Oxford students. His approach in his answers is worth taking notes - for believers and non-believers alike.
Question 1: What is Christianity’s stand on other religions and do we call people of other faiths our brothers and sisters?
Question 2: I’m gay, but I want to be a Christian. I feel the need for a transcendent Savior and lover as you said last night, but I also long for human intimacy while on this earth. And the two following Christ and this seemingly innate desire for human intimacy and companionship appear mutually exclusive. What is your response?
Question 3: Why does the Bible make no mention of evolution or of lands outside its immediate context, of foreign creatures or those extinct before the book was written?
Question 4: Yesterday you said that the wages of sin are death. Can you explain what you meant by that?
Question 5: How is the God of love the same being who commands the extermination of whole ethnic groups?
Question 6: Can religion be explained as simply a product of social evolution?
Question 7: How can I be sure Christ has entered my life?
Question 8: The Christians in the Crusades justified some of their actions because they saw armies of angels with them and heard God telling them what to do. They backed this up with testimonies of many eyewitness. Is this not the same as justifying the Bible by many eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after he died? If the people in the Crusades were mistaken why were the eyewitness of Jesus not?
Question 9: Why did God create man in the first place?
I aspire to teach like Keller, preach like Chandler and love like Chan. OK...my ultimate example is, of course, Jesus Christ, but I think these men are great examples to follow on my way to Him.
In the following videos, Keller takes on some big questions about Christianity from Oxford students. His approach in his answers is worth taking notes - for believers and non-believers alike.
Question 1: What is Christianity’s stand on other religions and do we call people of other faiths our brothers and sisters?
Keller @ Oxford Question 1 from March of Morn on Vimeo.
Question 2: I’m gay, but I want to be a Christian. I feel the need for a transcendent Savior and lover as you said last night, but I also long for human intimacy while on this earth. And the two following Christ and this seemingly innate desire for human intimacy and companionship appear mutually exclusive. What is your response?
Keller @ Oxford Question 2 from March of Morn on Vimeo.
Question 3: Why does the Bible make no mention of evolution or of lands outside its immediate context, of foreign creatures or those extinct before the book was written?
Question 4: Yesterday you said that the wages of sin are death. Can you explain what you meant by that?
Question 5: How is the God of love the same being who commands the extermination of whole ethnic groups?
Question 6: Can religion be explained as simply a product of social evolution?
Keller @ Oxford Question 6 from March of Morn on Vimeo.
Question 7: How can I be sure Christ has entered my life?
Keller @ Oxford Question 7 from March of Morn on Vimeo.
Question 8: The Christians in the Crusades justified some of their actions because they saw armies of angels with them and heard God telling them what to do. They backed this up with testimonies of many eyewitness. Is this not the same as justifying the Bible by many eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after he died? If the people in the Crusades were mistaken why were the eyewitness of Jesus not?
Keller @ Oxford Question 8 from March of Morn on Vimeo.
Question 9: Why did God create man in the first place?
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