Jonathan Edwards

I have been looking at the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. That list had 70. He reviewed them every week. The first 21 he wrote in one sitting. I couldn’t come up with five of them in one sitting.

There is a resolution needed in my life. The glory of God matters. That glory has to be sustained. There is a call to move from one degree of glory to another. This is not something that is done half-baked. No half-effort. Moses was all in when he called out, “Lord, show me your glory!”

Jonathan Edwards? All in.

To that end, I am taking the first seven of Edwards’ list and forging my own resolutions. My life is to be to the glory of God.

After 300 posts on blogger, making a domain name for myself over there, etc., I am attempting what seems to be called the “inevitable.” So, I will play with this for awhile.

If anyone knows how to get my domain name “apprentice2jesus” to point to this new blog, I’d be grateful.

George Wood, the general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, has published a new book called Living in the Spirit. Dr. Wood has been a tremendous leader in the Assemblies of God for many years and is currently serving in our highest elected post. His Spirit-led leadership and expository preaching has been an example for me for many years.

This book is a great example of his passion for good exegesis and Pentecostal power. This isn’t about speaking in tongues. This is about living out what we say we believe as Pentecostals.

The chapter I am currently reading describes several categories of Pentecostals as set up by Dean Merrill. Two interesting observations Merrill and Wood make:

1. “Prosperity Pentecost.”

These are people you would see a lot of on “Christian” tv. (The quotes are mine.) Merrill notes that “the only rich leader in the New Testament was Barnabas, and he gave away his assets for the Kingdom.” (I’m not advocating for poverty. I would say it’s just a reminder that we need POWER in the Spirit, not MONEY in the Spirit.)

2. Authentic Pentecost.

It simply means a church which naturally and freely integrates the supernatural into the whole body of biblical truth and practice.

I am thankful for Dr. Wood’s example. He isn’t preaching about something he doesn’t practice in his own life. He is a man who is always asking for a fresh touch of the Spirit in his life.

I think it was William Booth who wrote the hymn, “Send the Fire.”

Those words stir me: “We need another Pentecost! Send the fire today!”

I am trying to evaluate blogspot, which I’ve had for years, with WordPress. I am not sure why the “migration” to WordPress. It might be like some TV show where they claim, “Everyone is watching it.” Maybe that’s just the perception of WordPress and I should just stay with blogspot.

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

The Crisis of the Cross

This week’s text is from Mark 8. The subject is the Cross. Here are some opening thoughts I am working with from Dietrich Bonhoeffer regarding “cheap grace”:

“Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession. … Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

“God lets himself be pushed out of the world on to the cross,” he wrote. “He is weak and powerless in the world, and that is precisely the way, the only way, in which he is with us and helps us. [The Bible] … makes quite clear that Christ helps us, not by virtue of his omnipotence, but by virtue of his weakness and suffering. … The Bible directs man to God’s powerlessness and suffering; only the suffering God can help.”

The Evangelical Tradition

Follow my notes through our church website here.

Also, for fun, check out the different creeds of the Church through history. Learn how the Church wrestles with truth and then proclaims it boldly.