One takeaway from the excellent conversation I listened to on the podcasts I referred to in my last post was this insight: when we are tired of making too many decisions in our lives we fall to fundamentalism. There is a hard right and a hard left fundamentalism, but those are the areas we go to when we’re done trying to work through too many decisions or too many perceived gray areas.
Continue reading “We can’t settle for simple sets of rules”Tag: 1 Corinthians
The myth of ministry “success”
“The point of being an apostle, in any case, is not that one should be showy and spectacular; not even that one should be successful. ‘Stewards of God’s mysteries’, say some translations in verse 1; that’s fine, but the word ‘steward’ has been so overused that we may need to find other ways of bringing out the point. Apostles are like household managers, whose job is to look after the silverware and administer the domestic accounts. God’s ‘mysteries’ (see 1 Cor. 2:7) are like a rich storehouse of treasures, to be used appropriately. Apostles and teachers don’t own the treasure, they merely have to do what they’re told with it. What is required is simply that they be faithful with what’s been entrusted to them.”
Wright, T. (2004). Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians (p. 46). London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
The simple frustration of my spiritual walk
I NEED the work of the Cross in me!
1 Cor. 2:16 — We have the mind of Christ.
The wisdom we refuse
What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. (1 Cor. 2:12, NIV)
Continue reading “The wisdom we refuse”When does the cross of Christ matter?
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Cor. 2:2)
Continue reading “When does the cross of Christ matter?”We can’t glorify the cross
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor. 1:18, NIV)
Continue reading “We can’t glorify the cross”The cultural status of our Christianity
I am taking a bit of a break from my normal daily lectionary reading and going back to something I have enjoyed my adult life walking with Christ. It is to walk slowly through a book of the Bible and pray. I like walking through a book of the Bible and study, pray, think devotionally, theologically, etc. This is something that has bubbled up in my spirit lately, so I asked the Lord where to land and I find myself in 1 Corinthians.
Continue reading “The cultural status of our Christianity”