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The cross is the difference
“The cross is ‘irreligious’ because no human being individually or human beings collectively would have projected their hopes, wishes, longings, and needs onto a crucified man… Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central focus the suffering and degradation of its God.” (Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion)
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The broader gospel
I have had NT Wright’s new book, The Challenge of Acts, on my shelf for awhile. I have some time to pull it out and begin to work through it. A small book, but NT Wright find’s his ways of making every word count. While I wish it to be a “quick read,” it will just be another pondering of…
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Darkness does not win
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5, NIV) I have this text in mind as I read through the life of Bonhoeffer. Currently, I am searching out the opinions of those scholars who believed Bonhoeffer was only “assassin-adjacent,” so to speak, along with those…
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The serious pursuit of Christ
I have some deep questions driving me right now. I want Christ formed in me. Not just in me… because I believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and he didn’t do all this for me alone. He is about the business of redeeming and reclaiming the world. This I believe.
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Knowledge isn’t enough
A great problem in Christian education is we stop at doctrine. We stop at knowledge. It is embarrassing to watch church leaders tout knowledge and correct doctrine… and then use it as a hammer in the lives of other people. It becomes their source of pride and the root of their action. Their action, however, is about hammering the knowledge…
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Good morning, internet world! At what am I to be offended about today?
We are a gullible culture. All of us. It’s easy to poke fun at conservative Christians (and part of it is a critique of my own tribe), and when I say “everyone” then there are those who say, “SEE! You are into both sideism! Or, whataboutism !” (So, there… you can be offended about that today.) But it comes to…
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Jesus and the Powers, Part 7
There are governments to resist. We wrestle with the need to submit to a point and then how to resist when there are violations of conscience and crossing allegiances, but then there is a need to understand there are things to resist. The how is tricky, and it takes the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit. This isn’t about…
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Jesus and the Powers, Part 6
It’s been a week without writing mainly because I’ve been absorbing the political shooting from last week and then seeing how it might play out in the Republican National Convention. Along with that was preparation for this coming week’s book study group on Jesus and the Powers. It’s been a week of absorbing and reflecting.
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The tests
Daniel 3 is the test of allegiance. It is not about being delivered from the fire. It is about the willingness to go through the fire. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were all tested. (I won’t use the Babylonian names forced on them.) They had survived in Babylon by learning the culture (rather than be summarily executed) and contributing to the…
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Encountering the possibility of what IS to come
We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and…
Tag: Christianity
