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The revolution of mission

I am not saved simply to “go to heaven.” I am saved to understand I have been restored as an image bearer of God and there is a mission given… a human vocation.

N.T. Wright:

The “royal priesthood” is the company of rescued humans who, being part of “earth,” worship the God of heaven and are thereby equipped, with the breath of heaven in their renewed lungs, to work for his kingdom on earth. (SIDENOTE: This is why I believe in being attached to Christ and his Church. Without his renewal breathing through me, I am ultimately powerless to keep on with anything of worth in this world.) The revolution o fthe cross sets us free to be in-between people, caught up in the rhythm of worship and mission. (The Day the Revolution Began, p. 363)

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Sin and death and mowing lawns

When I first was in ministry, the area where I pastored had a group of people who were teaching on a subject I would call “hyper grace.” A few years later, when I was pastoring in the Twin Cities, there was a Christian radio show focusing on what they perceived to be “apologetics” and how to trip up people to understand they were truly “sinners.”

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Class Action Judgment

We have moved from Black History Month to Women’s History Month and I can think of nothing better to do this month than keep working on Fleming Rutledge’s book on the Crucifixion. This is a monumental work and she is a brilliant writer and theologian.

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When optimism doesn’t deal with depravity

“Optimistic American Christianity resists the notion that the human race, left to itself, will self-destruct. Although the can-do American spirit has taken some hard hits in the twenty-first century, and the future for our nation is not as bright as it was, our politics continue to exhibit a self-righteousness that partners well with religious self-righteousness on both the right and the left… Understanding Sin require us to recognize its power lodged in ourselves.” — Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ

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Something is wrong and must be put right

“The tragedy of human existence, in fact, calls out for rectification… Something is wrong and must be put right. When we feel that in our bones, when we admit that something is wrong not only with the whole human situation in general but also with one’s own self in particular, then God is at work bringing us closer to the cross of Christ.” — Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ