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The community of Christ is being built
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the…
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The Kingdom of God and wineskins
Mark 2:22 (NIV): And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” What Jesus is doing can’t be fitted in to the existing ways of thinking and living. If people try to do that they’ll…
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The agendas that ruin us
Here is the message from Jesus: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. (Mark 1:15, ESV) I like the Common English Bible on this one: Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!
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The true power of the gospel
The power of the gospel lies not in the offer of a new spirituality or religious experience, not in the threat of hellfire (certainly not in the threat of being “left behind”), which can be removed if only the hearer checks this box, says this prayer, raises a hand, or whatever, but in the powerful announcement that God is God,…
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The great work of God
We need to see our lives as believers count. God is inviting us into his great work!
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Life after Life after Death
We have life after life after death.
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Being people of hope
N.T. Wright leaves us with a powerful reminder of our call as the Church in his book, Surprised by Scripture. The mission of the church is to drag people into buildings or to run raffles or issues statements. At some point having a place to worship, having funding, and stating beliefs do matter, but it’s not core to what the Church is…
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How did we get “wedge issues?”
In American politics, we call them “wedge issues.” These days, it can be just about anything. But, generally, it’s throwing something out there for “discussion” that won’t get discussion because the person throwing it out knows everyone has a pre-fabricated response. Gay Marriage Racism Poverty Immigration Abortion Wedge issues. When did we get “wedge issues?” 1970s, when Roe v. Wade…
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Idolatry 2.0
I am working my way through part of NT Wright’s work, Surprised by Scripture, and his chapter on Western gods called “Idolatry 2.0” is a fascinating read. His contention is the Enlightenment re-introduced Epicurean thought through men like Jefferson. Tired of the antics of the Church in the medieval period, the thought of God being “there” but far off was appealing all…
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Somehow we’ve turned the good news into bad news
In Simply Good News, Wright goes into far more detail as to how we’ve managed to distort the announcement of the good news of the Kingdom into one of an angry God and simple fragments of a much fuller truth. It is well worth the time to read through his fuller treatment of how we have gone from proclaiming the good news to offering…
Tag: N.T. Wright
