Generally, I need to know the ending. If I’m reading a book, that’s a bit different. (Actually, not much. If I get into the last half and the pace accelerates, I really want to know what’s at the end and occasionally I peek.) But if I’m in a conversation and someone needs to tell me a conclusion, I really want them to get to the conclusion. Continue reading “Too much of a “bottom line” mentality”
Tag: NT Wright
Our narrow view of atonement and the gospels
N.T. Wright in his book, The Day the Revolution Began, contends to build a theology of atonement that is as narrow as what we’ve constructed in western Christianity, most theologians have to virtually ignore something significant: the Gospels. Continue reading “Our narrow view of atonement and the gospels”
Losing sight of the power of the cross
The charges are severe (from NT Wright’s book, The Day The Revolution Began): Continue reading “Losing sight of the power of the cross”
Sin
We have made “sin” a list of things. It makes it easy to define the “insiders” and the “outsiders.” Continue reading “Sin”
Are we asking the wrong questions?
Working through a N.T. Wright book is usually slow work for me, mainly because I can’t “get” what he is saying right away. This time, The Day the Revolution Began is different. It is slow going because I am blown away by every other sentence it seems. Continue reading “Are we asking the wrong questions?”
Praying the Lord’s Prayer… in reverse
NT Wright’s book Simply Good News challenges the reader to look at how we pray. We often pray the Lord’s Prayer in reverse. I will be looking at Wright’s analysis on “praying as good news people” in my message on Sunday. His contention is the Lord’s Prayer helps us with priorities in prayer. They are sections that can be slapped together in any way. It’s important to note the priority of the order.
This is always a challenge for me, personally. There are several mornings I wake up with thoughts of how to proceed with important issues in our church. I think about the property sale and the move… and budgets… and timing…
And my first tendency is to start with the end of the prayer: HELP!
But the invitation from the Lord is to start with “FATHER!”
What a difference it can make if I can get my mind in gear quickly enough!
Seeing the FATHER first, and adoring him, helps bring order and perspective to my deepest needs. When I spend a few minutes adoring the majesty of our great God, my requests are still there, but I am afforded a different perspective.
May we come into prayer adoring and worshiping the Father FIRST.
Imagine: A New Day
In his book, Simply Good News, NT Wright defines Christian spirituality:
Christian spirituality — an awareness of the loving and guiding presence of God, sorrow for sin and gratitude for forgiveness, the possibility and challenge of prayer, a love for God and for our neighbors, the desire for holiness and the hard moral work it requires, the gradual or sudden emergence of particular vocations, a lively hope for God’s eventual new creation — is generated by the good news of what HAS happened in the past and what WILL happen in the future. All this and much, much more is what is meant by the good news in the present.
It’s a new day. It’s resurrection. It’s the Kingdom. It’s time to live it.
