By His Grace. For His Glory.

Lisi, I so appreciate your honest self-exposure an...

2010-07-28T14:36:45.901-05:00

Lisi, I so appreciate your honest self-exposure and I resonate with you on returning again and again to misplaced memorial stones. I suspect the being haunted by negatively defining moments is much more prevalent than all of us let on. Grounding this fairly-universal experience theologically goes a long way in helping us understand the phenomenon and fight against it, so thanks for directing us again to God's reforming Word.

so know what you mean about the out-of-context rea...

2010-07-27T12:27:52.762-05:00

so know what you mean about the out-of-context readings of edwards in early american lit. i would get so mad sitting in lecture as the prof would babble on about his theology and screwing up the gospel SO much!! (asian argh...)

Hans, thanks for the thoughts. I have found it int...

2010-07-22T23:58:09.615-05:00

Hans, thanks for the thoughts. I have found it intriguing that in the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery it says that stones typically convey imagery of lifelessness, which seems to destroy the power of the life we are so often reminded of through them and what they represent. Great connection to the John 8 story. I do hope my realit(ies) collide.

Yes, I like this idea very much. Like the sacramen...

2010-07-22T21:48:00.669-05:00

Yes, I like this idea very much. Like the sacraments, it helps us dare to transform the lends through which we see the world, changing our unbelief in viewing reality and the gospel narrative as two distinct stories into belief whereby these two stories, the one we see happening all around us and the one in Scripture come into closer and closer alignment until we ourselves can dare to live courageously as we are commanded. He who is with sin, let him pick up the first stone.

um- sorry about the "Ms. Lee" i have a blog post ...

2010-07-22T06:18:35.517-05:00

um- sorry about the "Ms. Lee" i have a blog post for my students... so I'm "Ms. Lee" online. But you can call me that too. ;)

So right- I did need this...

2010-07-22T06:17:41.375-05:00

So right- I did need this...

hmmmmm

2010-07-20T20:34:49.782-05:00

hmmmmm

Brother, I love it. I am always blessed by your wr...

2010-07-20T14:26:22.823-05:00

Brother, I love it. I am always blessed by your writing...thank you for sharing!!

read about two lines of your message and had a cry...

2010-07-15T07:50:44.699-05:00

read about two lines of your message and had a cry before the Lord. Thank you and may God bless you with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in His love for us. Amen.

Bonjour! Shirley Pullum . payday loans

2010-06-09T14:10:50.317-05:00

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2010-05-22T03:45:54.616-05:00

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Thanks for a great new perspective on a familiar p...

2010-05-14T05:43:20.025-05:00

Thanks for a great new perspective on a familiar passage. Keep up the good work.

God bless!
RKBentley

Thank you both for your comments. It definitely ge...

2010-04-19T12:40:38.261-05:00

Thank you both for your comments. It definitely gets more and more a challenging as we grow in our relationship with Christ, get more educated, and immerse ourselves in the grand world of all-things-Christian.

I think one of the key steps of action for us is to develop and maintain relationships with people who have no Christian jargon, often revealing that they have no Jesus. In doing so we can know the categories we've learned (redemption, propitiation, election, adoption, etc.) and develop fresh ways to connect those categories to their situation. This doesn't come through books, sermons, and passive observation. It's about getting dirty and being a "friend of sinners."

Terms that seem so familiar to those who use them ...

2010-04-17T09:58:42.927-05:00

Terms that seem so familiar to those who use them just confuse everyone else. I graduated from Bible College in 2005, and everyone there knows those theological terms, but recently I brought up how Jesus is the propitition for our sins in Sunday School, and no one was familiar with that term. I'll be graduating with my Masters in Library Science in a few weeks, and librarians have a set of terms all their own, as do lawyers. We need to find a way to communicate to people using words they understand without diminishing what it is we have to say!

So true. Im not even in seminary, but reading Pipe...

2010-04-05T12:54:23.942-05:00

So true. Im not even in seminary, but reading Piper Desiring God right now with my husband and focusing on the sovereignty of God (in regards to our salvation) in the Bible and feel he is teaching us such big and important things that is revolutionizing our theology... yet yesterday at Easter with the families we felt so ineffective in communicating what we have been learning in a way that anybody at all seemed excited about. It was frustrating! You pastors have a tough job! Don't lose your passion and stay in the Word! We have been listening to alot of Paul Washer sermons on the ipod lately. Sure waking us up!

Thank you so much for this uplifting post. May ou...

2010-03-25T08:52:12.899-05:00

Thank you so much for this uplifting post. May our Lord continue to shine through you and your blog. God bless, Lloyd

Thank you for a wonderful devotion for this Holy W...

2010-03-24T16:33:46.524-05:00

Thank you for a wonderful devotion for this Holy Week. It was the reminder I needed at the time I needed it. Grace works that way though, doesn't it. You're going to make a very effective pastor/evangelist. It will be my pleasure to keep you in my prayers.

Yours in Christ,
Jane "Big Mommy" Davis

Oops...That should have said "Adoption", not glori...

2010-03-10T14:59:10.485-06:00

Oops...That should have said "Adoption", not glorification - in my first comment. See Romans 8:23

Also, in a very simple way of course, I think it's...

2010-03-10T14:42:32.889-06:00

Also, in a very simple way of course, I think it's neat that there are some (minor?) implications in Barabbas' name. His first name was Jesus and Bar Abba means son of the father. So, one the one hand, you have Jesus Bar Joseph - son of man and yet fully God, and then you have Jesus Bar Abba - seen in his murderous contemptuousness as son of his father. So, this wilderness experience - seen so many times in scripture - is this not a reference to suffering in some way to show us our need? Again - just thinking here. I haven't put the much needed background research into this yet.

It's something I've been thinking of lately. We ha...

2010-03-10T14:22:37.810-06:00

It's something I've been thinking of lately. We have not as yet, temporally, experienced the redemption of the body - or, glorification, if you will (see 1 Cor. 1:30). And, as has been shown many times throughout scripture, suffering is a grand tool to place before the eyes, the spiritual realities. Consider Job 42:5, Col. 1:24. Even Lev 16:10 demonstrates this in a significant way, and even carries up right to the cross work of Christ in the way Jesus was the sin offering and Barabbas' symbolic representation of Azazel (see, if we think about the way Barabbas would be set free to wonder in the wilderness - with the suffering component - our hopes would be that it would lead him back to the only sacrificial lamb for "complete" redemption). This is preliminary thought right now so I would appreciate any input. I have many more thoughts on this but this will be enough to delineate my meaning - I think.

Rick, Thanks for the words. I am curious what you ...

2010-03-10T13:40:59.681-06:00

Rick,
Thanks for the words. I am curious what you mean by the "not yet" redemption of the body in light of suffering. Could you expound?

Matt, Thanks for the words. It is striking to me t...

2010-03-10T13:39:26.045-06:00

Matt,
Thanks for the words. It is striking to me that lament is such a foreign concept. It may be in part because we as a "people" of God in America do not suffer as a whole. Very few churches in their entirety are being persecuted. Instead it is much more isolated. The isolation, coupled with the individualism in America cause us to feel very alone. Thus we put on the front before men and before God.

The author of A Sacred Sorrow is very indebted to Brueggemann. I am just now getting exposed to him, but he seems amazing.

Thanks for the words.

Absoultely. What is sad is that the violence occur...

2010-03-10T13:36:05.678-06:00

Absoultely. What is sad is that the violence occurs between both the Christians and the Muslims. The "innocence" is blurry and I am praying that the Spirit convicts the believers to walk in light of the gospel. So challenging.

Thanks for the comment.

I saw this one--very sad.

2010-03-10T12:24:24.665-06:00

I saw this one--very sad.

I wonder if anyone has every written a treatise on...

2010-03-09T14:13:11.389-06:00

I wonder if anyone has every written a treatise on the fact of suffering as it relates to "not yet" redemption of the body.

Good Post!

Rick