Archive for May, 2008
The Cost of Discipleship, Chapter 5.
John from Confessing Evangelical writes some thoughts, summaries, and remarks on chapter 5 of Bonhoeffer’s book The Cost of Discipleship. He states:
Bonhoeffer emphasises that what Christ effects when he calls us is not a gradual change, but a radical break with the past:
We must face up to the truth that the call of Jesus does set up a barrier between man and his natural life. But this barrier is no surly contempt for life, no legalistic piety, it is the life which is life indeed, the gospel, the person of Jesus Christ. (p.49)
What is lost, rather, is “all immediacy with the things of this world” (p.49, emphasis added). It is not that Jesus blocks us off from all things, but rather that he “wants to be the centre” through which “all things shall come to pass”:
He is the Mediator, not only between God and man, but between man and man, between man and reality. … Since his coming man has no immediate relationship of his own any more to anything, neither to God nor to the world; Christ wants to be the mediator. (p.49, italics in original)
So what distinguishes the Christian from the non-Christian is not a different set of ideals, but the “fait accompli” of Christ the Mediator who stands between us and all things:
Between father and son, husband and wife, the individual and the nation, stands Christ the Mediator, whether they are able to recognize him or not. (p.50)
This means we can neither repudiate the things of the world nor “return to the world and enjoy our direct relation with it with a good conscience”. Rather, our relationship with these things is now mediated through Christ:
What has not been given to me for Christ’s sake, does not come from God. … Anything I cannot thank God for for the sake of Christ, I may not thank God for at all; to do so would be sin. (p.51)
More positively, the mediation of Christ provides a means by which I can reach my neighbour in a new way, overcoming the “unbridgeable gulf of otherness and strangeness” which blocks the way from one person to another:
Christ stands between us, and we can only get in touch with our neighbours through him. That is why intercession is the most promising way to reach our neighbours, and corporate prayer, offered in the name of Christ, the purest form of fellowship. (p.51) READ MORE
Add comment May 31, 2008
Together for Adoption.
JT has pointed out a great organization that deals with and helps others in the theology and methodology of adoption. Not only do I see a large biblical reason for adoption, but I see a great benefit and reward in such thoughts and actions. You can check out the t4a site HERE.
Together for Adoption (T4A) sponsors regional adoption conferences that focus primarily on vertical adoption (i.e., God adopting us in Christ), with a secondary focus on its implications for orphan care and horizontal adoption (i.e., couples adopting children). In fulfillment of our objectives, we desire to see conference attendees walk away from a T4A event:
- understanding why it is that vertical adoption is the highest blessing of the gospel
- rejoicing afresh in the gospel
- moved to act on James 1:27 both locally and globally
HT: JT
Add comment May 29, 2008
You Control. New iTunes Software.
For anyone who has a Mac this is a must have download. I just downloaded it and love it! Thanks to good Ol’ Vitamin Z for pointing this one out!
You can download YOU CONTROL HERE.
Add comment May 29, 2008
Jazzing the 505.
All my UNM Friends/Former Students/Current Students who read this blog… Check out this show this Saturday night. Good food. Good Music. Great chance to meet some non-christians.
HT: Vitamin Z
Add comment May 28, 2008
The LORD is MY Shepherd.
Mark from THE BLAZING CENTER puts up a great post on this often quoted Psalm 23 text. He writes:
Oprah may have a personal trainer but she doesn’t have anything on me. I have a personal shepherd. And I need one. Why? Because I’m “singularly unintelligent, prone to wandering and unable to find [my] way to a sheepfold even when it is within sight.”* Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor? He calls his people sheep. I lived on a sheep farm for about a year after college. Sheep are timid, fearful, dumb and you should smell their manure. A sheep definitely needs a shepherd.
Charles Spurgeon says of this verse, “The sweetest word on the whole is my. He does not say, ‘The Lord is the shepherd of the world at large, and leads forth the multitude as his flock.’ If he is a shepherd to no one else, he is a shepherd to me.”
What a wonderful truth! Every Christian can say, “Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Lord, has taken upon himself the task of being MY shepherd. He’s dedicated himself to providing ME with green pastures and still waters. He’s resolved to restore MY soul when I’ve fallen in sin or when I’m weary. He’s committed to guide ME in paths of righteousness for his glory. He’ll never leave MY side, no matter how deep the valley or how dark the shadow of death I must pass through.”Who needs a personal trainer when the Lord is their personal Shepherd?
Jesus knows each of his sheep personally. He knows us by name. He’s intimately acquainted with our hearts, our hopes, our sins and struggles, and will carry us through to the end. No one can snatch us out of his hand…. READ MORE.
1 comment May 28, 2008
Riddleblog Recommends Van Til, So do I.
Dr. Kim Riddlebarger writes a few reasons why you NEED to read this book. Check it out HERE.
Add comment May 27, 2008
BlackBerry Tips Tuesday
Here is a new media player for the BlackBerry device that surpasses the standard media player that comes on the devices hands down. If you are an iTunes user you will love this interface. There is a lot of the same functionality and the graphical interface looks strikingly similar. You can check it out HERE.
Add comment May 27, 2008
ECM Tonight. Come. Serve. Love.
We’re still on for ECM tonight, so come serve the Trumble La Mesa Neighborhood.
It’s from 6-9 (remember the last hour is packing up, and debriefing) at ECM (123 Vermont SE)
If it gets really bad, we have an indoor option, so please come and eat some free food with us.
Add comment May 23, 2008
Bob Kauflin on Non-Christian’s on the Worship Team.
The key issue for me is who is gathering on Sunday morning. If what we’re engaged in is a media production, drawing a crowd, or a motivational event, then it’s not as important who does what. But if we are the gathering of the church, the called out ones, those whom Jesus Christ has redeemed by his blood, who have professed faith in his substitutionary sacrifice, and are seeking to live for his glory, then it matters. In talking about the church Acts 5:13-14Acts 5:13-14
[13]None of the rest dared join them, but the people
held them in high esteem. [14]And more than ever believers
were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,
(ESV)says, “None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.” I’d say that we’ve come a long way from “none of the rest dared join them” when we’re inviting non-Christians to be involved in leading/serving roles in the church. We may see people saved in the short run, but there are certainly other ways that can happen that don’t blur the distinction between the church and the world. One last thought. It’s true that things always go better when pastors explain the qualifications for serving in different roles. But it seems that the emphasis in Scripture is always on leaders and Christians being examples ( Heb. 13:7Hebrews 13:7
[7]Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the
word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and
imitate their faith. (ESV)
Add comment May 23, 2008
An Interview with C.J. and Carolyn Mahaney - Biblical Parenting.
Grant Layman interviews C.J., his wife Carolyn, and their Kids on what it was like growing up in the Mahaney household. He asks some great questions and the entire Mahaney family provides such great wisdom for parents on how to foster a biblical environment for their kids/family.
You can check out Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.
And another one right HERE (not part of the 2 part interview with Grant)
3 comments May 23, 2008
Steven Curtis Chapman’s daughter killed by car in driveway
Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday evening after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home.
Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver’s name.
The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.
“It appears to be a terrible accident,’’ McPherson said.
Please pray for the Chapman family. This is a horrid tragedy.
2 comments May 22, 2008
Quotable Quotes.
John from Reformation Theology has put out a great quote on Jesus, Example or Savior… He writes
“To be clear: union with Christ does not lead to an imitation of Christ, a life spent following Jesus’ example in the hope that we will become better people. The Christian life is not to be understood as obedience to either an ethical imperative or a spiritual ideal. Rather, the Christian life is the radical and converting participation in Jesus Christ’s own being and life, and thus a sharing in his righteousness, holiness, and mission through the bond of the Holy Spirit.”
“Note, too, the emphasis I place on the work of the Holy Spirit. Union with Christ is entirely a work of God. Our human acts, beliefs, and decisions are powerless to effect a relationship with God. John Calvin understood that our deepest self had to become reconfigured and reconstituted or, to use his words, “regenerated” or “vivified,” through related to Jesus Christ. … God must reorder us be turning us in a new direction be uniting us to Jesus. So our being and becoming Christian is a divine initiative and not something that can be worked out through heightened religiosity, morality, activity, will, or spirituality. We are conjoined to Christ by the unilateral work of God though the Holy Spirit – to effect what Calvin called a “mystical union.””
Add comment May 21, 2008
