http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2013/09/interview-with-n-t-wright-on-paul-and-the-faithfulness-of-god/
Two of my favourite New Testament scholars in conversation - Michael Bird and N. T. Wright - on Wright's forthcoming tome Paul and the Faithfulness of God.
http://www.webtruth.org/articles/calvinistic-issues-24/john-owen--double-payment-in-the-atonement-47.html
In this article, the author critiques John Owen's argument for the Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement.
http://theaquilareport.com/10-reasons-why-ministry-is-not-for-the-faint-of-heart/
A pastor tells it like it is on the hard side of being a spiritual leader and preacher.
http://christopherfisher.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/countering-open-theism/
Excellent piece by Christopher Fisher on what Calvinists would have to prove in order to prove open theism to be incorrect.
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
What's So Amazing About Grace
What's So Amazing About Grace
Philip Yancey
Zondervan 1997
I loved this book. I really loved this book. I suppose I am very late arriving at the party as the book is more than 15 years old and is now considered something of a modern classic. I can only say the reputation is well-deserved. Reading it was like a spiritual breath of fresh air.
The first thing to say is that the book is very easy to read. It is targeted at the average Christian; in fact at the average reader. Although it deals with the some of the most important of Christian truths it does so using not only language but a way of communicating that is both easy to grasp and very engaging for any reader. Rather than detailed exegesis of biblical texts or complex theological arguments, which let's face it can be off putting for people who are not theology geeks, Yancey mostly makes his points by telling a number of stories and anedotes. But then teaching by using parables has an impeccable Christian pedigree, doesn't it?
The main point Yancey makes is that grace - that most precious and uncontaminated of Christian concepts - ought to be at the very heart of the lives of individual Christians and of churches, but too often is missing. Grace is unmerited favour. Grace is treating people better than what they deserve. It is the attitude that God shows to sinners when he offers a saving relationship with them, and it is the attitude that Christians ought to show to others inside and outside the church. Yet it is often not there. So often Christians come across as narrow-minded, judgmental, moralistic and legalistic. Yancey uses the umbrella term "ungrace" to cover these kinds of attitudes.
Every church needs to think about its atttitudes and how it actually treats people. Just throwing the word "grace" around isn't enough. Just knowing the theological technicalities of salvation by grace is not enough. What's needed is the embodiment, the very incarnation of grace in people's lives. That is how Jesus lived. His life was the ultimate life of grace. It is what his followers are called to copy.
I can't see how any Christian would fail to benefit from reading this book. Go and get yourself a copy and be prepared to be encouraged and challenged in equal measure.
Philip Yancey
Zondervan 1997
I loved this book. I really loved this book. I suppose I am very late arriving at the party as the book is more than 15 years old and is now considered something of a modern classic. I can only say the reputation is well-deserved. Reading it was like a spiritual breath of fresh air.
The first thing to say is that the book is very easy to read. It is targeted at the average Christian; in fact at the average reader. Although it deals with the some of the most important of Christian truths it does so using not only language but a way of communicating that is both easy to grasp and very engaging for any reader. Rather than detailed exegesis of biblical texts or complex theological arguments, which let's face it can be off putting for people who are not theology geeks, Yancey mostly makes his points by telling a number of stories and anedotes. But then teaching by using parables has an impeccable Christian pedigree, doesn't it?
The main point Yancey makes is that grace - that most precious and uncontaminated of Christian concepts - ought to be at the very heart of the lives of individual Christians and of churches, but too often is missing. Grace is unmerited favour. Grace is treating people better than what they deserve. It is the attitude that God shows to sinners when he offers a saving relationship with them, and it is the attitude that Christians ought to show to others inside and outside the church. Yet it is often not there. So often Christians come across as narrow-minded, judgmental, moralistic and legalistic. Yancey uses the umbrella term "ungrace" to cover these kinds of attitudes.
Every church needs to think about its atttitudes and how it actually treats people. Just throwing the word "grace" around isn't enough. Just knowing the theological technicalities of salvation by grace is not enough. What's needed is the embodiment, the very incarnation of grace in people's lives. That is how Jesus lived. His life was the ultimate life of grace. It is what his followers are called to copy.
I can't see how any Christian would fail to benefit from reading this book. Go and get yourself a copy and be prepared to be encouraged and challenged in equal measure.
Monday, 2 September 2013
Looking at Yourself
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (James 1:22-24)
I took a good break from blogging over the summer, partly on purpose, partly by necessity. Overall I enjoyed the summer very much, especially the time I spent with my wife and son and other family members. I had a great holiday on the Isle of Bute. I also had a couple of bad chest infections that put me into my bed and onto courses of antibiotics and having to use inhalers.
As well as these things going on, I've also felt this was a significant summer in my spiritual life as a Christian.
One of the hardest things a person can do is take an honest look at themselves, especially when you look at yourself in the mirror of God's Word. I've always like those verses in the Epistle of James that talk about God's Word as a mirror in which we see ourselves as we really are.
It's not a comfortable thing to do. And it's probably not something that the Bible encourages us to do too often. Our "natural" position should be looking to Jesus and to those around us rather than looking inward. But it is healthy, I would suggest, to have a look at how you are doing spiritually every so often. When I do this, I always find it sobering. Even more so when the process is prompted by something someone else has said that make me really think.
This summer I've had to learn a hard lesson that sometimes I'm not as good at communicating clearly with people around me as I would have liked to think I was. I've had to go re-think some things and try to change how I approach conversations.
It's a slow and difficult to task to turn away from ingrained habits and ways of doing things - sometimes habits of a lifetime. It sometimes feels like turning around an oil tanker with a rather small rudder. But that's what the Bible means by "repentance" - it means turning around and doing things differently, even if the turning around isn't an instant 180 degree spin, but rather a slow turn towards the right direction. The important thing is the desire to change direction, not the speed of turn.
As we enter September, and in many churches programmes of activities begin again after a summer break, this is good time to have a spiritual checkup. How is your walk with God? How are things going with your friends and family? How are things looking in your church or fellowship? Is there anything God is calling on you to change in the days, weeks or months ahead?
I took a good break from blogging over the summer, partly on purpose, partly by necessity. Overall I enjoyed the summer very much, especially the time I spent with my wife and son and other family members. I had a great holiday on the Isle of Bute. I also had a couple of bad chest infections that put me into my bed and onto courses of antibiotics and having to use inhalers.
As well as these things going on, I've also felt this was a significant summer in my spiritual life as a Christian.
One of the hardest things a person can do is take an honest look at themselves, especially when you look at yourself in the mirror of God's Word. I've always like those verses in the Epistle of James that talk about God's Word as a mirror in which we see ourselves as we really are.
It's not a comfortable thing to do. And it's probably not something that the Bible encourages us to do too often. Our "natural" position should be looking to Jesus and to those around us rather than looking inward. But it is healthy, I would suggest, to have a look at how you are doing spiritually every so often. When I do this, I always find it sobering. Even more so when the process is prompted by something someone else has said that make me really think.
This summer I've had to learn a hard lesson that sometimes I'm not as good at communicating clearly with people around me as I would have liked to think I was. I've had to go re-think some things and try to change how I approach conversations.
It's a slow and difficult to task to turn away from ingrained habits and ways of doing things - sometimes habits of a lifetime. It sometimes feels like turning around an oil tanker with a rather small rudder. But that's what the Bible means by "repentance" - it means turning around and doing things differently, even if the turning around isn't an instant 180 degree spin, but rather a slow turn towards the right direction. The important thing is the desire to change direction, not the speed of turn.
As we enter September, and in many churches programmes of activities begin again after a summer break, this is good time to have a spiritual checkup. How is your walk with God? How are things going with your friends and family? How are things looking in your church or fellowship? Is there anything God is calling on you to change in the days, weeks or months ahead?
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