Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
A week ago a USA church denomination led by progressives changed its stance on a big social issue. In reading jubilant news responses I thought of God. Why is he so slow to change, even when visionaries offer to coach him? The question reaches back over many centuries. Some leaders in Genesis, for instance, realized …
Read More An Enigmatic GodThis post repeats a Cor Deo offering. Please offer any comments at that site. Thanks! A Friday morning chat with Terry about conversations, and then reading Pete Sanlon’s book on Augustine—including a feature on Augustine’s conversations with God—set me up for this post. It’s a topic worth revisiting on a regular basis even apart from …
Read More Conversing with GodHuman “free will” is a misleading premise—a common sense axiom of the post-Genesis 3 world. Adam embraced it when he accepted the promise that he could “be like God.” It offered him and his offspring a relative independence from God, and with that the freedom to redefine good and evil. The Bible regularly dismisses these …
Read More Humility and FreedomHave you ever been in a conversation with someone who wants to push a topic you find tedious or awkward? You try to change the subject. That fails. You try silence. That fails! In fact your silence gives him twice the time to talk. Finally you sigh inwardly and say you have somewhere you need …
Read More Awkward EncountersHere’s a question we all face each day: How much self-indulgence is acceptable? And what kinds of self-indulgence are allowed to Christians? The question may sound like a setup for a dose of moralistic chastening—and there will be a moral bite involved—but I ask it as an honest reflection. Self-indulgence offers a wide range of …
Read More Self-indulgenceJesus warned his disciples—and, by extension, us—of what to expect before his return. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false …
Read More A Growing ChallengeAll of us have scars and hurts: perhaps a physical disability, a mental limitation, a sexual violation, a major relational loss—or a combination of these and more. And even as Christians the damage may have stolen our hope and left us in a debris field of disappointment. Yet people respond differently to disappointments. Some are …
Read More Life as leftovers?This entry repeats a post offered at Cor Deo. Please offer any responses at that site. Thanks! God is devoted to a good outcome in whatever he does. Right from the beginning we find God making the heavens and the earth as “good,” “good,” and “very good.” We also find Jesus calling on his disciples …
Read More Process & ProductWhat should we make of the WWJD movement—What Would Jesus Do?—of the 90’s? Proponents of that movement updated Charles Sheldon’s book, In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? They also borrowed from The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis of the 16th century. I’ve been a skeptic. My hesitation has nothing to do with …
Read More WWJD RevisitedA friend recently commented on what he sees as a widely embraced twist in our Christian circles: “We believe in the Trinity . . . of a sort: in the Father, Son, and the Holy Scriptures.” His wry point invites some reflection. He wasn’t saying that an overt opposition exists in some circles between honoring …
Read More The True Trinity