Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
This entry was offered a week ago, on March 26, on the Cor Deo website. Jeremiah, the 7th century BC prophet, had a tough job. God called him to tell his family, friends, and neighbors in Jerusalem how wrong they were. Their views of God, destiny, and personal security were case studies in denial. They …
Read More Jeremiah’s ComplaintSuccess in living a spiritual life depends, not surprisingly, on the Spirit. Yet the Christian tradition has been very soft in addressing the Spirit’s place in the Godhead and in our lives as believers. That despite many strong advocates for him both now and in the past. His role in both Old and New Testaments …
Read More What about the Spirit?Years ago, on my first day at Kibbutz Dovrat in Israel, I was walking across the lawn to find my newly assigned room. Off to my right a young boy—probably 4 or 5 years old—shouted to a man who was walking ahead of him, “Abba, Abba!” It was my first chance to hear a native …
Read More Triune IntimacyJesus always obeys his Father—see, for instance, John 5:19 and 6:38. Let’s pause and ask why. The answer we reach may just reshape our own obedience. Was the Father so much greater than the Son in his being—his substance—that a proper obedience was what the Father required of him? Did the archheretic, Arius, and his …
Read More Law, Love, and ObedienceThis post is also published at the Cor Deo site I share with Peter Mead (under the “blog” tab). On Saturday I had some good reading time on a train to and from London. On my lap? A book by Donald Bloesch, God the Almighty, that begins with a survey of the 20th century theological …
Read More Defining DeityNow that I’m my sixties I have a clearer sense than someone in his thirties might have that things are changing. When I was a teenager I would never have imagined what the world would look like just fifty years later. Differences in the technology of everyday life are huge. Jets have largely eclipsed propeller …
Read More Indulging OurselvesAs I write this on Sunday evening I’m reflecting on this morning. With Jon and Rob of our Cor Deo group this year we were privileged to join Huw and Alison at the International Church of Turin. Huw is a Cor Deo alum from last year and now pastors the Turin church. We had a …
Read More Union and CommunionI can hear God. His voice is easily picked up by the alert ear—by any who are ready to listen. And I’m listening. What is he is saying? He regularly starts with a simple message that is both threatening and comforting: “I am Yahweh.” And from there he goes on to share what that means …
Read More God’s VoiceIn Hebrews 12:6 we find a citation of Proverbs 3:11,12: “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” The author then elaborates the point (verses 10-11), “For they [earthly fathers] disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our …
Read More Love and DisciplineGod, speaking through Jeremiah, bared his heart to his people: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me” (Jeremiah 2:5). When I read this I quickly asked a counter-question, “God, does our widespread human distaste for you really matter? Aren’t you so transcendent, so exalted in your glory, and …
Read More Worth and Worthlessness