Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
I’m in transit from Portland to the UK right now, at the Chicago O’Hare airport, set to finish up my blog for the week. But first I read Peter Mead’s new entry at the Cor Deo website and immediately decided to invite readers here to read what he shares there and allow me to defer …
Read More More than a manualI fear that too often Christianity is the product of social compliance rather than the fruit of Christ’s love in us. Wherever this is true the church loses her impact on the world. The solution? We need more stubborn lovers who are ready to dismiss a life of safe compliance in favor of a risky …
Read More Christian Compliance or Stubborn Love?Jesus said that a sign of his nearing return would include an increase in lawlessness with the result that “the love of many will grow cold” [Matt. 24:12]. It’s not that a loss of love for God is only found in the end times. The problem was also cited in Ephesus where, although true doctrine …
Read More Lost LoveI love stability. In fact, as I write this I’m sitting in a brand-name coffee shop in Chippenham, England, sipping coffee from a white mug with its round lady-in-the-middle logo. It’s the same mug I’m familiar with from my regular coffee house near Russell Square in London, and the same mug I’m familiar with from …
Read More A disruptive GodIn reading 1 Kings I’m appalled by Solomon’s fall. In chapter 8 we find Solomon’s epic recital of God’s greatness at the dedication of the new temple. Again, in chapter 9, God appeared to him a second time and promised: “I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. …
Read More Guarding against heart attacksAs a new year arrives we often look back to events of the passing year, searching for a bit of perspective. It’s as if we’re seeking to weigh our recent life events in the context of passing time. But what is perspective, really? Every other week the full entry is posted on the Cor Deo …
Read More Gaining PerspectiveMy short-answer to the question in our title is a blunt and firm, “no!” Love cannot be trusted! Why the question? It was stirred by a recent conversation with a man I respect both for his devotion to Christ and for his rich theological heritage. He was gently but firmly warning me against the unstable …
Read More Can Love Be Trusted?In a world filled with more and more social networking on the internet we taste God’s creation design in a new way. We are made to be relational—that’s our starting point. It comes from God, who as the Triune One, exists in his eternal life of communion, with the Father and Son always exchanging a …
Read More NetworksThe Christian community needs better—stronger—leadership. By that I mean spiritual leadership—the sort of thing Paul had in mind in Ephesians 4 where he wrote of leaders who could bring others “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”. Such leadership doesn’t look to basic management theory: Jesus wasn’t promoting …
Read More Strong LeadershipOne of my special moments in life came in Israel when I watched a young boy run after a man, calling out “Abba, Abba!” For the first time I had a tangible sense of what God offers us in Christ: an invitation to call him “Daddy!” The confidence and energy of that Israeli youngster spoke …
Read More Abba! Father!