A Spreading Goodness – Page 29 – Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God

Augustine’s Aphorism and Easter

R N Frost April 5, 2015 2

Today is Easter—when Christ’s followers celebrate his resurrection. By going to the cross he kept the promise of Isaiah 25:7—“And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe …

Murder

R N Frost March 31, 2015March 31, 2015 0

Last week I was shocked to hear of the airline copilot who flew his airliner into a mountain, killing many while taking his own life. But he was not alone in dealing out death. During the week there were suicide-vest killings in a Somalia hotel; killings in Nigeria, Syria, Tunisia, America, and more. So my …

An Enigmatic God

R N Frost March 22, 2015May 25, 2015 6

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 …

Conversing with God

R N Frost March 16, 2015March 16, 2015 0

This 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 …

Humility and Freedom

R N Frost March 8, 2015March 9, 2015 4

Human “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 …

Awkward Encounters

R N Frost March 1, 2015March 1, 2015 2

Have 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 …

Self-indulgence

R N Frost February 23, 2015February 23, 2015 4

Here’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 …

A Growing Challenge

R N Frost February 16, 2015 3

Jesus 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 …

Life as leftovers?

R N Frost February 9, 2015 7

All 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 …

Process & Product

R N Frost February 4, 2015February 4, 2015 0

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 …