Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
Usually when someone says “I’ve changed my mind” we can take the shift as a passing matter. It depends on context, of course, but changes of mind are common. I might say, for instance, “I know I said I can meet for coffee at ten but I’ve changed my mind because of a deadline I’m …
Read More A Changed HeartJesus 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 GodLet me offer a nice bit of theo-jargon here—“anthropopathism”—for anyone who doesn’t already know the term. I’ll then comment on it and invite any responses. An anthropopathism is the emotional and less-well-known cousin of anthropomorphism. The latter term refers to human descriptions of God that use bodily terms—as in the Father having arms or legs …
Read More A key bit of jargonWhat did Paul mean when he wrote that Israel “did not pursue [righteousness] by faith, but as if it were based on works” (Romans 9:32)? In asking this I’m not trying to chime in on the long-running debate among New Testament scholars—something I haven’t tracked closely. Rather let us consider how Paul’s affective portrayal of …
Read More Faith, Love, & WorksLet me return to one of my drumbeat issues: sin. Augustine’s fifth century debate with Pelagius had much to do with defining sin as moral privation (Latin “privatio”): an absence of righteousness in human conduct. Let me offer a snapshot of what Augustine was saying and then invite comments from readers. For the full post …
Read More PrivatioPam, who attends Good Shepherd, sent me an email after I preached this morning. She highlighted Ephesians 4:22, that we are “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on …
Read More CorruptionThe troubled man scarcely bothered to take a breath as he poured out his unhappiness over his host of issues. He was a true victim and wanted me and others to share in his pain. And, yes, it was painful! What I knew from many earlier conversations was that the present 30 minute survey of …
Read More Lessons in Listening“I tried to find a definition for ‘affective theology’ in the dictionary but it wasn’t listed—so where does it come from and what does it mean?” That question was posed to me a number of times when I was a seminary teacher. Students wondered why I used the phrase regularly in my classes while it …
Read More Affective TheologyIn 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 attacks