September 25, 2006

Trinitarian Centered

Some Churches today seem to focus soley on Jesus, the Holy Spirit or just God. I've found it rare to enter into a church that has a holistic view. One that (and I borrow from Christian Schwartz), "is Christ Centered, stressing the absolute claims of Jesus, and inviting people to find a personal relationship with him, and living in the power of the Holy Spirit, not only teaching about, but experiencing the supernatural dimension of our faith, and all of this based on principles that God has revealed to us in creation that we share with nonbelievers, which include striving for hte preservation of creation, social justice, human rights, and peace."

this is the balance we have to have. From what I have seen, most churches nail the JESUS aspect on the head, touch on the GOD, and hint at the Holy Spirit. Jesus by himself is not complete.

I'm applying this to the way I live, so if and when I do minister to others, my life will reflect this trinitarian balance.

September 8, 2006

Enter?

Perhaps we should change all of our exit signs in our church buildings to enter signs. It is out there, "in the real world" as our parents like to say that life happens. I think the reason those signs were put up was because we were spending too much time inside and so we had to let everyone know where the exits were at. If we could just reverse that so that we are spending so much time "in the real world", among the poor, feeding the hungry, fixing our neighbors car because they can't afford it, befriending those whom the 'real world' shuns. Then maybe when we 'entered' or now 'exited' our faith would have meaning and wouldn't be just a 'burnt offering (Hosea 6:6).


Remember to Enter.

September 7, 2006

Wake up and live like you were dropped into a alien race with no cultural connections. How does Jesus make a difference? What does life look like?

September 6, 2006

"love'

I was reading Velvet Elvis and I ran across this very interesting tidbit about the Bible. The first time John uses the word love in his book about Jesus is in chapter 3 verse 16. For God so loved that he gave his one and only son... The first time the word love is used in the entire Bible is in Genesis chapter 22 when God tells Abraham to take "your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love." and offer him as a sacrifice

Isn't that another awesome connection that John was trying to make.

God has written the ultimate story.

September 2, 2006

One Nation Under God??

Does God relate to the United States as a whole? We are not Israel, his chosen people. And he doesn't, how does this coincide with us living out our faith. Do we have a political duty, or a moral one?