Tried With Fire

When I read Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert , I was moved by Rosaria Butterfield's conversion story, but I also fell in love with Ken and Floy Smith. If there ever was an example of friendship evangelism, this is it. This Presbyterian pastor and his wife became Rosaria's friends. They were honest with her about their faith and where they disagreed with her, but they loved her. They debated, but they didn't bully or pressure her into believing. They didn't pull a Charles Finney and manipulate her emotions through fear-mongering. The Smiths saw her as another human being made in God's image, not just a project. They believed it was the Holy Spirit who did the saving, not them, and he did. As I considered their example, it struck me how opposite they were from the cage-stage. If you have never heard the term, it's a period of intense enthusiasm over the newly discovered Five Points of Calvinism that may result in tactless and even ungracious behavior (iron...

I didn't grow up reformed.  Until three years ago, I had no idea what the word even meant, but when reformed theology found me, it opened a whole new world.  There are no words to describe the relief and freedom that comes when you realize your salvation in its totality depends on God and not you.  The Gospel isn't the recitation of the sinners prayer but a life changing truth that takes us from new birth until the very end.  Doctrine suddenly became a wonderful thing to learn.  I had never seen before how my view of God shapes my view of man and vice-versa  My concept of sin directly affects my understanding of grace. Same with wrath and love. These words have meaning, and rightly defining them makes all the difference in the world. A biblically robust, cohesive framework of truth is a beautiful thing. But sometimes I react against what I used to believe.  I'm a little too quick on the trigger when certain phrases or topics strike a raw theolog...