Tried With Fire

According to the well-known "secularization theory" of Max Weber, religion - under the conditions of modernity -  goes through various stages. First, religion is privatized , its domain shrunk to the island of private subjectivity. Statements such as "Jesus is alive" and "Jesus is Lord" are no longer regarded as objective, public claims based on historical  events but become references to one's personal experience. As for "Jesus is alive," in the words of the famous gospel song, "You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart." And typically, "Jesus is Lord" refers to my personal decision to make Jesus my Lord and Savior. While the apostles testified to historical events of which they were eyewitnesses, "giving your testimony" in evangelical Christianity today typically means talking about one's inner experience and moral transformation. Once privatized, religion becomes relativized .  No longer ...

Hairy puccoon - pretty flower with a funny name I'm thankful for: Little things  -  an unclogged bath tub drain, garlic bread, homemade ice cream , wildflowers, and furry visitors at the "watering hole". Our pastor's safe return from Uganda and for what God is doing in that country. The women's retreat this week-end at the Outer Banks. I'm glad for the chance to get to know these sisters. Regardless how much we mess things up, God is on His throne. To quote Martin Luther, "His kingdom is forever."

We're studying the 12 disciples in Sunday School. Judas is up for discussion next week with one of homework questions being: "How was Judas responsible for his actions when the betrayal was predetermined by God?" Great question, isn't it? Coming to grips with God's sovereignty and man's responsibility is something that every believer needs to work through IMO. In many situations, there's a temptation among Christians to get God off the hook. Man's "free" will and the plans of Satan suddenly become omnipotent in order to place the blame anywhere other than God. But when we consider Jesus' death on the cross, do we want to get God off the hook for that? What do we do with the verses that clearly declare this was God's intention from the beginning? (Isaiah 53:10; Zech, 11:12; Acts 2:23, 4:28) From Calvin: [I]n regard to the treachery of Judas, there is just as little ground to throw the blame of the crime upon God, because He w...

"At the end of the day, the gospel is believed because God - because God - so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son and so on. The power and persuasiveness of the gospel lies in the fact that God acted in history to save humanity in and through his Son, Jesus Christ. The experience of this salvation by the individual people and by whole churches is a source for great rejoicing but should never be allowed to eclipse the emphasis on the great saving acts of God's redemptive history. The gospel is the story of what God has done for sinners in Christ; it is not first and foremost the experience of God by any particular individual ; and, if testimonies are to be given in a useful way, they must reflect this fact. Too often, however, testimonies can become nothing more than extended reflctions upon individual experiences of God. To make room for this sort of testimony is, I would suggest, to place our own evangelical church life on the path towards liberalism which, a...

Congratulations to Corey!!!! You're the winner of Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey. Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. Stay tuned for more in the future, God willing.

ht: Effectual Grace

57. Q. How does "The resurrection of the body" comfort you? A. Not only my soul will be taken immediately after this life to Christ its head, but even my very flesh, raised by the power of Christ, will be reunited with my soul and made like Christ's glorious body. 58. Q. How does the article concerning "life everlasting" comfort you? A. Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, so after this life, I will have perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human heart has ever imagine: a blessedness in which to praise God eternally. "Life everlasting is like all of this power, beauty, delight, truth, and sweetness rolled into one experience, then multiplied by ten, then by a hundred, then by ten million. Eternal life in God's presence will be such a weight of glory that we will feel as if we never knew happiness before, and all our troubles will be in a moment forgotten as so puny and so trivial...