Archive for the ‘Grace’ Category:
Jesus Christ!!!
There has been a lot of talk about whether or not Jesus viewed Himself as divine, and whether or not the early church viewed Him as divine. In response to these questions, I had asked for permission from Dr. Dan Doriani to post his lecture notes specifically on the implicit divinity claims throughout scripture. As I said, these are in note form and as such dont read that fluidly. If you are interested in reading a scholarly article by him that has been published on this topic, you may go here. If anyone simply wants a point on the notes clarified, please ask a question and I will do my best to answer. The PDF of his lecture notes is in our resource page as well. Enjoy:)
Why I Do Care
In response to the article I wrote called “Why Do I Care,” it became clear that for many, a generic answer to why someone should follow God left out a crucial aspect: Love.
This was truly a keen observation, as the logical chain I constructed focused primarily on God as creator and enforcer. Yet that is not all.
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Stargazers and white lilies…
…with red accent roses, were the flowers in my sister’s wedding bouquet. 
When I consider the depth of meaning of my sister’s wedding bouquet and the way I feel when I gaze upon a simple rose, I am blown away by the thought of God’s glory. The same occurs when I take in the stars and all that they shout at me as I feel so small and insignificant when compared to the night-time sky.
Christmas Chaos
Christmas. Yep. It’s here. Ready or not, here it comes. Prepare to spend more than you can afford on gifts, laugh at your uncle’s dumb jokes, and gain 5-10 pounds of holiday junk food. Isn’t it crazy how life speeds up right when we should be able to slow down and appreciate it?
Does anyone else feel like Christmas has become really… fake?
Right before I started Seminary last year, I had a brief career in retail Asset Protection. I was in charge of security and safety for an entire store. I had the (dis)pleasure of working 12-14 hour days over the holidays, and specifically on Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving), and the day after Christmas. “Nightmare” is not strong enough of a word… Read more »
The “Country Club” Church Is Crap.
Say that ten times fast…
Danielle recently made a comment concerning a post comparing Jack Bauer of the TV Series 24 with Jesus Christ:
And I think there’s a comparison to the church in there. Because although the suspense is pretty cool (as in what will happen here on earth, as well as after we die), it is the human parts of the story that compel people to keep reading/listening/feeling/believing perhaps. And the church has been nothing if not revolutionary in history. Jesus’ story is a prime example.
It instantly reminded me of a couple quotes that generally make me want to pick up sword and shield to charge headlong into this cosmic revolution. This is an axe I gring almost continually. Having not grown up in the church, paradigm for what church should be is not as convoluted by tradition and/or fundamentalism. I am perhaps more able to read how the church is portrayed in scripture without the baggage of moralistic rules and cultural taboos. Of course, I do have other things that cloud my judgment, and there are people who have grown up in the church and are able to see through much of that. But this is something that is particularly close to my heart because of my experiences.
For your reading pleasure, here are two of my favorite quotes Read more »
rest the rest
I love to water ski. I was a kid when my Grandma first taught me how to ski. Don’t laugh, she’s pretty tough, and she herself was skiing well into her 70’s. I hope I am like that when I am that age.
Anyway, with water skiing, she taught me that there are all sorts of rules to follow to keep from falling. Keep the front of the skis pointed a little inward. Don’t pull on the rope. Keep your knees bent a little bit. Don’t lock the elbows. Don’t lean too far back or too far forward. Don’t try to do too much.
But the most important tip in water skiing was to rest on the skis, and let them do their work for you. They’re meant to support you.
I think about this every so often, resting on those skis. There’s a unique feeling in graduate school, and I suspect, in the remainder of life as well. We can all relate to the feeling that even if we could foresake sleep for days on end, working nonstop on different projects and challenges, we would still never be finished. It never ends.
Ever.
God’s Story: An Artistic Representation (Panel 1)
You may have seen the header for this site change once again, this time showing a four stage depiction of a tree. This is the digital print of a massive painting done by David Arms, an artist from Franklin, TN. The painting was commissioned by Pastor Scotty Smith of Christ Community Church, as a fulfillment of seeing a dream of his come true. That dream was to have a single painting depicting the whole of “God’s Story, as it progressively unfolds in the Bible, history and in broken hearts.” We have thumb-nailed the picture (above) to be displayed on a new page because it is too large to fit here without losing important details.
This next multi-part series will divide Scotty Smith’s explanation of this incredible work of art. The full explanation and article can be found here, but for the sake of introducing this work of art to commentary and discussion, I will divide it up into 4 parts. Each part will be dedicated to a separate panel in the painting.
