Showing posts with label jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jesus. Show all posts
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Thursday, January 2, 2014
What is "The Gospel"?
What is the "good news" that Jesus came proclaiming, showing, defending and dying for?
I have grown increasingly - over the last 15 years - uneasy with the composition of "the good news" that i have learned and promoted myself that solely concerns me, God and our relationship. I clear presentation of this understanding of the gospel in contained in this blog post from Ligonier Ministries R.C. Sproul.
Why i am uncomfortable with that presentation of the "good news"?
I have grown increasingly - over the last 15 years - uneasy with the composition of "the good news" that i have learned and promoted myself that solely concerns me, God and our relationship. I clear presentation of this understanding of the gospel in contained in this blog post from Ligonier Ministries R.C. Sproul.
Why i am uncomfortable with that presentation of the "good news"?
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Jesus: Homeless or Homeowner?
Much is made of Jesus as a homeless person, particularly at Christmas.
It has to do with the climate... our middle-class consciences ... the Christmas story ("no room in the inn").
The passage cited to support the homeless-Jesus image is most often Matthew 8:20: "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
Jesus said this in response to a man indicating that he was willing to follow Jesus wherever he went. It is actually part of a couplet of encounters between men with excuses - either voiced or implied - that Jesus challenges who don't -seemingly - end up following him.
The point in favour of the homeless-Jesus picture painted by this one encounter is that it does occur in the Galilean region. In fact it occurs in Matthew immediately after Jesus was specifically in Capernaum healing Peter's mother in law.
So if we are to take Jesus' words at face value then one is left asking the question "How can Jesus claim to have no where to lay his head, if he occupies/owns a home just around the lake from where he makes the statement?"
The homeless-Jesus idea is powerfully portrayed in Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz's statute which sits outside Regis College on the sidewalk in Toronto, Ontario.
It has to do with the climate... our middle-class consciences ... the Christmas story ("no room in the inn").
The passage cited to support the homeless-Jesus image is most often Matthew 8:20: "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
Jesus said this in response to a man indicating that he was willing to follow Jesus wherever he went. It is actually part of a couplet of encounters between men with excuses - either voiced or implied - that Jesus challenges who don't -seemingly - end up following him.
The point in favour of the homeless-Jesus picture painted by this one encounter is that it does occur in the Galilean region. In fact it occurs in Matthew immediately after Jesus was specifically in Capernaum healing Peter's mother in law.
So if we are to take Jesus' words at face value then one is left asking the question "How can Jesus claim to have no where to lay his head, if he occupies/owns a home just around the lake from where he makes the statement?"
The homeless-Jesus idea is powerfully portrayed in Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz's statute which sits outside Regis College on the sidewalk in Toronto, Ontario.
Lots of pastors - of course - have taken this image to heart and go spend a night on the street around Christmas and then use their experiences to talk to their congregations about the realities of poverty in their community. Matthew 25 powerfully resonates with this idea of Jesus being the one we truly serve when we visit the imprisoned, feed the hungry, clothe the naked or care for the sick.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Can you be a pessimist and a Christ-follower?
Can you be a pessimist and a Christ-follower?
No you can't.
See John 6:1-15 and Hebrews 11:6
In the first verses Philip is "tested" by Jesus when asked what should be done to buy bread for the 5000 men coming to see him up on the mountain. Philip only sees the fact that "It would take 200 denarii to buy bread for all these men!" The glass was half empty for Philip.
Whereas Andrew says "Hey look, we've got 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish, but how will they feed so many?" Jesus showed them all how a "half full" glass could go when one has a little faith in Bread of Life.
In Hebrews we are exhorted that we can't please God without believing not just in "God" but in a God that "rewards those who earnestly seek Him." God is looking for ways to bring blessings into your life. How can you be pessimistic about your future, the future of your family, the future of your church etc,etc with a God like that on our side?
To say nothing of these verses as well Romans 8:28-39.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Pastor Jacob Birch and Andrew Murray's quote on Jesus as Master
From page 51 of The Secret of God's Presence...
"To take Jesus as Master, with the distinct desire and aim to be and live and act like Him--this is true Christianity. This is something far more than accepting him as Saviour and Helper."
"To take Jesus as Master, with the distinct desire and aim to be and live and act like Him--this is true Christianity. This is something far more than accepting him as Saviour and Helper."
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