I’m working my way through John Stott’s The Cross of Christ (quite slowly, I might add), and came to his chapter about the problem of forgiveness. I’ve seen quite a few different theories of atonement over the last couple of years, and since I’d never spent a lot of time thinking about it, it’s been pretty interesting to see what’s out there: from the vague atonement=Jesus=the Gospel equation from the Church of the Apostles “Theology Blog”, to the idea that Jesus’ martyr’s death was intended to move us emotionally to repentance.

In his chapter on the problem of forgiveness (Why did Jesus have to die? God could just forgive us if he wanted to.), Stott states succinctly something that I have tried to suggest to a number of people over the last few years, most of whom regarded the idea with disgust:

We can cry “Hallelujah” with authenticity only after we have first cried “Woe is me, for I am lost.” In Dale’s words [R. W. Dale in his book Atonement], “it is partly because sin does not provoke our own wrath, that we do not believe that sin provokes the wrath of God.”

I’ve said for quite some time, you can’t appreciate the Good News until you’ve gotten the bad news. Namely, that you’re a sinner, and you have no hope of saving yourself.

I worked for a long time in an environment that was focused on people’s “felt needs”.  These generally took the form of fellowship, comfort, security, confidence, stability, counseling, etc.  I always felt, and often said - occasionally with other people within earshot - that we needed to focus on the most important, and usually unfelt need, of forgiveness from God. (continue reading…)

I’ve never had a very positive view on humanity. Well, that’s not true. When I was a kid I had a pretty positive outlook, but that all changed about a year after Jesus snatched me up.

Don’t feel sorry for me though. You might be under the impression that meeting Jesus should make me see the good in people…to be more trusting. But that’s not really true.

As a good, secular American, one who gives a nod in Jesus direction without actually paying attention to him, you have a wonderful feeling about the American spirit and the possibility of progress. We can achieve anything. We went to the moon, we ended slavery, and we’re eliminating poverty. Never mind that the moon is basically useless (as far as we know), slavery is still rampant worldwide (as it always has been), and there are poor people everywhere. But none of that fazes you because you’re all caught up in possibilities.

Is this really better than my negative outlook? Is it more Christian/Biblical? I don’t think so, and neither does Tim Keller(do you like how I throw out the big name to back up what I’m saying? That means I’m right…). In The Reason for God he talks about the difference between the two worldviews and what it means for us daily. (quotes coming later, assuming I remember) (continue reading…)

I finally got a chance to listen to Wade’s sermon, “Antihomosexual”. I’m going to have to listen to it again before I can comment though, because he said so much.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking on a couple of questions which, I’ve felt like I’ve had answered for a while, but have popped up recently, so I’ve been giving them some more attention. You’ll probably be able to infer the answers I’ve reached in the past by the way each question is framed, which is ok.

1. How do we deal with sin in the body?  Greed, gossip, and sexual immorality bounce around the church like so many pinballs, and nothing seems to be interfering.  What do we do about it?

Are we only responsible for our own sin, or are we responsible for keeping one another accountable?

2. Is there any sin that isn’t hurting anyone? (continue reading…)

I missed Wade’s sermon today, but we had a pretty lively discussion about it this evening. There was so much for us to talk about, but we had to get out of there early to put the little one to bed. The sermon was on the church’s approach to and treatment of homosexuality. Tonight we talked about homosexuality, sin, accountability, and a little church polity.

I’ve been thinking about the conversation all evening and have decided to dig up everything I’ve written on the subjects, each with a link and an excerpt. So here it is!

You Call That Protection? August ‘06

The institution of marriage has been around a looooong time. It’s survived centuries of men treating women as property. It survived the dark ages, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution. It survived the War of 1812, the Civil War, the two Great Wars, and Vietnam. And it has stood strong through our society’s turn towards cohabitation and parents who avoid marriage. But it’s suffering some staggering blows. The traditional family in the US has been on the decline for 40 years. It’s almost rare for a child to be raised by both biological parents. People are choosing to stay single (but not celibate), and those who do get married do it much later and with much less commitment than in past generations. Even when they’re married they have a bag packed in case they aren’t “satisfied”. The marriage bond is weakening and prenups and no-fault divorce are just making it worse. Thank God someone figured out how to protect this sacred institution from further damage; by focusing our energy on making sure gay people don’t get married.

On the Narrow, October ‘06

In Matthew 16, after Peter’s confession, Jesus rebukes him fiercely, calling him Satan. “You do not have in mind the things of God,” he says, “but the things of men.” Peter was working from the human assumption that God wouldn’t allow his Son, the Messiah, to be killed. We, much the same way, work from the human assumption that God wouldn’t allow someone to be born in a way that forces them to resist their natural desires.

Across the Board, November ‘06

I think that the church should take a more Biblical stance on sin. We tend to single out sexual sin as the only one that is bad enough to keep people out of the church: homosexuality, promiscuity, adultery. And adultery has to be really egregious to get real attention.

(continue reading…)

It’s time for round two in my joint venture with Mike Todd. The question: “Heaven and Hell. What are they and who goes there?” A straightforward question deserves a straightforward answer.I don’t like to be descriptive about heaven beyond what the Bible says. It mentions a throne room and throne, and multitudes surrounding…that’s all I can think of right now. But all that isn’t really important to me. What’s important to me is this: Heaven is the unmitigated presence of God, from whom all blessings flow. I don’t care if the sky is clear, the weather balmy, and streets paved with gold, because God is there and that’s all that matters.

Conversely, Hell is the unbroken absence of God. No life, no joy, no hope, no peace…just pain. There may be fires and there may be physical torment, but that’s superfluous in comparison to the spiritual torment of being totally separated from God. (continue reading…)

Next Page »