Early in my walk with the Lord, I attended a prayer meeting at church. As we prayed, Adam’s formation came to mind: I imagined particles of dust swirling together, sculpting Adam’s body in mid air (Gen. 2:7). When the body was formed, God breathed life into the whole of him. Adam rose to his feet….
Tag: God
The Gospel of God
“[T]he good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God…” (Mark 1:1). Jesus Christ is the gospel. The Corinthians thought it was about spiritual gifts and supernatural manifestations. While encouraging them in the gifts of the spirit, Paul pointed the Corinthians to something even greater: Jesus Christ and Him crucified, the wisdom and power […]
On Loving God–Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux was a monk in the 11th and 12th centuries. Bernard enjoys wide appeal. After reading his classic, On Loving God, I understand why. This book has a refreshing, simple focus on loving God. It is not a work of dazzling theological argument but evokes 1 Corinthians 8:2-3: “If anyone thinks he knows anything,…
Patrick the Slave
From his brief autobiography we learn that…the Irish, then called Scots, began swooping down on the English coast, sailing up the rivers, raiding the settlements, and carrying off plunder and slaves. Among the captives was Patrick. So Ireland’s patron saint was not Irish! He had been reared a Christian. His father was a deacon, but…
WAKE UP!
I just watched “The Matrix,” a film set in a dystopian future. People create artificial intelligence, which turns computers and machines against us. We lose a war with the machines. They start farming us and using our bioelectricity as a power source. To keep us unconscious and compliant, the machines wire everyone to a neural-interactive…
P.S. to “An Apology”
Recently, I posted about “An Apology for the True Christian Divinity.” Written by Robert Barclay, this was the first orderly presentation of early Quaker beliefs. Early Quakers were deeply Christian while many later Quakers drifted from Christ into subjectivism. One of my readers left a comment wondering why later Quakers left their Christian roots. I suggested that…
An Apology for the True Christian Divinity–Barclay
Last year, I became acquainted with Quakerism. I thought Quakers peddled new age, oatmeal mysticism. I was surprised to learn of their deeply Christian origins. I began to read the writings of George Fox, founder of the Quaker movement. Next, I moved on to An Apology for the True Christian Divinity by Robert Barclay (1675)….
Bereavement’s Provision
In Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about” (Gen. 22:2). There is tenderness in the way the phrasing builds from…
Two Cities, One Gospel: Christ and Revolution
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” This unforgettable phrase opens Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities. Set in England and Paris, A Tale of Two Cities takes place just as the French Revolution gets going. On one side are the French commoners. They are enraged by the economic…
Soul-Jars of Christ–Cameron Fult
I’d like to thank Cameron Fultz for sharing this post. Cameron is a friend of mine and author of Spiritual Knowledge and Jesus Pictures *** Yes, “soul-jar” is a silly pun on “soldier”. But this is the kind of soldier we are; not one of force, but vessels of Christ crucified, the Treasure inside. The power of God…
The Voice of One 