Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture
I am not the first to make the point that idolatry can entail taking good things and making them into ultimate things. Or to put it another way, we should not confuse means and ends. I was thinking about this with reference to physical pleasures. Too often, the response of the church to the danger … Read more
If you are discouraged about church, it may be that your expectations are too high.
Church is not a gathering of the mature. Church is not a gathering of the wise. Church is not a gathering of the beautiful.
Church is a gathering of those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ.
In looking at all of these questions, I realize that there is a gap between my behavior and my belief. I believe in God’s love, I know that I am forgiven, I know that God is in control and I know that I have received and am to give grace. Yet, I do not always live according to that knowledge.
The result of legalism is that those who are in the system cannot become what God intends them to be. Rather than a deepening understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, legalists are satisfied with rule keeping.
I believe that everywhere Jesus went He found a way to make an impact on a man, woman, or child. Although the gospel writers make it clear that He preached and taught multitudes, it’s amazing how much of the gospels focuses on one on one encounters with Jesus that you and I can easily identify with and replicate.
The lies that capture us as Christians usually seem to fit well within the borders of our Christianity. Perhaps postmodernism and sexual immorality are not the greatest threats to the church of Christ in our day. Perhaps we are in more danger from the subtle lies that flow from subtle shifts in how we understand the gospel. We have not forsaken the faith, but we may have redefined it in ways that are fundamentally different from the gospel laid out in Scripture.
Christian are to be balanced in their pursuit of Bible study and prayer. Two characters from Star Trek illustrate the imbalance of these two.