Most Bible students are quite familiar with the Greek terms in the New Testament for love. The most prominent of them is “agape,” which denotes unconditional self-giving. It’s this kind of love that God displays to us, deposits in us, and demands of us. It’s the ultimate unselfishness, the deepest regard for another, even when …
Smoke in God’s Nose
Read this condensed and updated version of something I posted in December of 2016.
The Narcissist vs The Poor in Spirit
The narcissist has no redemptive influence on a culture that is already obsessed with itself. He can’t fit others into his heart because it’s already full of himself. He has fabricated his own role in life to write, produce, direct, and star in his own autobiographical docudrama. He only reaches out to others when he …
Evangelism: Activity or Lifestyle?
“Let’s be friends,” says the Creator, “and let’s go out together and make some more friends!”
Now, doesn’t that sound a little more appealing than: “Let’s go evangelize Africa!” or “We’re going out witnessing on Friday night. Everybody come!”?
For one thing, “Go evangelize” sounds more like an activity than a lifestyle. Not to mention it gives the impression that it’s something we do to people rather than for them. If we don’t like it done to us you can take it to the bank that they won’t appreciate it being done to them.
At the same time that God befriends us he invites us into his quest for more friends. He bids us to love people for Jesus. We’re his welcoming committee not so much recruiters for the Church. The similarity between inviting people into friendship and recruiting them for membership is paper-thin.
– Originally published in Reaching Rahab:…
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Jesus’ Scary Authority
“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” (Matthew 7:28-29) Every time Jesus opened his mouth people reacted. This crowd was stunned by an inherent “authority,” which had nothing to do with the …
