If I had my way, everything would fit a predictable pattern and be nailed down with precise definitions. Yet we can’t fit God into our patterns or definitions, and so it takes spiritual maturity to live with the ambiguity and the chaos, the absurdity and the untidiness. Accepting the ambiguity of God’s ways is a …
Confessions of a Zealot (Part 3)
In Parts 1 and 2 I confessed my regrettable mismanagement of my zeal for Christ and I drew a parallel between my mistakes and those of David’s when he ill advisedly brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem on an ox-drawn cart instead of on the shoulders of priests. In both his case and …
Confessions of a Zealot (Part 2)
In Part 1 I confessed two things – that I’m a zealot and that many times over the years I’ve mismanaged my zeal. We’re looking at the story in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 15 about the dire consequence of David’s zeal in transporting the Ark of the Covenant on a new oxen-drawn cart. …
How To Know If You’re A Legalist (Three tests and a test case) Part 4 of 4
Some other observations about legalistic types from the story of the Prodigal's big brother: They tend to miss the party: “He refused to go in …” (Luke 15:28) Lots of legalist-leaning Christians are like that. They may be, in one sense, “holy,” but it’s never a happy holiness. They’re too busy keeping their halo on …
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What Jesus Thought About Universal Victim Blaming – John 9 & Luke 13 (Part 1 of 5)
As you can see this is one piece of a five-part essay. If you’d rather read it all at once, you can find it in barneywiget.com. “I don’t trust Christians,” said Pascal. “They know too much about God.” Of course he spoke sarcastically, since he knew that what we think we know we most likely …
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