On Easter we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It matters whether something is real or not. It also matters whether an idea is true or not. The historical fact is Jesus rose from the dead, and it makes a difference that he did.
After Jesus was captured in the Garden of Gethsemane, the soldiers led him to the high priest. Mark is very careful to point out that these two situations — the trial before the Sanhedrin and the denial of Peter — occur side by side. The contrast between these two situations gives us an illustration which is the answer to the question Jesus asks on the cross.
A good teacher tailors her presentation to her audience. The same is true of the four New Testament gospels. Each gospel writer had a different audience in mind and tailored his presentation of the story to his audience.
The gospels are unique in content, although they are similar in form to ancient biographies.
The podcast is on break for the holidays. In the meantime, please listen to a previous episode or series. May I suggest one of these
Thoughts on real meaning of Christmas, gift-giving and celebrations.
As a ministry leader you probably make a lot of coffee. I’ve found using the Toddy Coffee system is the easiest way to make the most coffee with the least amount of mess, fuss and clean up. Here’s how.
The theology of Spiritual Formation assumes there is a level a spirituality that I can have if I do certain spiritual practices. Prayer is typically is one of those practices. Yet, the biblical picture of prayer is not a spiritual discipline that I use to reach a higher spiritual level. Rather prayer is an unavoidable mandatory battlefield in the war of faith.
Not only does the theology of spiritual formation aim at the wrong target, spiritual formation seeks the wrong kind of change. While spiritual disciplines focus on success at outward righteous behavior, the Bible teaches that the goal of spiritual maturity is a strong unshakeable faith.
The theology of Spiritual Formation sounds great on paper, but it is focused on the wrong target. Progress toward greater spirituality is measured by what can be seen (for example, how well I maintain the routines of sabbath, bible reading, confession; how loving my actions are toward others; how much I experience greater joy and contentment; how well I serve and sacrifice, etc.) which means success is measured by outward righteous behavior. But is outward righteous behavior the right target?
“Spiritual formation” is a hot topic today. But does it work? The Old Testament prophet Haggai would answer no.
A conference I attended gave each participant this simple and heartwarming “Conference Survival kit” which contained the following items and Scripture.