Thursday 31 July 2008 at 12:13 am
Someone on Voices posted this link about parents encouraging students NOT to marry "early".
Tonight we had our men’s group and Tim Keller in his chapter on hell in “The Reason for God” picks up CS Lewis’ analysis of the ancient verses the modern:
more...
Monday 28 July 2008 at 8:12 pm
Again, this is from a Voices discussion so you regrettably only get half the discussion, kind of like an epistle in the NT. :)
more...
Monday 28 July 2008 at 1:35 pm
I think your observations are very good. We have to be a bit precise in terms of what we are after in this thing. Language is always tough here because there are many ways to say it but all with their own shade and nuance. I’ll use the CS Lewis, Mere Christianity phraseology. We want to bring them into the life of Christ.
As you noted there are distractions in here, but distractions aren’t always wrong, they just need to be relativized within the larger economy. Church membership, support of the body, submission to one another, etc. are all important facets but when they become the central thing they become distractions.
There are also many ways into the “life of Christ” in a sense. For some it is family or generational participation into the life of Christ (covenant). Greeting, as you said can be one way into it for some people for whom they have been wounded in this area (acceptance) greeting, welcoming, hospitality can all be powerful things. For others it might be worship. For others it might be more literary, aesthetic, philosophical, practical (deaconal), etc. All of these will depend upon our particular histories, our genetics, and our woundings by the liar.
I think it’s also important to note that the life of Christ is something we partake in, not own. It’s something we share in, not control. It’s something that’s been given to us, and something we can share with others, but never impose upon them. These are important boundary observations respecting the ultimate boundary between creator and creation. The life of Christ belongs to Christ and it is his to give. Fortunately he is gracious and gives it lavishly and promiscuously.
This observation also appropriately locates prayer. Prayer has been called our chief work and if the boundaries observations I made above are true than this makes the most sense. We come to God and ask him to share his life with those we love. We don’t do so to grow our churches, although that is a good thing. We don’t do so to support our institutions, although God does good things through them. We do so our of his motivation to share is exceeding greatness, the greatest thing in all the universe. “Salvation” is a term we use but that term assumes fallenness (which is our condition) so itself is a result of when his overwhelmingly powerful glory comes gracefully in contact with our decrepit state. Prayer aligns and locates everything precisely and appropriately. It reinforces that we have no real power in this apart from what God choose to do through us. It reminds us of his goodness and wonder are the best and central motivation behind all of this, not our petty priorities.
We want anything besides prayer to be our work because prayer is so hard. Why is prayer so hard? The shut-in can do it as well as the vigorous young pastor with his freshly minted seminary degree. The mentally challenged person can do it as well as the high paid church consultant. Prayer is so hard because it reinforces all of the truths about ourselves we resist. We are weak. We are temporary. We are helpless. We are not the source. pvk
Thursday 10 July 2008 at 8:28 pm
This was done by Tim Keller at a MCM (Ministry Community Meeting) fall of 2005. The audio files were posted for free download via the web. The links are no longer good. Here is an outline I created from the MP3 file for use in leadership development in my congregation. Here is a PDF version of the outline.
I think some of the best stuff is in the last section following Jonathan Edward's sermon.
more...
Monday 07 July 2008 at 9:14 pm
I’m doing Keller’s book now with my men’s group and this week we’ll talk about his chapter on the problem of evil.
The path into and through the problem is so well trodden it is nearly rote for many. Because evil exists God either can’t be all good or all powerful and therefore the Christian view of God can’t be true. Keller does a nice job in the book dealing with the question philosophically accessibly and briefly (to the degree that can be done). He also recognizes (more in his sermon series) that the problem is more pastoral than philosophical. If you’re in pain for most of us the philosophy matters not a lot.
more...
Monday 07 July 2008 at 6:13 pm
Someone with Mouw's visitibility made waves with his comments on gay marriage.
He expands it more on his blog.
more...
Monday 07 July 2008 at 6:09 pm
Again this was from a CRC Voices discussion continuing the discussion of emotional worlds. Tim Keller has obviously influenced a lot of my thinking along these lines.
more...
Monday 07 July 2008 at 5:18 pm
NPR had a niece piece on a book entitled
The Big Sort about the segmenting of America. The precious social mobility sought after since WWII and the civil rights movement has brought of all things, segregation by political persuasion. Like minded people prefer to be together rather than apart. Surprise.
Tuesday 01 July 2008 at 2:22 pm
More from the Voices discussion on emotions and the will
more...
