Here are my notes from the final session I attended at New Word Alive, except for the bloggers\u2019 session:<\/p>\n
Everyone needs a theology. Many people see all kinds of negative connotations to that word, e.g. that it is \u201cheavy.\u201d\u00a0 It is not doctrine instead of experience. It is not theology instead of how to live life better. We can\u2019t leave theology to the experts. God doesn\u2019t want understanding to be locked away in some ivory tower. We must live in the good of it. Without theology I am at the mercy of the world\u2019s problems. Theology is a friend.<\/p>\n
Hope is so critical for us. Theology gives us a hope not based on chance but on the coming of Christ. All of God\u2019s purposes will be seen to have been fulfilled. We need to look at death in the light of Jesus\u2019 return.<\/p>\n
We are not agnostics, we can know. We are allowed to grieve in this world. We just don\u2019t grieve in the same way that those do who have no hope. Jesus wept at a tomb. He was weeping for the damage and destruction that death brings, wrenching apart families. Death is not \u201cnothing at all.\u201d\u00a0 Our hope has room for tears. But we believe that death can be compared to falling asleep.<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection are unique events that define him, but they have consequences for us! We believe that because of Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection those who fall asleep in him will return with him.<\/p>\n
Remember who you are. You are born again because of what Jesus has done for us. You have an eternal hope.<\/p>\n
Live alert and be self-controlled in light of Jesus\u2019 coming. It is easy to get sucked into doing things because everyone does it. The Lord will turn the spotlight on every life. \u201cHe is coming\u201d is the refrain that will help us live our lives appropriately.<\/p>\n
Verse 7 is the opposite of what we are meant to be. There is always something sleazy about what happens in the dark. We belong to the day.<\/p>\n
The fact that he is coming changes life and it changes death.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here are my notes from the final session I attended at New Word Alive, except for the bloggers\u2019 session: Everyone needs a theology. Many people see all kinds of negative connotations to that word, e.g. that it is \u201cheavy.\u201d\u00a0 It is not doctrine instead of experience. It is not theology instead of how to live […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[195,273,100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1-and-2-thessalonians","category-hugh-palmer","category-nwa10"],"yoast_head":"\n