“What would Jesus say?,” or “What would Jesus do?,” are the questions we are asking. We know “what Jesus would say” would be embodied in “how he lived” and how he treated those who were same-sex in practice. So, the place to begin is at the table with Jesus, and there we learn that he’d welcome, talk to, and summon all to follow him and to be converted. A third topic of Jesus’ teachings on morality is that of the... Read more
Recently I was speaking with a man, when he informed me that a church I knew once as a vibrant place, and then as a solid place, had now closed its doors. I knew a former pastor, and I knew of the variety of ministries that community of faith had. But it had now closed its doors, closed up shop, sold the place, and its various members had gone off to other churches. It is a sad thing to see... Read more
The next chapter in Douglas Jacobsen and Rodney Sawatsky’s small study in theology, Gracious Christianity, turns next to “Human Nature.” The chp deals with Image of God (something dear to my heart), and then with a few topics around the idea of the human condition — both very good sections. I think you can learn alot about a person when you figure out how that person thinks about humans. Have you noticed this? How do you think of humans? |inline Read more
Kris and I are in Boston this weekend. I’ll be giving two workshops to the Vision New England conference at the Hynes Convention Center. Embracing Grace will be the topic, but I’ll also float an idea or two that will be used at the National Pastor’s Convention at the end of February. Read more
As a child in Sunday School we lustily sang the always boisterous song, “The Wise Man Built His House on the Rock and the Foolish Man …”. The song was acted out, and our favorite part was falling onto the floor. And we had no question which side we were on. I have no truck with the song; I do have to say, though, that the song made play out of what has to be seen as nightmare or celebration.... Read more
In the first chp in their primer on theology from the angle of grace, Jacobsen and Sawatsky look at God and Creation. They look at God as Creator, as One and as Trinity. God, so they say, did not create because God had to; nor did God create and then get stuck with what God had made. Instead — and this is a claim that brings great joy — God acted out of love and God made a delightful world!... Read more
A second theme in the ethical teaching of Jesus that sheds some light on this debated controversy about homosexuality is that of conversion, which is the transformation of cracked Eikons by grace into living out that grace. I rely here on what I have said in A New Vision for Israel and, to a lesser degree, in Jesus Creed. There are two elements to conversion for Jesus: a positive element and a negative element. Remember, too, that this summons to... Read more
Douglas Jacobsen and (now deceased) Rodney J. Sawatsky have co-published a wondrous little book called Gracious Christianity: Living the Love We Profess (Baker, 2006). The book is short, but that won’t stop me from savoring each chapter with separate posts. I will admit that any book that sees the gospel in terms of God’s grace that prompts us to act in gracious ways strikes a note of resonance with me, and that is what I worked out in Embracing Grace.... Read more
Very few sermons close off as forcibly as the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus summons people to follow him, and the way he does this is to clarify the sort of followers he has in mind (beatitudes), the salt and light vocation, the surpassing righteousness he expects, and the simplicity of doing things with integrity and trusting God for provisions, and then a series of comments about discernment — and then Jesus simply calls people to follow. |inline Read more
A question for you and I hope a brisk, informed conversation. But first a brief explanation. I have been hearing of late, from a variety of quarters, that more and more churches are starting “satellite campuses” and, in effect, “satelliting” their church to another location. Thus, a big, local church DVDs its service on Saturday night and then that service is played the next morning in a variety of other local settings. What do you think of this practice? What... Read more
Jesus Creed
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In