In resuming our discussion of what the gospel is, I thought I’d record how my own mind has developed on the meaning of the gospel. First, my childhood gospel was a personal forgiveness for eternity gospel. I was taught by parents and pastors and Sunday School teachers that I was a sinner, that I would go to hell for my sins, but that if I accepted Jesus into my heart, I’d be forgiven and would not go to hell but... Read more
That football game between the Bears and the Minnesota Vikings, a true purple team… how do you describe what is going on with the Vikings, both on and off the field? (I’d rather they wear advertisements.) Like Saul, they began well, but (also like Saul) they fell apart. Read more
The Amish and Old order Mennonites are known for their simple clothing and their simple homes and their simple life-style. Professional athletes need to learn from them. Why? I saw it again last weekend when John Daly was battling Tiger Woods down the stretch, and I see it whenever (which is rare) I see someone in uniform for NASCAR, and I saw it again yesterday when I watched Annika Sorenstam, and it was also obvious with Lance Armstrong. Now there... Read more
Maybe one of the best weeks ever for me in reading other blogs. (It didn’t hurt that I got my book on prayer done and feel less pressured to keep grinding away.) 1. I want to suggest you look at Karen Spears Zacharias blogsite. She is the author of Hero Mama, which is featured a bit in Embracing Grace. She is an author who tells the story of surviving in a family decimated when her father was killed in Vietnam.... Read more
This last post this week on “what is the gospel?” will look at the gospel as God’s work in the world for us vs. the gospel as what God has done for me. The latter I will call hyper-individualism, because that is exactly what it is. It operates, to borrow an image from Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz, as if this world is a movie in which God has appointed me as the central actor (or actress). The former examines... Read more
This last post this week on “what is the gospel?” will look at the gospel as God’s work in the world for us vs. the gospel as what God has done for me. The latter I will call hyper-individualism, because that is exactly what it is. It operates, to borrow an image from Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz, as if this world is a movie in which God has appointed me as the central actor (or actress). The former examines... Read more
For Pastors and churches that used the Jesus Creed for a Bible study or more in your church. (This announcement is not for individuals who used this, but for churches.) If you would like to be in the “Pastor’s Circle” for my forthcoming books, please send the following to [email protected]: Name Church’s name or Organization’s name: Address: Phone number: E-mail address: Website address: Read more
Summary of Chapter Two Houston begins his argument for a return to the “mentored life” by examining the “Heroic Myth of Odysseus.” In this myth, Houston suggests we see all the characteristics of individualism and narcissism that stand as obstacles to the mentored life. Just as Odysseus was required to overcome the hardships and challenges of life by “navigating against the primordial forces” so to the modern is encouraged the find meaning in life through a kind of Odysseus like... Read more
I’ve been asked this enough times that I’ll turn it into a post on its own — if the gospel is what I am claiming it is, then how does one evangelize? And I’ve been asked this one several times already, and Embracing Grace isn’t even out of the chute, what are the down-in-the-dirt type things you would say to people? Well, here goes: the question itself that I’m being asked emerges out of a different understanding of the gospel.... Read more
I’ve been asked this enough times that I’ll turn it into a post on its own — if the gospel is what I am claiming it is, then how does one evangelize? And I’ve been asked this one several times already, and Embracing Grace isn’t even out of the chute, what are the down-in-the-dirt type things you would say to people? Well, here goes: the question itself that I’m being asked emerges out of a different understanding of the gospel.... Read more
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