January 2011
8 posts
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“So lofty is our opinion of ourselves that we find it quite easy, not to say...”
– A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, p. 34-36
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I think about this exchange from Oct. 29th...
Me: Even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed...set apart Christ as Lord of your hearts... 1 Peter 3:14-15
Austin Skinner: This is a subject that could use some serious discussion. It's hard to teach this because there are many who see suffering as something that happens as a consequence of us "driving God away" by something we've done, rather than something that God is actively bringing about with intentionality and for a purpose that He "stays ever-present" to work through. I put the phrases that refer to God's movement in quotations because they're metaphors. You feel me?
Me: Yeah... I'm seeing purposeful, God-wrought suffering throughout Scripture, particularly in the New Testament. 1 Peter's a great example, because it seems that the focus is sanctification rooted in the gospel. "For you have been called FOR THIS PURPOSE, since Christ also suffered for you leaving an example for you to follow in His steps" (2:21) It seems that Christ suffered not so that we as His followers wouldn't... but so that we would suffer with purpose and meaning and with God's will and glory as the goal--that we would suffer well and "according to the will of God" (4:19). Suffering's tied to a lot..."if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. (3:14) How? -- blessed with a strong apologetic (3:15) -- blessed with a weapon against sin (4:1-2) -- blessed with joy--some now and infinite later ("TO THE DEGREE that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation"--4:13) -- blessed "because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you" (4:14) -- blessed to glorify God (4:16) -- blessed with entrusting their souls to God (4:19) -- blessed because "Christ will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you" (5:10) The Suffering Savior redeemed a people BLESSED with suffering through which to know Him and make Him known.
Austin Skinner: That would make a good sermon series. Deistic, self-serving concepts of suffering and blessing need to be reformed to a more thoroughly-biblically consistent frame of mind. Peter certainly has spreading the gospel to his unknowing world in mind; our challenge is to see that same urgency and not assume the gospel is doing okay just because of where we live. In doing so, we reform/recalibrate our own understanding of what suffering is, why we suffer, and how to respond to it. It's a difficult image to communicate, but a relevant one nonetheless.
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Kicking Off the Covers
You know the feeling. The alarm goes off. You know it’s morning and time to get up and get ready for the day. You’ve got a choice to kick off the covers or hit the snooze button and pretend that a new day along with its activities isn’t actually here—even if it is only for a few extra minutes of sleepy delusion.
You have a choice to wake up or roll over. It’s...
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Watchmikerusch:
Title: “Unmasking the Facade” Series: the Burbs Speaker: Dave Gibbons Date: January 9, 2011 Location: Newsong Irvine
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“Secularism, materialism, and the intrusive presence of things have put out the...”
– A. W. Tozer (The Knowledge of the Holy, p. 18)
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Being & Becoming Family
God’s grace has been overwhelming me in the past months through the direct and indirect influence of the people around me. It seems obvious that people affect each other, but God has profoundly rested this reality on my heart lately—the reality of Biblical community in particular.
For instance, I’m looking across the table this morning at Philip Thomas at Cracker Barrel just...
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“Scripture tells us the story of how a Garden is transformed into a Garden City,...”
– Doug Wilson
Click here to check how other scholars/pastors summarize the Bible in one sentence.
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