Archive for the 'Theology Notes' Category
Tuesday, December 8th, 2015
I was created to be a unique home for God, a home in which He expresses Himself in a unique way. I matter because I am a unique creation, but the completion of my significance is found only in that I should be a dwelling place for God. This means that my significance is a […]
Posted in Theology Notes | 2 Comments »
Friday, December 19th, 2014
True repentance happens at the cross where our inability meets the ability of God. True repentance happens at the cross for repentance is not essentially deciding to do better; it is not committing yourself to live by a righteous standard that you have previously denied or neglected. Repentance is most essentially turning to God to […]
Posted in Spiritual Growth, The Cross, Theology Notes | Comments Off on Where Our Inability Meets the Ability of God
Monday, November 24th, 2014
If you want to be saved, you have to be a sinner. I realize that what I just said can be taken wrongly, but I imagine that a number people don’t get this rightly. Jesus really did come to save the sick and the sinners.
Posted in Proclamation, Spiritual Growth, Theology Notes | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, September 24th, 2014
I get that doctrine is important to the life of the Church. Doctrine is part of the Church’s call to bear witness to the work of God in Christ, and it can be both an act of worship, as well as a catalyst in bringing the Church to it’s knees in worship. And yet, for […]
Posted in Everything Else, Theology Notes | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014
Below is a letter I sent to a friend who had a question about the relationship of body, soul, and spirit with respect to human nature. I offer this letter as a post, for a few reasons: it’s been too long since I have posted anything, it provides some clarity regarding a subtle aspect of […]
Posted in Letters, Theology Notes | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, April 29th, 2014
Perhaps in the end the final question is: “By the work of whose hands do you live?” Are you going to live by the work of your hands, and be the sum of all you’ve done? Or, are you going to be the work of God’s hands, hands that were pierced to embrace you, remake […]
Posted in Judgment Day, Theology Notes | 1 Comment »
Thursday, April 24th, 2014
In thinking about why I am a bit uncomfortable with fundamentalist Christians, even though they share many of my theological convictions, an analogy occurred to me wherein the Christian faith is much like a symphonic piece, and the Fundamentalists, as well as a whole host of Evangelicals, are singing the basic melody, but are missing […]
Posted in Music, Theology Notes | 3 Comments »
Saturday, October 5th, 2013
The following is an email that I wrote to a friend and dear sister in Christ, who expressed some concerns about recent words of Pope Francis wherein he was accused of being a universalist. I thought I would publish it here to share with my family, friends, and fellow pilgrims. ******* Dear Ms. C, I […]
Posted in Letters, Theology Notes | 4 Comments »
Saturday, March 17th, 2012
Sin basically consists not in breaking a set of rules but in breaking the heart of God – Anna Mow ******* I got this quote from Donald Bloesch’s Theological Notebook. What I like about it is that it provides a profoundly Gospel understanding of sin, which is to say that it defines sin with respect […]
Posted in Good Quotes, Theology Notes | 3 Comments »
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
It is the fifth day of Christmas and I’ve been reading Brennan Manning’s The Ragamuffin Gospel, which inspired me to write the following riff about the vulnerability of God, a vulnerability manifested in the Cross. ******* There is a deep connection between the brutal marks engraved on the vulnerable and naked body of the Son […]
Posted in Grace, Proclamation, The Cross, Theology Notes | Comments Off on God’s Vulnerability