Category: Theology

Faith and Flourishing

“Faith is not an addendum to our existence, a theological virtue, one among others. The faith to which we are called is the fundamental energizer of our lives. Authentic faith transforms us; it leads us to sell all and follow the Lord. The idea is not, once again, that everything in the life of the believer is different. The idea is rather that no dimension of life is closed off to the transforming power of the Spirit — since no dimension of life is closed off to the ravages of sin. But faith, in turn, is only one component in God’s program of redemption. The scope of divine redemption is not just the saving of lost souls but the renewal of life — and more even than that: the renewal of all creation. Redemption is for flourishing.”
– Nicolas Wolterstoff

Not Another Sphere

“But even in this present life, there is danger in the very concept of religion. It carries the suggestion that this is one more department of life, an extra department added to the economic, the social, the intellectual, the recreational, and all the rest. But that whose claims are infinite can have no standing as a department. Either it is an illusion or else our whole life falls under it. We have no non-religious activities; only religious and irreligious.”

–C. S. Lewis, Letter to Malcolm Chiefly on Prayer

Not an Enemy, But a Friend

“It almost goes without saying that we all crave perfect love. We want the love of a mother, the love a father, the love of a friend, the love of a spouse, the love of someone. We want an enduring and unconditional love. Even the worst criminal locked up in prison longs for someone to love him. Have you ever thought about why? If the origin of the universe is an accident, and if through time and chance human beings are who they are, why do all people want to be loved? Further, we might also ask why all human love is ultimately disappointing. No spouse loves us exactly like we want. Too often family love erupts into friction and conflict. Friends fail us. We desperately want someone to love us perfectly. This is why loneliness is so painful. I have spoken often to my church and others about my struggles with loneliness through years of singleness (not that those two always go together, they just seem to for me). There is a palatable ache within that can wash over you like waves of despair. I could analyze it. I could philosophize about it. I could even teach on it. But I could not overcome it. Then I began to look at the pain from the perspective of beauty and to consider why I felt the way I did. I came to discover that loneliness was not an enemy but a friend. It is a painful reminder that I was not made for myself. I was made for Him, and the pain is God’s way of saying, “Here I am!” Loneliness has become a guide and a friend in my spiritual journey. When I feel lonely, I am feeling theology inside. All the pleasures, desires, and loves in this world will not take that pain away. We desperately want someone to love us perfectly, yet no one does. But when we wake up to the fact that no relationship can fully satisfy, we realize that we are lonely for God.”

–Steve DeWitt, Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in Everything.

Don Carson Series on Building the Church

These talks were recently given by Carson at the Yorkshire Evangelical Ministry Assembly:

1. Leaders and Pastors which build a Church 1 Timothy 3:1-7
2. What is the Church? Ephesians 5:21-31
3. Q & A (News from the Yorkshire Gospel Partnership)
4. Building the Church 2 Timothy 3:1 – 4:8
5. Believing and belonging – avoiding church dating – the glorious priviledge

(HT: Monergism)

That Heaven Might Be Opened

“When he was thrown into a stable, and placed in a manger, and a lodging refused him among men, it was that heaven might be opened to us, not as a temporary lodging, but as our eternal country and inheritance, and that angels might receive us into their abode.”

John Calvin, Harmony of the Evangelists, on Luke 2:1-7

Reformation Day: What the Word can do

Today is Reformation Day and a reminder that God grants reformation and revival not primarily through new church programs or slick technologies, but through the simple act of opening the Bible:

“I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenburg beer with my friends, Philip and with Armsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy, that no prince or emperor ever inflicted some damage upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.” (Martin Luther, The Eight Wittenburg Sermons, 1522)

For more information about Luther and his act that sparked the Protestant Reformation, Justin Taylor has posted some good resources.

Without grace-driven effort

“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

D.A. Carson, For the Love of God, volume 2, Jan. 23