Steak Dinner: Why Did David’s Repentance Work?

Late with this one! Shalom.

Enter Wonderland

Image courtesy of Sarah Wilson, Sarah.Anne Photography

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As I read the Old Testament (OT), a question has always surfaced for me: On what merit were the faithful of the OT saved?  Why are some people considered righteous while others are condemned, when both did sinful things, and what does that mean for my understanding of God?  This is a theological question and requires a theological answer, but before you tune out, please hear this: you cannot punt on this for being “too academic” or “not practical”.  Understanding who God is and who are His people is one of the ultimate practical topics. I don’t have a theology degree, but I know that I MUST have an answer to this question in order to make sense of the God I say I follow.

So, back to our OT friends.  How were they saved? Let’s look at a couple simple answers.

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Milk Run: Freedom (Romans 6:18-20)

Shabbat Shalom! my friends.

Enter Wonderland

Image courtesy of Sarah Wilson, Sarah.Anne Photography

This is one of a series of posts called Milk Runs which are intended to provide short, clear teachings from the Bible and their application for Christians.  For more information about the series, please see the explanatory post.  Now to the regularly scheduled programming:

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. …just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.  When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.

Romans 6:18-20 (NIV)

What an amazing word of hope!  We who are in Christ Jesus are set free from our sins.  They hold no more power over us – they are not our great desire.  When we were lost, we…

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Greatness, Time, and Wisdom

For the reflective and thinking person…..

Enter Wonderland

Image credit: Annca, source (edited by author)

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Author’s note: Following a series of life events which conspired to prevent me from writing, I’m finally publishing the remaining stories from last year’s trip, as well as more recent writings which have never been released.  Thank you for your patience, and enjoy the ride!

There’s a story in David Batstone’s book Not for Sale about a woman who works in rural Thailand to rescue children from the slave trade.  It’s a powerful, moving tale as she boldly goes into situations where she is not wanted in order to rescue them, and it left me wondering.  You see, almost no one outside of those who have read the book and she knew directly will ever hear about her.  Yet how great is the work that she does?  Almost all of us would agree that she is having a tremendous impact on the world…

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Can Love Confront?

Which Flag Do You Wave? — Enter Wonderland

“You carry two flags. Over one shoulder is the American flag, over the other is the Christian flag. Which do you wave?” – Dr. Alan Kemper A few weeks ago, my best friend and his older sister were arguing about whether immigrants should be expected to assimilate to American culture. The debate was well-fought […]

via Which Flag Do You Wave? — Enter Wonderland

The First Step Closer

Son, Nathan, has begun a blog – it’s different than mine. Follow along if you like.

Come, follow Me

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16, ESV.

In high school, Paul’s words to the Galatians were a godsend, literally.  I struggled with temptations from every side, struggled mightily.  Even worse, these struggles made me feel completely unworthy to even approach God in reverence.  This verse inspired in me the first inkling that it wasn’t a matter of cleaning the sin out of my life before I came to Him, but rather a matter of sacrificing it in order to follow Him, to walk in the Spirit as it were.  Once doing so, He would lend me strength to overcome them.  As Francis Chen says in Crazy Love, “you have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin….When you are running toward Christ, you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry or fear.  As long as you’re running, you’re safe.”

I didn’t truly come to understand that concept until recently, but in reflection of this verse, 16-year-old me wrote this poem, possibly the only poem I’ve ever written of any quality.  I had completely forgotten about it, but while going through an old notebook recently I stumbled on it, and it convicted me to perform some introspection and see if these words still applied to my life.

 

Lord must I walk this path again?

Try to pass this test again?

So many times I’ve tried,

And failed

Then You come and pick me up

Your Spirit surrounding me,

Now it’s astounding me

Your Grace,

Compassion,

Mercy.

(Even when I don’t deserve it)

Though temptation may rise,

I will walk in the Spirit ’til the day I die

The world is pulling on me,

But I’m standing on You.

No matter what happens,

You bring me through

The world says I’m trippin’

But what they can’t see:

Every time I trip, you say,

“COME, FOLLOW ME”

-Nathan Powell