Five Fond Memories of a Family Gathering

by | Jun 11, 2011 | Learning Story

Ah, I am happily home, surrounded by mounds of laundry and readying myself for a two-basket trip to the grocery store, but before I go, I want to share the good news of fond memories of the gathering of the PCA this past week in Virginia Beach, Va.

  1. Real conversation about matters that matter. Beyond the politics and posturing that so often happens at such gatherings to true heart struggle of women and men laboring to bring hope to those desperately needing to hear that Jesus Christ saves from irreligion and religion.
  2. The call for unity: The pastor of an intentionally integrated church in Jackson, Mississippi talking about racial reconciliation happening in the deeply entrenched South: “We don’t wait for heaven for unity. It must be in some way visibly expressed now.” Luke 17:20-23
  3. The call to worship. A bold and humble pastor speaking about “oppression,” not in the context of other cultures but in the context of his home, and how his wife felt oppressed by – him. Confessing his idolatry and self-righteousness and pointing to the gospel as the healing force and community as the strengthening body. This is worship in spirit and truth. John 4.
  4. The call to mission. Luke 10: 1-42…We must be bold messengers, loving neighbors, and good listeners, coupling the ‘repulsive’ message of the gospel with the irresistible winsomeness of a life of faith, hope, and love.
  5. Real women wanting to share God’s story of grace with real women. Learning to look for what we have in common as women created in the image of God, struggling in our own sin nature —  and to leverage the difference: our hope in Jesus Christ. (More on that with a summary of “A Woman’s Story” seminar coming next week.) Luke 7:36-50.

Learning God’s Story for Creation Cultivation

by | Jun 8, 2011 | Learning Story

The creation waits in eager  expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation. itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. Romans 8:19- 21

I wrote this blog yesterday, then had two discussions with people about Christianity and our call to steward creation, then woke up to the sound of a bulldozer moving sand on the beach, so I figured, yeah, it’s relevant:

Does living the Christian story have anything to do with environmentalism, and if so, what? Just read a very helpful article on the topic in Christianity Today with two folks who are thinking hard about the matter, Peter Harris and Eugene Peterson. Listen to Harris’ encouragement:

If you believe you’re going to be able, by technology, by political force, by whatever means, to save the planet, you may well get disillusioned and exhausted and  depressed. these are genuine problems within the environmental movement.

If, on the other hand, you do what you do because you believe it pleases the living God, who is the Creator and whose handiwork this is, your perspective is very different…i do think it gives God tremendous pleasure when his people do what they were created to do, which is care for what He has made.

My heart’s desire for the new Bible study, which, yes, really exists, as confirmed yesterday in the bookstore at General Assembly:), is to get people “Living the Story.” As a community working through this study together and as individuals. , people will be called and given opportunity to think of creative ways to live out what we were created to do.

You can read excerpts from Learning God’s Story of Grace here.

“Rich in Mercy”

by | Jun 2, 2011 | Learning Story

Sacred, the Heart of Jesus

I have too much work to do to post today, BUT…Stephen B. Whatley, renowned British artist, just blew me away with his new work (“Sacred, the Heart of Jesus”), and I had to share it. I’ll leave your hearts to respond and offer you the verse that came to mind when I saw it:
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Avoiding Jesus?

by | May 31, 2011 | Learning Story

Prepping for the workshop at General Assembly next week, I reread the article The Centrality of the Gospel by Tim Keller — a great explanation of how both irreligion or religion (legalism) are ways of avoiding Jesus as Savior. Here’s an excerpt. Check out the whole article:

“They are both ways to avoid Jesus as Savior and keep control of their lives. Irreligious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through irreligion, “worldly” pride. (“No one tells me how to live or what to do, so I determine what is right and wrong for me!”) But moral and religious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through religion, “religious” pride. (“I am more moral and spiritual than other people, so God owes me to listen to my prayers and take me to heaven. God cannot let just anything happen to me–he owes me a happy life. I’ve earned it!”) The irreligious person rejects Jesus entirely, but the religious person only uses Jesus as an example and helper and teacher–but not as a Savior. (Flannery O’Connor wrote that religious people think “that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin…”) These are two different ways to dothe same thing–control our own lives.” Tim Keller

Saturday Redemption Song: Blessings

by | May 28, 2011 | Learning Story

Just heard this song on the radio for the first time yesterday. Don’t know how I missed it. Laura Story is one of my favorite songwriters. It just seems so right to remind us of hope after another long week of hard struggles for many.