Hi folks, I wanted to leave a reference to the newer blog location, so here's a lead-in to the latest entry. I hope everyone is doing well here; been a while.
bb,
p.

I have a friend who’s been talking with some Jehovah’s Witnesses for a while. As it inevitably had to be, the conversation eventually found its way to the divinity of Christ.

When she had first become a Christian a few decades ago, my friend had come into contact with JWs on this same issue. As a result she became very confused and distressed for a period of time. After all, Christ’s nature is central to the faith. Now, by her own admission my friend hasn’t had too much experience with visions and manifestations. But one night back during this period God woke her up and spoke into her mind. And though my friend is usually a non-assertive person, she adamantly insists that it was God who spoke to her.

The worship conundrum

Most readers don't need an article on why murdering an abortionist is a bad idea. But there are some of us who actually must go through the mental exercise in order to be at peace with the subject.

After all, the matter is serious. It is human beings who are being torn apart in the womb by these abortionists. And it is the women, men, and family survivors of abortion that are deeply affected. So the question arises, why then not take out an abortionist as a matter of defense of the innocent?

Two scenarios

Consider this. In Numbers 25, Israel was sinning badly. Through the treachery of the prophet Balaam, they had joined themselves to Moabite women and had sacrificed to the Moabite god, Baal. In plain terms, that means that immorality was rampant. At its most flagrant high point, Phinehas took matters into his own hand. He thrust his spear through two fornicators, putting an abrupt end to the party – and the plague that had befallen the Israelites. Make no mistake: the Lord honored him for it:

Full article: http://onfollowingchrist.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-shooting-abortionists-is-bad-idea.html
 

I Had No Idea

Before reading this book I simply had no idea how important an historical figure Aimee Semple McPherson is.

I had no idea that she was such an intensely popular media figure, on the scale of a top Hollywood celebrity;

that she was one of, if not the, first to break the gender barrier in circuit evangelism and pastoring;

that she was the first religious radio broadcaster, having set up her own 24/7 radio tower atop her Angelus Temple;

that she pioneered modern religious drama at the pulpit of her temple, or that she had prodigiously composed both popular songs and whole operettas, had preached a voluminous corpus of her own sermons and had also written extensively;

or that she had spearheaded a massive ongoing relief effort, matching or exceeding that of the government, in the face of disasters such the Great Depression and the Santa Barbara earthquake.

But above all, I had no idea that Aimee possessed a simply incredible healing anointing, far greater than anything I've ever seen or heard about with any other healing evangelist.

"Waengongi has a son. He was speared, but he didn't spear back, so the people who speared him would one day live well."

I don't think I've ever heard such a concise distillation of the Gospel as that line, spoken midway in this film by a Waodani woman who had grown up among Christians. It's really a paraphrase of John 3:16 into terms the primitive tribe in Ecuador would understand, given as an answer to an Indian's question as to why the missionaries hadn't shot the Indians when they could have. It's the turning point of the movie, and it's very powerful.

( Call to prayer... )

Circumspect and powerful

This book is very well written and impressively researched. It has an understated quality about it, such that in the beginning it underwhelms. Being Yancey’s first book for me, I wondered how far I would go with it.

But then Yancey began to get to me. He repeatedly succeeded in making his point deeply, despite the circumspect nature of the prose.

As Yancey states, he has organized the book somewhat like a Biblical epistle: all the good news is up front, with the messy dealing with church matters coming later on. In the final section on the “ungrace” that is far too extant among believers, Yancey makes the case that the church’s carnal involvement in politics has caused a massive loss of vision and credibility. This has resulted in a compromised power to witness to the present living reality of Christ, a task that is absolutely fundamental to its call.

I didn’t expect the book to take this turn, but there was no mistake in my picking it up at this time. The deleterious effect of politics on our witness is a central truth that I've been seeing of late, and Yancey has driven the point home. I think we have gone about as far as we can go in fighting the culture wars using the world’s tactics. We need a wholesale return to our spiritual roots. We need to be the corporate incarnation of Christ and then take Him anew into the world starving for grace, even if signs portend more cultural hostility than American Christians are used to.

It seems I came to this realization some ten years after Yancey. My lateness to the party is nothing new; I'm just glad I'm at least getting it now. I don't think this book will disappoint you. It has given me a clearer vision of what the church and its mission really are, and what they are not, and how better to be going about our Father’s business in the world.

Adversity is that necessary place of growth is where God's anointing and protection are withdrawn but his love and knowledge of his will abide. This is where character is hammered out and tempered. There is nothing easy about this place. It is a place of hardship.

This is a place where we turn our face toward him and decide to live in total conformity, for his pleasure. Where the cost is counted and disdained. Where we sow in tears, knowing we will reap with lasting joy.

It is a place of maximum spiritual growth. We are taking back territory from the enemy by the mile. He's not happy about it and resists aggressively, but he will lose. Our job is to stand, hold our ground, and advance.

This is not punishment, it is an answer to prayer. Get ready for massive blessing; adversity is its precursor.