Inward Transformation to the Outward Expression of Life
When anything other than Jesus becomes our hope (or our wealth, security, sufficiency, completeness, joy, safety, etc...), whatever we have replaced him with has become an idol. And when we place anything on that throne, we will defend it. We will justify it. We will protect it. We will cease to allow the gospel to confront it. We will hang a Do Not Disturb sign on it. As Gerald said on Sunday, "Our idols will always make demands of us."
God's rebuke of his priests in Malachi offers a sobering picture of the reality of marginal giving for the Church today. To understand this, we must fully understand the context of this heavy passage in light of the entire biblical narrative. In his indictment, God accuses the Priests of "offering polluted food upon my altar"... Continue Reading →
In Dr. Bruce Ashford's excellent book, The Theology of Mission, he writes, "We must remember that the gospel stands in judgment of all cultures, calling them to conform themselves to the image of Christ." He goes on to say that, "The gospel does not condemn all of a culture, but is always and at the... Continue Reading →
