An Eye for Redemption

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God Is
2007-10-03 22:01:00
In the following few sentences I will attempt to put a few words together to describe what I think makes God God. Knowing that what I write will be inadequate to the task doesn't discourage me ... I don't think that anyone could do a truly sufficient job.To begin let me address three broad categories of God's attributes. I call them is-isms. "God is Almighty". "God is Holy". "God is Sovereign". Each is-ism speaks of a different aspect of God. First "God is Almighty". The attributes of God can be captured in three words beginning with Omni: Omnipotence speaks of His power to act ... this is expressed in creation, in healing and in miracles.Omniscience tells us that God knows everything ? every thought and motive ? He cannot be surprised.Omnipresence is the ability that God has to be everywhere at one time and at all times ... He is not bound by space or time ? He sees the future in the same way he sees the past.Doesn't that seem to be enough of a definition for God ... surely eno...

Refiner's Fire
2007-10-02 13:57:00
My wife Ann is in the hospital again with another MS relapse (third time in as many months) and life has been difficult for us both. I got the following from a friend in an email message this morning and it encouraged me, so I thought that I'd pass it on. Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining SilverAs she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest...
More About: Fire , Refine

Spiritual Fingerprints
2007-09-29 17:44:00
Last night in response to comments on my In Love with Jesus? post, Codepoke passed on a link to a post titled Personality?transformed by God?. Here is an excerpt from it: Your comments about MBTI vs. spirit-led life made me smile a bit, because it reminded me of a conversation I had with a very extraverted friend who couldn?t really grasp what I was explaining about being an introvert. She listened, a bit incredulously to my explanation, and at the end was like, ?Well, that?s all fine and good, but doesn?t Jesus make any difference in your life? What?s it mean for Him to transform you?? I almost laughed right then, because I realized that the things I was saying that I thought were good, she was seeing as faults?perhaps she thought I was giving her insight into what was wrong with me! And so, was all that explanation just excusing my faults instead of letting Jesus transform me? I told her, ?Well, I think it means I?ll look more like Him, but probably NOT more like you :)?The post c...
More About: Spiritual

In Love With Jesus?
2007-09-27 14:23:00
Consider this a brief follow-up to the Feminine Worship? post of a few weeks ago. Brian recently referred to a post by John Stackhouse titled "Jesus , I'm not in love with you". Here are a few excerpts from his John's short post:First, I?m not in love with Jesus. The locution ?in love with? is one I reserve for one person only: my wife. I love my sons, I love my siblings and parents, I love my friends, I love my country, I love my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I love God. But I?m not ?in love? with any of them. And I daresay most of the rest of us use this phrase in exactly the same, highly-restrictive way....But the New Testament never calls Christians Jesus? fiancées or his brides. Instead, it is the Church collectively, and only the Church as a whole, that relates to Jesus this way?just as individual Israelites did not relate to Yhwh as so many spouses, but only the nation of Israel as nation was his beloved bride.This is a totally new thought for me that challenges my th...
More About: Love

Allah, Jehovah and Jesus
2007-09-26 13:28:00
Over on my other blog we have been having a comment discussion about something our evangelical president said. It all started when I wrote:In 2005 when asked if Muslims worship the same Almighty as Jews and Christians, President Bush replied replied, ?I believe we worship the same God.? The conversation started when Missy asked:Technically, don't they worship the same God?I don't want to regurgitate the entire dialog here ... you can follow the dialog over there ... but I would like to bring a few points to bear. Firstly, I think that it is not accurate or helpful helpful to legitimize Islam, the Quran and Mohammed by saying that Alla h is just another name for the the God of Judaism and Christianity. The bible says that Jesus was the full revelation of the God, spoken of in the Jewish scriptures, in human form. Therefore it is accurate and appropriate to say that the God of Jews and Christians are one and the same God. Also, Christianity recognizes the God of the Jews as the same ...
More About: Jehovah

Feminine Worship?
2007-09-16 16:23:00
This seems like a good topic for a Sunday-morning-before-I-go-to-church post. Steve Sjogren, founding pastor of the Cincinnati Vineyard Community Church recently wrote a blog post with the same title as this post. Here are a few excerpts:Eventually, I ask men this question, ?So why do you come late each week? You can tell me the truth ? I?m only here one week ? I don?t know who you are. You can be completely honest with me?? It is amazing how consistent men are when they answer me. Almost always they lean forward, they look right, look left, lower their voice then speak? ?The God?s honest truth is, I CAN?T STAND THOSE INCESSANT SONGS THEY SING HERE! My wife told me I?d get used to the songs, but hey, it?s been several months (or even years) now and I still don?t like this singing stuff.?Then I usually hear one of two things, that they are either: 1) Bored stiff while the singing is going on, or;2) They feel the songs are too "girly." Some reading this might think, ?I suspect those g...
More About: Worship , Feminine

Let your heart take courage
2007-09-10 00:15:00
I came across two psalms today that end with similar phrases: I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD. (Psalms 27:13-14)O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful And fully recompenses the proud doer. Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD. (Psalms 31:23-24)It seems that both of these verses relate hope and faithfulness with strength and courage. Ever think about what it takes to wait on the Lord ... experience tells me that persevering in hope can really develop a strong heart ... but it often comes with a price tag. I think about what the bible says about enduring trials: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be per...
More About: Heart

He Calls Me Friend
2007-09-07 17:03:00
In the seemingly most tragic events of history, and in particular our lives, God sees with an eye for redemption and works to bring beauty from ashes.
More About: Calls , Friend

He Still Heals
2007-09-03 15:14:00
In the seemingly most tragic events of history, and in particular our lives, God sees with an eye for redemption and works to bring beauty from ashes.
More About: Heals , Heal