Protected: Seeking the Old Paths

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From one side of the fence to the other.

Growing up in a conservative family, I was raised to believe what my parents preached. This is not to say that my parents were in error by any means (they were only doing what they felt was best), but like many children, I did not understand the world around me, nor how to fairly interact with those who had differing views. As John Stuart Mill has famously said, “He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that” (1868, para. 24), and while I would not have agreed then, I do now. I was conditioned to view the “right” as the right way, whereas liberals and democrats were the result of spineless views and whimpering consciences.

Copernicus, Harry Potter, and Slavery: How We Interpret the Bible

People gave ear to an upstart astrologer who strove to show that the earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the moon … This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but sacred Scripture tells us [Joshua 10:13] that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and not the earth. Martin Luther

The Dangers of Proof-Texting

For those of you who only follow the blog and not my Facebook page, this is a video I recorded dealing with how we approach scripture, and I hope my thoughts and ideas help you when it comes to seeing Jesus revealed throughout the grand scope of the Bible. John 5:39

Here’s to a New Year.

This much is certain, that we have no theological right to set any sort of limits to the loving-kindness of God which has appeared in Jesus Christ. Our theological duty is to see and understand it as being still greater than we had seen before. Karl Barth

I thought about writing a post that would recount in excruciating detail the past year of my life, but honestly, I do not want to think about half of the crap that happened over the past twelve months. By saying that, I think it is safe to say that 2012 is the year that I truly experienced grace and freedom in a way that I never dreamt was possible before. And how is that?

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)

A glimpse into my heart.

“…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work…” 1 John 3:8b

Tonight, I received a spiritual gut-check of sorts. While I generally like to sit by myself at dinner so I can eat and leave, I found myself being drawn into a conversation centering around this semester’s Introduction to Gospels class, and as I sat down, it wasn’t long until we began talking about N.T. Wright and his ability to help people immerse themselves into a first-century perspective rather than looking at the Bible through a 21st century mindset. The things being said were enlightening and encouraging, and as I left, I realized something: these people all admitted to believing in Jesus, yet before that moment, I had never known. It wasn’t a matter of not caring; I enjoy talking to these people when I can. However, because these people don’t run the same circles I do, nor do they “speak” the same way I see most Christians do, I never really thought about it.

Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go

Like many people in this world, I am a child of what you may call a “broken family”. Growing up, I never saw much fighting happen between my parents; as a matter of fact, the only fight I ever remember witnessing was when my dad was home for a short period of time while he was stationed in Korea. For nearly 15 years, I couldn’t have imagined my family being any different. Even when I hit that point in my life where I “wondered” how it would be if my parents decided to split (as in which parent would I go with, where would I live, etc), I never thought much of it. I mean, I had no reason to suspect anything.