YOU ARE INCLUDED IN THE FAMILY OF GOD
06/05/24 09:42
Maths is more the science of relations than mere numbers. Not all those who are numerate are good at perceiving relationships. The ability to join the dots and trace a line from cause to effect is a marker of intelligence and the beginning of wisdom. We can improve our ability to see relationships simply by spending time in thought and after that practising the art of listening – then being selective about those to whom we listen. Don’t be persuaded by those who are illiterate in the Gospel of Jesus, Paul, John and the Church Fathers.
WORDS OF LIFE OR NOT
People are not believable because they are talking. What they say has substance when what they say is sourced in a greater reality than themselves. The greater reality is truth and the Greater Reality than that is Jesus Christ who is way, truth and life in Person.
We will have greater effect as new creation agents of Jesus when we are incarnated than if we have settled for a religion of externalities.
EXEGESIS
‘Getting’ what the Bible is saying is a must for a vibrant life. Thomas Torrance observes that “Good exegesis is a reading strategy that takes its cue from the Bible’s rootedness in the transcendent being of God. A scripture may not say what we think it does with a simple flat reading of scripture. Not only the history, the context and customs must be taken into account.” Proper interpretation must be the fruit of our being in God as in the oneness that is ours in Jesus Christ.
JUNK THOUGHT
Hoarders may fill their houses with a few good things and loads of rubbish. Things are not valuable because we have them. Something is not good because it is old, or because lots of people believe it. It’s good when it is life-giving ‘In Christ is life and that life is the light of people’. Our beliefs are not life-giving unless they are correct. A house of hoarded rubbish is just as ineffectual as a junk gospel.
FADISM
Truth is neither right or left. It simply is. The window to growing in Truth is Jesus Christ.
Something is not better because it is new or sacred because it is old. Thomas Merton writes, “The danger of irresponsibility .. in ill-considered innovation remains real. But renewal must be bought at the price of risk. Undoubtedly a juncture obsession with novelty for its own sake will cause the ruin of some monastic communities. The winds are blowing and a lot of dead wood is going to fall. The true strength of monasticism is to be sought in its capacity for renunciation, silence, prayer, faith, and its realization of the cross in our life.” (1) The strength of a good mind is the ability to discern between nonsense and life-giving truth. The glory and light of walking in Truth comes from our decision to stop walking in nonsense.
FRUITFULENESS
A prime minister was not great because he had eight years in office. Something is not life-giving because it is new, or beneficial because we have always done it this way. Things are not true because our father did them or made a career from leadership in a wobbly gospel that was not Christ’s Gospel. Life, light, truth and new growth are found when we are incarnated with Christ, and we and our ideas are in Him – not only by dedication but by incarnation.
Grace is good but sincerity will not benefit you when you think your plane is on its way to London when it is actually going to Tokyo. It’s the same with Gospel we are riding in.
CHRIST IN YOU
The book of Proverbs is an entire book about wisdom, substance and discernment. In a way it is prophetic in that it asserts that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This Wisdom has come in the person of Jesus and this wisdom is ours when Jesus lives by the Spirit in us. It is then that we possess the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation. This kind of understanding is the effect of the trinity in you. Wisdom dos not come to us by lazy thinking or from people who are nice folks but smugly ignorant and dormant.
WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN PERSON?
We may not be wise because we are Christians. Wisdom is earned in humility and active searching. Wisdom is found in life-seekers and those more interested in the welfare of all than in short term gain and the preservation of an identity. It’s in the kind of people that were chosen as the first deacons – people full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. These can become leaders who are sighted leaders of those who can see. Those who are sons rather than workers and colleagues of Jesus rather than religious operatives.
A Christian ideology is not new creation life. Jesus is. John announces this life in the introduction to the book of John. The One who is Light and Life has come into the world. Has He come into you?
(1) Merton Thomas, Contemplation in a world of Action, p. 12.
WORDS OF LIFE OR NOT
People are not believable because they are talking. What they say has substance when what they say is sourced in a greater reality than themselves. The greater reality is truth and the Greater Reality than that is Jesus Christ who is way, truth and life in Person.
We will have greater effect as new creation agents of Jesus when we are incarnated than if we have settled for a religion of externalities.
EXEGESIS
‘Getting’ what the Bible is saying is a must for a vibrant life. Thomas Torrance observes that “Good exegesis is a reading strategy that takes its cue from the Bible’s rootedness in the transcendent being of God. A scripture may not say what we think it does with a simple flat reading of scripture. Not only the history, the context and customs must be taken into account.” Proper interpretation must be the fruit of our being in God as in the oneness that is ours in Jesus Christ.
JUNK THOUGHT
Hoarders may fill their houses with a few good things and loads of rubbish. Things are not valuable because we have them. Something is not good because it is old, or because lots of people believe it. It’s good when it is life-giving ‘In Christ is life and that life is the light of people’. Our beliefs are not life-giving unless they are correct. A house of hoarded rubbish is just as ineffectual as a junk gospel.
FADISM
Truth is neither right or left. It simply is. The window to growing in Truth is Jesus Christ.
Something is not better because it is new or sacred because it is old. Thomas Merton writes, “The danger of irresponsibility .. in ill-considered innovation remains real. But renewal must be bought at the price of risk. Undoubtedly a juncture obsession with novelty for its own sake will cause the ruin of some monastic communities. The winds are blowing and a lot of dead wood is going to fall. The true strength of monasticism is to be sought in its capacity for renunciation, silence, prayer, faith, and its realization of the cross in our life.” (1) The strength of a good mind is the ability to discern between nonsense and life-giving truth. The glory and light of walking in Truth comes from our decision to stop walking in nonsense.
FRUITFULENESS
A prime minister was not great because he had eight years in office. Something is not life-giving because it is new, or beneficial because we have always done it this way. Things are not true because our father did them or made a career from leadership in a wobbly gospel that was not Christ’s Gospel. Life, light, truth and new growth are found when we are incarnated with Christ, and we and our ideas are in Him – not only by dedication but by incarnation.
Grace is good but sincerity will not benefit you when you think your plane is on its way to London when it is actually going to Tokyo. It’s the same with Gospel we are riding in.
CHRIST IN YOU
The book of Proverbs is an entire book about wisdom, substance and discernment. In a way it is prophetic in that it asserts that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This Wisdom has come in the person of Jesus and this wisdom is ours when Jesus lives by the Spirit in us. It is then that we possess the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation. This kind of understanding is the effect of the trinity in you. Wisdom dos not come to us by lazy thinking or from people who are nice folks but smugly ignorant and dormant.
WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN PERSON?
We may not be wise because we are Christians. Wisdom is earned in humility and active searching. Wisdom is found in life-seekers and those more interested in the welfare of all than in short term gain and the preservation of an identity. It’s in the kind of people that were chosen as the first deacons – people full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. These can become leaders who are sighted leaders of those who can see. Those who are sons rather than workers and colleagues of Jesus rather than religious operatives.
A Christian ideology is not new creation life. Jesus is. John announces this life in the introduction to the book of John. The One who is Light and Life has come into the world. Has He come into you?
(1) Merton Thomas, Contemplation in a world of Action, p. 12.
