Negatively speaking, Israel was intended to be an example for us of what not to do (1 Cor 10:6). Their hedonism was spiritual idolatry (v. 7). Christ was their Provision in the desert (otherwise they would have died), yet they tested Him (vv. 4, 9). Christ became the true Vine (John 15:1) replacing the withering…
Kingdom Living By Chester DeLagneau June 7, 2015 OLD TESTAMENT Kingdom Ethics There is only one true kingdom and that is the kingdom of God. Christ came and inaugurated the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is paradoxically both here and not yet. That is, the kingdom has been activated but not fully actualized….
God does not tolerate His children. He values their inherent worth. We are not His pet projects to be fixed. We are His lifelong lovers. God knows us by name and clothes us with His righteousness so we can enjoy an intimate relationship with Him. This is the Good News! Sadly, some christians today do…
As Believers we are called to “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15, ESV). It is easy for us to celebrate with those who are joyful, jealousy and envy aside. But to sympathetically mourn with those who are suffering is to slow down and show love. This suffering love is…
Fear stifles creativity and productivity. When we focus on our fears we unconsciously activate our sympathetic nervous system, which stimulates activities associated with the fight or flight response. This distress signal to our autonomic nervous system takes blood away from our extremities, including our brain, and rushes it to our vital organs. When this happens,…
Happiness is not contrary to character, but complementary to it. Happiness, properly understood, is not merely the thin, shallow concept of an elated emotion that changes minute by minute, but the state of wellbeing (shalom) that one lives virtuously, day by day. This Christian concept of happiness is the result of sanctifying one’s character through…
“My truth cannot be mine alone. If I cannot in principle declare it to be truth for all . . . then it pitilessly ceases to be truth for me also.” Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, vol.1, 51.
“We astronomers are priests of the highest God in regard to the book of nature.” Kepler, “To Herwart,” March 26, 1598, in Baumgardt, Johannes Kepler, 44.
“Collaboration between theology and philosophy is necessary because philosophy alone cannot provide a basis for the understanding of the unity of the perception of meaning, the historical roots of intellectual life.” Pannenberg, Philosophy of Science and Theology, 13.
“The desire to be in God’s image without attaining Christ’s image is a desire for immediacy, which wants everything without detour and without self-actualization, a narcissistic desire of the ego to settle down in God, immortal and almighty, that doesn’t find it necessary ‘to let life be crucified’ and to experience the night of pain….