Category: Discipleship

Devotion – Reading the ancient poet as Jesus would have read

by Robert MacDonald

How can we begin to appreciate the gift that we have in the Psalms? They are more than just a random collection of poems. They are, when read together in sequence, a complex history of the people of Israel. This is a history that was written for all of us to learn from. As I noted in the previous post, they are written to form a community of the merciful who have learned mercy through their covenant with God. This is a community that has learned to behave as God behaves. You might ask if this has ever happened yet.
We are privileged to discover just how creative the word of the Psalms is as we discover how it works in us. The work is a mystery within us, not our own doing. A servant who is corrected and freed from bondage is both devoted and filled with praise. So let us move from the narrow place of Psalm 3 to the fullness of praise in the final 5 Psalms. This will be the result of meditation on Yahweh’s Instruction as described by Psalms 1 and 2, and reflected in Psalm 149.
To appreciate how the Psalms bring praise, read their full instruction from 1 to 150. In Seeing the Psalter, I have done just that. As we go through them in the sequence they have been arranged in, we appreciate how differing aspects of the story are revealed and we look for structural markers (and there are some that are quite obvious in the story as a whole). To outline the markers is relatively easy but they are not to be known just by some abstract reasoning as if answers were sufficient.
One cannot appreciate fear, lament, forgiveness, love, care, correction, or exile by just thinking about it. One must be immersed in the experience, learning from the one who has your best interest in mind and who knows your every quirk and the needs that you have that you don’t know about or even would want to admit. But there it is. We are known, exposed, and vulnerable. These songs are important for us so that we come to know Yahweh (יהוה, the LORD) as our courage, with the same passion as David expresses in Psalm 18:

I am passionate about you יהוה my courage,יהוה my cliff, and my fortress and my security, my God, my rock. I will take refuge in him, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my retreat. Praising, I will call יהוה and from my enemies I will be saved.

Once the process has begun, no one will want to give up on it, even as its extremes become clearer. One is in the presence of the One whose character is ultimately reliable (Psalm 146) even if one could ascribe futility to the children of humanity as David does in Psalm 144: humanity is like futility, its days as a shadow passing away.
Because we become overly familiar with the Psalms in our favorite translation, I have left my readings in unpunctuated and sometimes foreign-sounding English. This will encourage slow reading and pondering. Here is an example of how I have laid out the text. All my English words are chosen with the help of computer programs that I have written to assist me with concordance, parallels, and the music of the text, about which much more could be said. This is Psalm 146. Note how the poet describes the character of his Lord and God, Yahweh (יהוה verses 7 to 9). It is this character of God that we see clearly in the person of Jesus.

הַֽלְלוּ־יָ֡הּהַלְלִ֥י נַ֝פְשִׁ֗י אֶת־יְהוָֽה	1	Hallelu YahPraise יהוה O my being
אֲהַלְלָ֣ה יְהוָ֣ה בְּחַיָּ֑י אֲזַמְּרָ֖ה לֵֽאלֹהַ֣י בְּעוֹדִֽי	2	I will praise יהוה in my life I will sing psalms to my God while I still exist
אַל־תִּבְטְח֥וּ בִנְדִיבִ֑ים בְּבֶן־אָדָ֓ם ׀שֶׁ֤אֵֽין ל֥וֹ תְשׁוּעָֽה	3	Do not trust in princes in a human child where there is no salvation to it
תֵּצֵ֣א ר֭וּחוֹיָשֻׁ֣ב לְאַדְמָת֑וֹ בַּיּ֥וֹם הַ֝ה֗וּא אָבְד֥וּ עֶשְׁתֹּנֹתָֽיו	4	its spirit goes forth it returns to its humus In that day its gleams perish
אַשְׁרֵ֗י שֶׁ֤אֵ֣ל יַעֲקֹ֣ב בְּעֶזְר֑וֹ שִׂ֝בְר֗וֹ עַל־יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהָֽיו	5	Happy the one who has the God of Jacob for its help Its reliance is on יהוה its God
עֹשֶׂ֤ה ׀ שָׁ֘מַ֤יִם וָאָ֗רֶץאֶת־הַיָּ֥ם וְאֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֑ם הַשֹּׁמֵ֖ר אֱמֶ֣ת לְעוֹלָֽם	6	who makes heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them keeping truth forever
עֹשֶׂ֤ה מִשְׁפָּ֨ט ׀ לָעֲשׁוּקִ֗יםנֹתֵ֣ן לֶ֭חֶם לָרְעֵבִ֑ים יְ֝הוָ֗ה מַתִּ֥יר אֲסוּרִֽים	7	doing judgment for the oppressed giving bread to the hungry יהוה releasing the prisoners
יְהוָ֤ה ׀ פֹּ֘קֵ֤חַ עִוְרִ֗יםיְ֭הוָה זֹקֵ֣ף כְּפוּפִ֑ים יְ֝הוָ֗ה אֹהֵ֥ב צַדִּיקִֽים	8	יהוה giving sight to the blind יהוה consoling the disturbed יהוה loving the righteous
יְהוָ֤ה ׀ שֹׁ֘מֵ֤ר אֶת־גֵּרִ֗יםיָת֣וֹם וְאַלְמָנָ֣ה יְעוֹדֵ֑ד וְדֶ֖רֶךְ רְשָׁעִ֣ים יְעַוֵּֽת	9	יהוה sheltering the guest orphan and widow he relieves and the way of the wicked he subverts
יִמְלֹ֤ךְ יְהוָ֨ה ׀ לְעוֹלָ֗םאֱלֹהַ֣יִךְ צִ֭יּוֹן לְדֹ֥ר וָדֹ֗רהַֽלְלוּ־יָֽהּ	10	יהוה will reign forever your God Zion from generation to generation Hallelu Yah

Also for each psalm and sometimes for sets of psalms, Seeing the Psalter presents tables that reveal repetition patterns of the words in the text. Here is the table for Psalm 146.

Word / Gloss	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Vs	Stem
הללו hallelu	░								1	הלל
הללי praise	░								1	הלל
אהללה I will praise	░								2	הלל
בּעודּי while I still exist		░							2	עודּ
אדּםּ a human			░						3	אדּםּ
לאדּמּתּו to its humus			░						4	אדּםּ
אשׁרי happy the one				░					5	אשׁר
עשׂה who makes					░				6	עשׂה
אשׁר that				░					6	אשׁר
השׁמּר keeping						░			6	שׁמּר
לעולםּ forever							░		6	עלםּ
עשׂה doing					░				7	עשׂה
שׁמּר sheltering						░			9	שׁמּר
יעודּדּ he relieves		░							9	עודּ
לעולםּ forever							░		10	עלםּ
לדּר from generation								░	10	דּור
ודּר to generation								░	10	דּור
הללו hallelu	░								10	הלל

The tables allow us to see something of how the poem is constructed. They are all produced automatically with parameters to select which words and verses to include or exclude. This often reveals the thinking of the poet. We communicate with a mind perhaps 2500 years older than ours.
No one stops reading the Psalms once started. I am now rereading them and imposing punctuation. Also they occasionally change as I work with more and more of the patterns of word usage in the whole Hebrew Bible.
I also work closely with what may be the original music that was associated with these poems and the rest of the Hebrew Old Testament. I have the music for this Psalm and for many other parts of the Bible on my blog: http:\\meafar.blogspot.com. The Psalms are not just a story, but a love song, his song with me in the night. (Psalm 42:8)
By day יהוה will command his loving-kindness, and in the night his song with me, is a prayer to the One of my life.
This is an indication of how Jesus, always in the bosom of the Father, learned from these same poems. There are many such indications in the Psalms. So many, I cannot number them. So I read and reread to make them truly my own.

Order Seeing the Psalter here: http://direct.energion.co/authors/authors-l-m/bob-macdonald/seeing-the-psalter

August 19, 2015

#Loverevolution

by Shauna Marie Hyde
(For the complete post, click here)

I won’t lie; I struggle as a Christian pastor. There was a time when I wore my clerical collar with great pride and now sometimes I wonder if I really want to put it on. The Christian church is failing and it is sad to see that we continue to readily accept unwelcoming, judgmental, harsh attitudes as the correct moral approach to people and life. Churches eat their people alive with constant criticism, negativity, lack of commitment and general apathy. We have driven away pretty much anyone 45 years old and younger with our arguing, nastiness, gossipy, holier-than-thou attitudes. Everyone thinks they are in charge but are not required to do any work. Everyone thinks their opinion is the right one, their belief the only one, and how dare you tell them about themselves – you are to listen to them tell you about you!
God is not important anymore…and neither is the value of life itself. All that is important are opinion, right of way, and hate. If I wasn’t clergy I wouldn’t go to church today. I am told I cannot do certain things because I am a woman and I am to be a second class citizen even though I have all the same rights, abilities, and often more education than the men in the church. My friends and family who have dark skin, who are poor, uncultured, or labeled as “trailer trash,” or who are gay are not welcome. Children are “wanted” only if they are perfect, quiet, never make a mess or a sound and are cute. We want everyone to come but not those who stink, dress inappropriately, make a mess, ask for money, say “amen” too loud, and sing off key or sit in our spot.
What happened to being the one place where sanctuary and safety was offered? What happened to love – the kind that heals instead of demands perfection (which means to be like us)? What happened to being like Jesus?
That’s what makes it all so sad. We have the answer and we are the best possible solution for the world today. We have just gotten to where we believe in Paul more than Jesus. We think that the law supersedes grace instead of remembering that Christ came to break all the rules and to change the world with grace. If we want to survive and be viewed as having any good street cred we have to start being who we were intended to be – the Body of Christ. We are God with skin on only without the power and ability to determine who will reach Heaven and who is lacking in salvation. For that matter we cannot save people – only God can. Our job is to make the introduction. My lovelies, this is a wonderful, powerful, and important job to have! We must introduce people to God instead of trying to be God. We must remember that people know what is wrong with them and they are literally dying to know that they are still loveable, worth saving, and valuable to someone. They need to know that they can trust us and that we will accept them for themselves; not for who we tell them they must become in order to win our love. God doesn’t do that, so where did we get the idea that we must do that?
Christians, let us be like Christ. Let us vow to be his hands and feet in this world. Let us be so filled with love that we are unafraid to sit with sinners, touch lepers, love those who are struggling, and offer hope. Instead of keeping people from church let us go out and remind them they are loved. The next great revival needs to be a #loverevolution!

Order Fifty Shades of Grace here: http://direct.energion.co/authors/authors-d-k/shauna-marie-hyde/fifty-shades-of-grace

August 6, 2015
Distracted from Discipleship – Blog from author Allan R. Bevere

Energion Publications’ author, Allan R. Bevere hit a bullseye today with his blog, Distracted from Discipleship: A Lectionary Reflection on Matthew 22:1-14. Dr Bevere writes:

I am convinced that the number one problem in the Western church today is that we are not very good at making disciples of Jesus Christ. We are too distracted with other things– our hobbies, our jobs, our leisure time, and yes… even our families can distract us from following Jesus in the way of the cross. Jesus calls us into a living and vital relationship with him, but instead we prefer to keep that relationship at a distance, a sort of email pen pal.

Take a few moments and read the blog and then let us all carefully consider what God is calling each of us, and each of our fellowships, to do for his Kingdom.
— Jody Neufeld

October 6, 2014
Idolatry and Life

Bruce Epperly comments on the lectionary this week:

… we can recognize that worshipping creatures rather than the Creator leads us from life to death.
What is really important? Do our behaviors follow our values? For example, most parents say that family comes first; but often family and relationships come a distant second to our professional lives. Moreover, though we speak of cultivating positive relationships with our children, we often spend more time on the I-pad or cell phone than playing with them at the local playground. To be whole, our values and behaviors need to be in synch. Practically speaking, the word “god” answers the question, “What is really important to you?” and this can be a matter of life and death, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

Read the whole thing. Then consider: What kind of idolatry might there be in your life? Might it lead you from life to death?

October 4, 2014
Learning Evangelism from the Redwoods

Energion author Heath T aws, who is also Director of Youth and Children’s ministries at Spring Run Presbyterian Church in Midlothian, VA, challenges us with some thoughts he had while visiting the Redwood trees in California.

When I think about these trees, I think about how we should be doing evangelism. All of us know someone in our Church or in our friend circles who is like a giant redwood. That person stretches their roots out and supports the weaker trees in the Church or in the community. Not only that, but they provide water and nourishment for the trees who are going through dry times in their lives. They seek out the trees who are disconnected from the root system, and they go after them. They keep offering their roots, they keep offering their water, and ultimately, they want to connect them to the source tree.

Read the whole thing. What do you think? Is this a good model for evangelism?

October 3, 2014
Marriage and Divorce
by Henry E. Neufeld *
One of the more controversial books I publish is titled Except for Fornication: The Teaching of the Lord Jesus on Divorce and Remarriage. (It’s in the Areopagus Critical Christian Issues series)There are a number of people who have asked me why I chose to publish this book. Come to think of it, I’ve had questions about quite a number of books, but those that are anywhere on the outer edges of my triangle (), very conservative, liberal, charismatic, or _______, generate the most puzzled comments.
Here are some excellent reasons (in my opinion):
1. It passes scholarly muster.
2. It will challenge the way most of us think about a number of scriptures.
3. It deals with an issue that should be front and center in the church right now.
4. It’s clear and concise.
Notice that I left out “I agree with it,” and “you’ll like it.” I suspect most readers won’t. That’s something odd for a publisher to say. But of the goals of ministry—comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable—I tend toward afflicting the comfortable. Whether I agree with it is quite irrelevant.
Today Dave Black, one of the editors of the Areopagus series, posted a note on his blog about this topic. I’m going to quote his post in full (with permission) and invite discussion. (Everything between the horizontal lines is quoted from Dave’s blog.)

9:48 AM Russ Moore asks a very good question: Is Divorce Equivalent to Homosexuality? His answer is both balanced and biblical. Where I might demur is here:

But divorce and remarriage is not, beyond that, applicable to the same-sex marriage debate. First of all, there are arguably some circumstances where divorce and remarriage are biblically permitted. Most evangelical Christians acknowledge that sexual immorality can dissolve a marital union, and that innocent party is then free to remarry (Matt. 5:32). The same is true, for most, for abandonment (1 Cor. 7:11-15). If the church did what we ought, our divorce rate would be astoundingly lowered, since vast numbers of divorces do not fit into these categories. Still, we acknowledge that the category of a remarried person after divorce does not, on its face, indicate sin.

I am curious as to how widely this view represents the thinking of evangelicals on this debated issue. 1) I think a case can be made, scripturally, that even when divorce is justified on biblical grounds, remarriage is still forbidden by Jesus as long as the first spouse is still alive. And 2) an instance of divorce-remarriage (where the first spouse is still living) would, on its face, constitute sin (adultery). The irony is that, while evangelicals are rightly concerned about the homosexual agenda in our society, they are moving away from a high view of marriage, thus leading to what Moore calls “the charge of hypocrisy.”

The preaching on divorce has been muted and hesitating all too often in our midst. Sometimes this is due to what the Bible calls “fear of man,” ministers and leaders afraid of angering divorced people (or their relatives) in power in congregations. Sometimes it’s due to the fact that divorce simply seems all too normal in this culture; it doesn’t shock us anymore.

So, my message to my fellow evangelicals, in a nutshell, is this: cherish your marriage! Not in a sinful or prideful way, of course, but simply as a precious gift from God that needs to be nurtured and protected. Be daringly committed to your spouse, and hold fast to the vows you once took before God and others. Warning: Do not read this is as a screed against divorced or divorced/remarried Christians. I know of two divorce situations involving Christian friends of mine that are ripping my heart out right now. Those who have read my book The Jesus Paradigm will have no trouble understanding why I feel so deeply for Christians who struggle in life. I realize that my view on remarriage is a minority view in Christian circles, but given the overall theological, psychological, and spiritual implications of divorce and remarriage, I think this one point of disagreement is worth registering.
Thanks to Russ for his stimulating and courageous essay. I’m sure those with interest in this topic will read it with great benefit. In the meantime, let’s all keep reading and thinking ….

So what do you think? How can we cherish our marriages? How can we be true to the teaching of Jesus?
*I identify myself personally as the author as I express personal opinions. There is a difference, albeit more subtle than average, between my personal views and my company’s policy.
September 26, 2014
Three Convictions about Missions

Dr. David Alan Black
— David Alan Black

6:28 AM I’ve got missions on my mind this morning. You will quickly see that I am no expert on the subject. These convictions are simply the product of a “lay” missionist and conclusions drawn from my personal Bible study.

Mission Conviction #1:

In the scriptural sense, all Christians are missionaries.

The church, not the missions organization, is God’s primary instrument in this world. Perhaps, then, the time has come to stop outsourcing church planting to paramissions entities. This is not to downplay the role of those who are specially gifted in evangelism or church planting. These evangelists and church planters, however, are to work primarily with and through the local churches. Imagine the impact the church could have on the world if every local congregation saw itself as God’s missionary organization. “Missions” would come to mean more than sending money to support missionaries and missions programs. Nor would we continue to use the term “missionary” to refer to professionals who are paid workers. The term missionary, if used, would be given its biblical sense of “representative of God in the world” (apostolos). In the scriptural sense, all Christians are missionaries, and all are to be involved personally in missionary discipleship in service to the world. That’s why I often introduce myself to people, not as a professor of Greek, but as a “full-time missionary.” No, I am not with a paramission organization. Nor am I paid to be a missionary. So people ask, “How then can you call yourself a full-time missionary?” We must change this way of thinking. There must be a significant move away from a paternalistic attitude towards the “laity,” with a growing recognition of their importance in bringing the Gospel to our communities and to the world. According to the New Testament, ministry is not the prerogative of an elite corpus. It is not the function only of seminary-trained professionals. It is the function of the whole people of God. Thus every Christian shares the mission of the church both through personal witness and missions activities. This participation is irrespective of sex, age, gender, social standing, or academic achievement.

Mission Conviction #2:

The New Testament, from beginning to end, was written by missionaries for missionaries.

This is an implication of #1. It is my opinion that we can no longer justify theological training that aims only at making “laypersons” into “professional “missionaries. Rather, theological education must aim at mobilizing all the people of God for ministry in the world. In light of 1 Pet. 2:9 and Eph. 4:11-12, we much change our definition of ordination to include the setting apart of the whole people of God for “works of service.” In our seminaries, I believe it would make a very great difference if we were to recognize that the New Testament, from beginning to end, was written by missionaries for missionaries. It is critical to view the missionary mandate of Christ as the foundation upon which the entire work of Christian education rests. Missions acts, then, or at least should act, as the one encompassing task of Christian theology and community. Why, then, should “missions” be relegated to a missions and evangelism “department”? Such is to imply only a peripheral importance. Our goal in Christian education must be to incorporate the mission thrust of Jesus into all of our subjects. I can envision the day when trained “experts” are wedded to local churches rather than only to academic institutions. Together the whole body — trained theologians and untrained practioners — would join in the process of theologizing and missionizing. The object is for each local church to “hold forth the life-giving Word” (Phil. 2:16) in a way that people will know why and how they should turn to this new Lord Jesus Christ.

Mission Conviction #3:

The theological task in our seminaries must go beyond the classroom.

Conviction #2 implies that the theological task in our seminaries must go beyond the classroom. That is, God’s plan for contextualized missions is rendered inoperable when academics fail to think in such a way that their theology comes across accurately in their lives. God never intended theology to be divorced from life. In our day, such a divorce has become a major problem within Western Christianity. We must reconnect the academy with the church. We seminary professors, whatever our area of expertise, need to live missions, not just talk about it. As with Paul, the Gospel must become the one passion of our lives. “What am I here for?” might serve as a good daily reminder to those of us who serve as academics in our colleges and seminaries. We so easily lose sight of the reason for our existence: to further the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a matter of keeping first things first (Phil. 1:27). And ultimately that mission belongs to the church, not the seminary. The church alone is permanent, and it alone can provide the permanent structure for evangelism and service. This is one reason why in our own mission work Becky and I have worked primarily with local churches and not with larger structures. It is also why we attempt to link local church to local church between the U.S. and Ethiopia. Already several American congregations have decided to partner with their Ethiopian counterparts to further the work of the kingdom. This is because they have come to realize that the local church is God’s center for mission strategies and outreach activities. And more and more churches are getting involved.
These convictions have legs. And I really do think we’re getting somewhere, folks. My students have convinced me. I speak with a good many of them who are throwing off the bonds of selfish individualism that mummify the Body and paralyze our people into thinking only about my salvation and about my soul and about my Christ. They are allowing God into their private lives, as 1 John and James and Jude teach them to do. Organizational self-appraisal no longer dominates their conversations. They are reexamining their crowded programs. Emphasis is being properly placed on personal sanctity. Programs to arouse pride impress them no more. Their reading of the Scriptures — not the mere words of famous American pop-theologians but the Word of God itself — has shaken their complacency, shocked the status quo. Now Christ is more important than Christendom. One student even told me he’s leaving seminary to get a job in a secular field so that he could begin “full-time Christian ministry.” Vital bonds between church and world are being formed. “I was naked and you clothed Me!” They are acting for Christ, striving to keep Him clothed and warm. Above all, they are becoming Gospelers. Evangelism is now a lifestyle, not something to do on Tuesday nights.
Yes, the road is long, but I dare say we’re getting somewhere.

From the Editor: If you’ve read this far, I have something to offer you. I’m going to give out five copies of Dave Black’s book Will You Join the Cause of Global Missions? I’ll accept entries until January 20, 2014. If there are more than five entries, we’ll choose the winners randomly.
You can enter by commenting her, retweeting this on Twitter, commenting or sharing it on Facebook, Google+ (includes +1), or LinkedIn.

January 13, 2014
True Homeland Security – David Alan Black

Hello! I’m Henry Neufeld, administrator of this site. You won’t hear from me often, but today I extracted some material written by one of the authors of the books you see in the sidebar. He’s David Alan Black, author of the book Christian Archy. I thought there were some very important points he made. Since one can’t directly link to an entry on his blog, I have extracted this material to The Jesus Paradigm. The title True Homeland Security is one I chose, but I think you’ll understand why I did so once you read it.
Feel free to discuss this here.

October 22, 2011
Christ's Archy and the Workplace
Therefore, however you wish that people would treat you, this is how you should treat them, because this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12 Author’s Translation).
The ethical manifesto of Jesus Christ ends with a final moral exhortation before Jesus reminds his audience that his way is the ultimate, even the only way. The teaching is that God’s law is essentially that the disciple of Jesus Christ determine how a person needs to be treated, as they are, and then to treat them that way.
It is easy for any Christian to become enamored of good preaching, awesome bible studies, sweet music, intentional communities, foreign missions, and great theology. So much so that we forget that Jesus summarizes the whole Old Testament, which he claims to fulfill (Matthew 5:17-20) with this one sentence.*
Our adherence to Jesus’ teaching is largely related to how we treat the people who are right around us. This includes those in our household, in our schools, at our jobs, on our streets, and at our places of commerce and hanging out. It even means in our churches or when we drive (I get upset in traffic).
Jesus’ archy means that he is king of us in our individual lives. We must treat others as we would wish to be treated. Kind words, appropriate material assistance, prayer for them, encouraging correction, and showing honor and respect to them. The main place most will find to obey Jesus is in their workplace, which is one of the main places where Christians don’t act like Jesus Christ. The time to be the light of the world is literally right now, because Jesus tells his disciples that they are light right now. This means that you can do good works that lead to God exalting praise, even if you aren’t doing them right now.
This kind of life is available to those who seek Jesus’ power to live it. He is with us always, even until the end of the age.
I do recommend some spiritual disciplines for learning to actually accomplish this command:
1. Meditate on what is good about other people (Philippians 4:1-9).
2. Memorize this passage of Jesus’ teachings (see Psalm 119 about memorizing God’s word).
3. Make a list of things which anger you, depress you, irritate you, make you feel disrespected, and then modify how you treat people accordingly.
4. Leave early for work every morning, you won’t be stressed and irritable when you’re there. I’m certain you wish your co-workers did the same.
5. Call the teachings, example, and grace of Jesus Christ to your mind as often as possible at work.
6. Meditate on how quickly grudges, arguments, and passive aggressive behavior ends when somebody breaks the cycle by thinking of the other person as more significant than themselves.
*The fulfillment happens in his teachings, actions, death, resurrection, sending of the Spirit, present reign, etc.
September 14, 2011
September 11, 2001 and the Kingdom of God

On my blog, I’ve shared some thoughts and reflections of September 11, 2001, that day ten years ago when Muslim terrorists flew airplanes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center complex and into the Pentagon. The post is called “9/11, American Patriotism, and the Kingdom of God.”
In many ways, our reactions to these kinds of events may demonstrate our relationship to Christ’s archy and the kingdom of God.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.

September 11, 2011

Category: Discipleship

Mission Conviction #1:

Mission Conviction #2:

Mission Conviction #3: