ТОП просматриваемых книг сайта:
95 Prostheses. Frank G. Honeycutt
Читать онлайн.Название 95 Prostheses
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781532605406
Автор произведения Frank G. Honeycutt
Жанр Религия: прочее
Издательство Ingram
*
Remember: God went plumb bonkers over Jesus before he’d “done” a blessed thing. He was so proud of his Son. “This is my child, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Do you believe those words were intended also for you? I hope and pray so. Because only then, from that clear and vocal identity of acceptance, can we slowly learn to love as Jesus loved. His ministry began in the water upon listening to the clear voice of his Father. Ours begins there, too. We are the walking wet; drenched in divine delight.
Who can we build up with a kind word? Who can we gift with the very delight of God? Anyone coming to mind?
Some advice: tell them.
For further reflection:
1. Why is it often so difficult for us to begin with affirmation rather than correction or criticism?
2. If you’ve been baptized, do some research on the date and circumstances of your baptism and begin celebrating the date with at least as much gusto as your earthly birthday.
5. There are some rather bizarre examples of notorious childhood behavior (including an odd story of Jesus turning a bully into a bird!) in various apocryphal Gospels.
6. See Rom 6:1–11.
3. Walk on By
“. . . and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’” (John 1:36)
Which of these descriptions of the early disciples and their relationship to Jesus is more biblically accurate?
Description #1: Jesus is waking along and sees a pair of fishermen, brothers, casting a net. He calls Peter and Andrew; they drop everything and follow him. A little farther down the beach he calls another set of brothers, James and John, hard at work mending their nets. Jesus also calls these two. Right away they follow Jesus, leaving their daddy in the boat.7
Description #2: Jesus is walking along through an undetermined town. Perhaps Jesus sees a small gathering of interested observers, whispering and pointing. One of the observers is Andrew, mentioned earlier in Description #1, nowhere near a net. But here’s the funny thing. Jesus walks right by these interested observers without a word. Ignores them is another way of saying it. Two inquirers (one is Andrew) scamper behind a rather aloof Jesus to ask questions.
So, which of these two descriptions is more biblically accurate? Oddly, they’re equally accurate descriptions of discipleship—the Jesus who takes the initiative in finding us, and we who take the initiative in finding a rather elusive Jesus. The stories should not compete with one another. More and more I’m discovering that both are vitally important facets of the Christian life.
*
Lutherans get this right, I’m convinced: God acts, Jesus acts, to find us in our waywardness, our sin. We are called out of darkness into his marvelous light. The reason we baptize babies is not because they’re so cute, but because the sacrament is God’s action; God claiming a new child in a fallen world. Few things disturb me more than re-baptism. “Babies don’t know what they’re doing,” is the rationale. “Now at an older age, they do.” I once met a man who’d been baptized six times. The reason this is wrong-headed is that the sacrament (at whatever age) is about God acting, not about our relative worthiness or understanding. Baptism is grace in liquid form.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.