Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The "Purpose-Driven" Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation as a Diagram for Christian Growth
This is an outline for a Bible study I conducted in Autumn 2004.
While Revelation has been used, rightly and wrongly, as a picture of early Church history, ongoing history, and the future, near and far, Revelation is also packed with references to Hebraic and Christian worship, is outlined as a Covenant Document, and is applicable to personal spiritual development as well as a tool for intepreting the past and preparing for the future. I prepared this outline to show how the five points of Rick Warren's best-selling "Purpose Driven Life" align with the five-point Covenant structure discovered by Bishop Ray Sutton, the five aspects of Christian worship, and the five sections of The Book of Revelation.
Pastor Rick Warren (SBC) "The Purpose Driven Life"
1.) You were planned for God's Pleasure.
2.) You were formed for God's Family.
3.) You were created to become like Christ.
4.) You were shaped for God's Service.
5.) You were made for God's Mission.
Father Ray Sutton (Reformed Episcopal)
Author of "That You May Prosper"
(a study of the five-point Biblical Covenant structure)
1.) Transcendence- Who is in charge?
2.) Hierarchy- To whom do I report?
3.) Ethics- What is expected of me?
4.) Oath- What do I get?
5.) Succession- How long does this last?
Christian Worship Service:
1.) God (Father-Son-Spirit) meets with
2.) We the Church in our prayer, confession, praise & worship.
3.) The Word is ministered in Bible reading and preaching.
4.) The Ordinances/Sacraments of the Altar Call &/or Eucharist confirm us in the Faith.
5.) The Blessing is bestowed, sending us forth to live out our Faith in Christ.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John the Divine (i.e. Theologian)
(inspired by Orthodox Presbyterian Rev. David Chilton's "The Days Of Vengeance")
1.) Jesus Christ is our King-Priest. ~ Ch. I.
2.) Christ Challenges us to be His Church. ~ Ch. II-IV.
3.) Christ Charges us with His Commands. ~ Ch. V-XI.
4.) Christ Confirms us in His Communion Meal. ~ Ch. XII-XIX.
5.) Christ Commissions us to live out His Kingdom. ~ Ch. XX-XXII.
The Revelation unveils Jesus Christ, Son of God, Lord and Savior through liturgy- God indwells & moves through our worship; in the first century A.D.- Christ raises up the Church as Jerusalem & Rome fall; through history- Christ and His Church always contend against Bestial Tyranny and Harlot Compromise in every age; in the future- Christ shall ultimately defeat Satan and reign with us forever; and personally- in our lives, we either embrace the Seal of the Lamb to be His Bride or the Mark of the Beast to be its Harlot, and go into the Fire of God's Furious Love.
The Purpose Driven Apocalypse Five Point Alignment
COV-Covenantal Structure REV-Revelation PDL-Purpose Driven Life
COV1.) Transcendence- Who is in charge?
REV1.) Jesus Christ is our King-Priest. ~ Ch. I.
PDL1.) You were planned for God's Pleasure.
COV2.) Hierarchy- To whom do I report?
REV2.) Christ Challenges us to be His Church. ~ Ch. II-IV.
PDL2.) You were formed for God's Family.
COV3.) Ethics- What is expected of me?
REV3.) Christ Charges us with His Commands. ~ Ch. V-XI.
PDL3.) You were created to become like Christ.
COV4.) Oath- What do I get?
REV4.) Christ Confirms us in His Communion Meal. ~ Ch. XII-XIX
PDL4.) You were shaped for God's Service.
COV5.) Succession- How long does this last?
REV5.) Christ Commissions us to live out His Kingdom. ~ Ch. XX-XXII.
PDL5.) You were made for God's Mission.
While Revelation has been used, rightly and wrongly, as a picture of early Church history, ongoing history, and the future, near and far, Revelation is also packed with references to Hebraic and Christian worship, is outlined as a Covenant Document, and is applicable to personal spiritual development as well as a tool for intepreting the past and preparing for the future. I prepared this outline to show how the five points of Rick Warren's best-selling "Purpose Driven Life" align with the five-point Covenant structure discovered by Bishop Ray Sutton, the five aspects of Christian worship, and the five sections of The Book of Revelation.
Pastor Rick Warren (SBC) "The Purpose Driven Life"
1.) You were planned for God's Pleasure.
2.) You were formed for God's Family.
3.) You were created to become like Christ.
4.) You were shaped for God's Service.
5.) You were made for God's Mission.
Father Ray Sutton (Reformed Episcopal)
Author of "That You May Prosper"
(a study of the five-point Biblical Covenant structure)
1.) Transcendence- Who is in charge?
2.) Hierarchy- To whom do I report?
3.) Ethics- What is expected of me?
4.) Oath- What do I get?
5.) Succession- How long does this last?
Christian Worship Service:
1.) God (Father-Son-Spirit) meets with
2.) We the Church in our prayer, confession, praise & worship.
3.) The Word is ministered in Bible reading and preaching.
4.) The Ordinances/Sacraments of the Altar Call &/or Eucharist confirm us in the Faith.
5.) The Blessing is bestowed, sending us forth to live out our Faith in Christ.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John the Divine (i.e. Theologian)
(inspired by Orthodox Presbyterian Rev. David Chilton's "The Days Of Vengeance")
1.) Jesus Christ is our King-Priest. ~ Ch. I.
2.) Christ Challenges us to be His Church. ~ Ch. II-IV.
3.) Christ Charges us with His Commands. ~ Ch. V-XI.
4.) Christ Confirms us in His Communion Meal. ~ Ch. XII-XIX.
5.) Christ Commissions us to live out His Kingdom. ~ Ch. XX-XXII.
The Revelation unveils Jesus Christ, Son of God, Lord and Savior through liturgy- God indwells & moves through our worship; in the first century A.D.- Christ raises up the Church as Jerusalem & Rome fall; through history- Christ and His Church always contend against Bestial Tyranny and Harlot Compromise in every age; in the future- Christ shall ultimately defeat Satan and reign with us forever; and personally- in our lives, we either embrace the Seal of the Lamb to be His Bride or the Mark of the Beast to be its Harlot, and go into the Fire of God's Furious Love.
The Purpose Driven Apocalypse Five Point Alignment
COV-Covenantal Structure REV-Revelation PDL-Purpose Driven Life
COV1.) Transcendence- Who is in charge?
REV1.) Jesus Christ is our King-Priest. ~ Ch. I.
PDL1.) You were planned for God's Pleasure.
COV2.) Hierarchy- To whom do I report?
REV2.) Christ Challenges us to be His Church. ~ Ch. II-IV.
PDL2.) You were formed for God's Family.
COV3.) Ethics- What is expected of me?
REV3.) Christ Charges us with His Commands. ~ Ch. V-XI.
PDL3.) You were created to become like Christ.
COV4.) Oath- What do I get?
REV4.) Christ Confirms us in His Communion Meal. ~ Ch. XII-XIX
PDL4.) You were shaped for God's Service.
COV5.) Succession- How long does this last?
REV5.) Christ Commissions us to live out His Kingdom. ~ Ch. XX-XXII.
PDL5.) You were made for God's Mission.
Bio
Friar Ted Klein holds a B.A. in Political Science, a M.S. in Counseling, ordination in World Christianship Ministries, and has produced the independent spiritual romantic melodramatic film "The Living Years". He also works in retail sales.
He is not a real "Friar" (ordained monk in the Catholic tradition) but he does play one on the Internet.
Actively Christian since age 13 in 1975, Ted was raised Christmas & Easter Catholic until age 8, when his family started attending the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church in which he grew in his own faith in Christ. He has also been involved in interchurch Charismatic ministry, a Manifest Sonship group, The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, the John Birch Society & various Christian conservative organizations.
However, he had maintained consistent membership in his local (Southern Indiana) Assembly of God since 1984.
In spite of his theological gallivanting, Friar Ted insists he is not a flake, though he acknowledged that he is a Pisces, which is pretty much the same thing.
His patron saint is C.S. "Jack" Lewis, author of the Narnia series, "Mere Christianity", "The Great Divorce", "Till We Have Faces" and much more. He has a nostalgic appreciation of Hal Lindsey, whose 1970s books, starting with "The Late Great Planet Earth" jumpstarted his Christian commitment, though his End-Times-Prophecy views are 90% historic Premillenialist, 5% Rapturist, 5% Preterist Postmillenialist. The Revelation is his favorite book of The Bible.
Other favorite authors include libertarian thinker Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, Anthem), Catholic conspiracy-buff Taylor Caldwell (Dear and Glorious Physician, Captains and the Kings), southern Catholic existentialist Walker Percy (Love in the Ruins, Lancelot, The Second Coming), Bram Stoker (Dracula) and Mary Shelley (Frankenstein).
Favorite movies overall are- It's A Wonderful Life, The Bride of Frankenstein, A Clockwork Orange.
He is not a real "Friar" (ordained monk in the Catholic tradition) but he does play one on the Internet.
Actively Christian since age 13 in 1975, Ted was raised Christmas & Easter Catholic until age 8, when his family started attending the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church in which he grew in his own faith in Christ. He has also been involved in interchurch Charismatic ministry, a Manifest Sonship group, The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, the John Birch Society & various Christian conservative organizations.
However, he had maintained consistent membership in his local (Southern Indiana) Assembly of God since 1984.
In spite of his theological gallivanting, Friar Ted insists he is not a flake, though he acknowledged that he is a Pisces, which is pretty much the same thing.
His patron saint is C.S. "Jack" Lewis, author of the Narnia series, "Mere Christianity", "The Great Divorce", "Till We Have Faces" and much more. He has a nostalgic appreciation of Hal Lindsey, whose 1970s books, starting with "The Late Great Planet Earth" jumpstarted his Christian commitment, though his End-Times-Prophecy views are 90% historic Premillenialist, 5% Rapturist, 5% Preterist Postmillenialist. The Revelation is his favorite book of The Bible.
Other favorite authors include libertarian thinker Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, Anthem), Catholic conspiracy-buff Taylor Caldwell (Dear and Glorious Physician, Captains and the Kings), southern Catholic existentialist Walker Percy (Love in the Ruins, Lancelot, The Second Coming), Bram Stoker (Dracula) and Mary Shelley (Frankenstein).
Favorite movies overall are- It's A Wonderful Life, The Bride of Frankenstein, A Clockwork Orange.
Major Questions of Life~~~
Who are we?
What are we supposed to be?
What's wrong with us?
How do we get better?
What does God have to say about it all?
Glad you asked!
Let's assume that the Bible actually contains messages from God that may help us answer these questions.
Does this sound reasonable? If not, just go along with it for a while.
Genesis 1 tells us that God designed the world, concluding with making us in His Image to take care of everything in the world that comes into our hands.
How have we done so far?
How have you done taking care of your own life? Of doing what you know to be right or of shunning what you know to be wrong?
Need improvement? Yep, me too. Same as everyone else.
Genesis 3 tells us that our first parents messed up big. Whether there was an outside tempter or their inner conflicts, they decided to distrust God, to take something that did not yet belong to them. That resulted in a fracture between them, and a break in the very order of Creation. They were cast out of their haven and sent out into a wild world- having grabbed knowledge but not yet learning wisdom. Their kids just added to that mess. With each generation, God gave guides and guardians and blessings and disasters and rescuers. You know the tales- the Flood & Noah's Ark, Abraham & Sarah & Isaac, Moses & the Exodus & the Commandments, King David...
Yet it all got worse. Even the heroes & heroines He sent couldn't do everything right & got in their own messes.
So at the right time, God stepped in directly. He always planned to. He hints it at Genesis 3:15. He outright claims it through Isaiah (700 years before Jesus)-59:15-21.
15. Yea, truth fails; and he that departs from evil makes himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.
16. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
17. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense.
However, He would come undercover- as a Servant, a Suffering One (Isaiah 53).
Along comes Jesus, the Christ (aka "Messiah"- Anointed Priest/King of David's lineage), the Son of God.
John calls Him the Word, the Expression of God, which is just as much God (John 1).
He taught Law and He taught Love. He healed and forgave and taught obedience to God and himself and showed compassion on those to weak to obey and anger on those to proud to obey (read any of the Gospels at random).
The last group torture-killed Him.
That was all right tho. He planned for it, even provoked them to do it.
A recent hit movie tried to show how bad it was, but if it really revealed the worst of it, that movie would have been banned & the makers jailed. They could not have shown how Jesus took into His own heart the guilt of every monstrous abuser and the pain of every wounded victim, along with the petty faults and small hurts of everyone's life.
Compared to that, the pain of hanging by nails in his wrists under a blazing sun might have seemed a relief. That was what released His scream "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?"
But He still died forgiving, and consoling, and trusting and triumphant. Three days later, He rose even more triumphantly. To call us into His life. To be the earthly ambassadors for His Heavenly Kingdom. To apply His Love & His Law to our own lives and into whatever area of life we can, even entire societies & cultures, until His Return.
You know what Jesus teaches- about life & work & marriage & family & love & death & sorrow & joy, even about our words & thoughts. You might not know He gives you the ability to follow Him- by the power of His Spirit, the support of His Assembly (aka "Church"), the guiding of His Word (aka "Bible").
What if you refuse?
Jesus tells us in Chapter 3 of John's Gospel-
16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18. He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20. For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Re-read verse 19- God's Judgment is that His Light invades the world, while those committed to the world want to stay in the Dark, just as our first parents in Genesis 3 tried to hide from God after their rebellion. But God would not let them hide. Neither can anyone hide from Him/Jesus in Eternity. We who serve God/Jesus, who are uplifted as His friends, who are adopted as His children will continue to live & learn & grow in His Light (Revelation 21-22). Those who refuse Him will become lovers of darkness, immune to His Love, tormented by His Light, which beats down on them as HellFire, with no promise of an relief (Revelation 14).
You probably don't hate God/Jesus. But you might not trust Him either. What you decide now is a step in one of those directions. Either step is a risk. Stepping to Him risks losing the faulty yet maybe pleasant life you know. Stepping away from Him risks becoming a thing that never wants to love Him or know His love.
Which path do you want to risk?
What to do if you want to embrace Jesus?
>Pray to commit yourself to God/Jesus/Their Spirit, turn from what you know is wrong on God's terms (the Bible), ask Him to give you His power to do what is right by His Holy Spirit.
>Study the Bible & pray regularly. Find a caring church that teaches the Bible & the Gospel explained above. If you've never been baptized, do it- if you have been, renew it with a public commitment to Christ.
>Share your faith- with fellow believers in regular churchgoing & fellowshipping & taking Communion; and with the non-believers in your life (with care and compassion, not judgment or hysteria).
>Live your life with Jesus as your guide & your guard to supply you with the grace & gifts needed to do your best & obey Him. Try not to mess up but if you do, run TO Him for forgiveness & help to do better.
Jesus dares you to trust Him. What is keeping you from His challenge?
~Ted~ August 2005~
What are we supposed to be?
What's wrong with us?
How do we get better?
What does God have to say about it all?
Glad you asked!
Let's assume that the Bible actually contains messages from God that may help us answer these questions.
Does this sound reasonable? If not, just go along with it for a while.
Genesis 1 tells us that God designed the world, concluding with making us in His Image to take care of everything in the world that comes into our hands.
How have we done so far?
How have you done taking care of your own life? Of doing what you know to be right or of shunning what you know to be wrong?
Need improvement? Yep, me too. Same as everyone else.
Genesis 3 tells us that our first parents messed up big. Whether there was an outside tempter or their inner conflicts, they decided to distrust God, to take something that did not yet belong to them. That resulted in a fracture between them, and a break in the very order of Creation. They were cast out of their haven and sent out into a wild world- having grabbed knowledge but not yet learning wisdom. Their kids just added to that mess. With each generation, God gave guides and guardians and blessings and disasters and rescuers. You know the tales- the Flood & Noah's Ark, Abraham & Sarah & Isaac, Moses & the Exodus & the Commandments, King David...
Yet it all got worse. Even the heroes & heroines He sent couldn't do everything right & got in their own messes.
So at the right time, God stepped in directly. He always planned to. He hints it at Genesis 3:15. He outright claims it through Isaiah (700 years before Jesus)-59:15-21.
15. Yea, truth fails; and he that departs from evil makes himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.
16. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
17. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense.
However, He would come undercover- as a Servant, a Suffering One (Isaiah 53).
Along comes Jesus, the Christ (aka "Messiah"- Anointed Priest/King of David's lineage), the Son of God.
John calls Him the Word, the Expression of God, which is just as much God (John 1).
He taught Law and He taught Love. He healed and forgave and taught obedience to God and himself and showed compassion on those to weak to obey and anger on those to proud to obey (read any of the Gospels at random).
The last group torture-killed Him.
That was all right tho. He planned for it, even provoked them to do it.
A recent hit movie tried to show how bad it was, but if it really revealed the worst of it, that movie would have been banned & the makers jailed. They could not have shown how Jesus took into His own heart the guilt of every monstrous abuser and the pain of every wounded victim, along with the petty faults and small hurts of everyone's life.
Compared to that, the pain of hanging by nails in his wrists under a blazing sun might have seemed a relief. That was what released His scream "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?"
But He still died forgiving, and consoling, and trusting and triumphant. Three days later, He rose even more triumphantly. To call us into His life. To be the earthly ambassadors for His Heavenly Kingdom. To apply His Love & His Law to our own lives and into whatever area of life we can, even entire societies & cultures, until His Return.
You know what Jesus teaches- about life & work & marriage & family & love & death & sorrow & joy, even about our words & thoughts. You might not know He gives you the ability to follow Him- by the power of His Spirit, the support of His Assembly (aka "Church"), the guiding of His Word (aka "Bible").
What if you refuse?
Jesus tells us in Chapter 3 of John's Gospel-
16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18. He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20. For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Re-read verse 19- God's Judgment is that His Light invades the world, while those committed to the world want to stay in the Dark, just as our first parents in Genesis 3 tried to hide from God after their rebellion. But God would not let them hide. Neither can anyone hide from Him/Jesus in Eternity. We who serve God/Jesus, who are uplifted as His friends, who are adopted as His children will continue to live & learn & grow in His Light (Revelation 21-22). Those who refuse Him will become lovers of darkness, immune to His Love, tormented by His Light, which beats down on them as HellFire, with no promise of an relief (Revelation 14).
You probably don't hate God/Jesus. But you might not trust Him either. What you decide now is a step in one of those directions. Either step is a risk. Stepping to Him risks losing the faulty yet maybe pleasant life you know. Stepping away from Him risks becoming a thing that never wants to love Him or know His love.
Which path do you want to risk?
What to do if you want to embrace Jesus?
>Pray to commit yourself to God/Jesus/Their Spirit, turn from what you know is wrong on God's terms (the Bible), ask Him to give you His power to do what is right by His Holy Spirit.
>Study the Bible & pray regularly. Find a caring church that teaches the Bible & the Gospel explained above. If you've never been baptized, do it- if you have been, renew it with a public commitment to Christ.
>Share your faith- with fellow believers in regular churchgoing & fellowshipping & taking Communion; and with the non-believers in your life (with care and compassion, not judgment or hysteria).
>Live your life with Jesus as your guide & your guard to supply you with the grace & gifts needed to do your best & obey Him. Try not to mess up but if you do, run TO Him for forgiveness & help to do better.
Jesus dares you to trust Him. What is keeping you from His challenge?
~Ted~ August 2005~
What are we supposed to be?
What are we supposed to be?
What keeps us from that purpose?
How do we get repaired?
Consider for a moment that the Bible addresses all three concerns.
Genesis tells us-
>God made us in His Image,
male and female,
entrusting us to care for His Creation
(1:26- all Ch. 2).
>Our first parents broke trust with God,
hid from Him, turned on each other
and had to face the world in distrust and defensiveness.
That same heritage has fallen to us (Gen. 3).
>God cares for us even in exile from Eden (3:21),
promising that He will send a Son through a Woman to defeat Evil,
even as the Son is wounded (3:15).
The Hebrew Scriptures relate that many heirs to that promise arose,
struggling with evil. Some surrendered to it. Others held true.
However, none could fully prevail.
Isaiah, around 700 B.C., saw that God Himself
would take on the job no one else could do-
as a Warrior King (59:15-21) disguised as a Suffering Servant (52:13-53:12).
God's Eternal Creating Word became flesh (John 1).
An untouched maiden bore a son (Matthew 1).
You all know His name-
Jesus Christ- Yeshua Messiah- Savior and Anointed Priest-King.
He lived and taught God's Law with compassion and severity-
compassion to those too weak to obey,
severity to those too proud to give or receive grace.
The latter group torture-killed Him on Golgotha's tree.
He planned it- even provoked them to do it,
taking on the pain of every violation and the guilt of every violator,
setting aside the joy of God's Fullness to endure the Horror of His Absence.
He died forgiving and trusting and triumphant.
Three days later, He arose even more so.
He challenges us to join in His New Life as we heed His Words (the Bible),
are baptized into His Family (the Church), breathe His Holy Spirit,
partake of His Body and His Blood at His Table,
and hold onto Him to the very end (Matthew 28, John 20-21).
We have another choice-
we can risk rejecting Jesus to the point that we dread His light
and cling to darkness- forever (John 3:19-21).
What keeps you from rising to His challenge?
What keeps us from that purpose?
How do we get repaired?
Consider for a moment that the Bible addresses all three concerns.
Genesis tells us-
>God made us in His Image,
male and female,
entrusting us to care for His Creation
(1:26- all Ch. 2).
>Our first parents broke trust with God,
hid from Him, turned on each other
and had to face the world in distrust and defensiveness.
That same heritage has fallen to us (Gen. 3).
>God cares for us even in exile from Eden (3:21),
promising that He will send a Son through a Woman to defeat Evil,
even as the Son is wounded (3:15).
The Hebrew Scriptures relate that many heirs to that promise arose,
struggling with evil. Some surrendered to it. Others held true.
However, none could fully prevail.
Isaiah, around 700 B.C., saw that God Himself
would take on the job no one else could do-
as a Warrior King (59:15-21) disguised as a Suffering Servant (52:13-53:12).
God's Eternal Creating Word became flesh (John 1).
An untouched maiden bore a son (Matthew 1).
You all know His name-
Jesus Christ- Yeshua Messiah- Savior and Anointed Priest-King.
He lived and taught God's Law with compassion and severity-
compassion to those too weak to obey,
severity to those too proud to give or receive grace.
The latter group torture-killed Him on Golgotha's tree.
He planned it- even provoked them to do it,
taking on the pain of every violation and the guilt of every violator,
setting aside the joy of God's Fullness to endure the Horror of His Absence.
He died forgiving and trusting and triumphant.
Three days later, He arose even more so.
He challenges us to join in His New Life as we heed His Words (the Bible),
are baptized into His Family (the Church), breathe His Holy Spirit,
partake of His Body and His Blood at His Table,
and hold onto Him to the very end (Matthew 28, John 20-21).
We have another choice-
we can risk rejecting Jesus to the point that we dread His light
and cling to darkness- forever (John 3:19-21).
What keeps you from rising to His challenge?
Various TheoLogue Musings
"After all is Completed, Jesus is All that will Be and All that will Be is Jesus."~ A paraphrase from Dame Julian of Norwich's Shewings of Divine Love
"You may pray for the Rapture and prepare for the Tribulation, but always adore Christ & care for others, and in doing so, strive for the Kingdom."
"In Jesus, Creator & Creation both undergo death, rebirth & reconciliation."
"In the End, all who will be saved will be saved. All who won't still will not escape the unfailing Love of God- they will just hate it. We may hope that no one ends up in that company."
"This is the Essence of the Good News:
The Incarnation- God/Jesus is with us.
The Atonement- God/Jesus wipes out our sins.
The Resurrection- God/Jesus gives us Eternal Life.
The Holy Spirit- God/Jesus guides us by The Spirit inside us & the Bible, The Church & Creation outside us.
The Kingdom- God/Jesus reign above us & in us & is bringing that Reign to Earth forever."
"You may pray for the Rapture and prepare for the Tribulation, but always adore Christ & care for others, and in doing so, strive for the Kingdom."
"In Jesus, Creator & Creation both undergo death, rebirth & reconciliation."
"In the End, all who will be saved will be saved. All who won't still will not escape the unfailing Love of God- they will just hate it. We may hope that no one ends up in that company."
"This is the Essence of the Good News:
The Incarnation- God/Jesus is with us.
The Atonement- God/Jesus wipes out our sins.
The Resurrection- God/Jesus gives us Eternal Life.
The Holy Spirit- God/Jesus guides us by The Spirit inside us & the Bible, The Church & Creation outside us.
The Kingdom- God/Jesus reign above us & in us & is bringing that Reign to Earth forever."
~The Christian Faith of The Golgothic Grove & The Sangrael Circle~
~The Christian Faith of The Golgothic Grove & The Sangrael Circle~
Yahweh God is Creator, Word & Love aka Father, Son & Spirit forever.
Jesus joins together Creator & Creation in His life, death, resurrection & reconciliation.
God's Love/Wisdom is His Spirit (LifeBreath), our Mother, Who grows us into God's children, His Daughter Church, Christ's Bride.
Every attribute of Yahweh God and all of Creation is rooted in and flows from the Love of the Trinity, Who is the Lover and the Beloved and the Love between Them.
God's Word comes, in this order, as Jesus, the Bible, the Church, every person, all Creation.
We're all God's children- some of us more messed up than others, but God loves us all anyway.
The Bride Church invites all to learn God's Word, eat Christ's Feast, breathe Holy Spirit.
Our faith in God/Jesus is no greater than our treatment of others.
Live for Jesus as much as you can and trust Him to take you where you can't.
In the End, the hateful & petty will concentrate against those of good will, who will concentrate around Jesus. Jesus will return to bring peace, justice & love forever.
All who can be saved will be saved as we plunge into the Fire of God's Love and Justice. Those who will not open to God will experience His Fire as Hell, while even we who open to love and trust Christ will endure blessedly painful cleansing to enter His fullness.
Yahweh God is Creator, Word & Love aka Father, Son & Spirit forever.
Jesus joins together Creator & Creation in His life, death, resurrection & reconciliation.
God's Love/Wisdom is His Spirit (LifeBreath), our Mother, Who grows us into God's children, His Daughter Church, Christ's Bride.
Every attribute of Yahweh God and all of Creation is rooted in and flows from the Love of the Trinity, Who is the Lover and the Beloved and the Love between Them.
God's Word comes, in this order, as Jesus, the Bible, the Church, every person, all Creation.
We're all God's children- some of us more messed up than others, but God loves us all anyway.
The Bride Church invites all to learn God's Word, eat Christ's Feast, breathe Holy Spirit.
Our faith in God/Jesus is no greater than our treatment of others.
Live for Jesus as much as you can and trust Him to take you where you can't.
In the End, the hateful & petty will concentrate against those of good will, who will concentrate around Jesus. Jesus will return to bring peace, justice & love forever.
All who can be saved will be saved as we plunge into the Fire of God's Love and Justice. Those who will not open to God will experience His Fire as Hell, while even we who open to love and trust Christ will endure blessedly painful cleansing to enter His fullness.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
In my efforts to dominate all forms of Internet media...
Golgothic Justice~
Irritating Fellow Christians on Both Sides~
Irritating Fellow Christians on Both Sides~
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