by Elizabeth | Nov 12, 2012 | Learning Story
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
(1 John 5:2-3 ESV)
Obedience is one of those words in the Christian vocabulary that makes me a little skittish. I’m pretty certain that’s because I’ve heard it mistaught so often as a means to earning salvation. I (We) get myself into trouble, though, when I refuse to consider a word that the Word says is a distinctive marker of a person who knows God’s love. I’ve been re-examining it, and I’m going to post here a few resources I’ve found to re-learn what obedience really means and why it’s a delight — to God and to us.
“And finally God’s delight in obedience is good news because the obedience he loves is the obedience of faith. And faith means banking our hope on the mercy of God. And mercy means that our obedience does not have to be perfect; it only has to be penitent. “If you confess your sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
God is still a mountain spring and not a watering trough. Obedience is not a bucket brigade to fill his need. Obedience is the irrepressible “public relations” efforts of those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.”
by Elizabeth | Nov 9, 2012 | Learning Story
http://www.igracemusic.com/hymnbook/hymns/t12.html
How fun is it for my research topic to be “love”! Earlier this week, I posted a ‘love’ quote by J.I. Packer. (I’ve butchered it in trying to explain it, so <a href="http://”>read it here if you’re interested:-). Today I am posting the words and the music to hymn he references. Listen, or better yet, sing along to begin a weekend of worship, remembering his mercy from first to last.
Lyrics here
Sandra McCracken
by Elizabeth | Nov 6, 2012 | Learning Story
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8
“‘God is love’ is the complete truth about God so far as the Christian is concerned… Every single thing that happens to him expresses God’s love to him… God is love to him — holy, omnipotent love — at every moment and in every event of every day’s life. Even when he cannot see the why and the wherefore of God’s dealings, he knows that there is love in and behind them, and so he can rejoice always, even when, humanly speaking, things are going wrong. He knows that the true story of his life, when known, will prove to be, as the hymn says, ‘mercy from first to last’ — and he is content.” 1 Understanding God’s love this way is essential for a healthy Christian life. Anything less leaves us impoverished and weak.” J.I. Packer
by Elizabeth | Nov 5, 2012 | Learning Story
“13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of dthe living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock2 I will build my church, and the gates of hell3 shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed4 in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. ” Matthew 16:13-20
Yesterday, we were in Atlanta visit our son’s church (which just happens to be a place of many God-divined story-connections for me:-). As we headed home, I remembered the trail that led each of these ‘carriers of Christ’ into my life and then listened to some sermons from the church podcast to pass my driving turn. A simple yet profound truth from one called “The Jesus Piece” begged to be shared. See my notes below, and for the entire sermon, visit the Atlanta Westside Church.
by Elizabeth | Oct 22, 2012 | Learning Story
“Furthermore, if you are an atheist, why do people experience love and other feelings?”
This closing line of a letter addressed to Positive Atheism magazine raises an essential question about love. The letter’s author, a former Catholic, has found holes in theology lately and is beginning to embrace the atheism described by the magazine. He states happily that he is being freed to enjoy the moment. In the second paragraph, though, he describes a developing problem – he has begun to feel “alone AND insignificant.” At this point, he raises the question of love.
Cliff Walker of Positive Atheism magazine confidently responds. Love, he explains, has developed as a process of natural selection. Procreation, according to Mr. Walker, results from a love relationship, and nurturing comes from a loving parent. In his second paragraph, in a shift I don’t fully understand, he attacks the ‘despicable practices’ of churches, in which they tell their members that ‘their brand of love is true love and any other brand is false love.” Quoting 1 John 2:5, Mr. Walker explains that Christian love is contrived, because it ‘boils down to obedience.’ About Christian love, he concludes that “contrived love…cannot be seen as resulting from the spontaneous human emotion.”
The most interesting part of Mr. Walker’s response, though, is his conclusion. He discusses his personal experience of love as a “discovery” that develops into a “sense of loyalty.” He ends, “A relationship, ideally, is more than just a love affair. It is also a friendship, a family unit, and a business partnership (among other things).
This is all I can tell you.” (
I’m afraid Mr. Walker might not appreciate my response to his definition, but what strikes me is how his love includes core characteristics of biblical love: loyalty, relationship, love affair, friendship, family, and (covenant) partnership.He is, in fact, correct, that love is a command, but the profound mystery is that it can only be obeyed because of the obedience of one perfect lover, the beloved Son of the Creator, nurturer, and sustainer of love. It would take a whole book (which I hope to write), to explain these love realities, but meanwhile, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you think about love? Why do you think the letter-writer felt ‘alone AND insignificant’? What else do you see here?
by Elizabeth | Oct 19, 2012 | Learning Story
For the last eight weeks, we have been doing a mini hermeneutics course in our high school seniors Sunday school class. We’ve covered genres, themes, and keys to interpretation in the hopes that they will feel more confident as they approach Scripture study. This Sunday is the last Sunday, so you guessed it, it’s time to approach the ‘scary’ Revelation. True, wars, whores, strange beasts and fiery dragons are the stuff that nightmares are made of. Not to mention, we’re not all that comfortable with uncertainty, and the numerous symbols and visions don’t lend themselves to easy interpretation. And of course, that many mini-battles over millennialism aren’t that pretty either.
And yet, I volunteered to lead this study, because I am so passionate that this is a book of hope about Jesus Christ, and people should not only not avoid it, but should study and enjoy it. The most helpful resource has been Scotty Smith and Michael Card’s book, .The subtitle says it all: “eternal encouragement from the book of Revelation.” In these last days, which had been lasting for a long time, we all need encouragement to persevere through life in a broken world. Revelation tells us the end of the story, and it is good. The day is coming, a city is coming, when and where a wildly varied fellowship of believers, Jesus’ name tattooed on our foreheads (okay, maybe that’s just a symbol, but who knows?), will dwell with God forever, freed from sin, sickness, and sorrow to finally live as we were created to do. It’s a really good story. Why not read it again for the very first time?
PS. Stay tuned: I’ll post my notes for the seniors here tomorrow.
