Monthly Archive for November, 2007Page 2 of 2

Bartered love?

Published
by
Graeme
on November 8, 2007
in My Pilgrimage
. 0 Comments

Another quote out of The Ragamuffin Gospel, although this time its not actually Brennan Manning’s words:

“Our whole understanding of [Jesus] is based in a quid pro quo of bartered love. He will love us if we are good, moral, and diligent. But we have turned the tables; we try to live so that he will love us, rather than living because he has already love us.” Lloyd Ogilvie

I can’t really talk for anyone else, but I know that in my own life I spent years trying to earn God’s love. It was only following a week of constant teaching on His love for me that the penny finally dropped and I accepted His unconditional love. It was only then that I really began to realise just what an incredible God we worship.

The thing that really comes out of Manning’s book for me is the reminder that we cannot earn God’s grace. God loves us and wants to be in relationship with us and because of this wants to give out of his grace. Now obviously for us to receive this there has to be an act of repentance, and Manning talks about this, but he majors on Grace. The problem is that all too often we put the emphasis on the repentance to such an extent that it becomes as if this act is what earns us the grace of God. The truth though is that all repentance truly does is open our hardened hearts so that His free gift can be received!

Authentic Discipleship

Published
by
Graeme
on November 7, 2007
in discipleship
. 2 Comments

I’ve been reading through Brennan Manning’s The Ragamuffin Gospel over the last few weeks (seems to take an age to read any book at the moment). As I was reading this quote leapt off the page at me:

What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in the ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness.

There is quite a bit in the book that I’m not in full agreement with, indeed his rationale for this statement is not a good example of faithfulness, but that doesn’t mean his point is flawed. Authentic discipleship is first and foremost about faithfulness and we forget this at our peril. It is too easy for us to look for the more obvious evidence in people’s lives rather than asking ourselves, is this person faithful to Jesus.

Tough questions!

Published
by
Graeme
on November 4, 2007
in Ramblings
. 4 Comments

How do you respond when a Christian says that the Sunday morning church experience is bad for their spirituality?

Then, what do you do when you realise you really get where they are coming from?

Unchanging Everchanging God

Published
by
Graeme
on November 3, 2007
in My Pilgrimage
. 0 Comments

We believe that God is unchanging! We believe that He is omnipotent, omnipresent etc. Yet despite this we apparently seem to believe that we can put Him firmly in a box!

Well over a decade ago, in a former life it seems now, I went on a team-building course with work. I would guess that I’ve forgotten a great deal of that now, but there is one thing that I remember. Apparently, it takes approximately 15 seconds after meeting someone for the first time, for the average person to put them in a box in their mind. Once they have formed their opinion of a person, it is highly unlikely that their opinion will ever change.

It seems that we do the same thing with God sometimes. We see the way He has acted in the past and seem to assume that this is the only way in which he will act in the future. I remember singing the chorus as a younger person:

He’s the same today, as yesterday, my great unchanging friend.
He’s the same today, as yesterday, just the same unto the end.

Of course this is true! God is unchanging in his character and will not ever act outside that character. However, this doesn’t mean that He will always act in the way He has in the past.

Isaiah 43:19Open Link in New Window says:

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

Whilst it is true that God is unchanging, it is His very being that doesn’t change. As we look through the Bible we see the way He works changing time and time again. He remains true to who He is, but his methods change. We need to understand that and become more like Him. We need to find ways to be true to who He is whilst seeking new ways of communicating the unchanging message He has entrusted to us.