Touchpoints on The Gospel (Page 2)
The Divine Slam Dunk
“What we think may not be the authority, but it reveals what we have surrendered to. If we believe that we belong once we ask the Spirit to indwell, then prior to this moment, we did not belong. There would be prerequisites. What if we always belonged in our intrinsic nature? Changing our thinking, metanoia (repentance), is simply surrendering to the declared truth that always was.”
The Economy of God
“There is no one for the last one in line to give to. That person’s job, in that moment and time, is to be a recipient. Being a recipient renders us powerless, but it is the greatest source of freedom and intimacy because its freedom comes from gratitude, vulnerability and a willingness to receive without apology, and with no justification. That would be the refashioning of “I worked all day so I deserve to be the recipient.””
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
“To forgive one’s self opens us to the possibility of forgiving another. But to forgive another is not to dispense mercy or justice, for only God has that authority. But it is God who is opening us up to grace and mercy, when we are completely unable. We are merely opening ourselves up to what God can do when we can’t.”
Marginalizing Jesus
“Is there a message here for us? That it’s more important to listen to people, especially those on the margins, than to listen to the economic systems, the political systems, and the religious systems in which we have been raised? It is more important to listen to those on the margins than the leaders of those systems or those who have been most successful in them.”
Eyes on You
“And so… When I have little faith… When I doubt… When I can’t stand on my own two feet… When I can no longer be the hero of my faith story… There… there is God. Keeping his eyes on me. Giving his hand. Taking me in his embrace.”
You Count
“Christianity doesn’t exist for the sake of Christendom. And Christian practices don’t exist for the sake of Christendom, either. Holy Communion was made for people, not people for Holy Communion. Though most church leaders get that wrong. We exist for the sake of the world. To feed the world. To provide a feast for the world.”
A So-So Sower
“This parable is about a sower who sows his Word of grace and forgiveness over all the terrain of my life. The hard-hearted times. The shallow and self-centered times. The easily excitable and flaming out times. And yes, even the good times.”
Saved from Myself
“I don’t know about you, but I find these words incredibly freeing. Finally, here is some brutal honesty that speaks not to my superficial hopes and dreams, my Facebook and Instagram pages, but to the profound depths of my pain and sadness about myself.”
Losing It
“Found in our lostness. What a frightening and freeing prospect. So, maybe I should have a bumper sticker that says “I lost it,” rather than “I found it.” And yet, it is exactly this ‘lostness’ that Jesus is calling me to lean into, to walk into, to embrace. And to embrace not only my ‘lostness,’ but embrace all the others who society has deemed ‘lost’ and ‘irredeemable.’”
Grace Space
“I want you to think about that. God’s first word – first observation about you – is goodness. God’s first word to creation, to you, is a word of grace. Grace is not something added after the fact. Grace is not something given after you mess up. Grace is not a patch on the pants of failure.”
Turning Point
“Repentance is something that happens to us. It is something that changes us. God acts and we are changed. God acts and we see things differently. God acts and we turn around. Some people have said the word ‘metanoia’ means to turn around, but I think a better phrase would be ‘turning point.’”
Named and Claimed
“But here is the good news: God has named us and claimed us. Not the other way around. In the waters of baptism, we are called by name and claimed by God. In the giving of the bread and wine in communion, we are named and claimed as the residing place of God’s presence.”