Pause, and calmly think on that.
The last part ended with focusing in on the simplicity of the New Covenant and how it provides a simpler guide to life’s complexity. Today, we’re going to wrap things up by focusing on the pillars of the New Covenant and how they apply to us for our Christian walk.
In the last part, we admitted maybe we are unhitched from the Old Testament (Old Covenant) and that maybe we do have a better and more demanding set of commandments instead of the Old Covenant Law and Prophets. But where are we supposed to go from there?
Stanley said it bluntly, “You are not accountable to the Ten Commandments. You are not accountable to the Jewish Law.” Is this actually true? And, if it is true, what does that mean for how we act out moral choices?
While I do sense some heretical tendencies I have always thought Stanley was onto a certain something, a hint of a something about our faith, our morality, and our freedom in Christ, even if his surface idea appears irreconcilable with scripture.
The following are rough notes from a Twitter discussion I had on the translation and meaning of Ezekiel 20:25-26. It was claimed God gave “bad laws” to the Israelites (eg. child sacrifice) because they wouldn’t follow His good laws. This is obviously problematic as its relates to the Goodness of God. These are my tweets…
The Kingdom of Heaven is more than meets the eye: The Kingdom of Heaven has come near you, it is here, it is within you, and the Kingdom of Heaven is coming.
A few weeks ago our pastor taught on the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-12, and he highlighted something I hadn’t really considered: The verses from 3 to 12 are not simply separate sayings, like little nuggets of wisdom. Instead, they form a whole and each verse builds on the one before. They reveal a pattern for the life of a Christ-follower.
That awkward moment… when you see a panhandler at the intersection as you’re driving your daily commute to and from work. Each and every day, the same man or woman for a few days or weeks at a time, then maybe a different person for a while, there most days of the work week, and most days you hope to avoid them or to avoid eye contact, at the least. A few more intersections, then you’re home free – for one more day…
Note: This post is a point-form summary for a small group discussion that I compiled from the last section, “Real, Eternal Value Intended by the Original Authors”, of my previous post Answering Genesis 1 and 2 Contradiction Claims.
True [Feasting] “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.Raise your voice like a trumpet.Declare to my people their rebellionand to the descendants of Jacob their sins.For day after day they seek me out;they seem eager to know my ways,as if they were a nation that does what is rightand has not forsaken the commands of…