Continue reading“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Romans 6:14 NKJV
Tag Archives: law
11/6 Limericks: Law Map Trap
Standard#BreakTheCycle (of condemnation)
Continue reading10/28 Poem: Ill-Legalist
StandardThe legalist earns our respect
For reasons we ought to inspect
He’s willing to hold up the wall
Without which our culture will fall
Divorcing the War on Marriage
StandardIn the conservative Christian circles I live in, we often talk about the war on marriage: how the laws of our culture must uphold the biblical pattern against those who would seek to redefine it.
While that may be true, we seem to be ignoring a painful reality. The church lost that same war decades ago: on the issue of divorce. Maybe we should take the time to understand why before we make the same mistakes all over again.
Continue readingLaw Detox
StandardLimerick: Law Death
StandardLimerick: Tempting Gifts
StandardWhen we are still under Law
Temptation will stick in our craw
For if we give in
We know its a sin
But we can’t unsee what we saw
Yet when we are living by Grace
Temptation’s a whole ‘nother place
Our hunger for sin
Reveals what’s within
And makes us to seek out His Face
Poem: Redemption Value
StandardThe song of the redeemed
Is we are no longer
What we seemed
Our value to this world
Is only what we’ve earned
Trapped inside a rat race
Measured by Law instead of Grace
Poem: Belong vs Beshort vs Betall
StandardThe first way
We go wrong
Is to try
To Belong
This world
And it’s sin
Is the place
We begin
6/12 RSVP: Un-Binding Pharisees
StandardThe Alien Gospel
StandardIn the Kingdom
Of this world
We define good news
Via the Law
We are glad
When we find a good law
Overturn a bad law
Or escape a harsh law
That is only natural
Continue readingGrace Barriers, Reefed
StandardThe natural state of God
is Unison
The natural state of humans
is Division
We are divided from God
Each other and ourselves
And…
That is as it should be
Regenerative Grace
StandardThe Law is great for scaling
A fundamental insight
But is inherently static and preserving
Not generative.
To avoid breakdown
Is also to resist breakthrough
Fruit of the Spirit vs Veggies of the Law/Jellies of the Flesh
StandardMy mind was blown a couple months ago when our preacher that week pointed out, almost as an aside, that the Fruit of the Spirit was primarily something we gave other people.
Perhaps like you, I had subconsciously assumed that Fruit meant I was feeling more love, joy, peace, etc. But once I reimagined Fruit as “experiences we give others that contain the seed of Christ,” I started to get really excited.
For three reasons: Revival, Metrics, and CounterFruit.
Continue readingThe Amygdala Gospel: Rewiring How We Grow Closer to Jesus
StandardWhen Jesus said we must deny ourselves, I think He meant the amygdala.
Continue readingAddiction, Alcohol and The Law
StandardDrinking alcohol may not be a sin, but it certainly is a coping mechanism I need to be careful about. There is always a risk of turning to that instead of Christ.
Unfortunately, the same can be said of the Law: the religious, psychological, and social structures I rely on to control (rather than cure) sin. Continue reading
Dream: Prison Break
StandardA story of Law and Grace
Two men.
Old.
Ghosts.
With a mule.
1897.
Treasure Hunters.
They capture me.
Take me into a dungeon.
Make me dig.
I break free.
Shove them into an abyss
Including their little black dog.
Ignoring their screams for help.
I open the steel door and lock it behind me.
Then turn a corner in the corridor.
There is another door up ahead.
Repeat.
I am always escaping, but never free.
I wake.
Then I meet Jesus.
He sends me back down.
I don’t want to go.
But I obey.
It seems to take forever.
I finally get to the last door.
I look inside.
I see the tormented soul in the ditch.
It is me.
TGR-S6E6: How to Cure Train Wrecks
StandardJoin us on The Great Reset (via Zoom or YouTube Live at Tue Jan 5, 2020 at 1PM PST) as Ernie pitches a framework for tying together our recent themes of discipleship, reconciliation, and loving more like Jesus.
Question: Is there a single thing that both causes and sustains “train wrecks” (i.e., cascades of broken relationships)? If so, can it be inverted to provide a cure?
Perspective: Yes, abjection (i.e. dissociating self from what is toxic or outside our control). The tragedy is that abjection is essential for identity in both groups and individuals, yet ultimately destructive of the larger context. The cure is to follow Christ by incarnating into what was abjected, and overcome it by the power of the cross.
Continue readingTGR Code of Conduct
StandardDraft 1, 29 Oct 2020, The Great Reset
- John 13:34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another.
- Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
- Whenever you need help with (1) or (2), just ask.
- If you see someone struggling with (1) or (2), offer to help.
Evangel, Part V: Living The Gospel
Standard“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” — Galatians 2:19-21
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