Dear God,
Teach us how to leave each other the way you love us.
Make us more like Jesus as we let go of what we want.
Help us hear your voice and obey you
so we can enjoy your abundant life.
We ask this in Jesus name.
Amen.
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Tag Archives: love
God Loves Us Like Jesus: A Six Syllable Gospel (Childlike Theology)
Standard[Now part 1 of 6 in a series on Childlike Theology]
Since my son’s second set of seasons, I’ve sought a scalable summary of the gospel. Something simple enough to be sung by a six-year-old, yet sufficiently sophisticated to stun seminarians for centuries. Here’s my most successful statement so far:
God Loves Us Like Jesus
Simultaneously saying, in short, that the Father loves in the way:
- Jesus loves us
- He loves Jesus
- that makes us more like Jesus
Submitting to that sort of Savior is a sweet smell to our spirit, but a shocking scare to our sin! Continue reading
Knight Club: Levels of Love
StandardThe first rule of Knight Club: you must talk about Knight Club.
In the comments on my first Knight Club post, my friend Jor Bratko talks about “raising adults”, and points out that:
the legitimacy of my authority like all legitimate authority comes from love: the care of the other
He is absolutely correct. I actually knew this, but I didn’t understand how it applied to fatherhood. Part of the problem is that the English word “love” refers to (at least) three different phenomena, which in this context I call Baby Love, Bro Love, and Boss Love — loosely inspired by the four loves described by C.S. Lewis.
Song: Gratitude
StandardPart 3 of the Guilt–Grace-Gratitude musical trilogy, from my 1996 meditations on The Grace Cycle.
Song: From Guilt to Grace
StandardThe following song is a lyrical version of “Graphical Theology: The Grace Cycle“, part of my burst of artistic exploration in 1996. It was the first element of a trilogy on the Reformation themes of Guilt-Grace–Gratitude, but unlike the other two I never was happy enough with it to put it to music.
Song: No Longer Alone
StandardThis is a song I wrote back in 1996 in my post-college, pre-Apple days in Pasadena, California. It was for a girl I knew — heck, it fit pretty much all the girls I hung out with and/or was interested in during that decade.
I also sang it during a “Christian Connection” (online dating site) cruise back in 1999, just before I met Sandhya. By God’s grace I got to perform for the ship talent show. I said I was part of a Christian singles group with 80 women and 15 men — and I was having a *great* time! (as was reported almost daily on the ship’s TV :-).
“But being single wasn’t always fun and games — and that’s why I wrote this song.”
Continue reading
LEAD! C.5 Studying Scripture
StandardboIn Which Diligently Searching God’s Word Leads Us to Truth
Few disciplines are as essential — or as dangerous! — as studying the words and works of God. Used in the wrong spirit, theology can become a heavy burden or a useless distraction (cf. Matthew 23:4). But when taught by the Holy Spirit, God’s word becomes the very source of life itself (cf. Luke 4:4). The challenge to us, as to Timothy, is whether we will apply God’s word rightly…
Memory Verse: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” — 2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV)
Assigned Reading
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Richard Foster: Celebration of Discipline
- 5. Study
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Donald Whitney: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
- 2. Bible Intake (Part I)
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Eugene Peterson: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
- 6. Help: “Oh, Blessed Be God! He Didn’t Go Off & Leave Us!”
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Ruth Haley Barton: Sacred Rhythms
- 3. Scripture: Encountering God Through Lectio Divina
