What if we as Christians redefined our current understanding of “holiness” to match what God intended in Genesis, and Christ demonstrated in the gospels?
Continue readingTag Archives: love
TGR-S3E1: Money, Sex, Power and God (Oikotics)
StandardThis Tuesday on July 7th, 2020 we kick off Season 3 of The Great Reset by introducing oikotics, a novel discipline that unifies economics, politics, psychology & religion.
Question: What is the most useful and healthy way to think about money?
Perspective: Money is the most decentralized mechanism yet for a society to distribute Resources, Status and Relationships. As such, it complements — and competes with! — family, religion, and the state.
Continue readingTGR-S2E7: Enrollment
StandardThis Tuesday 6/30 with the Biastes we complete our second Season of The Great Reset, on Education, by attempting to co-construct an answer to the question:
What is the Most Important Thing to collectively keep getting better at doing, in order for us and the world to experience the fullness of God’s Kingdom (Love)?
TGR-05: Deep, Deep Joy
StandardJoin us on Zoom or YouTube/Facebook Live to co-create the video of this episode at 10 AM PST on Friday, May 1st, 2020 AD.
Question: How do we develop unconquerable joy?
Continue readingTGR-04: Loving The Other
StandardJoin us on Zoom or Facebook to co-create the video of this episode at 10 AM PST on Friday, April 24th, 2020 AD.
- Question: How do we love like Jesus?
- Perspective: I will love the “Other” as Jesus loved me.
- Premise: Love is a muscle that strengthens through deliberate practice
- Inspiration: “I only start counting when it starts hurting.” — Muhammad Ali
The Universal Commandment
StandardEnjoy, Love & Glorify
God, Ourselves & Others
As Jesus Does
Corollary: The Meaning of Life
God, Us & Others
Enjoying, Loving, & Glorifying,
God, Ourselves, Others & the World
Anjali’s Catechism: A Childlike Invitation to Spiritual Christianity
StandardAnjali’s Catechism: The Book is coming in Summer 2019. Preview now.
The Invitation
Are you ready to:
- Embrace the One who created the universe as the Heavenly Father who loves you like Jesus?
- Submit your awareness, values, and goals to becoming more like Christ’s?
- Receive God’s Spirit, Word, and Body to reveal and heal the wounds in your spirit that hinder you from becoming like Jesus?
- Value God’s happiness, glory, and relationships more than your own?
- Practice generosity and vulnerability so others can see Christ in you?
- Surrender childlike happiness for the grown-up joy of loving like Jesus?
Lessons
Lesson 4/6 True Love (Anjali’s Catechism)
StandardWorship: He’s Worth It
The whole point of becoming a Christian is to know and love God, ourselves, and others the way Jesus did. But what exactly is love?
We use the word “love” whenever we strongly desire or value something. But there are three very different kinds of love:
- Happiness: because it what we want and makes us feel good
- Glory: because it helps us become or be known as our best
- Relationship: because we feel or want to be connected to it
RohAnjali Fall 2016 Prayer
StandardDear 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.
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
-
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
LEAD! C.3 Persistent Prayer
StandardIn Which We and the World are Transformed as We Pray to the Father
Prayer is the process of aligning our thoughts, desires, and decisions with the Name of God, so that His Spirit can work through us to transform our lives, our relationships, and our world.
Memory Verse:“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” — Matthew 6:31-33 (NKJV)
Assigned Reading
-
Richard Foster: Celebration of Discipline
- 3. Prayer
-
Donald Whitney: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
- 4. Prayer
-
Eugene Peterson: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
- 12. Hope: “I Pray to God … and Wait for What He’ll Say & Do”
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Ruth Haley Barton: Sacred Rhythms
- 4. Prayer: Deepening Our Intimacy with God
LEAD! B.9 From Sloth to Fruitfulness
StandardIn Which We Abide Fruitfully Instead of Vegetating Slothfully
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” — Matthew 5:6
Sloth may seem like an archaic sin in our busy modern world, but our frenzied activity is itself a sign of sloth, which can be defined as a lack of vigor in pursuing God’s name — His character and purposes. In fact, the self-centered pursuit of our own “name” — especially under the guise of religion — is actually the worst kind of sloth! (cf. Matthew 23)
The antidote is to empty ourselves of worldly pursuits so that we become truly hungry for faith, hope, and love. Only when we abandon slothfully seeking our own comfort — which merely results in restlessness — can we experience the divine dynamism and peace that comes from abiding in Him…
Assigned Reading
-
Peter Kreeft: Back to Virtue
- 11. Hungering for Righteousness vs. Satisfied with Sloth
- Dick Hockett: Foundations of Wisdom
- 3.5 (Trustworthy) Example: Proverbs about the Tongue
LEAD! B.4 From Folly to Love
StandardIn Which We Are Rescued from Our Folly by God’s Love
Love is the primary virtue of the Heart. It is both a Decision that gives rise to Emotions, as well an Emotion that gives rise to Decisions — and it needs both to thrive. It can be defined as “the ability to pursue another’s glory — even at the cost of your own.”
Love is particularly needed by the Fool, whose emotional damage drives a cycle of self-punishment disguised as the pursuit of pleasure. The only way out is to purify our hearts by receiving God’s love and forgiveness, to the point where we love Him more than the false gods we’ve served — and discover what it means to genuinely love ourselves…
Assigned Reading
-
Peter Kreeft: Back to Virtue
- 5.C (Love) The Three Theological Virtues
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Dick Hockett: Foundations of Wisdom
- 6. The Fool
LEAD! B.3 From Mockery to Hope
StandardIn Which Our Souls Find Hope Amidst Suffering
Hope is the primary virtue of the Soul. It provides Reasons to encourage positive Emotions, and the Emotional energy to search for better Reasons. It can be defined as “the ability to joyfully pursue a higher purpose — even when painful.”
Hope is particularly needed by the Mocker, who is driven by both the need to control (due to fear) and the illusion of control (due to pride). Yet if they can unclench their soul enough to hope in God’s wisdom, Mockers may yet discover that true freedom comes from giving up control.
Though such learning usually only comes after great suffering…
Assigned Reading
-
Peter Kreeft: Back to Virtue
- 5.B (Hope) The Three Theological Virtues
- Dick Hockett: Foundations of Wisdom
- 5. The Mocker
LEAD! B.2 From Simplicity to Faith
StandardIn Which Unseen Faith Transforms the Visible World
Faith is the primary virtue of the Mind. It enables us to base Decisions on Reasons, as well as to deduce Reasons from Decisions (axioms). It can be defined as “the ability to believe what is true — even when difficult.”
Faith is particularly needed by the Simple, who otherwise would only trust what they can touch and feel. Yet God’s invisible wisdom is in reality more powerful than all the armies of flesh and blood which rail against it. And thus pursuing that wisdom, in faith, is actually the most practical decision of all…
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