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IF THAT ISN’T NICE, WHAT IS?
An excerpt from a commencement speech given by Kurt Vonnegut gave at Rice University in 1998: One thing which my Uncle Alex found objectionable about human beings was that they seldom took time out to notice when they were happy. He himself did his best to acknowledge it when times were sweet. We could be drinking lemonade in the shade of an apple tree in the summertime, and he would interrupt the conversation to say, “If this isn’t nice, what is?” So, I hope that you Adams and Eves in front of me will do the same for the rest…
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IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS
When God accepts a sinner, He is, in fact, only accepting Christ. He looks into the sinner’s eyes, and He sees His own dear Son’s image there, and He takes him in. – Charles Spurgeon Who am I to argue with the late, great Charles Spurgeon, but I think this whole “imputed righteousness” idea is likely bull hockey. It’s another one of those ideas you hear floated in so many sermons – “When God looks at you, He doesn’t see your sins, He sees His Son’s righteousness” – but I have never really examined it in Scripture. I plan to…
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IMPOSSIBLE
It’s a good thing that God is the initiator and the central actor in our atonement, restoring our relationship with Him. Because, when you think about it, our sins always negatively impact somebody – God, other people, ourselves. And making things right in the aftermath – assuming we even desire to do so – is simply impossible. This reality is easiest to see in the extreme cases: How does one make reparations for murder? for rape? for slavery? Make an apology? Promise to never do it again? Offer an agreeable amount of money in payment? Nothing could ever come close…
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ATONEMENT
I have often heard preachers say that the word “atonement” means “at-one-ment”. That it described how humans can become “at one” with God again after that relationship has been broken. I assumed it was a bit of clever word play that got passed from preacher to preacher. But, it turns out, the “at-one-ment” explanation is literal. The word was made up by English translators unable to find an adequate existing English word with which to translate the Hebrew word “kippur”. (You are probably familiar with the Jewish celebration called “Yom Kippur” – the “Day of Atonement”.) From Miriam-Webster online: Atone…
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EVANESCENT “GRACE”
One of the lesser-known teachings of Calvinism is termed Evanescent Grace (or sometimes “Temporal Grace”). This is grace that appears for a time and then fades away. (And there’s good reason to keep this doctrine hidden.) It’s the Calvinist’s answer to the question of how some individuals profess faith in Christ, seem fruitful for a time, but then fall away. Now every Christian is faced with this reality and needs an explanation. If one holds to “Once Saved, Always Saved”, the answer is simple: That person was never really saved in the first place. Undoubtedly, Calvinists would like to keep…
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WHY THE WARNINGS?
The concept of “Once Saved, Always Saved” is another one of those beliefs that many Christians hold onto strongly while incapable of building a case for it from Scripture. And I understand the appeal of the idea. I knew a mother who lost her 20-something son late one night when this young man, drunk and on foot after his girlfriend kicked him out of her car, wandered into interstate traffic. At his funeral, she told of her hope that his trip to the altar when he was 9 years old meant that God had welcomed her boy into paradise. Now…
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EVANGELICAL GNOSTICISM
In Becoming Whole, Brian Fikkert and Kelly Kapic relate this horrendous story of Christian charity gone bad: “A large Christian organization gives away tons of used clothing to poor communities around the world. The organization pins tracts about Jesus’ love to the front of each piece of clothing. In addition to potentially damaging the dignity and capacity of the clothing recipients, dumping used clothing into a village can depress clothing prices, drive local tailors out of business, and undermine the village’s economy, thereby reducing the availability of jobs. In other words, this organization is using a strategy that undermines work…. When…
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GOSPEL APPEARANCES
The word euangelion/gospel (literally, good news) appears 76 times in the New Testament. I think it’s always interesting to examine the first appearances of key concepts in Scripture. Here’s the context of the first appearances of “gospel” in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John: Matthew 4:23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 1:14-15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of…
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BODY AND FLESH
I am currently wrestling with the way Paul uses the Greek word “soma” (usually translated as “body”) and the word “sarx” (usually translated “flesh”). And I’m just trying to wrap my mind around the use of the two words in Colossians – to say nothing of their appearances in other books. It would be nice if there was a clearcut difference, but they often seem interchangeable. For instance, Paul says in Col 2:5, “Though I am absent in body (but sarx!), yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in…
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MY 2025 PUSHUP HABIT
Since I have a great interest in habit formation, I thought it would be good to record a little progress report on a New Year’s resolution – One of my morning commitments for 2025 has been to do at least 100 pushups. It’s important to note that this was not starting from zero. For several years I have been getting a bit of exercise at home nearly every day. But I didn’t tend to get much beyond about 30 pushups. It’s early February and, 40 days in, I have missed only 2 mornings and they were not back-to-back. (In habit…