Category Archives: Scripture

Misreading the New Testament

Posted on May 23, 2013 | 12 Comments

There are many Christians among the Churches of Christ who continue to read the New Testament as though it is a law from God.  Perhaps the best example of this reading is found when dealing with the issue of a cappella vs. instrumental worship and passages such as Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16, and other passages deemed relevant to the subject.  The argument goes that God’s word instructs to “sing” and that this excludes any mention of instruments.  This argument is accompanied with other ad hoc proof-texts from scripture, both Old and New Testaments, to warn Christians about the dangers of adding to God’s word and offering unauthorized worship to God (e.g., Lev 10:1-2; 1 Cor 4:6).

There are various assumptions at work that lie behind this legal reading of the New Testament.  One of those readings is the binding nature of silence among scripture which I have already written about in a post called The Silence of Scripture or Freedom in Christ?.  But another assumption, perhaps the biggest, is that the New Testament is to be read as though it is a law from God, one that replaces the Torah or Mosaic Law of the Old Testament.  Under such assumption, the New Testament is treated as though it is a constitution or instruction manual for following the assumed (yes, another assumption) one single pattern of Christianity called the New Testament Church.

This legal reading of the New Testament is wrong and it needs to be explained why because in the end it only produces legalism (see the video below).  Think with me for a moment.  The apostle Paul said this to say about the Law in Romans 7:12-13:

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.  Did that which is good, then, become death to me?  By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

Do you see what Paul is saying about the Law and humanity?  The problem of sin is not and has never been the Law.  Rather the problem with sin is and has always been humanity, you and I.  By the grace of God, that problem is rectified in Christ.  But here is the big question that must be asked which pertains to the issue of reading the New Testament as a new Law: If God’s aim or purpose in the gospel is to keep humanity living under a written law, why would God just not have us following the written Law of the Old Testament since it is already “holy, righteous, and good” law?  A secondary question: Assuming the New Testament is a new written Law, what makes us think we can faithfully keep that Law if we could not faithfully keep the written Law of the Old Testament?

The fact of the matter is that if God’s intention for redeeming humanity in Christ was to bind them to a covenant that requires following any written law, then God already had a perfect—a holy and righteous—Law established for this purpose.  Yet any cursory reading of the New Testament and the apostle Paul’s instruction to Gentile Christians is suffice to show that this was not God’s intent.  This is not to say that there are no commands for Christians to obey or that Christians can live a “lawless” lifestyle.  Loving God and neighbor (cf. Mk 12:29-31) are still the greatest commands that Christians are to obey; living by the Spirit (cf. Gal 6:13ff) is still a non-negotiable practice for all who profess the name of Christ.  But obeying the two great commands and living by the Spirit is one thing, it is quite another matter to turn the New Testament into a legal code that prescribes how every local church must worship, organize itself, and regulate its practice of ministry.

In Christ, we have been set free.  May we use that freedom responsibly and with integrity but may we also enjoy that freedom rather than being shackled by our own misunderstanding of the gospel and New Testament.

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I have posted this video before of Rick Atchley, Preaching Minister of The Hills Church of Christ in Fort Worth, TX but I am posting it again because illustrates well the legalism that is produced by reading the New Testament as a law.

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Posted in Churches of Christ, Faith, Restoration Movement, Scripture, Theology

As New Creation

Posted on May 21, 2013 | 1 Comment

For sometime now I have been convinced that as the church, we are to be a demonstration of God’s redeemed and restored world to come among this present world still groaning for redemption and restoration.  This is implied in our in Ephesians 2:10 where we are spoken of as “God’s artwork” (NJB) or “God’s handiwork” (which you can read more about here).  Of course, we’re not perfect representations but if we are following Jesus and living by the power of the Holy Spirit then we ought to be this proleptic image of God’s redemption and restoration.

We also find this intent implied in when Paul speaks of us as “new creation” in Christ where the old has been replaced with the new (2 Cor 5:17).  In Christ, we are no longer what we once were but have become new people who belong to the new world is redemptively restoring.  Interestingly, the New English Bible translates 2 Corinthians 5:17 as follows: “If anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (italics mine).

The more I read and study about the gospel as well as the Christian doctrines of Incarnation and Eschatology, the more I become convicted of this ecclesiological identity.  Then in doing some reading for an upcoming doctoral seminar, I came across these words of John Howard Yoder from his small book Body Politics:

The message is that Christ has begun a new phase of world history.  The primary characterization of that newness is that now within history there is a group of people whom it is not exaggerating to call a “new world” or a “new humanity.”  We know the new world has come because its formation breaches the previously followed boundaries that had been fixed by the orders of creation and providence.

I think Yoder gets it right and while we recognize that we will never perfectly be this new world or new humanity until Jesus returns, I wonder…  Do our non-Christian neighbors see a good dosage of the new world in us or do they just see the same old world they are living in?

Understanding ourselves as new creation is changes the rules of the game, so to speak.  It should shape the way we participate in God’s mission.  That is, we’re not just trying to get individuals to make a personal decision for Christ but to demonstrate for them this new life as we invite to partake new life they too are called for.  It should also change the way we ethically respond to the challenges we encounter.  Rather than continuing with utilitarian reasoning, we live by the character of this new life (taught to us by Jesus) not because it will always work for us among people of the old world that’s passing but because it demonstrates to them what the new world is like and who we are as new creation.  Finally, as new creation, it should stir our imaginations to the celebrative and creative possibilities for the way we interact as a gathered church.  That is, apart from the times when we do grieve, our life as church should be fun and full of joyous occasions inspired by the Spirit-guided use of our freedom in Christ to party as only new creation in Christ can do.

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Posted in Scripture, Theology

A Story of Love

Posted on May 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

Since last Sunday was Mother’s Day, I told a story about my own Mother, Mary Butts.  Here’s the story:

I wasn’t the studious sort of student growing up in school.  I didn’t do well academically at all.  My parents made me repeat the sixth grade to see if that would help.  It didn’t.  In the seventh grade I had to do a bunch of testing and get a lot of tutoring to help with my math and reading comprehension.  It didn’t help either.  By the eighth grade I was placed into remedial reading and math classes in the special education department.

So I was in a remedial reading class on Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s and in my regular reading class on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s.  Back then being a part of a special education class came with an unwanted stigma of be retarded.  I know that word is not very PC but that was how we thought of special education classes when I was growing up in school.  Consequently, I didn’t want my peers to know I was in one of those classes.  My eighth grade teacher, who was just a mean teacher, had other plans.

It was a Thursday and my teacher was passing back the tests that were taken on the Tuesday before.  She handed back all the tests to every student, every student except me.  Instead of handing me my test, my teacher called me to the front of the room.  Once I was standing in the front of the room, my teacher told the class that I was the only person to get an “F” on the test.  But it’s what she said next that…  Well, she said to the class, “Rex can’t help it.  He’s retarded and that’s why he’s been placed in the retarded class on Monday’s, Wednesday’s, and Friday’s.”

Needless to say, that was a humiliating experience.  The other students laughed while I ran out of class.  I never wanted to go back.  I hated school.  I hated every bit of it and told my parents that I wouldn’t ever go back.  Obviously I did but something else happened that turned this terrible story something beautiful.

I went to bed that night pretty angry but that next morning when I woke up there was a letter on my bed from my mom.  I don’t have the letter any more but I really wish I did.  I remember the gist of what it said.  In it my mother told me how proud she was to call me her son and then she listed off a hundred reasons why she was proud of me.*

I’ve often wondered how long it would take to write out a hundred reasons why I’m proud of my own children.  What I can tell you is that growing up, there were a lot of questions I had but one question I never had was the question of whether my mom loved me.  I knew my mom loved me not just because she told me so but because of what she did, such as what she did in the story told above.

The is what the scripture says in 1 John 4:9, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”  The scripture doesn’t just tell us that God loves us, it tells us what God did. God sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to give us life and that is why we can know that God loves us.

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I shared this story with the Columbia Church of Christ this past Sunday as part of my message “Christianity 101″ from 1 John 4:7-18.  I’ve uploaded that message here, if you are interested in listening to it.

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Posted in Columbia Church of Christ, Faith, Family, Scripture

Prayer, A Dangerous Thing (Revised)

Posted on May 13, 2013 | 3 Comments

As I read through Christianity Rediscovered by Vincent J. Donovan, I was struck by the reflection on prayer as being a moment when we open ourselves up to the creative and redemptive presence of God.  The author believes many Western Christians do not pray with this openness because they, just like in pagan thought, have trouble believing that God can suspend or interfere in the so-called laws or nature (p. 100).  However, prayer grounded in biblical faith is open to the creative and redemptive presence of God who can and does accomplish his will even when such will seems impossible.

But what happens when, in prayer, we open ourselves to the creative and redemptive presence of God…to surrender with a “your will be done” posture?  Since biblical faith knows that God’s end/goal (telos) is victory for both himself and his people (cf. 1 Cor 15), we need not to fear being open to the creative and redemptive presence of God…right?

That’s a big question that I don’t want to answer in haste.  For I know the struggle I went through with trusting God in this way after the death of my son and younger brother and sometimes still encounter.  Donavan tells the story of Jesus’ own struggle and openness in prayer, relating why prayer is a dangerous thing:

Jesus not only taught us how to say that prayer [The Lord’s Prayer].  He said it himself on the darkest night of his life.  At that terrible moment, when he fully realized just what it was he was being called to, he once again prayed to that “Abba” of his.  He asked for his daily bread, which in this case was to have that cup, that cup of poison, taken away from him.  And then instead of asking a remote God to work his miracle “over there somewhere’ far away from him, he spoke that word which cost him dearly – “fiat.”  Thy will be done.  And by that word he opened himself up to the creating, redeeming power of God within him, and God’s powerful work would be done, not outside him but in him, and he himself would be part of and involved in that deadly answer to his prayer.

Perhaps Americans and other Christians do not pray anymore because they are afraid to pray.  It is a dangerous undertaking (p. 102).*

In this respect, prayer is not only risky but it’s an essential step in spiritual transformation where we open ourselves to God unto the point of saying “your will be done.”  Thus Donovan goes on to say that the crucial question of prayer is “…whether we really open ourselves to him, open ourselves to his creating, saving presence” (p. 102).

Yes, this sort of prayer takes faith.  It takes faith, knowing that hope is preceded by suffering, perseverance, and character (cf. Rom 5.3-5).  It takes faith to continue on once we realize the great cost – the great grief and pain – that may be involved in allowing God to work creatively and redemptively within us rather than outside of us.  Some days I think I have this faith, other days I don’t’.  Some days I want this faith, other days I don’t…because I am afraid of what might happen.  As much as I preach to myself and others that fear has nothing to do with faith, fear is a reality that must be conquered daily within me.

The challenge of spiritual transformation is not just to pray but to have faith and to pray with faith…to pray with the faith that sees the victory God has sealed in the resurrected Jesus Christ.  “But thanks be for God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15.57, NRSV).

May we learn to pray in faith unto God… fiat!

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* The word fiat is Latin which means “let it be done.”

This post is a slightly revised version of a post of the same title published on March 10, 2013.  You can read the original post here.

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Posted in Columbia Church of Christ, Faith, Missions and Ministry, Scripture

My Pepperdine Class – “God’s Masterpiece” (Updated)

Posted on May 5, 2013 | 1 Comment

God's Masterpiece the ChurchFor those who are interested, I have uploaded the slide show as a pdf.doc for the class I taught for the 2013 Pepperdine Bible Lectures titled God’s Masterpiece: The Church as the Magnum Opus of God.  I recorded the class but for some reason the recording is barely audible so it is not available.  Any ways, In the class I work from the narrative of scripture, locating our place as the church within the five act story of scripture.  I suggest that our participation in this story as followers of Jesus who preached the good news of the Kingdom of God (cf. Mk 1:114-15, 17) calls us to a life that is Christ centered and kingdom oriented—the life which God has created and redeemed us for, making us his “work of art” (cf. Eph 2:10, NJB).  Thus, as God’s work of art or masterpiece, God is placing us on display before the world so that the world will see how great God truly is that the life that will be restored in fullness when Jesus Christ comes again.

  • Here is the PDF of the slide presentation: God’s Masterpiece – PBL 2013 Class
  • Because I am not able to upload the audio recording of this class, I am uploading the original manuscript of my presentation.  Although I did not speak in the class from a manuscript, I write all sermons and presentations out in actual manuscript form.  So here is the link: God’s Masterpiece

This was my first time teaching at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures and it was a great experience as much as it was a learning experience.  The feedback I heard from some who attended the class was positive, that they understood what the aim of the message I was teaching.  So that is good.  As for me, I am my own worst critic.  One thing I realized was that I had way too much information for the 45 minute slot I was allotted.  The material I had would have been better broken up into two or three slots but if or when I am asked to teach again, I will know better how to prepare for whatever time I am limited too.

If you think this might be beneficial to your church or a group in your church and would like to plan it around a retreat, then please contact me.  As most of you know, I serve full-time with the Columbia Church of Christ and am committed to my ministry here so my availability would be limited but I am sure something can be worked out.  As this material has to do with missional living, it is a something I am passionate about.

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Posted in Churches of Christ, Columbia Church of Christ, Missions and Ministry, Scripture, Theology

Heading to the Pepperdine Bible Lectures 2013

Posted on April 29, 2013 | 2 Comments

I’m headed off to what is becoming a yearly trip to Malibu, California for the 2013 Pepperdine Bible Lectures hosted by Pepperdine University.  This year  As I always say with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek, it’s a hard life but someone must live it.

All kidding aside, the Pepperdine Bible Lectures are always a great time of gathering among Churches of Christ.  Besides the great teaching, there is great fellowship as I catch up with many friends and colleagues and the time serves also as a small spiritual retreat for me.

As I mentioned last week on my blog, I’ll be teaching a class.  The class is titled God’s Masterpiece: The Church as the Magnum Opus of God.  The class will imagine what it means to live as as 21st century church in light of our missional identity and pulse from the text of Ephesians 2:1-10.  I’ll approach this subject and biblical text with an awareness that as the church, we are actors within God’s creative-redemptive story that’s centered in Jesus Christ and moving towards the coming of God’s reign.  If this interests you, the class will meet on Thursday, May 2nd at 1:30 PM in AC 286.  Below is the picture from the first slide on my Keynote presentation.

God's Masterpiece the Church

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Posted in Churches of Christ, Preaching and Teaching, Scripture, Theology

The Golden Rule and Our Muslim Neighbors

Posted on April 26, 2013 | 7 Comments

Toward the end of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, he says, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matt 7:12).  After all of the moral/ethical teaching Jesus has put forth about what we do and how we treat others, Jesus tells us that it all comes down to whether or not we treat others as we wish to be treated.

Of course!  And why not?  Who wants to be spoken of as a fool?  Who wants to be lusted after as an object rather than be regarded as a person?  Who wants to be deceived and lied to?  Who wants to be hated?  Who wants to be unfairly judged by double standards?  Not me!  And probably not anyone of us!  For that reason, we should treat others as we ourselves want to be treated.

Now I just want to remind Christians that this also applies to the way we treat our Muslim neighbors, including how we speak of them and speak to them.  In the wake of the latest act of terrorism in the Boston Marathon Bombings, perpetrated by a pair of self-professed Islamic Jihadist, questions about the beliefs of Islam are once again under the microscope.  That’s unfortunate because like us who are Christians, Muslims do not want the actions of one individual or small group to become the definition for what all Christians and Muslims believe.

So if we, who profess the Christian faith, are to take Jesus seriously, as we should, the “Golden rule” means…

  • That we speak kindly and generously about Muslims rather than passing on half truths couched within condescending remarks and demeaning images, since we want them to do with regards to us.
  • That we assume the best about every individual Muslim, especially those we do not know personally just as we want hope they will do with us.
  • That we avoid making claims about what the Qur’an does and does not teach based on hearsay and decontextualized proof-texting since we would rather Muslims not do with the Bible.
  • That we stop making judgments about Islam and all Muslims based on the evil actions of some professed Muslims since we don’t like to be judged and have Christianity judged based on the evil actions of some professed Christians (i.e., the Westboro Baptist Church).
  • That whenever possible, we talk with our Muslim neighbors rather than just talk about them.

And remember that regardless of what any Muslim says or does, as Christians, we are to do what Jesus says and does!

May God bless us to be the ministers of reconciliation we have been called to be in Jesus Christ!

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Posted in Contemporary Culture, Faith, Scripture

The Church, Living Artwork

Posted on April 23, 2013 | 1 Comment

It has been said many times that a picture is worth a thousand words.  It’s true.  In fact, some pictures are words thousands upon thousands of words.  That’s the beauty of imagery.  It needs very little, if any, explanation.  For example, look at the picture to the left.  If you see this on a hiking trail, do you really need someone to explain anything else?

Do you know that this is what we, the church, are to be?  Ephesians 2:10 reads, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (italics mine).  The word “handiwork” in the Greek New Testament is poiēma which is where we also get the English word “poem” or “poetry” from.  In other words, we, the church, are God’s poetry.  Or as the New Jerusalem Bible reads, “We are God’s work of art…”

The gem is that we are God’s living artwork.  That is, as we live a life of good works we become living artwork rather than a static piece of art.  As this living artwork engaged in good works (ministering to others, proclaiming the gospel, etc…), we participate in the mission of God as we point to the glory of God and his coming reign.  As Jürgen Moltmann says, “The church in the power of the Spirit is not yet the kingdom of God, but it is its anticipation in history” (The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 196).

And this is an image worth thousands and thousands of words which needs little explaining, as it is the masterpiece of God!

Next week I’ll be teaching a class at the 2013 Pepperdine University Bible Lectures on this very idea of us, the church, as the living artwork of God titled God’s Masterpiece: The Church as the Magnum Opus of God.  The class will meet Thursday, May 2nd at 1:30 PM in AC 286.  If you are attending the lectures then perhaps this is a class for you (and yes, that was a shameless plugin).  Of course, there will be many other great classes, keynote addresses, worship and fellowship time too…and it’s in Malibu, California (another image that needs no further explanation).

Any ways, think about how much effort has been invested in Christian apologetics.  Sometimes apologetics are necessary and I’m thankful for those highly skilled in the field of Christian apologetics.  But I also think it needs to be said that perhaps the best apologetic we, the church, can offer is ourselves when we embrace our identity as the God’s living artwork.  What do you think?

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Posted in Churches of Christ, Kingdom of God, Missions and Ministry, Scripture, Theology

In The Wake of Terror…What Shall We Do?

Posted on April 17, 2013 | 1 Comment

This past Monday another act of terrorism reminded us once again of how broken the world really is.*  In the months to come, the authorities will investigate and do everything within their power to hold accountable those responsible.  While it may give some solace that such criminals will not go unpunished, it won’t make the world a safer and more hospitable place.  

In the meantime there have been many prayers lifted up for those directly impacted by the bombing.  As prayers were encouraged, I heard the question raised of why God doesn’t do something.  That’s a good question but I must say that God is doing something.  I just wonder how many people are interested in what God is doing since it calls for our participation.

PARTICIPATING WITH GOD!

The story of the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ is God becoming one of us in the person of Jesus Christ.  Not only is Jesus crucified for the sins of the world and then raised from death, Jesus also teaches us to live the life we were created for.  This life is summed up as the kingdom of God, which is part of the good news Jesus proclaimed (cf. Mk 1:14-15).  It’s the life where God reigns and we learn to live as both a blessing to others and a witness of this new life that God is restoring in Jesus Christ.

In the wake of hatred and violence, we must remind ourselves that this kingdom way of life is characterized by the virtue of love.  We not only love God but we also love our neighbors, one another, and even our enemies (cf. Matt 5:44; 22:37-40; Mk 12:29-31; Lk 6:27; 10:27; Jn 13:34-35; 15:12-13).  We practice love rather than hate, forgiveness rather than keeping record of wrong, pursuing mercy and peace even when others would rather inflict harm and injury.  We do this not because it promises to immediately end all acts of evil in this world.  Rather, we live this way because it is the only way in which our world, enslaved in darkness, will see the light and learn that there is another way of life it has been created to live.

I know that in the wake of terror, some want vengeance.  As sensical as that seems, blood for blood and life for life only begets the brokenness of our world and further exasperates the divisions and animosity that keeps our real enemy, Satan, pleased.  What we must remind ourselves of is that Jesus Christ was crucified and has been raised from death.  His death and resurrection is the victory which liberates us from the tyranny of sin and death.  It’s the promise that no matter what our enemies do to us, we are free to love them as Jesus loves his enemies because there is nothing — not even death — which can defeat us in Christ.

In this way we join with God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and participate in what God is doing which is creating a future kingdom community that has begun breaking into the present.  Here in this future kingdom is where love wins because practices such as compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and peace-making become the constant way of life.  

IF WE WON’T, THEN WHO?

So let me suggest that the question should not be about why God isn’t doing anything but whether or not we will participate in what God is doing.  In the wake of terror, there won’t be any shortage of voices calling for vengeance, demanding answers, and demanding the government.  But what shall we do?

What the world needs most is for the church to be what only the church can be, participatory witnesses of what God is doing.  If we won’t, then who?  And if we won’t, then with every evil act, the world will cry out again asking why God isn’t doing anything.

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* This post is a slightly modified version originally published as an article of the same title in Connecting 28 (April 17, 2013), a biweekly publication of the Columbia Church of Christ.

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Posted in Columbia Church of Christ, Contemporary Culture, Kingdom of God, Missions and Ministry, Scripture

Practicing the Promise of Easter

Posted on April 8, 2013 | 3 Comments

Major League Baseball officially began a week ago.*  Fans are full of optimism.  Even though my team, the Cubs, ended the first week with a 2-4 record, I still am optimistic that they can at least play competitive .500 baseball this season.  Of course, a month or two from now much of the optimism will be gone for some.  By then fans will know which teams have a realistic chance of playing meaningful baseball in October during the playoffs and which do not.  After all the expectations and work which the players have put in during the off season, hat’s somewhat disappointing.

The Game that Matters

Then again, baseball is only a game.  When it comes to our own lives…  Well, that’s a different matter.  Failure and defeat are not viable options.  In a Nietzschean worldview where God is dead and life depends on the will to power, the fear of loss and defeat means we must act for our own interests.  That might seem ok if we happen to be the strong who sit atop of the food chain, so to speak.  But most of us are not!  And even the alpha-male dog eventually weakens.

According to a Nietzschean worldview, success depends on independent strength and a willingness to overcome whatever threatens our survival.  Taken to the extreme, we must kill or be killed.  It’s a philosophy ignorant of the sovereign yet benevolent God who stamps his image upon us as his creation.  Consequently, it views human life as animal life where one is either predator or prey.

Yet this way of life is not as foreign to as we might wish to believe.  Turn on the news, the television, etc…  Our world is a place of power where people make decisions every day that serve their own interests, placing their own needs above others, and with enough strength, ascend to the top.

The Game Changer

Fortunately, we know better.  We know because Jesus Christ was crucified and has resurrected, that he has destroyed every kingdom, authority, and power.  We know because of his death and resurrection, that we can never achieve the victorious immortality we crave through our own strength and initiative but in Christ alone.  We know that through his death and resurrection, Jesus frees us from all selfish needs and gives us the power to live as servants of each other.  We know…

Or do we know?

After spelling out the cosmic implications of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Paul had one practical admonition for the Corinthian Christians.  “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58, NIV).  I guess Paul understood how easy it is to spiritualize the gospel, separating it from the way Christians are called to live.

So if I may be so presumptuous, I’ll tell you what I think we know.  I think we encounter the Nietzschean worldview every day in our world making it very difficult to believe that God is bringing about his kingdom here on earth, restoring life as God created and redeemed life to be lived.  That’s why we must hear the gospel of Jesus Christ again and again so that we will stand firm in our faith, knowing that living in the way of Jesus is not in vain.  Unless we do that, the gospel is nothing but one of many religious stories to tell ourselves.  If God is making all things new in Christ, through his death and resurrection, as we confess then we must live accordingly! 

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* This post is a slightly modified version originally published as an article of the same title in Connecting 28 (April 3, 2013), a biweekly publication of the Columbia Church of Christ.

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Posted in Columbia Church of Christ, Contemporary Culture, Faith, Redemption, Scripture, Theology