Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 38)

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“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17.

We recently finished a special study about God’s Eternal Plan for Overcoming the World – a plan that Father, Son and Holy Spirit designed together before time began, before God created “the world.” If you haven’t read it yet, you may find it helpful before moving to the next part of our study.

You may also find it helpful to look back at our introduction to Acts 1:16-17 to remember some of the important aspects of Paul’s letter to the Romans and the honor-shame culture in which they lived.

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Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 37)

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“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.”

We are currently looking at God’s Eternal Plan for Overcoming the World – a plan Father, Son and Holy Spirit designed together before time began, before God created “the world.”

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Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 36)

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“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.”

In our last study we looked at God’s Plan for Reconciliation. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and joined with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit in determining and designing an eternal plan “before time began.” We see God’s Plan revealed through God’s Word.

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Christian Unity … Think About It (Part 8)

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What do you think about these two statements – 

“So was Jesus’s death necessary for our redemption? From God’s end of it did Jesus have to die? Absolutely not. In no sense is God’s forgiveness conditioned upon Jesus’s death. God forgives sin because God is a forgiving God. Nor does our personal transformation into God’s likeness demand Jesus’s death either. Persons of other religious faiths are able to relate to God and pursue other paths of transformation apart from attaching any saving significance to the death of their mediators.”

“Today I readily acknowledge that 1 Timothy was written several decades after Paul by someone within the Pauline tradition who clearly did not accept Paul’s original egalitarian theological and social vision.”

Both of these came from recent posts on the Emerging Voices Blog and are examples of the kind of teaching expressed through the Emerging Church/Progressive Christianity. Do either of these statements sound like “orthodox” Christianity?

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Christian Unity … Think About It (Part 7)

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We are looking into a unity movement in and around the Christian community known as Emergent Church. Tony Jones, one of the founders of the movement, defined terms within the movement like this:

  • emergent Christianity – The new forms of Christian faith arising from the old; the Christianity believed and practiced by the emergents.
  • the emergent church – The specifically new forms of church life rising from the modern, American church of the twentieth century.
  • the emergents – The adherents of emergent Christianity.
  • Emergent – Specifically referring to the relational network which formed first in 1997; also known as Emergent Village.

We looked at the influence of Tony Jones, Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt through their books and speaking.  Other major influences have been websites, blogs and social media.

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Christian Unity … Think About It (Part 6)

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In our last article about Christian Unity, we looked at one of the founders of the Emergent/Emerging Church – Tony Jones. In fact, the E/EC movement had its beginnings at his family’s cabin in the north woods of Minnesota at the turn of the 21st century. Jones is a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and the theologian-in-residence at Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis.

Prior to Tony Jones we learned about Brian McLaren, a man Time Magazine named as one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America in 2005.

We move now to a third founder and leader of the E/EC movement – Doug Pagitt.

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Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 35)

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“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.”

In our last study we looked at God’s Plan – a plan Father, Son and Holy Spirit designed together in eternity, before time began (2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2)

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and joined with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit in determining an eternal plan “before time began.” We see God’s Plan revealed through God’s Word.

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Christian Unity … Think About It (Part 5)

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In our last article about Christian Unity, we looked at a leader of the Emergent/Emerging Church who Time Magazine named “one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America.” His name is Brian McLaren.

We also saw definitions of “emergent Christianity, the emergent church, the emergents, and Emergent” by another leader in the movement – Tony Jones.

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How To Choose The Best Leader For A Nation

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American politicsI have never endorsed a candidate for public office, whether it was for district attorney, mayor, city councilor, state representative, U.S. Senator or President of the United States. That was both necessary and demanded of journalists 50 years ago. Audiences and readers were able to trust that the news they saw on TV, heard on radio and read in newspapers was objective and fair because most journalists were objective and fair.

The first national election I covered as a journalist was Richard Nixon vs Hubert Humphrey vs George Wallace in 1968. It was a difficult election year for many reasons. It was the first presidential election after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. George Wallace led a strong third party effort based on the idea of racial segregation. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April of ’68, which led to riots across the country. Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June of ’68, just two months before the Democratic National Convention. The Democratic Convention in Chicago was the scene of violent protests between young people who were against the Vietnam War and police and national guardsmen. I mention that as a reminder that this year’s presidential election is not the first time electing a President has been a challenge for the country.

Our nation is made up of tens of millions of voting-age people who have a wide range of political viewpoints. Who can bring us together? Who can best lead us into our country’s future? As I mentioned earlier, I have never endorsed a candidate for public office and won’t begin now. However, I do have some great advice for you.

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Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 34)

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“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17

In our last study we looked at God’s plan – a plan Father, Son and Holy Spirit designed together in eternity, before creation, before time began. We saw how the plan unfolded in the garden of Eden as the serpent deceived the woman and through that deception has deceived “the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). We saw how God quickly took control of the problem and presented the solution – “So the Lord God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:14-15). Jesus Christ won that victory on the Cross.

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