It’s during such seasons that we have to exhibit, as Brennan Manning suggests, a “ruthless trust.” When we’ve prayed and cried to God for deliverance and still find ourselves no better off, God’s character and commitment must sustain us.While I certainly don’t want to appear glib or offer shallow explanations about life’s complex issues, ruthless…
When people complain that they don’t understand someone, I sometimes respond with, “That’s nothing. I don’t understand myself.” If love is based on understanding, it is going to be almost non-existent. We all cry out for unconditional love; if it is conditional, it isn’t love, it is based on something we do to merit that…
Ever present in John’s mind is the challenge posed by the secessionists. The secessionists have been suggesting that faith alone is necessary for salvation, without any corresponding deeds. The issue, as Raymond Brown notes, isn’t hypocrisy. The issue is the secessionists “taught that actions or deeds were not salvifically important since one already possessed eternal…
But how should these points work themselves out into the lives of followers of Jesus? Let me suggest some ideas: Henry Neufeld, Not Ashamed of the Gospel, p. 32-33
According to John, as noted in a previous meditation, maybe more than any other New Testament document, breathes the atmosphere of the Old Testament. Even though a dualism between the flesh and the Spirit is pervasive in it, and it utilizes the Greek vocabulary with evident nuance and a broad understanding of its philosophical connotations,…
