The first thing one sees, upon entering our house through the front door, is a glass-enclosed atrium, approximately 10x10 and open to the sky. Inside the atrium are a small waterfall and a little pool. Animated by a hidden circulating pump, the two water features bring inside the house the sight and sound of one of Nature's wonders. Around the water in all directions, a few plants and assorted flowers complete the picture. A day or two ago I was looking at the scene and enjoying the quiet when I happened to notice a beautiful white blossom in the process of unfolding. Not having seen it … [Read more...]
Perspectives on infant baptism
A gracEmail subscriber requests some larger perspective on the differences among Christians regarding infant baptism. In the following answer, we will distinguish between Christians holding two points of view and practicing accordingly. PEDO- Baptists baptize babies; CREDO-Baptists baptize only professing believers. * * * In the Book of Acts, Luke tells how the Holy Spirit empowered the gospel proclamation to produce the original generation of Christians throughout the Mediterranean world. Sometimes Luke says that converts believed (Acts 16:33-34), were baptized (Acts 16:15) and … [Read more...]
churches’ actions show real beliefs (2 parts)
Part 1 The good news is that in 2013, autonomous congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) did what their name suggests and baptized more than 300,000 new converts by total immersion. The bad news is that the SBC baptismal tally during 2013 is down more than 100,000 from the number reported in 2009. The decline represents a 26% drop in yearly baptisms, and the lowest number of baptisms reported by Southern Baptists for any year since 1948. Moved, no doubt, by sheer embarrassment as well as by genuine concern, the Baptists did what good American Protestants do … [Read more...]
TIMES WHITE-HOT WITH PROPHETIC MEANING
When one comes to view human history as God views it, that person understands very well why our times fairly bristle with excitement. The mere mention of the ancient prophetic writings--their secrets long judiciously hidden, leaves us white-hot with apocalyptic expectation, eager to experience all that God has prepared for his People. That is not surprising considering the facts. Joined to Jesus, we are part of God's unfolding story of divine reclamation and redemption. The story includes his rescue of us as individuals, to be sure, but it also encompasses very much more--the fulfillment of … [Read more...]
THIN PLACES
Sometime during our lives we all will likely experience a moment so transcendently beautiful that time seems to freeze and the world stands still. The trigger for such a moment can take a thousand forms: a piece of music or a work of art; great literature read aloud; the contemplation of pure math. More often it is the scent of honeysuckle, a perfect sunset, or the face of a child. Marital intimacy can become such a sacred pathway, as can at times a simple and truthful prayer. Celtic Christianity saw each such experience as a sign of God's grace--a "thin space" or "thin place," where opaque … [Read more...]
THIN PLACES
Sometime during our lives we all will likely experience a moment so transcendently beautiful that time seems to freeze and the world stands still. The trigger for such a moment can take a thousand forms: a piece of music or a work of art; great literature read aloud; the contemplation of pure math. More often it is the scent of honeysuckle, a perfect sunset, or the face of a child. Marital intimacy can become such a sacred pathway, as can at times a simple and truthful prayer. Celtic Christianity saw each such experience as a sign of God's grace--a "thin space" or "thin place," where opaque … [Read more...]
out of chaos new world emerges
With the Flood, order reverts to chaos and creation is undone. Outside the Ark beneath the silent primordial ocean, the earth again is formless and empty of breathing life. Soon will come a new creation--as was the first, wakened by breath or wind of God. Like the first creation, it emerges step-by-orderly-step out of the primordial Deep, following the general pattern of the Six Days of Genesis 1:3-31, to become the home of a new creation and a rescued humankind. Just as the spirit (or Spirit) of God originally hovered over the chaotic and oceanic Deep (Gen. 1:2), now a "wind" from God … [Read more...]
One mighty act that includes all
Did Jesus' work merely make it possible for sinners to enjoy at-one-ment with God if they follow through, correctly and precisely, so that they complete what Jesus only started? We find answers in the opening words of a single sentence: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor. 5:19). From the moment of the first human sin and even before, restoring right relationship between sinners and God was top priority on God's personal list of things to do. This job was too important to delegate it to any angel, much less to any mere mortal. God assigned this task to Jesus of … [Read more...]
GracEmail special
THE ASSIGNMENT The first rays of morning gradually illumined the volcanic mountains before me, and the cobblestone streets of Antigua glowed softly beneath my feet. It was August 2007, and I was in this picturesque Guatemalan village on professional retreat with my employer, the Lanier Law Firm of Houston, Texas. During this early morning walk, I was asking God for a new assignment -- something he would enable me to do to bless others and to bring him honor. the answer Within hours, I began to sense an answer. I was to encourage some of God's people by writing a new commentary on Hebrews. … [Read more...]
Hopeless Mike
You would never suspect it from his appearance--tall, pleasant smile, brushed back white hair--someone's "Grandpa Mike," you imagine (not his real name). Nothing he does betrays his secret either, as we work side by side in occupational therapy this morning, here at Rehab Hospital in Houston's western suburb of Katy. Suddenly Mike grimaces and a look of pain crosses his face. "It's so frustrating," he says. "Completely hopeless." He cannot hear, Mike tells me, but he reads lips some. He speaks but without context. He is too blind to read--but not too blind to see things not there. Tormenting … [Read more...]