But not the kind of sexual frustration that first popped into your head!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
What did Jesus save me from?
I have grown up in the church and therefore, don't have a dramatic conversion story of Jesus saving me from drugs, alcoholism, a life of miserable promiscuity, abusive relationships, and so on. This past week, a radio station, I'm sure many are familiar with, K-LOVE, posed the question to its readers, "What did Jesus save you from?" with a challenge to take a photograph of yourself with a sign saying "Jesus saved me from [fill in the blank]!" Usually contests like this make me roll my eyes and move on without much consideration, but this one really made me think about what Jesus had saved me from.
All the time I hear stories about how Jesus saved individuals from the things mentioned above, but what did He really save us from? Jesus didn't promise a life of peace and prosperity here and now - in fact, He promised the opposite. He said that he came to turn brother against brother, father against son, and mother against daughter. He promised suffering, and pain. He promised hardships.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Why do Calvinists and Arminians hate each other?
Okay, so maybe hate is a strong word, but you can't deny there is a tension between these two groups of believers.
When you put a bunch of Christians in a room together, a lot of disagreements can occur, but few will be as heated as the argument of predestination (Calvinism) or free-will (Arminianism). The doctrines themselves are a big deal, granted, but I wonder if they are a big enough to get as worked up about them as people do.
I have a few ideas as to why this may be so. The biggest is how people who believe these different doctrines view and think of God. Calvinists tend to see God as sovereign and majestic, sometimes at the expense of loving and gracious, and Armenians vice versa. Another thing that tends to differentiate between the two camps is how church is run. The former camp is usually much more structured and traditional, and the latter is more commonly more flexible and changing. Calvinists also are more known for sticking to older and more traditional beliefs while Armenians can keep the same beliefs, but are often coming up with different ways to explaining them.
When you put a bunch of Christians in a room together, a lot of disagreements can occur, but few will be as heated as the argument of predestination (Calvinism) or free-will (Arminianism). The doctrines themselves are a big deal, granted, but I wonder if they are a big enough to get as worked up about them as people do.
I have a few ideas as to why this may be so. The biggest is how people who believe these different doctrines view and think of God. Calvinists tend to see God as sovereign and majestic, sometimes at the expense of loving and gracious, and Armenians vice versa. Another thing that tends to differentiate between the two camps is how church is run. The former camp is usually much more structured and traditional, and the latter is more commonly more flexible and changing. Calvinists also are more known for sticking to older and more traditional beliefs while Armenians can keep the same beliefs, but are often coming up with different ways to explaining them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)