“soul-transforming” knowledge

I thought I would post this quote from John Owen in his The Nature of Mortification.  It shows two things: first, the incredible density of his prose (this is one of his more succinct sections) and secondly, the importance of knowing “rightly” – not just the right “stuff.” 

The difference between believers and unbelievers as to knowledge is not so much in the matter of their knowledge as in the manner of knowing.  Unbelievers, some of them, may know more and be able to say more of God, his perfections, and his will, than many believers; but they know nothing as they ought, nothing in a right manner, nothing spiritually and savingly, nothing with a holy, heavenly light.  The excellency of a believer is, not that he has a large apprehension of things, but that what he does apprehend, which perhaps may be very little, he sees it in the light of the Spirit of God, in a saving, soul-transforming light; and this is that whicch gives us communion with God, and not prying thoughts or curious-raised notions.  (Owen, John. Overcoming Sin & Temptation, p. 117)

The Ascended One pt. 3

Some people simply have the right connections; they know the right people in the right places.  They have the best recommendations for jobs, they know who to talk to for free tickets, they always seem to know the owner or manager at the restaurant, they know the right people for the latest scoop on the housing market.  They have the right connections.  The proverbial saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is a reality for these people.  As Christians we have the SUPREME connection in Jesus Christ the Ascended One.

Theological Quiz

You scored as Reformed Evangelical, You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God’s Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are sceptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die. Reformed Evangelical 75% Neo orthodox 71% Roman Catholic 68% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 61% Emergent/Postmodern 61% Classical Liberal 50% Charismatic/Pentecostal 43% Fundamentalist 43% Modern Liberal 14% What’s your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

The Ascended One pt. 2

During the past few months I have been struck time and again on how world-affirming the Scriptures are.  I don’t mean the values of the world, for clearly the Bible talks about dying to the world and not being of the world, but I mean the creation itself.  The Bible is creation-affirming.  I was struck by this again after reading the Resurrection stories and the Ascension stories. 

The Ascended One pt.1

What type of Christ do we worship?  Is it the Christ-child of Bethlehem?  The brilliant rabbi of the first century?  The suffering servant?  The Risen One?  Hopefully our answer to these questions is an emphatic “YES!”  We worship Jesus and celebrate the various aspects of his ministry through days set aside on our calendars.  Christmas – the Christ-child, Good Friday – the suffering servant, and Easter – the Risen One.  Some people who are more attuned to the Christian calendar might also know of a season called Epiphany that highlights Jesus’ ministry and teaching.  Unfortunately, however, a large segment of the church has all but forgotten a key day and more importantly, the idea that the day reminds us of.  That day is Ascension Day. 

“reality is iconoclastic”

I recently showed Shadowlands (the true story of C.S. Lewis and his wife Joy – a MUST watch) to my students which caused me to read Lewis’s A Grief Observed – his reflections on pain and suffering.  Within the context of mourning the loss of a loved one, Lewis discusses our view of God.  He says that just as our “image” or perception of someone is always changing, so our image of God is always changing.  Let me quote at length:

Images, I must suppose, have their use or they would not have been so popular. (It makes little difference whether they are pictures and statues outside the mind or imaginative constructions within it.) To me, however, their danger is more obvious.  Images of the Holy easily become holy images – sacrosanct.  My idea of God is not a divine idea.  It has to be shattered time after time.  He shatters it Himself.  He is the great iconoclast.  Could we not almost say that this shattering is one of the marks of His presence?  The Incarnation is the supreme example; it leaves all previous ideas of the Messiah in ruins.  And most are ‘offended’ by the iconoclasm; and blessed are those who are not.  But the same thing happens in our private prayers.

All reality is iconoclastic.  (Lewis, A Grief Observed, page 52)

“Reality is iconoclastic.”  Reality tears down our constructed images (icons) and ideas about God.  Just when we think we have God nailed down He acts, He surprises, He is.  The danger is that we begin to worship our idea of God rather than the Living God Himself; we exalt our theology (words about God) over the Theo Logos (God-Word, John 1).

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth below or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…” (Exodus 20:4,5).  God forbids our bowing down to our own theologies and ideas of God; he requires that we worship Him – the true Living God, the great I AM.