Archive for Theology
Cultivating a Holy Longing
Posted by: | CommentsIn his book, The Gospel for Real Life, Jerry Bridges writes,
Generally speaking, believers who have the least benefits of this life have the most vigorous hopes of heaven.
He’s right, right? I believe so. After all, if you have nothing here and God promises you a New Heaves and New Earth in which perfect righteousness dwells, you should have easier time focusing on the future. If all is going well for you here, your relative blessing oftentimes will obscure the perfect blessing that is soon to come.
So what do we do if life is going along quite well? If we are enjoying the benefits of this life in greater measure than many others, must we forgo them in order to long more for heaven?
Lest we think it doesn’t matter whether we long for the life to come, check out Hebrews 9:27-28,
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Did you catch that last part? ‘To save those who are eagerly waiting for him.’ That’s no joke huh? Though salvation is solely through faith in Christ, those who faith will eagerly wait.
And yet, we are so apt to feel quite at home here. Life gets going and we think little of the perfect life to come, where those who believe in Christ will live with Him and enjoy life as it ought to be and a thousand times better.
So back to our question: what do we do if our life here is pretty nice? Here’s two suggestions I have probably mentioned before.
1) Read the Bible and good books until you figure out what Heaven is really like and going to be like. Most of us aren’t as clear about the life to come as we may think we are. Do you think Heaven is singing hymns in the clouds with angels? Well then, you are way off and need to read up. Heaven by Randy Alcorn is a great place to start.
2) Cultivate a holy longing for the life to come by diligently seeking the Lord and asking Him for it. Word and prayer. It’s tough to get too much of these.
There is more that we can do, no doubt, but that is a good place to start. For no matter where we are or what is going on in our lives, we will do well to cultivate a holy longing for Christ and the life to come. Believe it or not, it will enable us to live much better here.
Imagination: Better than a Movie
Posted by: | CommentsIf my Amazon Widget thing were working off the right of my page, you would be able to see that I am currently reading The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. They are, quite simply, great books. Or I suppose I should say it is one great story, because it really is all one, divided as it may be. It has taken me a while to move through the work, and I still have a little less than a third to go, but I have enjoyed it thoroughly.
I have, however, run into one problem: I watched the movies first.
What a mistake this was. In hindsight, I think I would have been better off locking myself in a room for a few days and completing the entire book before headed out to see the films. The reason? Well, because I realize that my imagination has been hampered by watching the films. Rather than allowing the book to stimulate images within, I keep thinking about Elijah Wood and the guy from Rudy.
This isn’t to say that the movies were bad. No way. After finishing my reading, I am going to watch them again. It’s just to say that they can’t be as good as reading the book and using your imagination. At least first. Not to mention, the movie can’t tell the entire story, even when it runs three hours, as the films do. A good rule of thumb for any classic book made into a movie seems to be: Make sure you read the book first!
It’s a good rule, one that leads me to a greater appreciation for a good story and the importance of reading good stories. Even more, it helps me understand why the Bible is such a powerful book, for it is the work of the greatest Storyteller and indeed, when rightly understood and embraced, contains the greatest story every told. No film can capture that entire work, only bits and pieces, so we better make sure to read that one first.
Back to Blogging
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s time, I suppose, to get back to some consistent blogging. I guess I more or less took the summer off. As usual, I missed some aspects of blogging, but not others. Any good practice is mingled with both good things and not so good things, it seems.
Interestingly enough, it was an article I read this morning that stirred me to make a post. It’s a few years old and entitled, Why We Love Football. Written by a Steelers fan and associate professor of history at Geneva College, it offers sounds wisdom concerning the world of professional sports, seen in particular through the influence of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I wrestle a great deal with the ‘already, not-yet’ tension of the kingdom of God– the fact that according to Scripture, the kingdom of God has already come, but not yet fully and finally as it one day will be. It’s vital to embrace both truths. But how that works out in life and reflection is often quite difficult to discern. This article, in my opinion, discerned through the issue at hand quite well.
If I still have any readers out there, don’t be shy with your thoughts.
