Archive for the ‘Trinity’ Category
Sermon: The Relational God of Covenant (NOT Contract!) Part A
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Evangelism, Gospel, Perichoresis, Sermons, Trinity |
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So, did Jesus come to get you to sign a contract in order to have a relationship with God (as religion misinforms us!), OR, Did Jesus come in God’s Relational and Self-sacrificing Love to fulfill both sides of a Covenant that would make You God’s Person, and Make God your God, regardless? The difference between Contract and Covenant is CRUCIAL to experiencing the Good News of the Gospel, and this message helps you distinguish between the two!
More “Counseling with Others in the Good News of Jesus” Part 1
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Evangelism, Gospel, Perichoresis, Relationships, Trinity |
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Someone wrote me recently asking a few questions about the struggles they face trying to communicate the Gospel with others. I thought you might be interested in how I responded even as you form your own creative responses in participation with Jesus as He proclaims His Good News over others in every kind of situation! This post will only cover question number one. [Sentences have been restructured to grant anonymity and add clarity]
Question 1 “How do I help the 17-year-old who is on drugs? My 17 year old Christian baptized niece is struggling with this issue. She really loves the music of the day. One of the songs is “*@#!, Money, and $%&^.” I am faced with dealing with youngsters smoking weed, sometimes people over drinking, as well as friends and co-workers on crack. Also I deal with young people, co-workers, friends, family, and at times church members involved in sexual immorality; fornication, adultery, pornography, and couples living together without marriage.”
My Response: In short, you ask Jesus to help you see them more clearly for who they really are in Him and that they may see it too! Then, in all of the grace The Father provides you in the Spirit, you proclaim Jesus Christ over them ANY and EVERY CHANCE you get! Remember, the Truth for us is not simply a doctrine or one statement that is better than other statements. Jesus IS literally the Truth, and in His humanity has claimed and elected every human being, and is in union with them! To proclaim Christ over others is to think of them and say to them who and what they are in Christ.
Upon greeting or leaving them you might say something like “Good to see you daughter (or son) the Father always wanted and has claimed in Jesus and the Spirit in such a way He will never let you go!” Believe me, THAT will get you a different look from them than you have ever seen before! And it is certainly more refreshing than the same old tired refrain of “You should be doing this, and you should be doing that because God can’t bless you if you don’t, plus you’ll roast in hell for eternity!” And you say it no matter what when you meet and greet them. This Gospel is true and without condition, and they can begin to experience that Light even in their darkness!
As you speak about their troubles and struggles, you should speak out of the Gospel and say something like “Niece (or daughter, or son), or friend, it is because you are the Child the Father always wanted, I want to help see you overcome these troublesome behaviors! Is there anything I can do to help you avoid and/or fight this destructive habit or behavior? Can we talk to Jesus right now about it?”
Regardless of what they say, you can at the very least let them know that they won’t suffer or struggle through it alone, that you will stand with them through it, and that even behind-the-scenes you will be praying and struggling with them in prayer!
As far as other practical resources go, I would suggest you make them copies of one or both of these short booklets – The Secret & The Parable of the Dancing God – (perhaps reading these booklets with them!), and I am sure they will begin to identify themselves in the stories as the Gospel overflows and baptizes them in the assurance of Jesus through word and deed!
Hardly anything has helped my Church grow in their understanding of the Gospel as these booklets (which you may duplicate and hand out to others for free!) My local congregation devours them and the teenagers are even reading and being encouraged by them!
The key is that you must, in one real sense, look past even bad behavior, at first, and see them in the fundamentally correct light of who they are in Jesus, THEN you can confront them in His freedom to be FOR them even when you may have to be AGAINST them, temporarily, in order to be FOR them in the light of who they really are! Make sense?
Think of sinful behavior as mud on the face of your child. Mud definitely distorts who they are and what they look like in some way, but it does not change who they truly are! Once the mud has been cleaned off, it can be seen that fundamentally they are still who they always were, good and of the Relationally Good God Who created them. In Christ the mud has already been cleansed off of our humanity and the Holy Spirit now works with, and educates, us to believe that truth in the shared faith of Jesus until it fully manifests itself in our resurrected selves.
(Here are links to two other previous posts on this topic, if you’re interested)
~ Timothy J. Brassell
Sermon: Jesus – God’s Relationship Solution (NOT Penal Substitution!) Part 2
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Evangelism, Gospel, Perichoresis, Sermons, Trinity |
Leave a comment Jesus – God’s Relationship Solution (NOT Penal Substitution!), Part 2 by Tim Brassell
So, did Jesus die to reconcile God to us OR did Jesus (God Himself!) die to reconcile us back to God and to each other? Hmmmm… And whom do the scriptures say took out their wrath on Jesus – His Father OR us sinners? hmmm… Check out part 2 of this message of God’s Good News and its graciously good implications for you and me and all of our relationships!
Practical Theology
Filed under: By Jonathan Stepp, Christian Living, Church, Evangelism, Gospel, Ministry, Perichoresis, Trinity |
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Here’s a classic post I first wrote four years ago. Hope you enjoy the summer rerun!
A few months back a friend of mine sent me several questions about the way I understand the gospel.
Briefly: I understand the gospel to be the good news that the Father, Son and Spirit created humanity in order to adopt us into their shared life of love, joy, and freedom (Eph. 1:3-5) and that they accomplished this plan of adoption through the Son’s incarnation as the man Jesus Christ (Heb. 2:10-18). The good news is that all of humanity is included in the joy of the Triune Life because Jesus is the union between the Trinity and humanity (Rom. 5:18, Col. 1:20).
Here was one of my friends questions: What are the practical implications of Trinitarian theology? Does it affect how we live and preach the gospel?
My answer was simple: It changes everything.
I no longer look at my kids and think “how can I help them see they are lost sinners and accept Christ so they won’t go to hell?” I look at them and think “how can I help them see they are children of the Father and everything in their life is a participation in the Triune dance the Father shares with the Son and the Spirit?”
I no longer look at my congregations and think “how can I get them busy building the kingdom and saving the lost?” I look at them and think “how can I help them embrace the truth of how they have always been included in the life of the Father, Son and Spirit and always will be no matter what happens?”
I no longer look at un-churched people and think “how can I get them to accept Christ and come to church?” I look at them and think “how can I break through their blindness to help them begin to see how they were saved in Christ before they were ever born and how every good thing they’ve ever experienced is because the Father is sharing his life with them through the Son in the Spirit?”
I no longer look at myself and think “what do I need to do to be in God’s will and do what’s right?” I look at myself and think “hooray! My Dad in heaven loves me and I’m in him through Jesus and he’s in me through Jesus and I don’t ever have to worry about anything ever again!!!”
What we are talking about here is not just “a theology” it is the gospel declared by Jesus, preached by the apostles, and handed down by the Fathers. It is the end of religion, programs, and the whole human treadmill of trying to “get right” with God and “build” something for him. It is freedom to the captives and good news to the poor.
None of our old wineskins of singing, praying, preaching, or doing church will ever be adequate to hold this new wine.
It changes everything.
~ Jonathan Stepp
Sermon: Jesus – God’s Relationship Solution (NOT Penal Substitution!) Part 1
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Gospel, Perichoresis, Sermons, Trinity |
Leave a comment Jesus – God’s Relationship Solution (NOT Penal Substitution!), Part 1 by Tim Brassell
So, did Jesus die to reconcile God to us OR did Jesus (God Himself!) die to reconcile us back to God and to each other? Hmmmm… And whom do the scriptures say took out their wrath on Jesus – His Father OR us sinners? hmmm… Check out part 1 of this message of God’s Good News and its graciously good implications for you and me and all of our relationships!
Death and Butterflies
Filed under: By Nan Kuhlman, Christian Living, The Plan of Adoption, Trinity, Uncategorized | Tags: Alzheimer's disease, butterflies, caterpillar, death, Maya Angelou
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We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes
it has gone through to achieve that beauty. ~Maya Angelou
My mother-in-law, Joan Kuhlman, passed away a few weeks ago from Alzheimer’s disease. A beautiful butterfly wreath adorned her door at the nursing home during her last day of life, most likely to make the staff aware that a resident was dying. The motif of butterflies reappeared in the lovely floral casket spray, without our special request. Because this symbol of rebirth kept coming up, the beauty of butterflies and their vision of hope made me reflect on death as a change of life rather than an end of life.
Death is a journey into the unknown, and although reports of those who have died and were brought back to life seem encouraging, it truly is the “final frontier.” There is one, however, who took our mortality with him into death and then came through it, holding tightly to our hands:
Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening
and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a
single victorious stroke of Life, all three– sin, guilt, death– are gone, the gift of
our Master Jesus Christ. Thank God! (I Cor. 15:55, The Message)
When Christ entered death as the Son of God in the flesh, he took our humanity with him. Through death, he purged our collective human nature of its sin and gave us all eternal life. Many enjoy the knowledge and experience of this gift now; others will hopefully enjoy it in the future.
The life cycle of the butterfly is a useful illustration for us to consider. Although no analogy is perfect, the idea is probably pretty accurate that our human life now is like that of a caterpillar, growing yet limited. The idea of death as a cocoon reminds me of Christ’s three days in the tomb, and the emergence of a butterfly reveals the promise of resurrection to a life of glory. Maya Angelou’s quote sums up what we often think about death, that we don’t want to admit or acknowledge until it lands in our laps that it is indeed a natural part of our life cycle process. This part of our life cycle has its mysteries and its gruesomeness, much like the process of birth into life. Without this change, this time spent in a cocoon, there would be no butterflies.
Throughout her extended illness, the only thing our family wished was for Joan to be healed of this disease and for her to be restored to her normal personality. It was something we hoped and prayed for, yet in some respects, we were wishing for her to stay a “caterpillar.” We are certain, beyond any doubt, that Jesus Christ was with Joan in her cocoon, and just as certain that he will be in ours, too. For her, Alzheimer’s disease was an extended cocoon through which Joan, in her full glory, would emerge, more whole, well, and beautiful than we ever knew.
~by Nan Kuhlman
Good fences make good neighbors
Filed under: By John Stonecypher, Christian Living, Gospel, Love, Relationships, The Dance and Dream of the Trinity, The Plan of Adoption, Trinity |
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“Good fences make good neighbors.” It’s an old maxim which expresses the intuition that good relationships require strong personal boundaries, clear lines of who is responsible for what. I believe this flows neatly from the nature of God—the differentiated intimacy shared by Father, Son and Spirit. Because of this, I believe a properly Trinitarian theology must challenge the way “Grace” is sometimes preached—as a Gospel-of-Mushy-Boundaries.
It goes something like this: God has declared certain boundaries (rules) to guide human behavior, and the consequence for crossing those boundaries is death (including a one-way post-mortem trip to Hell). But Jesus, by going to the cross, has shielded us (or at least those of us who hold to the right beliefs) from the consequences of our bad choices. In other words, it’s the “good news” that God doesn’t take his boundaries seriously, at least not in any way that significantly affects us.
No wonder we’re so messed up! Because this vision of God affects more than just our theology. It teaches us that to love is to surrender boundaries, to take responsibility for others’ lives, and to shield them from the consequences of their decisions:
- “My wife drank too much last night and is now passed-out on the couch, but I love her unconditionally, so I will call her office and tell them she’s sick this morning.”
- “My husband beats me, but I love him unconditionally, so I will put make-up over the bruises so no one will find out.”
Codependent theology results in neurotic (and mutually injurious) relationships disguised as love.
Now, as a Trinitarian remedy to the above, here’s how I think it really works:
The Trinity made the choice to create me and adopt me, and is now experiencing the consequences of that choice. If you have ever chosen to love someone who has problems, then you have an idea of how much pain can result from such a choice. In God’s case, the choice to be with me required that He join me in Hell, but He seems to think the pain is worth it. It’s His decision to make, and that’s what matters. God’s choice in this matter is what forms the context in which I make my own choices, with the properly human freedom I possess in Christ.
Now, I can’t choose to be hated by God any more than I can choose what family I was born into. I can’t make any choice that will cause him ever treat me with anything other than a Father’s kindness. But I am free to choose to believe in a hateful god. I am free to experience the pain and alienation that comes from such a belief. I am free to engage in the anti-social behaviors that naturally spring from those feelings. And I am free to experience the increased levels of pain that result from such behaviors. This freedom (and the pain I am capable of inflicting on myself) continues post-mortem, but it would be a great act of un-love if God were to rob me of the consequences of my bad decisions. How else can a person learn to make better decisions?
Fairness
Filed under: By Jonathan Stepp, Christian Living, Gospel, Love, Perichoresis, Relationships, Trinity |
Leave a comment “That’s not fair!” How often did you say that as a kid? There is something innate in all of us that longs for fairness. But what is fairness?
Treating everyone in the same way seems to be a good, simple definition and works well in childhood. But when you start raising your own kids it gets more complicated. A couple of years ago we bought Emily an iPod Nano for her birthday. A few months later we bought Lewis a Nintendo DSi for his birthday. Emily complained that it didn’t seem fair for Lewis to have a DSi and her to not have one, so I offered to take back her iPod and give her a DSi instead. That offer helped her see that fairness is about equality, not necessarily sameness. She decided to keep the iPod.
Something similar happens in the spiritual tension between law and grace. The law says that fairness means treating everyone in the same way. Anyone who speeds gets a ticket. It doesn’t matter why you were speeding or how much you were speeding, the law says that even one mile per hour over the speed limit, for any reason, is an infraction for which you should be ticketed. But grace is not a policeman enforcing a law. Grace is a Father raising children and the definition of Fatherly fairness is not “treating everyone the same.” The definition of Fatherly fairness is “treating everyone in the way that will best help them grow up in Christ to be who they were created to be.”
By the grace of Jesus Christ the Father does not treat us with fairness as defined by the law. He treats us each with the individual love, discipline, and care that we each need to grow as we should. That is more than fair. That is grace – and it is love.
~ Jonathan Stepp
Sermon: Faithful
Filed under: By Jonathan Stepp, Christian Living, Church, Gospel, Ministry, Perichoresis, Relationships, Sermons, Trinity |
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Jonathan’s last sermon as Pastor of Good News Fellowship.
Sermon: Excel Also in the Grace of Giving
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Church, Ministry, Perichoresis, Sermons, Trinity |
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Here is refreshing Good News from the Gospel about how and why we can share our lives Joyfully with others in the Overflowing, Super-abounding Generosity of the Father, Son and Spirit!