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Grace, Freedom, Truth, Equipping

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Grace, Freedom, Truth, Equipping

by Tom Gilson

Grace and Freedom

I met a college/career leader from a local church the other night. We got talking about issues in the age group he works with. I was really impressed with two things he mentioned to me, although I'm going to guard the information somewhat for the sake of sensitivity to the people. He didn't give me a lot of detail himself.

What encouraged me were his stories of two people in the group who weren't born-and-raised, normal-kid evangelical Christians, who felt the freedom to be there and be themselves. They asked questions. The group encouraged it. They revealed personal weaknesses, and the group supported them in it.

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I know I only heard part of the whole story, but it was the right kind of thing. Nothing is more needed in fellowships like this than the freedom to be authentic and to be loved.

Truth

Well, maybe not nothing. For this leader told me he was also making it a point to make sure that at the right time, in the right way, these persons' questions were consistently being answered with biblical truth.

With that as the information I had about this group, I felt the freedom myself to try something…

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Grace, Freedom, Truth, Equipping - Thinking Christian

 

RECOMMENDED APOLOGETICS RESOURCES FOR FURTHER READING:

True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism

Is Your Church Ready?: Motivating Leaders to Live an Apologetic Life

 

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What are the Key Differences Between Mormonism and Christianity?

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What are the Key Differences Between Mormonism and Christianity?

By Sean McDowell

Mormonism is everywhere. The Republican nominee for president is a Mormon, there is a play on Broadway about the Book of Mormon and the LDS Church has launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign called “I’m a Mormon.” In light of the recent interest in Mormonism, it will be helpful to compare and contrast some of the key differences between Mormonism and Christianity.

Mormonism puts a heavy burden of works on its followers. Although there are some passages that talk about grace and free salvation (2 Nephi 31:19; 1 Nephi 2:4; Mosiah 26:40), the overwhelming emphasis in the Mormon scriptures is on earning salvation through obedience to commandments and refraining from sin. For example, Alma 5:27 says, “Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble?” The next passage says you must be entirely stripped of pride or you cannot meet God.

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Moroni 10:32 says, “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you.” God may have provided an opportunity for salvation through the death of Jesus, according to Mormonism, but you have to keep all the commandments and follow all the ordinances to reach the highest level of heaven. The onus is on you. This seems in sharp contrast to the grace-filled message of the Bible (Eph. 2:8–10; Titus 3:5; John 6:29) where works stem naturally from a recognition that we have been saved.

The view of faith in the Mormon scriptures differs from the Bible. Alma 32:17 says, “Yea,there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe. Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe,for he knoweth it.” In other words, faith involves believing something we do not know. If we knew it, there would be no need for faith…

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What are the Key Differences Between Mormonism and Christianity? « Biola Magazine

 

RECOMMENDED APOLOGETICS RESOURCES FOR FURTHER READING:

The Unexpected Journey: Conversations with People Who Turned from Other Beliefs to Jesus

So What's the Difference?

 

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Grace, Truth and Difficult People

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Grace, Truth and Difficult People

by Mark McIntyre

It may not be a universal experience, but most of us are forced to interact with a difficult person in either our personal or professional life.

There are a variety of sources for the difficulty.

1.)Some are difficult because they don’t perceive feedback about how they impact others. This is the person who continues the story when all the people in the room give indication of being bored or hostile. This is the guy who thinks he’s doing well in the presentation when all the attendees are checking their smart phones, chatting or sleeping.

2.)Some are difficult because they are so worried about offending others that they are amorphous, it is hard to discern the real person inside them. These are so tuned in to feedback that they often overreact to it. They are hard to interact with because anything you say might prove overwhelming to them.

3.)Some are difficult because they are self-absorbed; it is indeed all about them. The self-absorbed take every difficulty that arises as a personal attack. If a friend is distracted for an unrelated reason, the self-absorbed will take that as evidence of rejection. The self-absorbed will latch on to any sympathetic ear and fill it with a catalog of injustices done to him.

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4.)Some are difficult because they are unabashedly selfish. These are similar to the self-absorbed, but this self-absorption is intentional. These will do whatever they think they can get away with to get what they want.

I’m sure there are other categories of difficult people but these four come immediately to mind.

Jesus tells in Matthew 5:44 that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. John 13:35 tells us that love is to be the mark that identifies us as Christians. In Ephesians 4:15, Paul tells us we are to speak the truth in love.

Nowhere in my Bible does it give me any indication that this is easy to do, nor does it give any indication that love is optional. I am called to love difficult people, people who often do not want, or struggle to receive that love…

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Grace, Truth and Difficult People | Attempts at Honesty

 

RECOMMENDED APOLOGETICS RESOURCES FOR FURTHER READING:

The Apologetics of Jesus: A Caring Approach to Dealing with Doubters

Arguing with Friends: Keeping your friends and your convictions

 

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Weekend Apologetics Hit and Misc: Investigating Jesus, The Resurrection, and the Bible

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Investigating Jesus, The Resurrection, and the Bible

Cold Case: Investigating Jesus | Faith Radio

Amazing Grace: The Worst Sinner in the Room

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Best Selling Apologetics Books of 2012 - Apologetics 315

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WEEKEND RECOMMENDED APOLOGETICS RESOURCES ROUNDUP:

Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

Has God Spoken?: Proof of the Bible’s Divine Inspiration

The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach

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Greater Grace: A Story of God, Redemption, and Steve McQueen

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Greater Grace: A Story of God, Redemption, and Steve McQueen

Southern Gospel Yankee

They said he could act with the back of his head. No dialogue or frills required—his mere presence loomed larger than life in every shot. Put him next to some of the finest actors in the business, and he would undercut every one of them simply by being in the frame. His piercingly distinctive blue eyes were set in a rough-hewn, unconventionally handsome face that rarely betrayed strong emotion. His smallest physical gesture was precisely calculated and gracefully executed. You couldn’t best him, you couldn’t buy him, you couldn’t touch him. He was the King of Cool. He was Steve McQueen.

He was the definition of a self-made man, working his way up from a horrific childhood of neglect, paternal abuse and a tough life on the streets to the gold-plated life of a Hollywood icon. He once said that he often had nightmares of everything he had gained being suddenly taken away from him. A man of many paradoxes, he was both humble and defiant, stingy and generous, gentle and violent, self-assured and insecure. Perhaps it was director Norman Jewison (Fiddler On the Roof) who summed him up best: “He was a loner, and he was troubled, and he was looking for a father.”

Everyone had a Steve McQueen story.  His superior officers in the Marines could have told you how he spent 41 days in the brig for resisting arrest when caught AWOL. The young men at the Boys’ Republic where Steve had spent some of his teenage years could tell you how he regularly came back and visited the school after becoming famous, personally responding to every boy’s letters and financially supporting the school until his death. Magnificent Seven co-star Yul Brynner could tell you how McQueen stole scene after scene by deliberately throwing in extra, distracting bits of business. Bruce Lee could have told you about a hair-raising ride in Steve’s Porsche that had Lee cowering in the foot-well (and threatening to kill Steve when they stopped, causing a fearful McQueen to hit the gas again and refuse to slow down until Lee promised not to hurt him).

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He was known to say that he lived for himself and answered to no one. Asked once if he believed in God, the actor brazenly replied, “I believe in me. God will be number one as long as I’m number one.” That philosophy informed much of his life. All the money, cars, alcohol, drugs and women that a man could ever want were at his fingertips, and it was only a matter of time before he became addicted in every way. Professional successes only inflated his ego. Wild experimentation with substance abuse drove him to the edge of mental stability. Though he tried to be a good father to the son and daughter of his first wife, his addictions, serial womanizing, jealousy and violence burned through two marriages.

By the late 1970s, his star was fading. The washed-up, aging characters he portrayed reflected where he himself was in his life and career.  He felt empty and unsatisfied. He began turning down huge offers and retreating into his own private shell. He was also developing health problems with his lungs. Doctors told him he should move, so in the spring of 1979, he left Malibu for the small, quiet town of Santa Paula, where he ultimately married his third wife Barbara Minty. For a period of time, they lived in an airport hangar which he had filled with his entire motorcycle collection. He bought a yellow Stearman bi-plane and learned to fly it, quickly mastering the craft as he had mastered motor racing before.

The pilot who taught him was a man in his early 60s by the name of Sammy Mason. Self-described as cranky and difficult to get along with, he became fast friends with McQueen. As they shared long hours in the air, talking together about the meaning of life, Steve sensed that there was something different about him. The more time they spent together, the more he wanted to know what Mason’s secret was. One day he asked him outright. Mason sat down with the aging actor and explained what, or rather who, had made the difference in his life. The answer, he said, was Jesus Christ…

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Greater Grace: A Story of God, Redemption, and Steve McQueen | Southern Gospel Yankee

 

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Legalism and Obedience: What's the Difference?

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Legalism and Obedience: What's the Difference?

by Andrew Hess

Maybe it happened after a week at church camp or after that week at a Christian conference. You had a great time and returned to your normal life with renewed energy and commitment to live out your Christian faith. As a result, you gave up a few bad habits and renewed some good ones, and then it happened. You shared your experience with someone, and he dumped a bucket of cold water on your excitement: “Don’t be so legalistic!”

Legalism is a very real danger in the Christian life and one Christians should carefully avoid. But unfortunately too many think of legalism as any strong desire for obedience. “Yes, work out your faith, but don’t try too hard or you might find yourself on that slippery slope to legalism.” The all-encompassing way legalism is applied to situations today shows that we don’t really understand it the way we should.

True legalism is the belief that following specific rules is the way Christians get saved and grow in Christ. It boils the Christian faith down to a specific list of dos and don’ts. Christians should do certain things, and they shouldn’t do certain things. Historically, Christians have been legalistic about lots of things (alcohol, tobacco, dancing, movies, etc). We establish a particular conviction for ourselves and then attempt to universalize it, expecting everyone else to follow the same conviction as well. Our conviction may be based on biblical principles and even something God is leading us in, but we shouldn’t necessarily expect other believers to share it. As Paul wrote to the church in Rome:

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As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand (Romans 14:1-4).

Paul taught the church in Rome not to expect others to join them in their particular convictions and judge those who don’t. Instead, he reminds that all believers are accountable to Jesus and should strive to live out their own convictions without passing judgment on those who don’t share them. For example, some Christians may have a conviction not to drink alchohol and others may have a conviction that it is OK in moderation. Biblical principles may inform both of these convictions, but we must recognize there is no specific, biblical command. Therefore, this is an issue of conviction, and while we may discuss it with other Christians, we shouldn't expect them to comply.

However, this takes discernment. Christians are called to live obedient lives, and there are times when we all need to be confronted for sin…

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Legalism and Obedience: What's the Difference? | Boundless Line

 

RECOMMENDED APOLOGETICS RESOURCES FOR FURTHER READING:

The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters

The Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy: Three Essential Books in One Volume

 

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John Piper: Is it true that prayer is a duty?

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Is it true that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty? …You can call it that. It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater. It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers. It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns. It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food. It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water. It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid. It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin. It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey. It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold. I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer. God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there are spiritual means of grace. – John Piper

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