Episodes
Thursday Jun 16, 2016
COA #34 - Sin No More - Do Not Yield to Sin
Thursday Jun 16, 2016
Thursday Jun 16, 2016
The progression of commands in this section grows probing, stringent, convicting...eve, perhaps we should say, impossible.
Wednesday Jun 15, 2016
Command #48 - Do Good To Those Who Hate You
Wednesday Jun 15, 2016
Wednesday Jun 15, 2016
Jesus does not even leave it at Rejoice when you are persecuted and Love and pray for your enemies. He goes further still. The three-tiered progression of response to ill-treatment in Luke 6 is incredible and completely impractical. The programme Jesus outlines is impossible by any earthly standards.
Tuesday Jun 14, 2016
COA #33 - Hate Evil
Tuesday Jun 14, 2016
Tuesday Jun 14, 2016
We suddenly crash headlong into a command whose reality may be difficult to penetrate at first glance. You may have turned the page and feel like you rounded a corner and collided with a stranger.
Monday Jun 13, 2016
Command #47 - Love and Pray For Your Adversaries
Monday Jun 13, 2016
Monday Jun 13, 2016
As world changing as would be the influence of Christians taking the words seriously, Rejoice and be glad when you are reviled and persecuted (Matthew 5:11-12), Jesus goes on to elevate the relation between Christians and their adversaries to a shockingly ambitious level.
Friday Jun 10, 2016
Command #46 - Be Kind
Friday Jun 10, 2016
Friday Jun 10, 2016
Biblical literalists more eager to find loopholes in the Commands than to obey them will be the first to point out that Jesus never specifically commanded kindness upon his disciples. We could find no better example of straining at a gnat to swallow a camel.
Thursday Jun 09, 2016
COA #32 - Do Not Be Conformed to the World
Thursday Jun 09, 2016
Thursday Jun 09, 2016
We return to the pivotal passage of Romans 12:1-2, the all-important undergirding foundation of the Commands. Jesus said: My kingdom is not of this world. In becoming his followers, we make ourselves citizens of a different world than that existing around us. We have emigrated to a new kingdom.
Wednesday Jun 08, 2016
Command #45 - Store Up Treasure in Heaven
Wednesday Jun 08, 2016
Wednesday Jun 08, 2016
The Command, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, may also seem an illusive one. A moment's reflection, however, reveals this as one of the most down-to-earth of all Jesus' Commands.
Tuesday Jun 07, 2016
COA #31 - Repent
Tuesday Jun 07, 2016
Tuesday Jun 07, 2016
Christians and non-Christians alike almost universally associate "repentance" with an eye-opening revelation that takes place at a critical turning point of life, an overwhelming sense of contrition for sin, a decisive and pivotal juncture when everything changes.
Monday Jun 06, 2016
Command #44 - Seek First God's Kingdom
Monday Jun 06, 2016
Monday Jun 06, 2016
Among the "spiritual" Commands, few are so illusive as this. Jesus concludes his Do not be anxious about your life discussion of the birds of the air and lilies of the the field in Matthew 6 with the words: Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
Friday Jun 03, 2016
Command #43 - Do Good, Be Good
Friday Jun 03, 2016
Friday Jun 03, 2016
One of the profound mysteries of the Christian Church is that human goodness has not comprised more focus in its theology. While it is true that greater good has been done throughout history by Christianity than any nation, movement, or creed, one is hard-pressed to find goodness at the center of any doctrinal teaching.