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Episodes
Dedicated to the legacy of bold thinking Christianity through the writings of George MacDonald and Michael Phillips.
Episodes
Monday May 30, 2022
Monday May 30, 2022
One of the curious anomalies to arise out of the Evangelical and Pentecostal renewal of the late 20th century has been an inordinate obsession with spiritual "signs and wonders" as validating the work of the Holy Spirit. Entire churches, ministries, evangelistic movements, and schools have devoted themselves to the miraculous, and the encouragement of its manifestations to the exclusion of many other aspects of a rounded Christian life of obedience.
Friday May 27, 2022
Friday May 27, 2022
There are a variety of Commands that all point in the same direction: Give and expect nothing in return. Some emphasize giving more than has been requested: Go two miles instead of one, when asked for your coat give your cloak as well. The Command before us from Luke 6 contains three messages.
Thursday May 26, 2022
Thursday May 26, 2022
We continue to encounter the strange dichotomy in the Lord's words between public and private righteousness. How do we balance, Beware of practicing your piety before men, with, Let your light so shine before men? The two commands appear less than a chapter apart in the Sermon on the Mount, yet seem to instruct us in completely opposite directions.
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Note that Jesus does not directly command Don't be a hypocrite. Is the reason perhaps because, in truth, to a degree we cannot help being hypocrites. We are all sinners, and thus hypocrites, together. It is part of the human condition.
Tuesday May 24, 2022
Tuesday May 24, 2022
None of the Ten Commandments has been so diminished of its power by our modern culture more than honor to one's parents. Independence is the god of our age. The cancer that has infected our time is not merely anti-family, as serious as that threat is. It goes far deeper.
Monday May 23, 2022
Monday May 23, 2022
After passing through Galilee and returning home to Capernaum, Jesus posed a very pointed question to the disciples: "What were you discussing on the way?" Their response was that of a group of children caught red-handed with their hands in the cookie jar. Mark merely says, "They were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest." Jesus had nailed them, and they knew it.
Friday May 20, 2022
Friday May 20, 2022
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 program Jesus outlines is impossible by any earthly standards.
Thursday May 19, 2022
Thursday May 19, 2022
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.
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 18, 2022
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.
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
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.