daddy4ms

We as a people are fascinated with sex.  The church over the years has not always handled the topic very well.  In Scott Sauls book, Jesus Outside the Lines, he has some great thoughts for us to consider. Below are some quotes: Like fire, sex can be incredibly life giving, comforting, and healing when handled with care. It is among the most delightful of all human activities. It is also among the most dangerous. Like fire, when sex is taken outside its natural and created boundaries, it becomes destructive, leaving burn marks and scars. That's why God is in favor of chastity, or sexual abstinence, for those living outside the covenant of marriage. Biblically, the most interesting and attractive women and men are those whose hearts are at rest because they know that God loves them. Until we learn to see people as people instead of things, as image bearers to be loved instead of objects to be used, sexuality will only become more confused and broken.  God is fav...

In Jesus Continued, J.D. Greear has a great illustration on intimacy with Jesus and how that impacts the fruit of the Spirit.  It is a little longer so I am including it in a post by itself: Think of how a married couple produces physical "fruit." In the moment of conception, they are not thinking about the mechanics of making the child; they are swept up in love for one another! The "fruit" of that is a child. In the same way, when we get swept up in intimate interaction with Jesus in the gospel, the "fruit" that results is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. Spiritual fruit comes not by concentrating on producing those attributes, but by becoming intimately aware of God's full acceptance of us in the gospel.

I am currently reading Jesus > Religion by Jefferson Bethke.  I am holding off on the recommendation because I am only a few chapters in.  But here are a few quotes: It isn't just good advice (religion); it's good news (Jesus). Jesus became the face of the Law rather than the concrete tablets Moses is always holding in those ancient depictions. Love is the new law. That is the essence of fundamentalism--living by the rules to stay out of trouble rather than seeing the rules as tools to bring us into intimacy and joy. We exchange relationship with God for a bunch of church games. There is no glory brought to God's name when people are doing something because it's an obligation, with no real enjoyment of their Creator. In speaking of the parable of the prodigal son, Bethke writes, "God gives grace to the younger and the older. No one is past redemption. No one is past grace. All God wants is for both the religious and the rebellious to come into the part...