As I start this post I'm on my way to Seattle. Specifically, I'm eating a b'fast sandwich at Panera Breat in Vancouver WA just across the river from Portland. I was headed to a McD's but saw this next door and decided the quality was worth the extra bucks. Turns out it is a pretty good sandwich, but it has BACON on it, so that's not surprising.
I left the house at 3:50, ten minutes ahead of my target. The Hyundai Accent is fine. Easy to drive, intuitive and easily visible controls, and getting about 40 mpg so far. The seat is pretty uncomfortable and my lower back is making some noise so I'll try changing the seat position when I get back in. I've got about 3 more hours plus stops. I will probably pull into a rest stop about 30 miles up the road for a quick nap.
There's no fixed answer to this question, but how far from biblical standards can a church (or denomination) deviate and still be serving God's kingdom and thus blessed by him?
- Certainly any perversion of the gospel puts a church outside that circle. See Galatians 1:8-9.
- What about a liberal view of the authority of Scripture?
- Or a leadership structure that takes no note of biblical teaching (incl. male leadership)?
- A de facto disregard for the unsaved?
- Thoroughgoing Arminianism or the more extreme forms of Pentecostalism?
Again, I doubt there's an absolute and fixed metric for this because, among other things, God frequently and graciously works to his purposes overriding our errors. We've got plenty of biblical examples of that dynamic. But in general....
Totally disconnected (!!), small group last night was sure interesting, and for me it was fun. The sermon discussion portion was a bit meh, but as often happens with this bunch of bright adults (most of them in their late 30's) a question led to a discussion that was to this "teacher" a blessing. We ended up talking about the resurrection and addressing some of their misconceptions about what the Bible teaches. Those misconceptions are common and understandable, including that the word resurrection implies direction of travel. "The dead in Christ will rise...."
Not!
Just as the central meaning of death is not "cease to exist" but separation, so the resurrection means to be united. At physical death we are separated from our body and in the resurrection we are given a new body. The Greek word for resurrection is anastasis, which literally translates "to stand up again." After noting a few relevant NT passages....
"Oh!" (Lights going on around the table.)
"That explains a lot of things. I never heard that before."
THAT is my drug of choice. Lights going on and biblical truth being grasped.
OK, a rest room stop, fill up the coffee cup, and then back behind the wheel. Next installment to this post will come from....
We'll see.
It's bed time in Seattle, and I will NOT be sleepless! We've had supper (very good Calzone from Spiro's) and Scott & I are back in our motel room. There's more to tell but I'm way too tired from a long day.
Tomorrow is moving day. B'fast at Denny's, pick up a U-Haul, take it to the place where mom has been living and get her stuff and her over to the new place. (She'll ride in my rental car, not the back of the U-Haul.) We should be done by early afternoon. I have no idea what happens after that. I may or may not be able to post tomorrow, and Thursday is the drive home so that's an iffy day for a post, too.
But I will be back...eventually.
No comments:
Post a Comment