I am a preacher of the gospel of Christ
Myron Augsburger, former President of Eastern Mennonite Seminary and brother of one of my Fuller Seminary profs (David), in 1983:
I believe in justice: but I am not a preacher of the gospel of justice, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to justice. I believe in love, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of love, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to love. I am committed to peace, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of peace, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to peace. I believe in the value of the simple life, but I am not the preacher of the simple life, but of the Gospel of Christ that calls us to the simple life. Let us beware of the ultimate plagiarism of borrowing some great concepts from Jesus then running off proclaiming these concepts and not sharing the Christ that empowers these concepts.
With this addition from Frank Viola:
If I were writing this, the only thing I’d change is the last line. I’d change it to “and not sharing the Christ who embodies these concepts.”
The truth is, Jesus Christ doesn’t just empower us to live out these spiritual virtues, Christ IS justice, love, peace, holiness, etc. That’s a life-changing revelation that’s little known today.
Thanks to Jeremy Del Rio for the quote and addition.
God’s omnipotence
C.S. Lewis:
His omnipotence means power to do all that is intrinsically possible, not to do the intrinsically impossible. We may attribute miracles to him but not nonsense. This is no limit to his power. If you choose to say, God can give a creature free will and at the same time withhold free will from it, you have not succeeded in saying anything about God.
The Problem of Pain, ch. 2
This day in 1968
My parents got married.
Happy 42nd anniversary, Mom and Dad! Thanks for being a wonderful model of faith, graciousness, and commitment.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere
Martin Luther King, Jr.:
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Letter from Birmingham Jail, 16 April 1963