Tag: faith

What I really wanted

angus mathie

I asked members of the Insurgency of Love to share their own personal stories of how they’ve seen Love Win in their own lives. I’m thrilled to share the first response, which comes from Angus Matthie who lives in Motherwell, Scotland.

I found shyness a dreadful impediment as I was growing up and still find it a problem in social interaction. The most relevant part in what I am considering today is that I got to the stage of finding it difficult to accept that people would want to be friends with me, far less have a meaningful relationship. I realize that I had built a picture of what I wanted, which was in large part an answer to all the perceived wrongs and hurts.
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Therefore let us love

Martin Luther King Jr
Martin Luther King Jr - Wikimedia Commons

When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate — ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: “Let us love one another, for love is God. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.” “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us.” Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day.

We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. And history is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. As Arnold Toynbee says:

Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.

– Martin Luther King, Jr

Rob Bell, Love Wins, and what Bell isn’t saying

The rapture in Dallas
The rapture in Dallas | Via boingboing.com

With Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person who Ever Lived (available in hardcover, Kindle, audio version) creating such a stir, and pastors across the country rushing to warn their congregations about the book, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at some of the major accusations I’ve heard and give a little insight into what I believe Bell is really saying.

(You may want to read my first post – Rob Bell, Love Wins and why I hope he’s right before continuing.)

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this isn’t a full scope of what Bell is or isn’t saying — but perhaps it will encourage those of you who are getting over your certainty to take the time to read the book for yourself and make your own opinions about what’s inside it.
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Signs your growing in grace

Photo of community giving grace
Grace was said before the barbeque was served at the Pie Town, New Mexico Fair | Photo from the Library of Congress

I’ve been following @ScottyWardSmith for some time on Twitter now and have enjoyed his thought provoking tweets.

He describes himself as: Pastor for Preaching and Worship at Christ Community Church. Husband, dad, granddad, big sinner with a bigger gospel, fisher of men and fish, photographer

As of the last month or so, he’s begun tweeting a really interesting “series” of tweets that offer “signs you’re growing in grace.”

I don’t remember exactly when Scott started sharing these, but I went back through the archives to Feb. 26th and found a lot of great nuggets – many I had missed the first time around.
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What if it really is that simple?

love hands
IXS_2631 | Photo by Leon Brocard

In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity – HW Longfellow

Last week I asked…

What is really required of “our faith?”

What are the NO COMPROMISE requirements of your faith?

And I received several good responses.

But as I’m reading and thinking and chewing I keep coming back to the question they asked Jesus.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

The wanted the insight, the inside scoop. They wanted a check list of things to follow and do to be sure they spent eternity on streets of gold instead of the fires of Gehenna.

And some days I wish Jesus had said, “You need to do this, this, this and this. And then if you can do all that, do this, this, this and that.”

Because check lists are easy. We can have a goal and a target. And they make things like knowing who’s-in and who’s-out a lot easier.

But instead of a checklist, Jesus responds, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

And so I’m left wondering… What if really is that simple?

…but then again – who said love was easy?

Obama’s prayers

Barack Obama April 6, 2010
April 6, 2010 "Before a prayer breakfast, the President met privately with clergy members in the Blue Room at the White House. At the conclusion of the meeting, a final prayer was delivered as they held each other's shoulders." (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama shared an insight into his prayers at the National Prayer Breakfast this week.

He mentioned three re-occuring themes in his prayers:

  • ability to help those who are struggling
  • humility
  • and that he would walk closer with God and make that walk my first and most important task

Very insightful…
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