Change. None of us likes it. But change comes nonetheless, even though we often resist it. Institutions are especially resistant to change. Churches, for instance, can often be quite resistant to change. Particularly when much around us is changing so rapidly, we often want to cling to the familiar, to the comfortable, to that which …
Continue reading Churches, Change, and the New Wine of the Gospel
Here's the link to Acts 16. It's such a beautiful, simple part of the story. Paul and his missionary partners travel to the Roman colony of Philippi and, going to find a place to pray, encounter some women with whom they share the gospel, including a business woman named Lydia. Then we read this: A …
Here's the link to Acts 15. So the tension between Jewish Christians and Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians comes to something of a head in our passage. Some Jewish Christians were of the conviction that Gentile converts to the faith ought to be circumcised. That is, they should also, essentially, become proselyte Jews in order to become …
Continue reading Reflections on the Book of Acts #15: The Jerusalem Council
Here’s the link to Acts 8. God had formed the people--indeed, the nation--of Israel to be a light to the other nations. He had revealed himself to them and made a covenant with them, and part of their mission was to reflect the glory of God to other people groups. This calling went as far …
Continue reading Reflections on the Book of Acts #8: The Samaritan and the Ethiopian
I've been reading Douglas Murray's excellent book The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race, and Identity. Before the final section of the book, he has an interlude with the title, "On Forgiveness." Given what some call the "Cancel Culture," which seeks to punish people interminably for real or perceived misdeeds or mistakes, his words are particularly …
Continue reading Douglas Murray and the Need for Forgiveness in a Culture Where It Seems Impossible
grace notes 