SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“God is free and cannot be expected to behave in a predictable manner (known to us). We can expect certain things according to His promise, but even those things remain largely hidden. For example, we can trust that He is always at all times and in all things working for our salvation, our true communion with Him and healing from the ravages of our brokenness. But we are creatures who dream of being gods, though entering by a false door. Rather than being raised up and confor

“Why was the entire dispensation of history and work of Christ necessary? Could not God simply have saved humankind by fiat?...The solution God has provided is to heal our nature from the inside out. By joining His divine, eternal life to human flesh, Jesus Christ has overcome the power of death; hence mortality will be abandoned in the grave when the universal resurrection dawns. If this explanation is not sufficient for the inquirer, ‘Say something like this to reasonable p

“…in the sacraments, we are not asking God to make something to be other than it is but to reveal it to be what it truly is…A problem...

“Sin is not ultimately about breaking rules; rather, it is about erecting false notions of what it means to flourish as a human...

“People are called by God not according to former conduct —good or bad—but by God's grace…everybody is equally a priest before God,...

“Redemption has a technical meaning relative to the freeing of slaves. Here, the bondage is to sins; the act of releasing is forgiveness;...

“The first evangelist was Jesus Christ. He is still the model. He set the standard for all evangelists. We read in Luke 4:18 how the Lord...