The Surprising God

Click here  to read a helpful and succinct blog post at TheoCentric. It s ummarizes the orthodox, biblical teaching concerning Jesus' ascension (including his continuing, glorified humanity) . 

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Earlier this year, renowned New Testament theologian N.T. Wright (Bishop in the Church of England, author of over 40 books) spoke at a public lecture at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena CA while in town to teach a DMin class at nearby Fuller Seminary.  During the Q&A session following his lecture, Wright (pictured left) made the following insightful comments on what he refers to as the type of worship song that is basically about “me and Jesus being in love.” Romance is wonderful, but a steady worked out relationship is better. Striking a match is very exciting, but its not going to last long. Use the match to light a candle and it will give a steady beautiful light to the room. You might say, let’s have more matches and sparklers too! But you can’t live on that. I really do worry about that. In my Diocese some of the young people sing those romantic songs all the time, and I don’t want to tell them to stop singing them...

One of our blog readers, Gerald McNaughton, wrote me wondering if by referring to Jesus' "vicarious humanity" we are saying that he participates in humanity only "vicariously."  Here is my reply to Gerald's question: To speak of Jesus' "vicarious humanity" is NOT to say that Jesus is anything less than fully human. Scripture declares that the eternal Son of God became human through his incarnation, and remains human forever (see 1Tim. 2:5). The resurrected, ascended Jesus is fully God and fully human (now glorified in his humanity). And the one who will return in glory will be fully God and fully human. Jesus is the permanent union of God and humanity in his own person: one person with two natures. Thus to say that Jesus is the "vicarious human" is not to suggest that he is anything less than fully human. Rather it is a statement concerning the meaning of his humanity for the benefit of all humanity. Because Jesus in his divin...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. What songs do you use at the end of a service to send the congregation on its way? Often our “song of sending” will be one of re-dedication to serving with Jesus. But on some occasions when the scriptures, prayers, and sermon or testimonies speak powerfully of the grace and mercy of God, there may be no more fitting conclusion than to offer up pure praise (a doxology)—giving all glory to God. Because we were crucified with Jesus and now have new life in the risen and ascended Jesus (Eph. 2:4-10, Gal. 2:20), we are new people of the new creation. And just as the angels sang for joy at the original creation (a universe meant to glorify God), today by the Holy Spirit we join with Jesus (the new Adam) in singing praise and giving glory to God as part of the new creation. One such doxology of praise is 1 Tim. 1:17. Paul has just described having once been a violent, persecuting, blasphemous, unbelieving creature, and feeling like t...

On this blog we've often referred to the writings of trinitarian theologian Thomas F. Torrance (pictured right). In this post, worship leader Mike Hale shares interesting information concerning Torrance's life - illustrating that he was no "ivory tower" theologian. Sometimes theologians are dismissed as living in the ivory towers of academia, far from the harsh realities of life. Thought of as having their head in the clouds, their theology might be dismissed as having little or no relevance in the "real" world, including the world of Christian living and ministry. However, the life of  Thomas F. Torrance (arguably one of the premier theologians of the second half of the twentieth century) stands in stark contrast to any such notion. Elmer Colyer states that Torrance’s theology arose out of the evangelical and doxological life of family and the church, including pastoral ministry and personal experience in numerous life-threatening situations, beginnin...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. When the Rev Professor James B. Torrance died at the age of 80 in 2003, Christianity Today magazine chose to highlight three areas of his life of service – 1) he was Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at University of Aberdeen in Scotland, 2) he was known as a mentor to other Christian leaders, and 3) he wrote “Worship, Community, and the Triune God of Grace” (IVP, 1997). He had also been a family man and a pastor, and whether serving in pastoral ministry, teaching theology, writing, or in mentoring others, Torrance was keen on worship and on discussing in simple but profound language the relationship of grace and the continuing priesthood of Jesus in Trinitarian worship.  It is interesting to note that “Worship, Community, and the Triune God of Grace” [WCTGG] contains a mere 130 pages, and yet it has gained wide influence in denominations around the globe, as in it Torrance offers a brief but profound discussion of pray...