The Surprising God

Dr. John McKenna Following is a gift to Surprising God readers from Dr. John McKenna, a trinitarian theologian and fellow traveler in the life we share with the Father, Son and Spirit. The Lion in Exile The other night, I dreamt of lions. I am a poor man and I do not think my dreams have any real value. I live in a rented room of a cheap hotel in the hum and drum of a graffiti written city. Dreams are things I throw into the trash, stuff I send down the toilet. I do not spend any more time thinking about them than I spend thinking about breathing. But since the lions, I have begun to change my mind about them. I was walking in a field of high grass and trees and the lions watched me intently, their faces kindly. They surprised me with their friendliness. Do not lions attack and eat us? My room is a barren place, a few pictures hanging on the walls, a cracked mirror above an old sink, a bathroom down the hall. I sleep in it, that is all. I like to walk. I walk most all day ...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. The last few days we've been confirming logistics and details for tonight’s Christmas Eve service.  (Thanks coordinators and team members!)  As we’ve done for about ten years, two small congregations from different denominations (but bound to each other and to Jesus by the Holy Spirit) will come together on Christmas Eve to sing, pray, preach and present readings about the Father’s love known in the Savior Jesus and his breaking into his creation as God with us and for us. Tonight’s plan for music includes traditional carols, contemporary songs, children singing Tommy Walker’s Happy Birthday Jesus , and the service concluding with the singing of Silent Night as we light one another’s candle (originating from the Christ candle) and face one another in song.  I’ll be serving in one of my favorite ways—just singing harmony. Weeks ago I blogged about favorite Christmas CD’s from Chris Tomlin, Third Day and others, but i...

This post continues a series reviewing Christian Kettler's book,  The God Who Believes - Faith, Doubt, and the Vicarious Humanity of Christ .  For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  4 . In the last two posts, I've shared quotes from Christian Kettler's book, "The God Who Believes," in which he discusses Jesus' believing, knowing and acting on our behalf. Here are more: Lest we misunderstand, this does not mean that there is not a place for our own believing, knowing, and acting. According to Kettler, "Because Jesus believes for us does not exclude the imperative for us to believe!" (p. 71).  However, Kettler notes that "we do not initiate our knowledge of God" (p. 71). Jesus is the only human who truly knows God; and he shares, by grace, that knowledge with us. Thus the faith that saves us, is Jesus' faith, not our own. And his faith is grounded in his intimate knowledge of the Father. And so we know God, becaus...

This post continues a series reviewing Christian Kettler's book,  The God Who Believes - Faith, Doubt, and the Vicarious Humanity of Christ .  For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  3 ,  4 . Last time  we looked at representative quotes from Dr. Kettler (pictured at right). Here are some more: "The modern age...values...reason...[but] faith...confesses at times 'I don't know'...[We see this in Jesus, where] God has voluntarily restricted his knowledge in the person of the incarnate Son. The Son does not need to know, for in his humanity he possesses a faith that continually seeks understanding. The Son seeks understanding, as we know from the earliest days in the temple, where he was both 'listening to them and asking them questions' (Luke 2:46), increasing 'in wisdom and in years' (Luke 2:52). The Epistle to the Hebrews, indeed, speaks of the Son who 'learned obedience through what he suffered' (Heb. 5:8). Jesus' fa...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Christ’s birth into our humanity—the once and for all union of God and man—born of the virgin Mary and conceived by the Holy Spirit—is an awesome mystery and miracle that should drive us to our knees in humble thanks and worship. Yet we are told that many churches have either unintentionally or by design removed nearly any sense of mystery from weekly worship.  With an emphasis on doctrine, well-run family programs, pop bands and dogmatic cause-and-effect sermons on obedience and Christian living—with slick PowerPoint productions and a confident business-like delivery that includes an avalanche of texts and factoids—there is little room left for the appreciation of the mysteries of God and the recognition that we are dealing in faith with things of God that are beyond our comprehension. So observes Eddie Gibbs in ChurchMorph (2009 Baker Academic) and in Emerging Churches (2005 Baker Academic). Dr. Gibbs then explains that some ...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Can you feel the love?  In the power of the gospel and the presence of the Holy Spirit the Church proclaims a Jesus that is the love of God made personally known to humanity.  The weeks leading up to Christmas are a perfect time to point to this love.  But then, that same message of love should be on our hearts and minds every week of the year.  I’m reminded of when my friend said that after much searching he had finally found a congregation that he would call “home.”  The clincher for him was finding so much of the love of God there that he truly felt loved and accepted.  The pastor and the worship leader began nearly every service with confident and yet humble and gracious reminders of how completely God loves each person gathered there, and how much God loves every man, woman and child in the whole world.  Everything in the service was done under the umbrella of God’s love, and during numerous v...

This post begins a series reviewing Christian Kettler's book,  The God Who Believes - Faith, Doubt, and the Vicarious Humanity of Christ .  For other posts in the series, click a number:  2 ,  3 ,  4 . Dr. Kettler shows how Jesus, as the representative and substitute for all humanity, has faith on our behalf. To view a "You're Included" interview with Kettler, click here . Fundamental to the thesis of Kettler's book, is the Christian doctrine of the vicarious humanity of Jesus Christ . Here are a few representative quotes: "As common as it has been to consider Christ's death to be vicarious, carried out in our place and for us, what if we were to consider that the entirety of his humanity was lived vicariously for us and in our place?" (p. x). "Can we say that Jesus believes, not just as an example of a believer, but believes for me and in my place vicariously, so that I can be helped in my unbelief (Mark 9:24)?" (p. xii). ...

Michael Horton was interviewed in the November 2009 Christianity Today.   I find his comments both helpful and insightful, flowing as they do from a biblical understanding of the gospel of God's grace in Jesus.  Here's part of what he says: "In such a therapeutic, pragmatic, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps society as ours, the message of God having to do all the work in saving us comes as an offensive shot at our egos...The gospel has nothing to do with what I do. The gospel is entirely a message about what someone else has done not only for me but also for the renewal of the whole creation." You can read the full interview, titled "Christ at the Center," by clicking here . Let me know what you think.

Special thanks to Rick Shallenberger for providing Christmas Readers Theater dramatic readings.  You can download the pdf file from the following link: http://www.wcg.org/MinDev/Web%20Documents/Christmas_Readers_Theater.pdf

In a former post  I quoted Tom Smail's book, "Like Father, Like Son, the Trinity Imaged in Our Humanity." Here are additional quotes from chapter 1: If we are made in the image of God, we are made in the image of the Trinity; and the life of the Trinity must in some sort be reflected in the pattern of our human life. (quoting John F. X. Hariott in the flyleaf) To make gods in the image of men is the essence of all idolatry, whether the resultant idols are the physical artifacts of our hands or the cerebral projections of our minds, and the result of both is an impotent religion that imprisons us in its illusions and distracts and distances us from the genuine sources of our liberation. (p. 19) If the idols of our own making that reflect our own image are toppling all around us, it might be time to ask, What vision comes into focus when we see ourselves not as the masters but rather the mirrors of an ultimate reality on which we depend? Is there any word from ou...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. A stellar 2009 Christmas album is Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs , from Chris Tomlin (and friends) – a collection of traditional songs recorded live in a worship setting, along with outstanding new praise and worship material such as Born That We May Have Life , Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground) , My Soul Magnifies the Lord, Matt Redman’s Light of the World and several more.  Separate accompaniment tracks can be purchased. Other favorite holiday albums from recent years include Third Day: Christmas Offerings (2006) with the powerful and distinctive southern rock vocal styling of lead singer Mac Powell and the great sound of a band that has been a fan favorite at Christian concerts for years.   This Is What Christmas Means to Me (2007) by Tommy Walker and the C.A. Worship Band is described by Tommy as a worship project with Christmas as the theme. Tommy is a prolific songwriter with a unique blend of pop/jazz/R&...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. To be sure, the decorations, gifts, candy and cookies were huge hits, but even as a child, church events around Christmastime captured the imagination of this Illinois boy.  Powerful stories and songs about the coming of Jesus carried anticipation, drama, miracle, mystery, wonderment, and celebration that brought together God, angels and all people—including a kid like me.  From small simple gatherings to elaborate pageants, each created special memories and valuable open-ended questions.  And that's one more reason this blog exists about Christ-centered theology that shapes worship. I’d like to suggest four helpful books—two that address the entire church year, and two that are specific to Advent, Christmas and Epiphany (each book is available at Amazon.com).  Even if you normally do no more than light another candle on the Advent wreath and add one more verse of  “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” each week—these b...

Jesus includes all humanity, including non-believers in his love and life. Is it not then appropriate for the church to embrace non-believers and include them in the life and ministry of the church?  In short, is it OK for people to belong before they believe?  In answer, we need only look to what Jesus did. In calling and forming his first group of followers, Jesus reached out to several young men who did not yet believe in Jesus - though Jesus believed in them, and included them in his group (and thus in his ministry) before they came to believe in him as their Messiah, the Son of God. In a progressively post-Christian world, this insight has particular relevance - people will often need to experience the loving, inclusive community of Jesus' followers before they come to believe that Jesus is their Savior and Lord. For more on this topic,  click here to download a paper on the Mosaic Alliance Project written by Eric Bryant (pictured left). You can read...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Early in the career of Elvis a concert promoter famously announced “Elvis has left the building” in hopes that screaming fans would begin calming down upon learning that Elvis had indeed exited the hall and would not be returning for another encore.  The promoter had brought Elvis to the fans in the first place and was now announcing his departure.  The phrase about Elvis became a punchline for whenever someone makes a dramatic exit.  (Need we note Elvis is pictured below?) Sometimes a worship service is conducted in a way that implies the pastor or the worship leader is somehow by words or actions bringing the presence of God into the building.  I’m sure I’ve done that myself.  For example a person might pray for Jesus or the Holy Spirit to come into the room. The implication is that God has come from far away to meet with us during the worship service and will then leave the building, awaiting the next inv...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. My journalist friend described his method for writing.  After completing research for an article, he quickly writes and reviews the very first sentence he has written.  In reading just those first few words it becomes clear to him that the Pulitzer Prize for journalism (pictured left) cannot be won with the article he has just begun.  And having rid himself of any notion of attaining journalistic glory, he is then free to simply do his best with the time and resources available, and what he writes is nearly always quite sufficient for his publisher and readership.  Being realistic can be enabling.  I got a kick out of my friend’s admission, and have tried to take his wisdom to heart.  But it gets more complicated with ministry and worship.  While there’s no Pulitzer Prize for a worship service, we tend to set awfully high standards for ourselves.  We want powerful life changing worship service...

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...

If all people are included already in Jesus, why be involved in evangelism? The GCI  Ministry Development Team  addresses this question in a seminar titled,  Relational Evangelism . The subtitle speaks to our trinitarian focus: "Sharing with Jesus in relating with non-believers." Evangelism from this perspective is not about bringing Jesus to people as though he were absent . Rather it sees evangelism in light of the truth that Jesus is present - including non-believers in his life, and relating to them in the Spirit, expressing the Father's love and grace. Evangelism is about participating with Jesus in that relating. By doing so we declare   the good news (which is the biblical definition of evangelism), by being the good news and then verbally sharing our own experience of Jesus (who is the good news). In short, we help people identify and come to know the Jesus who is already present in their lives. And we invite them to participate active...