The Surprising God

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Did the Council of Nicaea recommend niacin? Is Pelagianism related to plagiarism? Is the father of 70 children called a Septuagint? Does the Kenotic Theory explain the mystery of why Ken is no longer with Barbie? And can anyone you’d want to invite to a cookout even pronounce Eutychianism, what less know what it means? Okay, so you might know the answer to some of the above, but let's face it, theological sounding terms and the word ‘theology’ itself just smacks of confusing academia—and of old dead guys in the Church—and seems to have little to do with the simplicity that is in Christ. ['Dead old guy' Athanasius, pictured below, died way back in 373, and we'll get to him shortly.] Besides, all you really want to do is be able to share a prayer, a song, or a timely meaningful word with your sisters and brothers. You're not after a PhD. Perhaps you’ll find encouragem ent in the words of respected theologian ...

T.F. Torrance When Jesus tells Philip, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9), can he be believed?  Is God really like Jesus? And what about its corollary:  Is Jesus really like God? Note T.F. Torrance's comment in  Reality and Evangelical Theology : Only if God really became man in Jesus Christ, and really made our human nature his own in him, may we say that [biblical] statements [about God]... are related to what God is in himself in a real and not in a merely conventional or fictional way... (p110, 1982 edition). At issue is Jesus' divinity. Is he merely a "godly man" or is he God come in the flesh, and thus  Really  God? Again quoting from Reality and Evangelical Theology : This is precisely the problem that faced the fathers of the church at the Council of Nicaea, when they found themselves forced to come to a more precise understanding of what it meant to say about Jesus Christ that he is of  God, for as they...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Dr. Robin Parry, Theological Books editor for Wipf and Stock Publishers, and author of Worshipping Trinity: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship , was recently interviewed about having a Trinitarian perspective in worship. As part of the interview, Parry [pictured below] was asked what Christians may be missing if they don’t have some kind of understanding of the Trinity and the relationships within the Trinity and how we are drawn into that relationship. (For even though they believe in the Trinity as a fundamental doctrine….most members don’t think about it and they wouldn’t be able to explain it if they were asked.) What do they lose? They know they are Christian and they know they have faith, they know they are saved by grace and they experience and walk in Christ to the degree that they can, but what are they missing—what could they have if they better understood? Parry: I think what we have to say first of all, is that th...

Jeff McSwain Reality Ministries  director Jeff McSwain reports in his current newsletter about Experience Reality Camp for middle and high school age students. In large group camp teachings, Jeff focused on seven gospel truths (listed with Jeff's permission): You don’t know who you are until you know whose you are (and Satan ain’t nobody’s daddy!) Jesus chooses me and embraces me at my worst Jesus knows me the best, loves me the most and forgives me before I ask Jesus calms my storms Jesus has the desire to listen and the power to help Jesus loves me this much (arms outstretched like on a cross) to give me a big picture view of my life Jesus rescues me and brings me home These life-altering truths flow from a trinitarian, incarnational understanding of the gospel, which declares that God, through the Spirit, in Jesus Christ, has included all humanity in his life and love. Jeff comments (quoted, with permission, from his newsletter): ...I am convinced that we must give ...

In this post Lee Berger reflects on the life and music of Keith Green, following a recent live web event honoring the ministry of Keith. Thanks Lee for sharing! As always, additional comments from readers are most welcome. - Mike Hale Hi friends. I don't know how many of you are fans of Keith Green’s music or are acquainted with the Jesus Movement music of the 1970's, but what Keith and others wrote and sang in those years was part of the genesis of what we today call "contemporary Christian" (including the bands, the soloists and the praise & worship music that is in vogue now). Keith [pictured below] was truly a firebrand of the gospel and a genius with his music and lyrics, and I love his writings. On July 28th there was a free li ve web event honoring the life, ministry and music of Keith. His wife, Melody Green (who wrote many songs of her own) sponsored the event, and Christian leaders from Youth With a Mission (YWAM) and other organizations as well as ...

I recently finished reading Dr. John McKenna's book,  The Great Amen of the Great I-Am  (subtitled, "God in Covenant with His People in His Creation"). Though not an easy read, much is gleaned by following John's careful application of Trinitarian, incarnational, Christ-centered theology to understanding the covenanted relationship of our Triune God with all humanity - what John calls the Biblical Covenant Relationship  ( BCR , for short). John surveys the Bible with a focus on the Old Testament - Exodus in particular. Like Ray Anderson ( click here  for my post on Anderson's book, The Soul of Ministry), John sees in Exodus the theological foundation for the Pentateuch (and all the Old Testament) - including the Genesis accounts of Creation and Fall. John highlights  Ex 34:6-7 , which he calls The Little Credo of the Great I-AM . Here God, having revealed himself in the gracious, creative act of delivering Israel out of Egypt, declares with words his id...

In Matthews 6:14-15, Jesus proclaims to his gathered disciples: "...If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (KJV). Does this statement contradict the key teaching of Trinitarian, incarnational theology that God, in Christ, has forgiven all people? It's important to understand the context here. Jesus' statement is part of his Sermon on the Mount, (which spans Matthew chapters 5-7). In this sermon, Jesus is telling his disciples about life in his kingdom (life with him under God's rule). This context is helpfully addressed in studies on the Sermon on the Mount  on the Trinity Study Center website (produced by Dr. Gary and Cathy Deddo): Jesus begins [the Sermon on the Mount]...with a list [called The Beatitudes]. It is almost like a poem. Each of the first nine lines begins with the word “blessed.” Each of the first 8 lines has...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Church, especially the evangelical church, is largely designed for extroverts—and that’s a problem, especially since fully half of us are actually introverted. Such is the picture drawn by Adam McHugh in Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture (2009, InterVarsity Press). McHugh cites comprehensive surveys of the last ten years showing 50.7 percent of the general population as introverts, and then explores ways to more fully include introverts in the evangelical church, and better utilize their God-given abilities. As to why the church is so bent toward extroversion? The author says that besides the larger culture (schools, corporations and social institutions) already being slanted toward extroversion, it is also because churches place such a high value on relationships. So we set up groups, fellowship hours, social events, classes, accountability groups, committees and prayer chains and encourage o...

In The Soul of Ministry: Forming Leaders for God's People , Ray Anderson notes that "ministry precedes theology" (p. 3). By this he means that God's actions in history (his ministry) precede our concepts about God (theology). "It is through God's ministry of redemption that we understand the meaning of God's work..." (p. 4). Through obedience and response to what God does by speaking and acting within the framework of human history, we come to understand God's nature and purpose. To test our understanding of this, Anderson asks, "Who was the first theologian in the Bible?"  We might think to answer Abraham. But Anderson thinks otherwise: "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are storytellers and actors in the redemptive drama and they, too, in living and telling the story of God's acts, expound a theology of God's ministry. But it is Moses who ultimately tells their stories as part of his account of God' purpose from the beginn...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Just returned from the Renewed In Christ GCI denominational conference in Orlando FL, where I was blessed to serve with the Higher Ground praise band in lifting prayers and songs of thanks, petition and praise with 1,100 worshipers. What a colorful kaleidoscope of humanity from around the globe – unique but unified persons sharing in Spirit with Jesus – our true Minister of the Sanctuary – in his ongoing worship of the Father. Following is my rando m list of memorable moments and blessings from the wonderful week. Your own comments and memorable moments are most welcome! • Memorable call to worship – tie between Because of Your Love by Paul Baloche, and “You Are Good” by Israel Houghton • Favorite traditional hymn – the Christie Nockels version of Praise to the Lord, the Almighty with the Hallelujah sections • Sermon by Dan Rogers • Being invited by Ross Jutsum to share a few words during his worship workshops to c...

I'm at the GCI denominational conference in Orlando, FL with about 1,100 people. We've heard wonderful presentations concerning Trinitarian, incarnational theology from various theologians and teachers including Gary and Cathy Deddo. They mentioned a booklet they recently authored titled  God, the Bible and The Shack . The Shack is often criticized for its view of God, but those criticisms often misunderstand both the nature of the book and of the Trinitarian theology it expresses. Here's the publisher's description of the Deddos' booklet: "Millions of readers of William Paul Young's The Shack want to know, Is God really that good? Is this the same God we find in the Bible or not? Is the Trinity really like what we find in the novel? And what about evil in the world? How much does The Shack help us understand why it exists and how God deals with it? Here are clear, insightful responses to the questions so many people want answers to." Gary has also ...

William P. Young's novel,  The Shack , is wonderfully expressive of Trinitarian, incarnational theology. If you like the book, you may enjoy the music of Dave Lingenfelter (pictured here). Inspired by The Shack, he recorded the song, Free to Be Me. To listen to a clip,  click here . Following are the lyrics, which express Dave's understanding of the unconditional love that the Father, Son and Spirit have for all humanity: I’ve walked down this road for so long Never questioning…always wondering Guess I took it for granted Everything pushing me…made me blind to see Truth…Love…Grace…and all that you are You love me how you made me and I’m made to be free If that’s the truth then all I have to do Is just live loved with you next to me and know that I am here to be me I spent most of my time making rules I couldn’t follow Always ending in shame Packing you up in a pill I couldn’t swallow Trying to bring you some kind of new fame It’s true…I tried so hard But the...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Below is one of my favorite poems by Dr. John McKenna and his wife Nancy. Students of theology are sometimes surprised to learn that in addition to being a theology professor at several schools and a doctrinal advisor to Grace Communion International, John is also a gifted poet. The Burning Green (1996, Wipf and Stock Publishers) is a collection of their poetry, and is available at wipfandstock.com . John and Nancy wrote in the book's Foreword in 1996, Throughout our more than twenty years of marriage [and now more than thirty] Nancy and I have struggled to give these poems a voice that might reflect the gift of God with us. We are of a time that is deeply wounded. Our language echos its rage and folly. We are thankful to be free from its destructive power. To this freedom we hope our poems will point their readers. The Bible verses [included alongside each poem] are meant to help us hear. Sometimes a certain type of poe...

Joseph Tkach provides in his  July 2010 letter  a clear and concise summary of the stunning truth of the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ. With his permission, I've reproduced below the main body of his letter, and added hyperlinks to the Scripture passages that he references. Enjoy! In the movie, “A Few Good Men,” Jack Nicholson plays the role of Colonel Nathan Jessup. Tom Cruise plays Lieutenant Lionel Kaffee, who intensely cross-examines the Colonel in a military trial. Exasperated, the Colonel finally shouts, “You want answers?” Kaffee rejoins, “I want the truth!” And the Colonel famously responds, “You can’t handle the truth!”  The phrase jars us even as it resonates with John’s Gospel where Jesus declared, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” And that is precisely the challenge: Truth can set us free—but we can’t always handle the truth! The truth is that in Jesus Christ we are already forgiven, reconciled and beloved of God ( Colos...

How does trinitarian theology address the idea of the Judgment? How does it understand verses like Daniel 12:2, which says, "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."  If all, in Jesus, are included and forgiven, why this prophecy about some receiving "everlasting contempt"? And what about the similar statement in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9: “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.” These and other passages of Scripture speak of the Judgment that occurs when Jesus is “revealed” (someti...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. The things that a worship leader says and does are important. Why? Because in part, over months and years, it helps shape a congregation’s understanding of God, scripture, and the living relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit with all creation. Wow! That sounds daunting! So for help with this important task, we’ve been looking at what Andrew Purves has to say in The Resurrection of Ministry: serving in the hope of the risen Lord (IVP 2010). We saw that the crucial first step to ministering in the hope of the risen Lord is to focus on the person that is Jesus—not some general concept of God. Everything else follows as a result of this confession, and the truth it bears witness to. The urgent second step is a willingness to admit that some rewriting of our ‘roadmap’ to faith and ministry i s re quired. Purves says we must give additional thought to the central issues of Christia n fa ith and admit that we are sometimes u...

Trinitarian theology speaks to all of life, art included. A wonderful example of a trinitarian artistic vision is the work of artist Farid De La Ossa Arrieta of Columbia. Below is one of his works which gives a contemporary, evocative presentation of the union of all creation with the Triune God. Enjoy.

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Last week we began looking at what Andrew Purves describes in The Resurrection of Ministry (IVP 2010) as ministry that is centered in the reality of the redemptive, hope-filled ministry of the risen and ascended Jesus. He reminds us that …the resurrection of Jesus…[and his] ascension and ministry at the right hand of the Father and through the Holy Spirit, make Christian faith and ministry possible….as God the Holy Spirit joins us to him to share in his life. Joy and hope, therefore, mark Christian identity because Jesus the Christ is risen, reigns and will come again, and we, in union with him, share now in his life (p. 23). Purves, professor of Reformed theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, says the first step to ministering in the mood of Easter Sunday—in the hope of the Risen Lord—is simply to focus on the person that is Jesus. It’s all about Jesus, living and reigning—and not about some general concept of God. “Je...

Recently, GCI Pastor John Torgerson (who blogs at   http://notjustanotherreligion.blogspot.com/ ) conducted a wedding for two non-churched people. His wedding sermon addressed two realities: the "unreality" of the world as we know it (in its fallen state), and the new "reality" of the world as God has recreated it to be in Christ (a true, though often unseen reality). Pastor John's point was that it is in relationships (marriage in particular) that both unreality and reality are experienced. The "unreality" of our fallen world is expressed (and received) as conditional love : I love you if ... I respect you if... I forgive you if...  But God's reality is expressed and received as  unconditional love.  Pastor John urged the couple to embrace and express God's reality - his unconditional love. This is God's love for them, a love they may share with one another; and one day, with their children. Pastor John then reminded them that the ...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. Those involved in music and worship ministries are typically serving as volunteers, but are ministers non-the-less. In The Resurrection of Ministry: Serving in the Hope of the Risen Lord (InterVarsity Press, 2010) Andrew Purves encourages ministers of every stripe to become committed to deeper theological reflection, and says if we are not centered in the redemptive, hope-filled ministry of the risen and ascended Jesus, we have no ministry at all. I find his latest short book (153 pp.) to be encouraging, thought provoking, and while theological, is readable, practical, and relevant for the planning of songs and prayers of thanks, praise, hope, petition and lament, and for considering exhortations, readings and testimonies. Purves aims to show us how in and with Jesus, ministry is to move beyond what he calls ‘the mood of Holy Saturday’ to ministry ‘in the mood of Easter Sunday’ -- the difference between "God help us"...

In notes introducing the Gospel of John in Renovare's Life With God Bible ,  Marva J. Dawn (teaching fellow in Spiritual Theology at Regent College, Vancouver, Canada, pictured at left), notes that the Apostle John, more than the other Gospel authors, emphasizes Trinitarian theology: Surely John, the beloved disciple, recognized more deeply than the other Gospel writers the intense intimacy of Jesus with his Father. Consequently, John records much more thoroughly Jesus' invitation through himself into the triune fellowship, for just as he is one with his Father, so we too can be one in him with the Trinity.... John's Gospel is crucial for reminding us how integrally connected the Persons of the Trinity are and how thoroughly involved the entire Tri-unity is in all dimensions of our creation, redemption, and sanctification.... It is essential that we recapture the love and grace of [the Father]...and recognize how profoundly Jesus carries us into his own intimacy with his F...

This post was contributed by worship leader Mike Hale. “I can’t explain it,” someone says after the worship service, “but I just know that something happened today while we were [fill in the blank here – singing, praying, testifying, listening to the sermon, etc.], and I had the distinct sense that God was in it, and that I could almost feel His presence!” It might have been during a particularly dramatic service, or surprisingly, it might have been in a ‘regular’ meeting in which nothing particularly dramatic had been presented. Or perhaps it was in a prayer meeting, or in small group, or even while reading or praying alone at home, or while talking about God with a friend over coffee. Or a person might experience such feelings in the course serving and attending to the needs of others. What happened? Was it just our imagination – just emotions? And since we can’t seem to explain exactly what occurred, was it real, or just a warm fuzzy feeling? We like logic and want to be sound-m...

The following quote is from an essay by Anglican minister Andrew Katay of Australia (pictured right). The essay, titled   Is Being Evangelical Enough? Or, How to Live among Imperfect Company , i s quoted here with Katay's permission. Thanks to Santiago Lange (GCI Germany) for sharing it with us. Trinitarian theology proceeds from the principle that we must start our theologising from the story of the gospel, in which we are initially presented with three agents: Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ, the Son of God and who came to be worshiped as God himself;  the Father of that Son, whose kingdom Jesus claimed to be bringing into effect; [and] the Spirit, given by the Father through the Son, who was immediate in the experience of the church. If the Christian conviction is that in the gospel God reveals himself so that we have to do with God as he is, not merely with another prophet or an angel, then the threeness of God stands as prominently at the ce...

In the Western Christian calendar, Sunday May 30, 2010 is  Trinity Sunday .  This celebration gives churches opportunity to focus on the central Christian doctrine of the Trinity, which proclaims that the one God is eternally Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Here are two resources for preparing a sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity: A Word From Our Sponsor video sermon  from Mike Feazell titled, The Doctrine of the Trinity: Does it Make Any Difference? A sermon manuscript  from Brian McLaren. His sermon, posted at Preaching Today.com is titled What About the Trinity? "

In " Atonement: The Person and Work of Christ ," T.F. Torrance makes frequent reference to the meaning and importance of Pentecost in salvation history. On page 263-264, he links Pentecost with the church in it's gospel mission: "In...its waiting and expectation [of Jesus' return] the church is commanded by its Lord to lift up its head in thanksgiving and joy, for its 'redemption is drawing near' [Luke 21:28]. The church of the risen Lord has no right to be a prophet of gloom or despair, for this world has been redeemed and sanctified by Christ and he will not let it go. The corruptible clay of our poor earth has been taken up in Jesus, is consecrated through his sacrifice and resurrection, and he will not allow it to sink back into corruption. Hence the whole creation groans and travails waiting for the manisfestation of the sons of God, looking forward with eager expectation to the hour of final liberation and renewal in the advent of its rise...