The Surprising God

This is the first post in a series exploring God, Freedom & Human Dignity: Embracing a God-Centered Identity in a Me-Centered Culture by Ron Highfield, professor of religion at Pepperdine University. My thanks to Dr. Gary Deddo for recommending this book. I'll be summarizing its key points. I solicit your comments as we proceed.  To read other posts in this series, click on a number: 2 , 3 ,   4 ,  5 ,  6 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 ,  12 ,  13 . Within Christianity and without, debates rage over questions related to ethics: How should we live/behave? On what do we base our answers? Incarnational Trinitarian theology, following the Christo-logic of the biblical gospel, answers these questions by pointing to the related topic of identity. Why identity? Because that is where Scripture takes us, in line with the truth that we humans tend to live (behave) in accord with our sense of personal identity. With respect to identity, ...

And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. (Revelation 11:19-12:2 KJV) ( Image source ) So begins a section in the book of Revelation, which according to T.F. Torrance (in The Apocalypse Today: Sermons on Revelation ), offers "a panoramic view of world-history...from the perspective of the Kingdom of God" (p. 90a). He continues: We look right into the Temple of God in Heaven and see something of the eternal purpose of God, and the way in which He works out the redemption of mankind throughout the ages. (p. 90b) How is this redemption accomplished? How do the kingdoms of this world become the Ki...

This is the 15th and concluding post in a series reviewing the book  The Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry with Theological Praxis  by Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 ,  12 , 13 ,  14 . We conclude our exploration of Anderson's book on practical theology (what he refers to as theological praxis ) with a review of key points in his chapter on a practical theology of forgiveness ( the praxis of forgiveness ). When it comes to living out incarnational Trinitarian theology in the crucible of the "real world," there is, perhaps, no more important and challenging topic than this. Anderson comments: Being a Christian means not merely being forgiven but being a forgiving person. Forgiveness is not only a spiritual grace but a human virtue, to be experienced and expressed as a mark of graceful living. (p291) Jesus: "Fa...

Sometimes I'm asked, " Does GCI teach universal salvation ?" My typical reply is this: " It depends on what you mean by universalism ."  To clarify GCI's teaching on this topic, I recommend the short video below in which William Paul Young (author of The Shack, Crossroads, and Eve ) shares a perspective that, in general, aligns with what GCI teaches. For another Surprising God post on this topic, click here .

As we enter the new church year (in accordance with the Western-Christian liturgical calendar), our worship is focused on three joy- and hope-filled reminders of God’s lavish love: Advent (meaning coming ) reminds us that, in love, God has come, is coming , and shall come to us in the person of Jesus, our Savior. Advent services are held on the four Sundays preceding Christmas (meaning festival or mass of Christ )---the celebration of Jesus' incarnation and birth on December 25 (and, in some traditions, for a total of 12 days ). Following Advent/Christmas comes Epiphany (meaning revealing ), which reminds us that the Savior of humankind is none other than Jesus of Nazareth---the Son of God incarnate; God and humanity (two natures) united in one person. Epiphany services typically are held the Sunday nearest the day of Epiphany (which falls each year on January 6). These services focus on the revealing of Jesus to the world—typically highlighting either the visit of the Ma...

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 ,  12 , 13 , 15 . Anderson's review of pastoral ministry now focuses on the very real danger of clergy burnout, which he identifies as "a symptom of theological anemia" (p284). By that he means that when pastors burn out it's often because their approach to ministry lacks grounding in a robust incarnational and Trinitarian theology. In short, they see themselves working "for" God, rather than "with" the Father, in the Son, by the Spirit. Because of this, they tend to take too much upon themselves and that places them at risk of burnout. It's ironic that the very people who have devoted their lives to sharing the message, My Redeemer Lives , operate as though Jesus is not truly present and alive, and as though he is not active in a...

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 , 12 , 14 ,  15 . Be Not Afraid  by Greg Olsen (used with permission) As noted  last time , Anderson calls upon pastors to serve as  moral advocates rather than  moral police. He defines moral advocacy this way: The extension of divine grace to persons who are guilty of breaking the moral law or who are suffering a loss of personhood through the existence of a structure mandated by moral law. The practice of moral advocacy places on the side of the marginal person the moral right for personal dignity, freedom from abusive relationships, and full parity in social and communal life....  [This advocacy in the form of pastoral care is] provided at times of crisis, when life has become difficult, if not...

This post continues a series in The Shape of Practical Theology by Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 , 9 ,  10 ,  11 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 . Woman at the Well by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission) Ray Anderson advocates what he refers to as  Christopraxis--- an approach toward ministry that flows from what he calls a theological ethic . In this post we'll see what that looks like when pastors address the moral crises in our culture. Anderson calls pastors to respond not as  moral police but as  moral advocates who participate with Jesus in what he is now doing by the Spirit to heal a hurting world. When it comes to morals, values trump beliefs It's common for people today to decry the moral decline in our culture. Even those who express belief in a divine being are doing what seems right in their own eyes, rather than wh...

Christ on the Cross by Carl Heinrich Bloch Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (updated 1/2/2023) In discussing our inclusion in the triune life of God in and through Jesus, a question pertaining to the related issues of regeneration and evangelism often emerges. It goes something like this: Given our inclusion in Christ through his incarnation, life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension; how are we to understand what happens to us when we are "born again" (regenerated) at the moment we turn to God in faith? The key issue in answering this question is understanding that Jesus (who is fully God and fully human) is the beginning point and the focus of all such questions. As I've wrestled with this topic, I've been aided by Thomas Torrance in his books The Mediation of Christ  and The Christian Doctrine of God.  Perhaps an excerpt concerning regeneration and evangelism from The Mediation of Christ  will contribute to our understanding: It is ...

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 , 10 ,  12 , 13 ,  14 ,  15 . Anderson notes that Jesus' mission "was not entirely completed in his death and resurrection" (p. 189). He understands that Jesus' missional activity continues as he sends the Spirit to form and gift the church to participate with him in his ongoing  paracletic ministry on earth. He Who is Without Sin by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission) Back to the future According to Anderson, Jesus' ongoing ministry has a decidedly "eschatological nature" in that it brings into the present, bit-by-bit and through the church, the future fullness of the kingdom. That is why Paul refers to the church as God's "new creation"---the out-working (or one might say the in-breaking) of wh...

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 , 11 , 12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 .  Photograph by Steven Pavlov used with permission granted via Wikimedia Commons Having answered the question, What does it mean to be human? , Anderson next addresses a corollary question: Where is the church? His answer is grounded in a biblical ecclesiology that defines the church as the Body of Christ in the world. With that in mind, he goes on to note that the church, in order to truly be the Body of Christ, must be with Jesus, where he is---not tucked away in the protective cocoon of the sanctuary, but redemptively present in the community. Anderson comments: The humanity of God in the person of Jesus Christ seeks incarnation in the soul of the city before taking up res...

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 , 8 ,  10 ,   11 ,   12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 . Lost and Found by Greg Olsen, used with permission Each subculture has an implicit understanding of what it means to be human. While it's vital in Christian ministry and ethics to be aware of and sensitive to these subjective cultural understandings, our primary focus must be the objective reality of what it means to be human, revealed by God to us in the humanity of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ. Anderson comments: The core assertion of a Christian theology [and anthropology] is that the controlling social paradigm by which humanity is defined sets squarely within the objective relations that exist between God and humans, through the humanity of Jesus Christ as...