The Surprising God

GCI President Joseph Tkach answers a question that many people ask. This post appeared originally in GCI Weekly Update . Tammy and Joseph Tkach Unless my wife Tammy is traveling with me, most of my seatmates on planes don't seem to want much conversation---especially after they ask, “What do you do?,” and I reply, "I’m a pastor." But when I say "I supervise missionary work," more conversation often ensues. Recently, a seatmate asked, “How big do you think hell is?” It’s interesting he didn’t ask for my definition of hell, or what the Bible says about it. He just wanted to know how big it is. I jokingly asked if he was familiar with the pictures of  Dante’s Inferno (see an example below). When he replied "no" I said, “Dante makes it look as though hell is already full!” I went on to explain that the topic of hell seems to suffer from more misinformation that is typically realized. Dante's Inferno by Bartolomeo Di Fruosino (public doma...

This post continues a series examining key points of Andrew Purves' book Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation . For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 ,  10 ,  11 . Abide with Me by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with artist's permission) We looked last time at the ministry of the spoken  Word of God (in preaching and pastoral care). Now we'll look at the ministry of the heard  Word of God . Jesus is the focus in both, for as Purves notes, as the incarnate Word of God, Jesus "not only speaks God's Word to and for us...as a man he hears and receives God's Word on our behalf" (p. 166). This is truly good news, because left to our own devices in either aspect of ministry, we are cast back on ourselves---left helpless and without hope. Jesus: speaking God and hearing man As Purves notes, Jesus is "speaking God and a hearing man, and this for us." Indeed, the gospel declares that the ...

This post continues a series examining key points of Andrew Purves' book Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation . For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . 5 , 6 , 8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . Lost and Found by Greg Olsen (used with permission) As noted by Purves, the pastoral ministry of Jesus has four aspects: 1) the ministry of the Word of God, 2) the ministry of the grace of God, 3) the ministry of the presence of God, and 4) the ministry of the reign of God. This post begins looking at the first aspect, which Purves views as inherently "apostolic and priestly... grounded at all points in the vicarious humanity of Christ and enabled... through our union with Christ by the power and act of the Holy Spirit" (p. 156). He also notes that Jesus' ministry of the Word of God is threefold: 1) speaking the Word, 2) hearing the Word, and 3) obeying (responding to) the Word. This time we'll look at what Purves considers the ...

This post continues a series examining key points of Andrew Purves' book Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation . For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . 5 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . For All Mankind by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission) Purves now addresses the essential missional character of the church, noting that by our union with Christ, we have both opportunity and the calling as members of the body of Christ (the church), to participate with Jesus our one High Priest, in what he is now doing, by the Spirit, to fulfill the Father's mission to the world. The broad scope of Christ's mission That calling, which is for the whole church, involves sharing in what our Lord is doing to redeem every aspect of human existence: spiritual, social, economic, etc. Purves comments on this broad scope of mission: There are no limits to the compassion God has shown toward the human race in Jesus Christ [thus] ...

This post continues a series examining key points of Andrew Purves' book Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation . For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . Friends by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission) Having noted that authentic (fully Christian) pastoral ministry is gospel- and trinitarian-shaped, Purves examines what that ministry looks like in "practical" terms. He begins by reminding us that pastoral ministry is "empowerment for faithfulness," which God does in and through us by "joining us to the faithfulness of Jesus" (p. 43). He also reminds us that our obedience to God, expressed as ministry, involves "sharing by the Holy Spirit in Christ's [own] obedience" as our High Priest (p. 44). In making these points, Purves wants us to understand that ministry is not something that is up to us, for "Jesus Christ is the primary minister (He...

This post continues a series examining key points of Andrew Purves' book  Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation .  For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 2 , 3 . 5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . Icon of the Trinity by Rublev (public domain) Purves views the doctrine of the Trinity as "the basic framework of meaning within which we live our lives as Christians" (p. 30). Many readers of this blog devote their lives to pastoral ministry, a calling Purves addresses in noting that "the doctrine of the Trinity is the grammar of all talk of God [including] every theological understanding of Christian ministry" (p. 31). Rather than mere theory with little practical relevance, Purves views the doctrine of the Trinity as the principle means of understanding all of life (ministry included) in the context of the reality of 1) who God is (in his being  and doing ), 2) who we are as beings created in God's...

This post continues a series examining key points of Andrew Purves' book  Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation . For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 2 , 4 .  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . For Purves, pastoral ministry is fully Christian when it flows from a pastoral theology that is understood as a hermeneutical discipline  formulated in reference to the being and acts of God who, in Christ, and by the Spirit, is actively ministering in our world. But how is the ongoing ministry of the triune God identified so that we may participate? According to Purves, the all-important hermeneutical (interpretive) key is the gospel of Jesus Christ: He That is Without Sin by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission) [The gospel]   reveals and interprets the reality of the human situation and heals, sustains, reconciles and guides. It is the actuality of the gospel, the presence of the living Chr...

How should Christians approach the ongoing creation vs. evolution debate, which involves the place of biblical revelation and scientific investigation in informing one's understanding of the origin and development of the cosmos, including the human race. The post below by Dr. Gary Deddo of GCI provides helpful perspective on this controversial topic. This post is a modified version of a comment to the cover letter of the 2/26/2014 issue  of GCI Weekly Update. Gary Deddo While it is certainly legitimate for Christians to probe questions regarding the definition of evolution and the related understanding of micro and macro evolution, these are, strictly speaking, scientific questions and not theological ones. The point here is that the church is equipped to authoritatively answer theological questions and we seek to do so on the basis of biblical revelation. We are not authorized on the basis of biblical revelation to answer strictly scientific questions. One such question wou...

This post continues a series examining key points of Andrew Purves' book  Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation . For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 3 ,  4 .  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . For Purves, a truly incarnational, Trinitarian understanding of Christian ministry is grounded in two great theological precepts: The dual mediation of Christ: Jesus is both God's Word and act addressing humanity, and humanity's word and act addressing God. Athanasius was an early champion of this truth. Union with Christ: by the Spirit we are joined to Christ and thus to his mission from and to the Father. Calvin emphasized this truth in the Protestant reformation. Hand in Hand by Greg Olsen (used with artist's permission) Given these foundational truths, Purves makes several key assertions: The ministry of God in, through, and as Jesus Christ is the proper foundation for the under...

This post begins a series examining key points of Andrew Purves' book Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation . For other posts in this series, click a number: 2 , 3 ,  4 .  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . A concern of many Surprising God readers is how incarnational Trinitarian theology relates to the everyday challenges of pastoral ministry. It is to this concern that theologian Andrew Purves addresses himself in his insightful book, Reconstructing  Pastoral Theology. He offers a fully incarnational and Trinitarian perspective on pastoral theology (or what some term practical theology ). Theologian Ray Anderson (now deceased) endorsed the book, commending Purves for grounding "pastoral care in Christ's continuing ministry of revelation and reconciliation in the world on behalf of God the Father through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit" (back cover---and click here  for an earlier Surprising G...

This post concludes a review of key points in Ron Highfield's book, God, Freedom & Human Dignity: Embracing a God-Centered Identity in a Me-Centered Culture . For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 . Forgiven  by Greg Olsen (used with artist's permission) Highfield begins his concluding chapter asking, "Does the Christian way of viewing God and humanity overcome the idea that God is a threat to our genuine freedom and dignity?" (p. 207). As we have seen throughout the book, his answer is "yes" and the reason is not fundamentally about a how,  but about a  who--- about Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. It is in and through Jesus that we see the definitive truth (reality) concerning both God and humanity. The reality of the God-man Jesus The biblical, Nicene faith  declares that Jesus is fully God and fully human---two natures in one person . Moreover, it declares that in and throu...