I presented 'Two Ways to Live' the other weekend at church and I am still reflecting on how I feel about taking part in that presentation of the gospel. I have a lot more unpacking to do. It takes me back to the months where I wrestled with writing a defence of Penal Substitution in the face of contrary emphases. This was a theological exercise. It made me appreciate the many faceted gem that is the atonement. All of this makes me continue to explore how the gospel message should be summarised, which can not be a bad thing. With 'Two Ways to Live', my brain is forever racing ahead of itself with caveats, caveats is perhaps not the right word, but there is so much more I feel needs saying than Chapman's neat illustrated tract can capture about the mercy of a loving God and his plan for the entire cosmos.
So as I sit rather muddled by these things and the experience of my presentation of this model the other weekend when I was left wanting to say so much more, I find some consolation in the following which i really recommend you take a look at.
The Laughing Jesus
19.7.10
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A little background reading so we might mutually flourish when there are different opinions
2 comments:
Rachel, Thanks so much for The Laughing Jesus. I don't think I will ever be able to understand how God sent Jesus in our midst while knowing in advance of the Cross, so I don't think I will ever be able to understand Atonement more than as a beginner. But I do understand that it, the Cross, changed all Creation, so I understand the end and that is enough. I had the pleasure of knowing John Chapman in Australia in 1972 when Know and Tell was what he was doing. His book may be neatly illustrated and seem "locked up" but his conversation then was always open to going further and to listening to all anyone brought to the table. Back then it was called "Dialog Evangelism", perhaps a better way to speak about sharing the Jesus story, a word across everything that causes separation.
Thank you DDD,
Glad to hear about Chapman.
Jesus: the Word across everything that causes separation, this is great!
I am still working through these things and the bits of me that sometimes shut down or are overly critical are often the result of my own pride and frustrations. How do we communicate the essence of the message of salvation?- it has to be so multi-faceted. I am realising it has to be done more often from within the context of relationship. Thanks for your contribution.
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