Join The Underlines // The Best Of What I Read
A batch of the best highlights from what Joshua's read, .
This fact of God’s care and provision proves to all that no human condition excludes blessedness, that God may come to any person with his care and deliverance. God does sometimes help those who cannot, or perhaps just do not, help themselves. (So much for another well-known generalization!) The religious system of his day left the multitudes out, but Jesus welcomed them all into his kingdom. Anyone could come as well as any other. They still can. That is the gospel of the Beatitudes.
The Divine Conspiracy
Dallas Willard
In the U.S. there is assumed to be a smooth fit between discipleship and killing. That assumption, held so easily and unreflectively, trespasses against our obedience to God alone. I wonder whether my questioner understands that for descendants of Jeremiah and followers of Jesus, obedience to God may require us to refuse the state’s claim to our loyalty. Does the Department of Defense grant that my fundamental obligation is not loyalty to country but obedience to God? I doubt it. In such circumstances, where Caesar cannot distinguish between our proper subjection and our ultimate allegiance, it may be best to say bluntly, “A loyal American? Of course not. I’m a Christian!” (D. Brent Laytham, “Loyalty Oath: A Matter of Ultimate Allegiance,” Christian Century, July 12, 2005)
Desiring the Kingdom
James K. A. Smith
Knowing about God is different than knowing God. You see, if the Galatian believers really knew God as their Father then they would be free just as Jesus has promised absolute freedom, but they were not free. Paul stuck in this disclaimer as a teaching jab: they were certainly known by God who loved them as his own sons, but they were living as slaves because they did not know and believe the father heart of God for them as sons.
Orphan Slave Son
Ben Pasley
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