You Can Love God Only As Much As You Love ____________.

**I'm RE-POSTING this today, because I believe it needs to be said.  In light of demonizing politics and demonizing prayers (gun control, the election, the fiscal cliff, and yesterday's inauguration), its timely - for ME and for you.  I first need to admit that I did not come up with this thought.

You can love God only as
much as you love ______________.

(fill in the blank w/ terrorists, antagonists to your faith, your boss, George W. Bush, President Obama, or Mark Driscoll; whoever you cannot stand, and wished ill)
 *I can thank Katie Schultz for that nugget of inspiration.

Nor can I claim this statement as my own:
"I believe in the Trinity, so I believe God exists as a community of ecstatic love: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God names not merely a thing but a relation. God is a relational God bound together by love. Before God is anything else, God is love. It’s not that first God exists and then God decides to love. It is love which constitutes God’s very existence. Moreover, God’s love is not self contained, but it extends to all creation. God’s mission is to love creation. That’s straight up missional theology...If we want to know God (and if we want to be able to say something substantive about God), we have to participate in the mission of God. Without engaging in mission we can possess knowledge about God, but we can never truly know God. To know God is to participate in God’s mission."
*That was written by Tim Suttle, and it sums up a lot of background text.

In Matthew 5 & 25, we read that how we love our enemies and the least of these, is also how we love God.

Consider that the next time you post a nasty (or backhanded) Twitter or Facebook comment regarding your disdain for the President (or potential candidate), political party affiliation, or laws passed.  Because how you love, determines how you love...

Peace,
Ross 

Divinely Inspired VS. Divinely Dictated

Let's debate…what do you say?

It's in a political season that I often hear people use the Bible in most fascinating ways.  In these seasons, it seems we dust off the good book and use blanket statements like, "the Bible is my owners manual," or "it's the only rulebook," or "the Bible contains all of the rules for life."  Of course, these are blanket statements, but hopefully you'll get the point.  When we can use the Bible to our advantage, we make things out to be black and white, that may or may not actually be.

Now comes the rub…here's 2 questions:

#1 - Is the Bible divinely inspired?

next question…

#2 - Is the Bible divinely dictated?

I think far more people are comfortable with a yes to question #1 than #2.  (of course, I don't assume it's all about me finding my own comfort, as it is me finding truth)

The more and more I read it, I am drawn to the notion that the Bible should be read and understood as an unfolding, revelation from God.

Seeing it this way, says "yes, it is divinely inspired, but requires a heart and mind of revelation to seek its truth."

In doing this it is possible to come to the conclusion that I agree with #1, but not #2.  It is possible to assume that just because God inspires something, doesn't mean that it's dictated by divine means.  After all, there's a tremendous amount of contextualization and politicization at play.

It also makes me wonder what God is continuing to reveal?
Revelatory language makes the reader ask, "what's next?"  It assumes movement and progression.  It looks at things, revealed in the OT (through dictation) differently than things revealed by God in the flesh of the NT.

And when I read it this way, it collects far less dust!

I hope you'll chime in!

Peace,
Ross