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Review: Bonhoeffer

April 11, 2012 in Reviews with 0 Comments

I finished reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy last night. If you haven’t already, you should check it out.

Namely, because Bonhoeffer – and he’d probably refuse this statement – is a model disciple in so many ways. He followed God’s call wherever it took him. He tirelessly studied the Word. He staunchly refused to compromise, even when it cost him almost everything, and through it all his friends and family report a man at peace with God’s will as manifested through a consistently positive, gentle and humble personality.

The doctor at the concentration camp where Bonhoeffer was executed later wrote of the morning of his death,

“… I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, before taking of his prison garb, kneeling on the floor praying fervently to his God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. … At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed. … In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly even seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God” (Loc 10461). 

Secondly, the book is a fascinating perspective of Hitler’s rise to power.

Continue Reading…

Three Reasons I Like the Kony 2012 Campaign

March 23, 2012 in Discipleship with 0 Comments

I ignored the trending Kony 2012 video for weeks. I had heard of Invisible Children, I was vaguely aware of the LRA, but I don’t have any time or money to give, so I moved on.

And then the controversy started.

After reading a lot of the controversy, and comparing it with IC’s financial statements and responses, I liked the campaign even more. For three main reasons:

1. This is a very worthy campaign.

Let’s remember what we’re really talking about: 30,000 to 100,000 child soldiers and sex slaves over the years. We’re talking about a man on the ICC’s most wanted list. We’re talking about a man who would like nothing more than for the whole campaign to get bogged down in slander and financial reviews and controversy.

This isn’t about Jason Russell. This is about Joseph Kony.

I know that Kony is on the run. I know that his army has dwindled to a few hundred. (Although if someone in the U.S. or Europe had a child army of two hundred kidnapped children, no one would use the term “only.”) And don’t even talk to me about a “white man’s burden” because it makes you look dumb.

A group of young people met injustice and tragedy head-on, and they’re doing big things to fight it.

2. Invisible Children has a good strategy.

I’ve seen their financial statements, and I’m not impressed with the argument that some people don’t like how their expenses break down.  Continue Reading…

You Are Not Good Enough

March 2, 2012 in Discipleship, Gospels with 4 Comments

You. Are not. Good enough.

I abandoned the epistles last week to get back into the gospels. I know that Jesus is the Word, and I love finding Him in new places, but sometimes I don’t want to analyze. Sometimes I just want to sit and listen to Him speak. So I turn back to the gospels. This time I went to John’s.

And I was reading through chapter five recently, when I fell on verse 23:

“He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”

I suddenly found myself thinking about an atheist friend of mine who puts a lot of value on being, “a pretty good person.”

It’s a pretty common exit route:

“I’ve never killed or raped anyone, never stolen large sums of money, never cheated on my spouse. I don’t know if I believe in God – or if I believe that Jesus is the right one – but if I’m wrong I think it’ll be okay. I’m a pretty good person. God will understand.”

I used to think that. I know scores of atheists and part-time “Christians” who think that.

Who wouldn’t want to think that, really? It’s comfy. No one wants to think about death. No one wants to believe in Hell. And we’ve heard countless times that God is love, and Jesus loves us, so if God is real, it will all be fine.

But some of the stuff Jesus says makes that difficult. Like John 5:23.

I can’t help but feel that if a former atheist showed up at Heaven’s proverbial gates with a near-spotless “record,” that he wouldn’t still tremble in complete fear at the revelation that he dishonored the Creator he was about to meet.  Continue Reading…

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