Blue Like Jazz

May 4, 2012 in Reviews with 2 Comments

 

This movie finally released a few weeks ago. The nearest theater that’s hosting it is in a town that’s a little more high class than me. We can’t really afford it.

So I re-read the book instead. I hadn’t read it in forever. It’s fantastic. If you haven’t read Don Miller’s breakout classic, Blue Like Jazz, get it.

Some stuff I highlighted this time:

“The problem is not a certain type of legislation or even a certain politician; the problem is the same that it has always been. I am the problem” (Loc 232).
“‘Don, the Bible is so good with chocolate. I always thought the Bible was more of a salad thing, you know, but it isn’t. It is a chocolate thing’”(Loc 505).
“I will love God because He first loved me. I will obey God because I love God. But if I cannot accept God’s love, I cannot love Him in return, and I cannot obey Him” (Loc 753).
“Your problem is not that God is not fulfilling, your problem is that you are spoiled” (Loc 821).
“I don’t think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel” (Loc 1018).
“The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me” (Loc 1632).

And a short passage from Chapter 15 that really punched me in the face (again): Continue Reading…

The Righteousness of God

May 3, 2012 in Torrey with 0 Comments

I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here - so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything! >>>

John is hosting today’s conversation, so head over to his place and check it out!

Snippet:

“God’s righteousness is a fearsome thing to the unsaved, but a treasure and protection for the saved. It should drive the one towards God and stimulate the other to walk pleasing to Him. We should remember that “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 14:17) The Pharisees thought it was the former. So do most people today.”

Thoughts?

The Love of God

April 26, 2012 in Torrey with 3 Comments

I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here - so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything, but come back and add your voice in the Comments! >>>

Chapter 9: God Is Love

I love this chapter. Seriously.

Torrey proposes:

  1. God is love. He is the source of all love.
  2. God loves His Son. God’s Son is the original and eternal object of His love.
  3. God loves those who are united to the Son by faith and love.
  4. God loves the whole world, and each person in it.
  5. God loves the sinner.
  6. God’s love manifests in providing for the need, joy and protection of those He loves.
  7. God’s love manifests in correcting the one He loves.
  8. God’s love manifests in His being afflicted when His loved ones are afflicted.
  9. God’s love manifests in His never forgetting those He loves.
  10. God’s love manifested in the sacrifice of His Son.
  11. God’s love manifests in forgiveness of sin.
  12. God’s love manifests in the redemption of those in Christ.
  13. God’s love manifests in calling the redeemed, “children of God.”
  14. God’s love manifests in His rejoicing over His people.

God’s love is such a huge idea. And the hugeness is exacerbated by the fact that most of us don’t even really know what love is.

Torrey addresses this, “What is love?” idea (biblically). He quotes 1 John 3:16-17 and Matthew 5:44-45, and concludes that:

Love is a desire for and delight in the welfare of the one loved.

That’s not really what the world believes about love, and it makes God’s love even more astounding.

We long for love in our relationships because of what it does for us. We want to feel in love. We want to feel special, adored, important. We withhold love from difficult people, from people who don’t love us back, because we think love is about us.

Scripture suggests that love is not something we feel, it’s something that we do. It takes effort.

Which makes it even more staggering that God loves me at all.

Thoughts? Which of those 14 propositions speaks to you, or challenges you the most?

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