Alright, all I am going to say is that this guy is a legend! Here is a meaty blog by Tim Keller of redeemer church in Manhattan on what it is to present the Christian faith to those who are immersed in or governed by an amoral society like Manhattan NYC or here in London england.
Take the time to read it. Follow this link..
Simon
Friday, June 27, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Heart Scarring
Have been ruminating ‘muchly’ on something and recently was reminded again of it while reading something with the wife. Unforgiveness is a deadly cancer that eats away at the heart. The more there is the more rampant the cancerous effect. I may be oversimplifying here but one effect of cancer is that it literally decays tissue making it cold and hard where before it was warm and soft. So it is with unforgiveness, bearing a grudge, harbouring a hurt however you want to define it; it makes cold the heart, hardening it and removing its capacity to love and feel. Bitterness rises up and can literally take possession of your soul. The burden can be incapacitating.
Read these words
Every person, if they have been around any length of time, would have to admit to the reality of this truth. Relationships are torn apart by the effect of this cancer, any relationship. There is no ground that unforgiveness fears to tread. Marriages, brothers and sisters, parents and children, work mates, fellow members of the church, you name a relationship unforgiveness has had its destructive way there.
The God of grace revealed in the bible is so aware of this and unequivocally calls us to remove the dreaded effects of unforgiveness from every area of life. Christ states that God can’t forgive us if we are unwilling to forgive others. That is how fundamental forgiveness is to living well as a Christian. Fortunately, God empowers us as we look to the indescribable magnitude of God’s forgiving heart towards us in the death of Christ to reciprocate to others such forgiveness. He also gives us His Spirit to fill our heart with the love, grace, and strength to offer forgiveness where it seems impossible.
Don’t die inside, don’t lose the capacity to live life, don’t be ruled by a destructive master! Forgive!
Read these words
How heavy is a glass of water? That depends on how long you have to carry it. A minute is no problem and after an hour your arm might ache. But after 24 hours you’ll probably be in bad shape… It is the same with a grudge; it can get so heavy it stops you from living.
Every person, if they have been around any length of time, would have to admit to the reality of this truth. Relationships are torn apart by the effect of this cancer, any relationship. There is no ground that unforgiveness fears to tread. Marriages, brothers and sisters, parents and children, work mates, fellow members of the church, you name a relationship unforgiveness has had its destructive way there.
The God of grace revealed in the bible is so aware of this and unequivocally calls us to remove the dreaded effects of unforgiveness from every area of life. Christ states that God can’t forgive us if we are unwilling to forgive others. That is how fundamental forgiveness is to living well as a Christian. Fortunately, God empowers us as we look to the indescribable magnitude of God’s forgiving heart towards us in the death of Christ to reciprocate to others such forgiveness. He also gives us His Spirit to fill our heart with the love, grace, and strength to offer forgiveness where it seems impossible.
Don’t die inside, don’t lose the capacity to live life, don’t be ruled by a destructive master! Forgive!
Explanations
Not even certain that anyone is out there in the world of cyberspace dedicating any time to reading this little blog at the moment; this is understandable as it has been far too long since I posted here. I hope I am back and will once again resume my additions to these musings more often.
Not exactly sure why it has been such a while since I have dedicated time to this blog; time itself is the central issue though, in this and pretty much every other thing. One thing I have thought about a lot in recent weeks as a Christian is how my ‘normal life’ tends to get in the way of pursuing depth in my ‘spiritual life.’ This is an absurd distinction to make as my ‘normal life’ should flow from the depths of my ‘spiritual life’, my relationship with Christ I mean. But, that is how it feels!
Juggling work, family, marriage, physical fitness and whatever else in the 21st century does not seem to be at all conducive to pursuing intimate closeness to Christ, which, of course, is the bedrock of Christianity. I think this may be the underlying cause of a real dearth of depth in Western Christianity, and is something I may comment on more completely in the future.
Anyway, my apologies, I have not committed the time I had intended (and you know what they say about good intentions) and now must step this up again. Meanwhile, I will just have to ‘sacrifice’ time in some other section of my life… I will ask my wife if she is willing to hand some over…mmm!
Simon
Not exactly sure why it has been such a while since I have dedicated time to this blog; time itself is the central issue though, in this and pretty much every other thing. One thing I have thought about a lot in recent weeks as a Christian is how my ‘normal life’ tends to get in the way of pursuing depth in my ‘spiritual life.’ This is an absurd distinction to make as my ‘normal life’ should flow from the depths of my ‘spiritual life’, my relationship with Christ I mean. But, that is how it feels!
Juggling work, family, marriage, physical fitness and whatever else in the 21st century does not seem to be at all conducive to pursuing intimate closeness to Christ, which, of course, is the bedrock of Christianity. I think this may be the underlying cause of a real dearth of depth in Western Christianity, and is something I may comment on more completely in the future.
Anyway, my apologies, I have not committed the time I had intended (and you know what they say about good intentions) and now must step this up again. Meanwhile, I will just have to ‘sacrifice’ time in some other section of my life… I will ask my wife if she is willing to hand some over…mmm!
Simon
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