In the past weeks I’ve addressed some aspects of modern weddings (you can read about those here and here). Today, let’s consider living together before marriage. Why has it become so common and accepted? The short answer is because living together is easy and speaking against it is hard. The long answer is very long, … Continue reading Living Together before Marriage
Category: Series: Ambassadors
Weddings with a “wow” factor
Nature cannot disconnect from its Creator; therefore, it retains its "wow" factor. Consider evening and morning of each day—the sun typically makes a spectacular light show besides all the good it does all day (and night by way of moonlight). A wedding—the creation of a new union by God that will be a means of … Continue reading Weddings with a “wow” factor
Pre-wedding Partying
What might an ambassador of the kingdom of heaven notice about what goes on before weddings these days? First, you may have noticed that more and more couples are living together before marriage, even among the children of devout Christians, church workers, and pastors. I’m going to tackle that subject later in August. Second, you … Continue reading Pre-wedding Partying
How to be an ambassador in these times
A few weeks have gone by, and the United States election process continues on. How would an ambassador for Jesus relate to people during such times as these? Peaceably—because our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God and our Redeemer, King, and Advocate is eternal, we have the peace of God that surpasses all human … Continue reading How to be an ambassador in these times
Podcast #33: Peril and Promise
We have been thinking through the nature of the life of an ambassador and it is the best of all possible lives. The problem is that we live that life within a corrupt human nature that always wants to revert to the way of the world from which we were redeemed. We live with the … Continue reading Podcast #33: Peril and Promise
Podcast #32: Poor in Spirit, and an Easy Yoke
Have you been able to keep Christ in your consciousness since our last post, or have the currents of this world swept you away again? There is no need to be ashamed of that or even afraid because of it. Remember that our human nature remains native to this world even while our regenerate soul … Continue reading Podcast #32: Poor in Spirit, and an Easy Yoke
Podcast #31: Renewal in Scripture: New and Old Wineskins
Can ambassadors be swept up in the currents of thought and busy-ness of the foreign land in which they serve? Of course, and so much more easily when our human nature has its origins in that foreign land. The consciousness of our mind never actually changes and so remains bound up in this world. (Just … Continue reading Podcast #31: Renewal in Scripture: New and Old Wineskins
Podcast #30: Sharing the good news
As ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven, we are called and we desire to share the good news. But it can be a real challenge to communicate it. The gospel that we share is often reduced to forgiveness and faith. What are the limits of that, and what else does the Bible have to say … Continue reading Podcast #30: Sharing the good news
Podcast #29: How to be an ambassador
https://oembed.libsyn.com/embed?item_id=15852143 I’d like to begin to explore the practical, daily significance of the models we have considered so far. As ambassadors of God’s kingdom, we must continually toggle back and forth between understanding and remembering the nature of the people to whom we are ambassadors and understanding and remembering the nature of the kingdom which … Continue reading Podcast #29: How to be an ambassador
Podcast #28: Being Ambassadors for the Kingdom of Heaven
https://oembed.libsyn.com/embed?item_id=15598148 Now that we have seen models for two vastly different worldviews and considered how that affects the meaning of words we use, it is time to take up our work as ambassadors for the kingdom of heaven. First, let us consider the advantages of the kingdom to which we belong and represent as ambassadors. … Continue reading Podcast #28: Being Ambassadors for the Kingdom of Heaven