Abandonment

Storms and kicking at the darkness until it bleeds daylight: a meditation on victorious suffering

2014-08-18T22:34:45+00:00By Joel|Abandonment, The Dangerous Kind|

We are treasured, and our message is that the poor, weak, and marginalized are treasured in the heart of God.In sensationalistic western Christianity we often undervalue the grit of victorious living (as opposed to the glamour). I realize that that statement butts against idealistic prosperity Gospel, but at the same time is not intended to fuel poverty mentality. The reality is that we are persecuted, but not abandoned. We are struck down but not destroyed. The dangerous kind of Christian is, as my friend Graeme the Buechner-esque ragamuffin put it, “someone who is potent for the purposes of God – being that they are those who will not settle for anything less than the ministry of [...]

Consumed by the Call(er)

2014-08-26T01:46:55+00:00By Joel|Abandonment, discipleship|

“God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.” William Wilberforce “Calling is the truth that God calls us to Himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service.” Os Guinness “Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus.” Mother Teresa of Calcutta “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you mind. This is the great and [...]

Regarding Elijah (It is Well With My Soul)

2014-08-18T22:34:47+00:00By Joel|Abandonment, Jesus Christ|

Prayer: Experiments in Abandon Part 9

2014-08-18T22:34:55+00:00By Joel|Abandonment, prayer, theology|

"The number one thing that prayer changes is: us!" R.C. SproulI enjoy Theology. Theology is the study of God, and there is a significant difference (I believe) between being a student of Theology and being a Theologian. Studying the study of God and studying God Himself are two different things. When I was getting to know my wife at the beginning of our relationship I definitely asked people who she was, what she did, etc. But none of those things helped me to get to know her as much as when I actually talked to her. Now obviously a little bit of talking turned into A LOT of talking, and so eventually we both decided that [...]