Blog is Closing

I’m closing this blog, not deleting it though. My other blog “The Evangelical Calvinist,” is taking much of my time; and of course I just started another blog called Affective Devotions, which will be a place for me to just reflect on the Lord’s goodness in Christ. A place where I write devotionally, and reflect upon my scripture readings, and how the Lord is continually showing Himself to me in Christ by the Spirit. Thanks to all those who have read here, I’m still around, just not here. Come visit me at ‘Affective Devotions’ or ‘The Evangelical Calvinist’.

Peace in Christ,

Bobby

Amazing Grace at the Roman Colosseum

Taco Bell and Flying Don’t Mix

Make sure to avoid Taco Bell if you plan on flying anytime soon , hehe.

Jesus: ‘The Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever’

Here is a great question that was posed by Scottish theologian H. R. Macintosh in a sermon of his which was published in 1938 (posthmously); certainly how one answers this question speaks volumes to what “tradition” you approach God through, indeed there are at least two major traditions that theologians have tried to talk about and know God through — and Macintosh’s question revolves around those two traditions.

FIFTY years ago, and indeed much nearer our own day, discussion went on constantly regarding the Divinity of Christ. People raised the question: Is Christ one with God, is His nature the same as the Father’s? That was a vital problem, and will always remain so; but you will observe that it assumed that we knew beforehand what God is like, and could compare Jesus with Him, and thereupon decide whether Jesus corresponded to the Divine nature as we knew it. I think it is fairly accurate to say that just at present people are chiefly concerned not about the question whether Jesus is the same as God, but rather the question whether God is the same as Jesus. You see, they have turned the problem round and are looking at it from the other end. They say, we know what Christ was like, for we can read about Him in the Gospels; is God’s character of the same kind? Can we argue confidently from the one to the other? Can I take the mind and heart of Jesus Christ, as He lived among men and for men, and say to the perplexed, or to my own heart when it is troubled: There, that is what you can rely on at the very heart of the universe? God is exactly like Jesus, and as Dr. A. B. Bruce once said: “If God is like Jesus, this world has reason to be glad.” (Quote taken from: here)

Have you ever thought about this? Does your understanding of God come from looking at Jesus, or do you have an understanding of God, generically considered, which you fit the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to? Or maybe you’re wondering, what about the Old Testament time, this was prior to Jesus’ incarnation, right?

Irena Sendler, Sent by God

Wow, an amazing story, never heard of Irena before. Here is her bio: Irena Sendler

Being a Theologian of the Cross

That’s me, don’t laugh!

“One Nation Under God?”

Check this out! What do you all think of this painting, and all the nuance it represents? You’ll need to go to this link to get the full impact, when you get there, hover over the picture and there will be various captions given that explain what the artist intended with this painting.

H/T: Halden

It is quite scary to me, but I’m afraid this is the way that many an American views our country; i.e. “One Nation Under God.” Do you believe that “Evangelicals,” in particular, have so intertwined the Gospel with Patriotism, that the two cannot be distinguished? Do you think we are/were a Christian nation? Let me know . . .

How I became an Evangelical Calvinist

Well, my head is swimming in Calvinism; my most recent blog venture “The Evangelical Calvinist” is taking a lot of my time — not to mention a related research project. But, there is certainly more to life than working out the various wrinkles that said system of belief represents. I just want to give an explanation for why I have taken the name Evangelical Calvinist — it really has nothing to do with Calvinism at all.

I’ve taken the name “Evangelical Calvinist” because, well, simply, it represents where my doctrinal positions flow from. It is evangelical because it starts, methodologically, with God’s life; thus His superabundant love for us. It is Calvinist because it clearly moves within the stream and categories provided by John Calvin. It follows supralapsarianism, it follows a Scotist trajectory on God, it engages the “mystical union,” it holds to the so called ‘extra Calvinisticum’, etc. I would suggest that most Christians, conscious or not, are either “Calvinistic” or “Lutheran” in orientation. It really becomes a matter of identifying your own doctrinal set, and then correlating it to its “stream.” That’s what I’ve been working at over these last many years, and it clearly has landed me in the realm of Calvinism (vs. Lutheran).

I wonder what realm you’re in? I bet you’re a Calvinist, maybe going under the cover of Biblicist .

On Being Eternally Minded . . .

It is easy to lose site of what life is about, the mundane and regular ordinarity of life can often seem to cascade into one ongoing whole . . . you know the saying “same stuff, different day” (the sanctified version ). You know what I say to this, bologne! Scripture, the Incarnation of God in Christ says completely the opposite. While this life is often times ‘cyclical’, don’t be fooled; it is charged with the grandeur of God’s life in Christ. Our union with Christ by the Spirit guarantees a hope that breaks into our every waking and sleeping moment (the Kingdom of God see II Cor. 5:5). This life has been taken up by God, we have been elevated to new horizons so that the ‘Habakkuk’ prophecy (2:14)  is being unfolded as I write, as you live in Christ, as we our being brought into the unity of the Faith (Eph. 2). Don’t lose site, we are part of something big, in fact someone big and loving . . . this should change your perspective, this should give you an ‘eternal mind’.

Still Here

I am still here, this blog has slowed down, due to my other blog and a project I am working on; I still will be posting here, though, obviously, just not as frequently in the past. I do like to talk about other stuff besides “Calvinism,” though . Be on the look out, there should be some new posts here as soon as tomorrow.