A Story of Rescue

Skip & Barbara Ryan Story of Rescue from PCPC Video on Vimeo.

A Call For Christian Imagination

A great article from Relevant magazine. Check it out.

A Call For Christian Imagination

The Story of God

An incredible spoken word piece by Matt Papa. He does an excellent job of capturing the storyline of all human history and connecting it to this present moment. As he says, "it's a story like no other, it's a movement you can't undo."

In His Hands I Place My Cause

Prior to the Protestant Reformation, before the big names like Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, there was a Czech man by the name of John Huss. Though he didn't start the big movement, Huss served as the forerunner to the 16th century movement. Huss's fiery preaching was particularly aimed at the corruption of the clergy. He was an adamant opposer to the sale of indulgences for the forgiveness of sins. He also criticized papal authority, claiming that the Bible was the final authority, by which the pope or any other Christian would be judged. For his stance, Huss was brought to trial on June 5, 1415. The leaders of the trial wished to have Huss simply recant his position and admit his heresy in order to be let go. To this Huss replied:

"I appeal to Jesus Christ, 

the only judge who is almighty and completely just. 

In his hands, I place my cause, 

since he will judge each, not on the basis of false witness and erring councils, 

but on truth and justice."

I'll let Justo Gonzalez retell the rest of Huss's story. 

"He was then sent back to prison, where many went to plead with him; for what the leaders of the council sought was a recantation that would affirm the assemblies authority, not a condemnation that would cause many to question its wisdom. 

Finally, on July 6, Huss was taken to the cathedral. There he was dressed in his priestly garments, which were then torn from him. His tonsure was erased by shaving his head, which was then covered with a paper crown decorated with demons. On his way to the stake, they led him past a pyre where his books were being burned. When he was tied to the stake, they gave him a last chance to recant, and once again he refused. He then prayed aloud, "Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies." He was then heard reciting the psalms as he died."

Think Big Ideas About God

I was watching the movie "All the President's Men" (film about Watergate break-in) last night with my family, and this story popped into my memory. It was too good not to share. The following is an illustration by Tim Keller from a sermon titled "Does God Control Everything?" Listen from about 24:00 - 29:00. This story is straight cool. Below is a summary I found of this section from a blog by Andy Naselli. I don't know you Andy, but thanks for typing this up...

1. Tim Keller planted Redeemer Church because he entered a Presbyterian denomination that encouraged church planting.
2. Keller entered that denomination because in his last semester at seminary he took two courses with a professor who convinced him to adopt Presbyterian theology.
3. Keller sat under that professor because at the very last minute the professor arrived at the seminary after having bureaucratic visa problems. (The professor was British.)
4. While that professor was having visa problems, the seminary dean prayed one day about how he didn’t know how they were going to get the professor to arrive, and his prayer partner happened to be a seminary student named Mike Ford.
5. Mike Ford happened to have some clout to get them through the bureaucratic snag because he was the son of Gerald Ford, the sitting President of the United States.
6. Gerald Ford was President of the United States because Richard Nixon resigned.
7. Nixon resigned because a bunch of burglars broke into Watergate and were caught.
8. The burglars were caught because one of them happened to leave a door unlatched to an office they had just bugged, and then a night watchman just happened to walk by and notice the unlatched door.
9. So “if that [burglar] had latched the door,” Keller half jokes, “if that door had been closed just two more inches, we wouldn’t be here tonight. Even Watergate happened for you.”

...

I love this story. There are no coincidences in life, though we often attribute many occasions to them. This serves as a reminder to me to think big ideas about God. This sequence of events was so easy for God to orchestrate, yet it still blows my small mind away. Imagine the orchestration it required for each of us to be saved. Every person we encountered, every conversation we had and every feeling involved, which in perfect sequential order the Lord use to bring us to himself; each a miraculous story. Should that be attributed to chance or human effort? It seems only possible that was God chasing after each of us, to write us into His Story.

Salvation as a Story

"Salvation is not just a doctrine we believe in, or a condition we find ourselves in. Salvation is a story we participate in - the story of what God initiated through Abraham and accomplished through Christ."

"[The law] was given to the Israelites after God had saved them, on his own initiative and out of his own grace and love. It was only after he had brought them out of Egypt that he called them to keep his covenant and obey his law. God acted first. Israel's obedience was to be a response to their salvation - not the means of achieving it, still less deserving it...It is a fundamental mistake to think that in the Old Testament blessing or salvation came as something earned through obedience...Blessing is the fruit of being saved by God, and obedience is the means by which those who have experienced God's salvation continue to enjoying that fruit."

- Christopher Wright, Salvation Belongs to Our God

....

God's work of salvation is one story from Abraham to Jesus, and it extends to us through faith. It has been the same covenant from day 1. It is founded on God's faithfulness to His people, and is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, who brings peace with God to all those who believe in Him.

Shai Linne - Alone

Please listen to the third verse. It is one of the best things I've ever heard.