Sublime

THE PATH OF OBEDIENCE Those who think God has spoken will naturally listen to what He has to say about the where, how, to what extent, and in what spirit any “good” is to be pursued. This does not mean our own “conscience” is simply negated. On the contrary, just as reason sends me to authority, so conscience sends me to obedience. —from “Christian

He may be described, briefly, as a combination of Einstein and Mrs. Eddy. He founded a religion, of which the main tenets were the transmigration of soulsIII and the sinfulness of eating beans. His religion was embodied in a religious order, which, here and there, acquired control of the State and established a rule of the saints. But the unregener

“The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine. . . . Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.”14

the biblical truth that our Lord Jesus Christ, through His divine power, “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).

When leaders are afraid and don’t trust God, followers won’t either.

If Edwards was pushing his people up the hill of holiness, making priests of them all, Beecher layman-ized the priesthood, making the pastor just like one of the people.

The author of John’s first letter announces that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The author is not saying that God is a Father who loves but that God is love.

That’s when we might discover it’s the churches we’ve dismissed as weak and insignificant—the small, decentralized, anti-fragile networks of disciples found throughout the rest of the world—that courageously step forward like David to face the challenges of our time.

Because joy comes from “the knowledge of God’s love for us,”