Switching gears here, I enjoyed this interview on the Crossway blog. They talk to Dane Ortlund, author of Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers [https://www.crossway.org/books/gentle-and-lowly-hcj/]. The post resonated with me because I’m the kind of person who needs constant reminders of God’s love and affection for his children. I’m the kind of Christian who finds it far too easy to envision God as a stern heavenly father who is constantly correcting his flock (guess…
All posts in faith
It’s taken a lot of years to improve on this, but I’m finally learning to turn to God as a first option more frequently. So often, when there is some kind of problem in my life, I would react and attempt to use my skills and resources to solve it. Some times this is enough; many times it is not. God has helped me change my thinking over the past couple of years. And truth be told, the more common scenario is not dealing with an actual problem, but the potential for a problem (for when something…
2018 is a year where I do not read the entire Bible. Instead, I take one book at a time and read it through 20 times. This year I’ve been making my way through Matthew (currently on the 14th reading) and one thing has stuck out more than everything else. Jesus’s emphasis on faith. Reading that aloud, it’s not shocking. The entire Bible is about faith. But it’s the way Jesus talks about it as recorded by Matthew that gets your attention. At least, it does for this guy with a Reformed theologica…
As I mentioned in January [https://chrisbowler.com/journal/paradox], a primary focus for my writing this year would be to review some of the answers I've found over the years to the following questions: > So If I’m going to pursue a life of depth, if I’m going to actively pursue God, to seek him and knock on the door, how will I go about it? How can I follow the exhortations I see in Scripture, to be holy as he is holy, without moving my focus from him to my works? The answer is…
There is one aspect of Christianity that causes more confusion and uncertainty than any other. At least, that has been my experience. In my life, and from what I’ve seen in the lives of others.
Recently, Paul Boag shared [https://medium.com/@boagworld/but-you-seem-so-sensible-62d214552ce] how he came to a belief in God and His Son, Christ Jesus. He gave his story in response to those who often react in surprise when discovering his faith; those who do not believe in God cannot understand how a rational, intelligent person could believe such things. Paul’s article was built around the idea that believing in God and the person of Jesus Christ is intellectually sound. I was thankful to s…