The Real Mary

Scott McKnight has a new book, (so brand new I haven’t read it), titled The Real Mary. No doubt about it, Mary has intrigued Christ-followers for centuries. Her unqualified “yes” to the God, her availability to a mission, her nearness to the Messiah, her full obedience in a broken world in contrast to Eve’s disobedience in paradise are all reasons we somehow get back to a discussion about Mary. As Max Lucado points out (and I paraphrase) at the one person who knew more of God’s plan than any other on planet earth was a young teenage girl fighting pimples in an out of the way Judean village who had no pedigree and no future. But her yes to God changed the world. “Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee.”

 Here is a link to an article by Scott on Mary in Christianity Today.

No, I’m not a Roman Catholic – just in case all you heresy hounds out there thought you sniffed out a new victim.

Dallas Willard: Don’t make outreach a primary goal

Common wisdom says that inwardly focused churches need to focus on outreach in order to change. Dallas Willard challenges this wisdom in Renovation of the Heart:

“It is, I gently suggest, a serious error to make “outreach” a primary goal of the local congregation, and especially so when those who are already “with us” have not become clear-headed and devoted apprentices of Jesus, and are not, for the most part, solidly progressing along the path. Outreach is one essential task of Christ’s people, and among them there will always be those especially gifted for evangelism. But the most successful work of outreach would be the work of inreach that turns people, wherever they are, into lights in the darkened world.

A simple goal for the leaders of a particular group would be to bring all those in attendance to understand clearly what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and to be solidly committed to discipleship in their whole life. That is, when they are asked who they are, the first words out of their mouth would be, ‘I am an apprentice of Jesus Christ.’ This goal would have to be approached very gently and lovingly and patiently with existing groups, where the people involved have not understood this to be part of their membership commitment.”

Born again iPod and other episodes from my world

The iPod update didn’t work. The techs thought it would. I hoped it would. But the volume control is still erratic. Of course, that only happens when I use it and not when the techs examine it. But they took my word for it and gave me a new one. No use monkeying around with the old one. Reminds me of Jesus. Didn’t try to fix the old spirit, so he gave me a new one.