Rants on Issues that MATTER!!!
(to me)Archive for Doug Pagitt
.the better way.
So I guess that post title is not completely accurate- it should in fact read the ‘the best way’… or better yet ‘the only way’. One might be thinking “The only way, for what…?” Well let me tell you. The only way to live.
For the past 50 years many in Christianity have told and believed many things about the way to live- from the staunch fundamental and legalistic Christians to the Emergent Christians and the ones in between them. For the most part they have all lied and really are founded in moralism. Now the good news is that there are some churches out there that get the ‘only way’. There have many people who have covered this topic and I have talked about this in previous posts. My point here is not to belabor the wrong message that has been proclaimed, rather it is to say there is a better way and really there is only one way.
Are you ready for it?
It is to live for the glory of God in all things. How can we do this one may ask? My the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. We will never truly have life unless we life for the glory of Jesus- our sole purpose in life is to glorify Jesus with every aspect of our lives. The thing is we can not do this on our own. By our own accord we are completely separated from God and therefore can not live to glorify Him. It is only when we are reconciled to Jesus by His grace that we are able to truly live.
This message is for everyone, myself included. If you are not a Christian this message is for you. If you grew up in a fundamental legalistic church, an emergent church, a pentecostal church, a baptist church, a reformed church, or some other religion this message is for you.
The only way to live is to live for the glory of God and we can only do that through Jesus.
So as one beggar to another… I found the source of life, come and see Christ Jesus.
.questions.
Questions are such a powerful thing. There is this idea happening in the church that questions are an innocent thing. However like anything it depends on the heart of the person who is asking the question. If the person truly wants to know something then questions are great and need to be asked. On the other hand if a person is asking questions to mislead someone then they are wrong.
There are some leaders of the church who are trying to lead people down a path that is not true by the questions they ask. They are a lot like a salesperson. I have worked as a salesman for a few years now and our most powerful weapon is questions. I can lead people to a decision to buy what I want them to. I ask them questions that have them deciding that they want is what I have to sell. Now these leaders are saying that they are honestly just searching, however by their questions that doesn’t seem to be the truth. They are trying to lead people down a dangerous path that does not lead to life by their truths.
So what I have to say is that we need to look at people’s questions. We need not be fooled by the facade that they put on. We should never stop asking questions or leading questions. However the questions we ask need to be leading people to life.
Do our questions lead to Jesus?
Do they lead to the cross?
Do they lead to the resurrection?
Do they lead to Jesus as the only Way?
