All The Advent Preparation In The World Would Not Be Enough Unless God Were Favourably Disposed To Us In The First Place (via Fleming Rutledge)

Gary Ware

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October 10, 2018

I’ll be working through Fleming Rutledge’s just released collection of materials gathered together in book form and titled Advent.
From her introductory essay:

Because the church in modern times has turned away from the proclamation of the second coming, which Jesus repeatedly says will come by God’s decision at an hour we do not expect, is the Advent emphasis on the agency of God as contrasted with the “works” of human beings. An exclusive emphasis on Advent as a season of preparation risks putting human endeavor in the spotlight for all four weeks of the season. All the Advent preparation in the world would not be enough unless God were favourably disposed to us in the first place.

Fleming Rutledge, Advent – The Once & Future Coming Of Jesus Christ, Eerdmans, 2018, pg 5.

Five Minutes From The Aquaman Movie

Gary Ware

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October 9, 2018

The question of a five-minute trailer for a movie is whether these are all the best bits.
It’s also interesting that Mera (Aquaman’s partner/wife in various iterations of the comics) is prominently featured throughout. The success of Wonder Woman may be an influence in this.
Hopefully she’s just as significant throughout the whole movie.
This sums up my feelings about the situation.

Christlikeness Is Something To Long For, Not Be Delivered From (via Randy Alcorn)

Gary Ware

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October 9, 2018

Randy Alcorn is supporting his wife, Nanci, through her season of cancer.
God is supporting them both.
He writes about the experience of God using the very situations that nobody wants as the circumstances in which faith and Christlikeness grows:

If asked, “Do you want to be closer to Jesus, and more like him?” we all know what we should say. Yet, if God answered all our prayers for relief from suffering, he would be delivering us from the very thing we say we want. Christlikeness is something to long for, not be delivered from. It’s not easy to pray, “Please do whatever it takes to make me more like Jesus.” But when he does whatever it takes, we should trust him.

source

Pastor By Seeing Through God’s Eyes (via Gavin Ortlund)

Gary Ware

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October 8, 2018

Gavin Ortlund offers seven areas in which pastors manifest affection (in contrast to love) for those the congregations they serve.

He finishes by writing:

See them through God’s eyes
These people are the sheep of the shepherd. God loves them with a jealous, yearning, husband-like love:
“Love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the Lord” (Songs of Songs 8:6).
If all else fails, remember how much the Lord loves your people. Jesus, the One before whom you stand, is affectionate for your people. He was thinking of them, also, as he slowly died on the cross. He now intercedes for them as His precious, blood bought people. That is the measure of their worth in His eyes.
If Jesus gave us blood for them, we can give our hearts to them.

Read the whole post here.

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