Sanctification

A Garden filled with provision, and a creator filled with manifest love was not enough for them. A simple choice in the form of two trees was placed in the center of that garden: they could choose His way or theirs. A promise of life was all around them - they experienced it, touched it and tasted it daily. A promise of death was also spoken - if they chose to leave this life of perfect provision and go their own way.

Ever since Adam and Eve lost their faith in God, He has been busy drawing people back into faith-full relationships with Him. This faith is not some abstract reality… some truth we profess once to obtain a reward -not of our earning- in some world far away. No, this faith may possess some of these elements, but it is so much more. 

This faith is a relational trust that is lived out in our everyday decisions. It is a choosing within the garden of our hearts: His way or ours. We are Adam and Eve… and as we blame them for the destruction we see around us in our world, we must equally blame ourselves. It was you and I back in that garden just as it was you and I, earlier this week, making the same choice at another tree.

His way or ours?

In my relationships, when struggles arise and arguments surface....when I’m tempted to use force or manipulation to have…my way.

In my needs, when I struggle to keep from stepping back into that habitual failure that has me captivated by it’s alluring beauty, because it offers something -I believe at the time- that He does not…

In my self-image, when I struggle to maintain first impressions and replay countless conversations in my mind kicking myself for saying that one thing…or I find myself soaring in the clouds because of someone’s appraisal or plummeting to the depths of Hades because of someone’s disdain instead of finding my identity in His eyes and through His grace…

In my moments of trial, when I struggle to believe that anything good could come of this situation and anxiety wreaks havoc upon my soul, when my loss of sleep is affecting my functionality because of the perplexities of my plight and peace seems like a distant impossible reality because I don’t believe He’s truly in control…

When I'm not trusting His Provision or His Character...

When I'm blinding myself to His Glory and Grace...
When I'm busy worshiping at the idol of some lesser god in the form of materialism, individualism, consumerism or any other -ism...

When I choose my way and not His way...

  
I may attest to all the right beliefs and think I hold them in my heart, but in these moments, and countless more like them, what good are my beliefs doing me? Am I really believing? Am I really walking in relational trust? Do I really have faith in God? No! I do not! Not in this area of struggle! And in these moments and countless others like them I hear Him calling us back to this simple faith… this simple choice: His way or ours?

Integrative Theology: Our Need For ORTHOPATHY

Dear Reader,

The term "Theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "the character of one who speaks or treats of [a certain subject]", or simply "the study of a certain subject". Saint Augustine defined theology as "reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity."

There are a number of different perspectives on theology and many diverse doctrinal stances held by many different and sincere Christ-followers around the world. The Bible says to "...speak the Truth in Love..." We must strive to understand good theology and truth as God reveals it to us. Sometimes, though, people hold the truth in pride, arrogance, and unloving attitudes ("Our way is right... yours is not..."). This creates "classism" within the Body of Christ. It creates a "Who's in, who's out" mentality. This is neither healthy, nor in alignment with God's heart. Conversely you may have a heart of gold and love people, yet have a warped understanding of truth. We need both Truth and Love... together they are powerful and attract people to Christ.

Throughout time, Theology has been studied and engaged in various ways. In ancient times, the stories and ideas of who God was were passed down and preserved in narrative (story) form. The stories were discussed among teachers and people, along with their meanings and life-applications. Today, many people attend seminaries to pursue degrees in Theology as a form of education. In these settings Theology is often studied in a systematic way within sterile, classroom environments. Where the ancient Eastern mind would explain God through stories, poems and art, our modern Western explanations often break down the whole of theology into finer pieces (called doctrines) to study. Where a Western mind looks for lists, "bullet-points," and definitions to understand theology, the Eastern mind would look for pictures and applicable illustrations pulled from life. Both of these approaches to theology have their benefits.

What I am seeking to understand, teach, and live out an "Integrative" or "Practical" Theology.

I call this "Integrative" for 3 reasons:

1) Theology should be both Systematic and Narrative, integrated together seamlessly

2) Theology should be integrated with our lives... not just a system of beliefs we have agreed to in our minds, but beliefs that have been fully accepted at a heart level and begun to work themselves into our daily lives (Orthodoxy > Orthopathy> Orthopraxy)

3) Theology should be integrated with the whole of Scripture (a balanced perspective, where the doctrines are all in alignment with one another... we must learn to view any doctrine in light of all scripture)

Before we go on, let us define 3 words:

Orthodoxy - "Right Beliefs, sound doctrine, comprehending the truth about God... occurs in your head/ mind"

Orthopraxy - "Right Practices, good behavior, living out the ways of God... Occurs in your hands/ mouth/ body"

Orthopathy - "Right Feelings, pure emotions, having a heart after God... Occurs in your heart/ soul/ emotions"

The Bible requires not only that we speak truly about God (orthodoxy) and obey Him (orthopraxy), but that we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Doctrine is never an end in itself. The purpose of doctrine is to teach us to love God rightly. Obedience is never an end in itself. Obedience is always the overflow of a heart that finds its satisfaction in God rather than idols. In this way of looking at things, orthopathy is just as fundamental as orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

There are Christians who are all "head-knowledge." Though they may understand deep truths, their lives produce little fruit. Their heart is not 100% after God and their relationship is anemic. They see Christianity as a series of logical propositions and agree to these by mental assent.

There are Christians who are all "heart." They mean well and pursue God with all they are. However, they are easily misguided by false teaching which can lead to a loss of the strong affection they have for God. They also live out of their beliefs, but those beliefs may be as easily pulled off track even though their intentions are pure.

There are Christians who are all "hands." They do many great things for the kingdom, but they often feel they are justified by works. Some of them have very little doctrine. Many of them do their works out of wrong motivations (someone's approval, working for salvation..etc).

We need to be integrated Christians who study the word of God diligently with our heads, believe it with pure motives and an overwhelming, passionate love for God in our hearts, and live out of those realities everyday with our lives.

Many Christians find themselves believing all the right things and trying to do all the right things and still feeling miserable. It is a heart condition. When your heart is overflowing with love towards God, obedience and discipleship flow easily from our heart to our hands because our motives are pure and our hearts are right. When you accept the truth about God (doctrine) in your heart (not only your head) and choose to believe it as more than a simple abstract logical truth, but as an applied emotional belief, it becomes transformational instead of just informational. In other words, it is important for your head, hands and heart to be right... and all 3 support one another.

I would love to hear what you think...

In His Grip,

Theophilus

Setting the Tone

Dear Reader,

I am blogging.
This is a strange thing to me.
Still, I'm doing it... It's needed.
Both for me and for you.

My name is Theophilus.
I love my God with all my heart.
I love His church as well.

Sadly, many people have turned from my God and rejected His Son because his wife can be a tad bitchy at times.

She's moody.
She's cantankerous.
She's sincere in her love, but her eyes wander in the direction of other lovers.
She vacillates between 2 lives: Gomer (Hosea's wife of old) and the Virtuous Woman of Proverbs.

"The church is a whore and she is my mother" - Augustine

This is why I write.

My brothers and sisters squabble about issues, wandering back & forth between legalism and lawlessness, as we all pursue our newly-created hearts' desire to 'live the gospel.'

We all struggle and fall.
We all beat at the air blindly.
We all forsake the cross... and return to it.
It's a cyclical process, this thing called discipleship.

I'll write about issues and doctrines, divisions and unities, displays of love and hate, gut-busting humor and heart-wrenching sorrow, truth & beauty, faith hope & love.

I hope, in the writing and interacting, that we can all come to a fuller understanding of God and one another, until we all 'come into the unity of the faith.'

Until then, let's all walk humbly in the knowledge that God is bigger than all of the boxes we try to put Him in, yet He still chooses to work inside them.

Let's walk in wisdom and love toward each other understanding that (as Tony Campolo says) all theology is, in a sense, heresy because it tries to define the infinite within finite parameters. It always falls a bit short, no matter how true it is. The only true theology is wonder.

Let's seek to broaden our understanding of this boundless God with awe and wonder, fear and expectation...after all, isn't that the beginning of wisdom?

In His Grip,
Theophilus