Lovely writing, and I'm sure you're aware of your mistake in inadvertently substituting "centuries" for ''millennia."
However, I must object to your misstatement of the Gospel message. Your "three ways" are indeed valid as markers of our growth in Christ, our sanctification. But we are not saved by becoming enough like Christ to please Him, and thereby be considered worthy of His Kingdom. The simple fact is that we cannot, not as we are by fallen nature.
Salvation is by grace, through faith in Christ alone. ( Ephesians 2: 8,9 ) The koine Greek word used where "believe" appears in the English text of The New Testament is "pistis" and variants, and the word has about it the sense of trust, reliance, allegiance.
I think it's reasonable to conclude that anyone who tried to follow your three part program would in so doing be giving evidence that he has believed in Jesus Christ, because such a program could never appeal to the corrupted person who has not been redeemed.
But the most important point is that it is faith in Jesus Christ which gives us this new life, not any desire to be more Cbristlike. And yes, when such life has taken root, it is normal that it begin to grow, and over the course of a lifetime, the new creature in Christ will be prodded by The Holy Spirit to become more and more like Christ.
Programs and admonitions come and go, and yours are valid. But they do elide the most important thing of all, which is belief in The Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark, your recent posts have been really clear and uplifting. My family have no church currently and we have read them together on Sunday mornings. We took one of your ideas and did the morning plunge in Pleasant Bay for Easter. Interestingly, out of my 5 kids only the two older ones had an interest in participating, because they had experience a longing for forgiveness and redemption where the younger ones have not yet. It made me think about all the fights in church history over how and at what age baptism ought to be practiced. They self-selected for baptism based on their felt need for embracing death and new life in Christ.
Our family are on the cusp of moving to a homestead property where we are hoping to ramp up that dance between time and eternity that you so beautifully describe. You and Lisa are such an inspiration, especially in this unique blending of the monastic and the family life which is something I have pondered since childhood.
Such a beautiful synthesis of the most essential aspects of Christian faith. I love how you speak from the point of view of a practitioner, not a scholar.
This resonates with our Gaudiya-vaisnav (Hare Krishna in common parlance) principles on many levels. We hold sharanagati, surrender to God, to be the doorway to bhakti - bhakti means establishing a personal relationship with God through loving service, mediated by Sri Guru, an avatar of God’s mercy. That is why Swami Prabhupad, the saint who brought our line of bhakti-yoga to the West, said that any so-called spiritual person who doesn’t accept the teachings of Christ isn’t really spiritual at all.
Lovely writing, and I'm sure you're aware of your mistake in inadvertently substituting "centuries" for ''millennia."
However, I must object to your misstatement of the Gospel message. Your "three ways" are indeed valid as markers of our growth in Christ, our sanctification. But we are not saved by becoming enough like Christ to please Him, and thereby be considered worthy of His Kingdom. The simple fact is that we cannot, not as we are by fallen nature.
Salvation is by grace, through faith in Christ alone. ( Ephesians 2: 8,9 ) The koine Greek word used where "believe" appears in the English text of The New Testament is "pistis" and variants, and the word has about it the sense of trust, reliance, allegiance.
I think it's reasonable to conclude that anyone who tried to follow your three part program would in so doing be giving evidence that he has believed in Jesus Christ, because such a program could never appeal to the corrupted person who has not been redeemed.
But the most important point is that it is faith in Jesus Christ which gives us this new life, not any desire to be more Cbristlike. And yes, when such life has taken root, it is normal that it begin to grow, and over the course of a lifetime, the new creature in Christ will be prodded by The Holy Spirit to become more and more like Christ.
Programs and admonitions come and go, and yours are valid. But they do elide the most important thing of all, which is belief in The Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark, your recent posts have been really clear and uplifting. My family have no church currently and we have read them together on Sunday mornings. We took one of your ideas and did the morning plunge in Pleasant Bay for Easter. Interestingly, out of my 5 kids only the two older ones had an interest in participating, because they had experience a longing for forgiveness and redemption where the younger ones have not yet. It made me think about all the fights in church history over how and at what age baptism ought to be practiced. They self-selected for baptism based on their felt need for embracing death and new life in Christ.
Our family are on the cusp of moving to a homestead property where we are hoping to ramp up that dance between time and eternity that you so beautifully describe. You and Lisa are such an inspiration, especially in this unique blending of the monastic and the family life which is something I have pondered since childhood.
Clara
Such a beautiful synthesis of the most essential aspects of Christian faith. I love how you speak from the point of view of a practitioner, not a scholar.
This resonates with our Gaudiya-vaisnav (Hare Krishna in common parlance) principles on many levels. We hold sharanagati, surrender to God, to be the doorway to bhakti - bhakti means establishing a personal relationship with God through loving service, mediated by Sri Guru, an avatar of God’s mercy. That is why Swami Prabhupad, the saint who brought our line of bhakti-yoga to the West, said that any so-called spiritual person who doesn’t accept the teachings of Christ isn’t really spiritual at all.
Happy Easter Sunday!