Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

Quote, Religion and Spirituality

Thomas Merton on God Cannot be Loved or Felt without Human Feelings

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If we are without human feelings we cannot love God in the way in which we are meant to love Him—as men. If we do not respond to human affection we cannot be loved by God in the way in which He has willed to love us—with the Heart of the Man, Jesus Christ Who is God, the Son of God, and the anointed Christ.[1]

[1] Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude (Dell Publishing Co., Inc.: New York, 1961), 26.

Thomas Merton, (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968)

An American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk, as commonly referred to as, was a poet, social activist, and ecumenist. He was ordained to the priesthood and later given the name Father Louis in 1949. He While he was at the Trappist Monastery of Our Lady Gethsemane, he wrote a book that is “both about meditation and a meditation in itself.”

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Apologetics, Debate

Stay Tuned In : Nabeel Qureshi Debates Shabir Ally

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Stay tuned in to watch live stream of a debate between Dr. Nabeel Qureshi (a former Muslim), author of Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus and Imam Dr. Shabir Ally on the question, “What Is God Really Like: Tawhid or Trinity?” at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (EDT). Apologetics Canada claims in its Facebook page that Imam learned debating skills by watching another prominent Christian apologist Dr. William Lane Craig.

Dr. Qureshi is in the RZIM’s speaking team. This is what he had to say about Dr. Ally:

“I’m honored to debate Dr. Shabir Ally. The last time I saw him was in 2004 when I was still a Muslim. I was watching him debate and was hoping he’d win.”

Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to watch Dr. Qureshi taking on Dr. Ally.

Watch Youtube livestream

Evangelism

DA Carson – How Do You Explain the Gospel in Five Minutes

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Gospel, Theology

Inadequate Understanding of Love

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Our understanding of God’s love is so raw since it is shaped by the culture we were born in and raised in, the books that we read, the music that we listen to, and the movies that we watch. What we understand as love is only what we are capable of ourselves doing to others. That is an utterly inadequate definition of love. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of what love really is. God is love,[1] and His love is actualized and demonstrated in the person of Jesus Christ on the Cross in Calvary. He is no less than the incarnate Son of God, preexisted with the Father, not made but begotten, the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form.[2] Without diminishing his divinity, he voluntarily took a human form to deliver humanity from the bondage of sin by offering himself as the ultimate sacrifice.[3] For the penalty of sin is death.[4] Jesus paid the price with his own blood even when we were still sinners.[5] And that is love.

Scripture References:

[1] 1 John 4:8

[2] Colossians 2:9; Philippians 2:6-8

[3] Hebrews 10:10

[4] Romans 6:23

[5] Romans 5:8

Book Excerpt, Religion and Spirituality

Sabbatum Excerpt: Ps. John Piper’s Plea to Pastors in his Book, “Brothers, We are not Professionals”

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We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake. For there is no professional childlikeness (Matt. 18:3); there is no professional tenderheartedness (Eph. 4:32); there is no professional panting after God (Ps. 42:1).

But our first business is to pant after God in prayer. Our business is to weep over our sins (James 4:9). Is there professional weeping? Our business is to strain forward to the holiness of Christ and the prize of the upward call of God (Phil. 3:14); to pummel our bodies and subdue them lest we be cast away (1 Cor. 9:27); to deny ourselves and take up the blood-spattered cross daily (Luke 9:23). How do you carry a cross professionally? We have been crucified with Christ; yet now we live by faith in the one who loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal. 2:20). What is professional faith?

Piper, John. Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: a Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002.