Tuesday is for Bonhoeffer “The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ. Such a man knows that the call to discipleship is a gift of grace, and that the call is inseparable from the grace. But those … More How Does Grace Become Cheap?
A vast literature has developed over the last four decades beginning and reaching its zenith in the 1970’s and 80’s. The “Church Growth” industry has slowed but the number of blogs peppering the internet with “how to do church better” has more than filled in the gap. Some of it can be helpful. My shelves … More Jesus Had a Plan for Church Growth
Saturday Musings Jesus is the pearl of great price. The gospel of Christ is the treasure in the field. May we never recover from the wonder and the demands of grace. “Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly … More The Cost of Grace
Saturday Musings and Reflections “… it is imperative for the Christian to achieve renunciation, to practise self-effacement, to distinguish his life from the life of the world.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 44. Why does Bonhoeffer believe that it is imperative that Christians be different from the world? Why is it important that Christians … More Echoing Jesus, Bonhoeffer Speaks
Sunday Musings I am starting on my third copy of Bonhoeffer’s, The Cost of Discipleship, having worn out two copies already. It is embarrassing to see how much I don’t know, haven’t comprehended, and failed to discern in my previous readings. That said, I’m excited about how God is going to use the book to … More The Church is Drowning in Cheap Grace
Saturday Musings Yet another reason to dust off your copy of THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP and read it again. Bonhoeffer continues to be relevant. I think as the culture both overtly and subtly puts more and more pressure on Christians to conform to its lower moral code … Nominal Christians even in Bible teaching churches … More The Likely Future in Many Churches
Wednesday is for Thinking I am away, making my first ever trip to Israel. While I am gone I have prepared a series of re-posts comprised of some of the most downloaded and viewed pages of the last 5 years. Keep me in prayer for the next 10 days. I am looking forward to walking the streets … More We’ve Got Discipleship All Wrong
Saturday Afternoon Musings It’s not a biography. It’s not a novel. It is partly both. It’s a series of imagined conversations that Bonhoeffer could have had, based on his books, and papers, sermons, and interviews with those who knew him written by a writer who respects and wants to honor his legacy. [Thanks to Darlene Cooke … More How the Church Cheapens Grace
Sunday Afternoon Musings “You can only learn what obedience is by obeying. It’s no use asking questions; for it is only through obedience that you come to learn the truth.” —Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 86. Bonhoeffer wrote these words in 1936 during the run up to the Second World War. Just as profound … More Obedience is Only Learned One Way – Bonhoeffer
Make me run. Make me run with passion. Make me run the race with endurance. Make my life declare that it will not be conquered. Make me like this young woman. Make my life pursue you with such reckless abandon that the world notices, even if for only a brief moment, that you are magnificent … More Oh God, Make My Heart Run to You
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