A friend sent me this interesting link to a Washington Post article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031301840.html?). It's about people across the world experiencing their faith online.
It seems that we have come to a place in our world culture where the internet is almost an extension of ourselves. It allows a sense of privacy, individuality, and creativity - all of which are valued a great deal today. My guess is that many people, especially young people, almost forget that the Web is a public forum.
Bearing witness to this is what we repeatedly hear about young people putting criminal behavior on YouTube or other sharing sites. Why would they do that? Why would people put pictures of themselves out there, pictures they don't want anyone to see? This doesn't make sense to my generation.
I think it is because the Web allows us to relax and simply express ourselves in a world where expression is valued but often controlled. When we have a question, we can go online and ask and no one in our "real world" will know. Yes, there are dangers, but think of the good uses for this freedom.
Almost every day our website welcomes visitors from countries where the Christian faith is unwelcome. We receive emails from people who are stuck in legalistic churches where they cannot ask questions without receiving judgment. Their worlds are almost closed, but the Web gives them a way to reach out for encouragement and answers. It is a huge responsibility to try to minister in this way, but I think it is great.
It's not church, of course, but church isn't so great for a lot of people. They want someone to care and give answers. We care and we point them to Jesus. Seems like a good plan to me.
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Christianity is a relationship! It is far more than a set of dogmas or rules. Jesus Christ is real and active. I believe that He wants us to learn to walk and talk with Him. We will be talking about Him, about performance spirituality, and about a few side topics that touch my heart as I walk with Him.
How much sin is on your account right now?
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Lloyd-Jones on the grace message
There is a sense in which the doctrine of justification by faith only is a very dangerous doctrine; dangerous, I mean, in the sense that it can be misunderstood. It exposes a man to this particular charge. People listening to it may say, "Ah, there is a man who does not encourage us to live a good life, he seems to say that there is no value in our works, he says that 'all our righteousness are as filthy rags.' Therefore what he is saying is that it does not matter what you do, sin as much as you like." . . . There is thus clearly a sense in which the message of "justification by faith only" can be dangerous, and likewise with the message that salvation is entirely of grace. . . . I say therefore that if our preaching does not expose us to that charge and to that misunderstanding, it is because we are not really preaching the gospel. - David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
A. W. Tozer on grace for the heart
"But the evangelical rationalist today is still wearing our uniform. He comes right in wearing our uniform and says what the Pharisees said while Jesus was on earth (and they were His worst enemies), “Well, truth is truth, and if you believe the truth, you’ve got it!”In His day or in our day, such people see no beyond and no mystic depth, no mysterious heights, nothing supernatural or divine. They see only I-believe-in-God-the-Father-Almighty-Maker- of-heaven-and-earth-and-in-Jesus-Christ-His-only-Son-our-Lord. They have the text and the code and the creed, and to them that is the truth. So they pass it on to others. The result is we are dying spiritually.
Now, what about the evangelical mystic? I do not really like the word mystic because you think of a fellow with long hair and a little goatee who acts dreamy and strange. Maybe it is not a good word at all, but I am talking about the spiritual side of things—that the truth is more than the text. There is something that you must get through to. The truth is more than the code. There is a heart beating in the middle of the code and you must get there." (Faith Beyond Reason)
Now, what about the evangelical mystic? I do not really like the word mystic because you think of a fellow with long hair and a little goatee who acts dreamy and strange. Maybe it is not a good word at all, but I am talking about the spiritual side of things—that the truth is more than the text. There is something that you must get through to. The truth is more than the code. There is a heart beating in the middle of the code and you must get there." (Faith Beyond Reason)
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