Welcome to the new course. It’ll be a little different than the first. I shall try to offer one- page, four- sessions series. Hopefully, that will help everyone to keep up, as the course will work best if we have participants sharing their ideas. The goal is to develop a Christian lifestyle appropriate for our […]
This is the second of the four Christian lifestyles we’ll examine from our past. Remember we are talking about designs for living rather than theologies, histories, or even ethics. Some believe this radical lifestyle is the only genuine one, because it was the first. It is certainly exemplified by the first three hundred years of […]
When Constantine accepted Christianity in the 300s, the counterculture community became one of many institutions performing their functions for the common good. This Established Church took the role of providing religion for conventional society. She has been part of the establishment in some form from that time. The Established Church serves sometimes as the conscience […]
After 1300 years a revolution took place within the Established Church. The Protestant Movement led to a number of different church types. Some tried to recapture the Countercultural model, some simply to reform the Establishment, and others to develop the new and different. I tried to catch the spirit if not the reality of the […]
The second unit looks at four characteristics of modern Christian lifestyles that are deficient and even perverted. The first is “The Plan for Salvation” usually presented in four simple steps: 1) God loves you. 2) Sin separates you from God, 3) Make a “decision for Christ” by believing in God’s promise to overcome your sin, […]
In the last lesson I suggested when “The Plan for Salvation” reduces salvation to a four-step technique, it becomes part of the Fundamentalism movement. Although we usually associate fundamentalism solely with the claim that the Bible is free from error, it actually was a 20th century attempt to reduce Christianity to its basic teachings. I […]
Perhaps the most dangerous contemporary bad doctrine believes faith provides miracles, in the sense that faith makes miracles happen. The salvation of the individual sinner is the greatest one but this is followed by a lifetime of unending supernatural acts. This involves a complete redefining of miracle. Biblical ones are mighty acts serving as signs […]
The fourth feature of a deficient modern lifestyle, the Power of Positive Thinking, also stands traditional Christianity on its head. Robert Schuller calls for a modern Reformation that updates Luther’s. However, he claims it should be based on the believer’s self-esteem rather than God’s grace. He constantly says everything depends on “believing,” but this is […]
Now we are at the hard part. It is easy to criticize the Christian lifestyle of others. It is much harder to draw up one for ourselves. A lifestyle is the description of the way we live. Whether we are aware or not, it reflects our foundational beliefs. To confess belief in God is not […]
I failed in coaxing more readers to make comments. However, I received more rave reviews for the three that did than in any previous week. So I am going to proceed as planned, begin building a lifestyle with hopes that others will join in. That will involve making observations and asking questions. 1. Let’s begin […]
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