John, you continue to delight. Thanks so much for this.A new book from this last week addresses that of which you speak: 'God in the Alley' -Being and seeing Jesus in a broken world by Greg Paul. Of it Eugene Peterson says: 'Greg Paul tells stories of whores and crazies, misfits and rejects, that sound as if they stepped out from the pages of the Bible.' Sanctuary - Inner city Toronto.
----- Original Message -----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: December 20, 2004 22:24
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] [Fwd: [Infinite Supply] Monday, December 20, 2004]
In a message dated 12/20/2004 10:50:55 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Good morning, brother John. When I read the meditation below, I was reminded of the people who you counsel. If they could apprehend our Lord as He truly is, they would have no trouble giving up their sins, huh?
Blessings,
Terry
I N F I N I T E S U P P L Y
It looks like we are going to disagree on this one, sadly, but the answer in some cases is a regretable "no."
One of these days, I fully expect to minister the gospel to a post op transexual. I actually counsel three from time to time now. If they come to accept Christ in a conscious and deliberate way, then what ?? !! I mean, where are they going to attend church? Southern Baptist, The Holy Ghost Church of the What's Happening Now Fellowship -- where? Man, do we have things screwed up or what !!
More common to my experience is the heroine addict. That is where the rubber meets the road, my friend, when it comes to the sinner and applied theology. Anyway ------- I assure you that, the idealistic "knowing the Lord as your personal savior" does not produce victory as often as one might suppose.
John
When it is all said and done, perhaps the most important aspect of this thing we call "true religion" is the benefit we derive as human beings. In fact, without this circumstance, what is the point? We fine tune the "truth" and then, one day and suddenly, we find that the "truth" does not work. And so we trow the real truth out with our notion of truth -- or cling desparately to our notion in spite of the fact that it benefits absolutely no one and must be wrong on that basis alone. Relational verses conceptional.
I am not saying that personal experiece is the final arbiter of "truth," but it certainly has to be considered in the mix. If it doesn't fit, we must look under the pickle.
John
