January 2011
32 posts
WatchThe Social Network performed by kids. I liked this version better. Thanks to Jared for the link!
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Baptism: A Wrap-Up
(I’ve been posting on baptism for almost three weeks now, and while I feel like I could post on it more and more, I’m going to put a cap on it for now; if there are things you’d like to talk about concerning it, drop me a comment and I’ll do my best to get to it.)
When we come to the waters of baptism, we are doing far more than simply being obedient; we are participating...
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The Waters of Adoption
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, othe heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)
There are not very many people who would claim to hear the audible voice of God and would be...
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The Spirit and the Road Ahead
…and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness…(Luke 3:22-4:1)
…And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all...
“So it was immediately after his baptism, Jesus began to feel the opposition that...”
– Clark Pinnock, in Flame of Love. Thanks for that quote, Rudy!
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The Bird and The Church
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him…(Matthew 3:16)
If you look at the pattern of events that accompanied salvation in the book of Acts, you’ll find four distinct happenings: confession, repentance, baptism, and the reception of...
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“I was reminded this week by my friend Dave Lose that when The Devil says to...”
– Sarcastic Lutheran: Sermon: Baptism of Our Lord and How To Tell Demons to Piss Off
The whole article is interesting, and aimed at something I’m getting to next week. A post may arrive later tonight on baptism and the Holy Spirit, but for now I must cram for my Hebrew test. Intensive almost...
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Raised to Walk in Newness
The reality of our participation with Christ in baptism is still blowing my mind these days, so I’m still writing about it here. I hope it’s not been a bore for you; I will move on to some other things soon enough, but there is so much rich truth here.
The beauty of this reality is that we didn’t just die with Christ, but we were raised with Him. Read here in Romans 6...
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The Call to Bury Your Dead
Yesterday, I posted a story about Ivan the Great and the baptism of his army. Long story short, when it came time for them to be baptized, there was a conflict of interest between the Kingdom of God and their occupation of killing. So what did they do? They removed their swords, held them high and were completely baptized except for the arm holding the sword. That blade would not enter the waters,...
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The Unbaptized Arm
When I was a kid, I remember hearing a story about baptism and Ivan the Great. I found a version of it, and wanted to let you read it as part of this discussion:
In about the 15th century in what is now Russia there was a ruler named Ivan - remembered as “Ivan the Great”. He was famous for bringing tribes and warring factions into what is now roughly the territory of Russia. He has...
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Dying with Christ in the Waters - Part 2
Yesterday I posted on baptism, and specifically on how we join Christ in his death in the waters. In baptism we participate in a mysterious but glorious reality that is crucial to the Christian life; so crucial, in fact, that I would say that Christian living begins in this mystery, whether we realize it or not. We are crucified with Christ, we are buried with Christ, and we are raised with Him...
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Dying with Christ in the Waters
Today, we’re going to leave the scene of Jesus’ baptism for a bit and think more on the scene of our own baptism. In one of the larger baptism-linked passages in the new testament, we find Paul talking about baptism in the context of liberation from sin. Here’s the passage with some context:
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded...
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Jesus and Me in the Waters: Washed
In Matthew 3, we find the baptism of Jesus set within the context of John’s Baptism. John the Baptist invited Israel to repent and be baptized as they were “confessing their sins” (3:6). The baptism of John signified their repentance, and the waters acted as a sign of their desire to be cleansed. Notice that none of the texts claim sins were being forgiven, only that they were...
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Jesus and Me in the Waters: Repentance
I’ve often wondered about this conversation between Jesus and John the Baptist before the baptism:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented....
“Men are free precisely to the extent that they are equal to their own needs. The...”
– Wendell Berry, Poet
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Jesus and Me in the Waters
I can’t seem to take my mind off of the baptism of Jesus these days. And not just his baptism, but my own as well. When I was home for thanksgiving, my mom asked me to go through an old box of stuff she had as to sort out what could be thrown away and what should be kept. In that box, I found the bible I was given when I was baptized as a kid. It has the date, the pastor and the church...
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“The first time he came across the word ‘epiphany’ was not in church...”
– Wesleyology: A Litany for Epiphany
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The Epiphany: Jesus is the Son of God
In the Christian Calendar Year, today is the great feast day of Epiphany. Epiphany, or “manifestation”, celebrates the revelation of Jesus as the Son of God to the Magi, through His baptism, and at the wedding in Cana. The feast of Epiphany was officially celebrated as early as the fourth century by the church, and stands as one of the four major feasts of the calendar year (with...
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John the Baptist on the Messiah...
As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor...
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The Holy Spirit in ChristmasTide Texts
Have you ever noticed how frequently the Holy Spirit appears in the ChristmasTide texts? For passages that focus on the arrival and birth of the Son of God, the Holy Spirit is mentioned quite a bit. Many times, we think of the age of the Spirit being something that began at Pentecost, but the Spirit has been part of the mix from creation forward.
In Matthew 1-3, the Holy Spirit is mentioned four...
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Covenant, Christmas, and Resolutions...
(Yesterday at Hope Church, Jeffro contrasted New Year’s resolutions with the power of Covenant relationship in light of its ability to change us. The podcast should be up here soon if you want to listen to it. This is a response and meditation on some of the things Jeff talked about.)
As Christians, we are people of covenant. Covenant is a word that has lost a lot of meaning in translation...
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Jonathan Powers on Resolutions →
Jonathan is a friend through Asbury and Twitter, and does a lot of fabulous thinking on worship and theology. This is his post on resolving to pursue holiness this year. Check it out.