Audacious Grace

HeartConnexion Seminars presents Paul Young, C. Baxter Kruger and Paul Fitzgerald sharing at The Shack Revisited Conference, May 21, 2011. Special thanks to Brad Hill, Dave Lingenfelter, Vanessa Kersting, Tee Walker, Jennifer Merriner, Dan McNight (pastor of Kaw Prairie Community Church), his staff and amazing volunteers. All sessions are available as audio download or to [...]

Amazing that our “filters”through which we read books and Scripture that keep us from seeing what is in plain sight. I guess it’s just too audacious for us to take in so we don’t see it. How many times have I read C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity and not really seen this paragraph! “What, then, [...]

“The problem of being in any profession is that you will get to see it’s dark side up close and personal.” That observation was shared with me a by a very wise man and it is just too true – no matter the profession. Sad to say, even the profession of ministry. Behind the persona [...]

Recently, Jennifer Hunt share about her journey into greater contentment in the midst of all the things that can happen to make life less than pleasant – from minor irritations to major problems. She tagged me into her note and I shared a response from my experience with her that I’m posting her to pass [...]

Slowly, surely and painfully I’ve come to recognize that my theology has for the most of my life been off-center. That is, it has been more experience-centered than grounded on a Trinitarian understanding of grace. I consider myself well read and theologically astute but obviously the lens through which I have  read, studied and even [...]

One of the significant debates in the early church was whether Jesus really became “flash” or just appeared to do so. Neo-Platonism, a major Greek philosophy influence on thinking at the time, assumed the material world was evil and could not imagine the spiritual and material mingling in the same “flesh.” That point of view [...]

In a recent conversation with Andre Oosthuizen on Facebook, I shared some of my journey to see internalized-shame as the significant barrier to internalizing grace. Andre lives in Amanzimtoti, KwaZulu-Natal and has a wide-ranging ministry that is built on a “new paradigm” understanding about grace. The paradox is that this “new paradigm” is really the [...]

Roger Olsen, a very honest and respected theologian posted this to his blog Roger E. Olsen. How dysfunctional are we when mis-labeling and obfuscation are the keys to keeping one’s job in Evangelical educational institutions. Sounds like part of the Don’t Talk, Don’t Feel, and Don’t Trust Rules: …. for most of us the word [...]

Perichoresis is a term used to describe the dynamic, creative interaction within the Trinity and into which we have been adopted. Often referred to as the “dance of the Trinity,” how does that relate to our image of prayer? “Lengthening Our Memory 4“: Scott McKnight, at Jesus Creed, shares from Chris Hall’s book, Worshiping With [...]

What kind of a God do you need? Sure, we all want One who makes us healthy, wealthy and wise (along with all the people we care about). We imagine One who gives us exemption from all the ordinary problems of life and logical answers to all of our questions.  Some churches actually that market [...]