Conversion

 I am currently reading Turning to God by David F Wells.  It is a good book on the nature and content of conversion - looking at it from the perspective of those that are "insiders" (i.e. people who have a pre-informed connection to the content and idea of turning to God) and "outsiders" (i.e. people who have a lot more change that needs to occur in order to come to God).  I wanted to share from this book a quote.  On page 151 he says, 

"Conversion has so often been understood as a narrow transaction that is religious but somehow not human, that does something in the soul but does not really involve the senses, one's laughter, one's will, where one wants to go, what one thinks about.  This is what sociologists have in mind by their talk of the sundering of the private from the public.  It is the twisting of faith that inevitably happens when people back into faith instead of building into it.  The Bible, after all, does not begin with John 3:16; it begins with Genesis so that we might first understand who God is, who we are, what his creation is like, why we are in it, and what the end of it will be.  To understand all of this and to be converted is to have what is needed to be a human who knows God; to have the gospel shorn of its biblical framework is to have a shard of religiousness that scarcely can penetrate all of the corners of one's humanity."

This is a great reminder that our goal is not a small change, but a total transformation to the likeness of Christ!

Mother's Day

 We do not give mom's enough credit in our lives.  Or at least, I should say that I have not.  I am 41 years old, going on 42 and I am about 90 percent confident that if it were not for my mother, I might not be here today.  I cannot count the number of times that she saved me from some certain doom with a warning about how dangerous what I was about to do was.  I cannot tell you the number of times I avoided certain behaviors and dangers simply because my mom loved me enough to tell me to avoid them.  She continues to be a fountain of wisdom and knowledge for me.  

I am married to a wonderful mom as well and it is a beautiful thing to see her do for my children what my mom did for me.  It gives me the wonderful hope that there is actually hope that my kids turn out ok, because it were left up to me I think that they would not be the well rounded children that they are. In many respects it is a travesty that we take the time only one day a year to celebrate our moms.  They deserve a lot more.  

So today, if you have a wife and/or a mom that you still have the privilege of talking with - take the time to tell them how much you love them!