unitive
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. || 1 John 1:5
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. || 1 John 4:8
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. || 1 John 3:16
Oh God, Thou art lightning and love. || Gerard Manley Hopkins
(Source: theunitive.com)
Lord, help us to labor under and from your love, not from and under (unrealistic) expectations.
View Larger Exile. It’s one of those Bible words. Clunky. Nerdy. One which never comes up in our every day life. Yet there are few concepts more critical to understanding the Bible and the very story of our lives.
Merriam-Webster defines exile as the state or period of forced absence from one’s country or home.
If you’re familiar with the Bible you might be aware that over half of the Old Testament deals with Israel’s exile from their homeland. Peeling back another layer we discover that all but three chapters of the Old Testament are about a people in exile. At the end of Genesis 3, Adam & Eve are driven out of Eden and from Genesis 3:24 onward, the story of all mankind focuses on our attempts and God’s work to bring us home. (read more)
We need to learn that when Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.” He meant it. If you are in Christ: You are a new creation. You have been saved. Your debt has been paid. You have been reconciled. You are loved.
(Source: theunitive.com)
View Larger Tom Petty may have said it best, “the waiting is the hardest part.” And while it may not be the hardest, it certainly is not easy. We do not like waiting. Yet it is part of every day life.
Most of us are experienced in waiting
… for your ride to come
..for your hair to dry
…for your grades to post
…for your movie to download
…for your career to start
…for God to speak. (read more)
View Larger When Martin Luther King Jr., confronted racism in the white church in the South, he did not call on Southern churches to become more secular. Read his sermons and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and see how he argued. He invoked God’s moral law and the Scripture. He called white Christians to be more true to their own beliefs and to realize what the Bible really teaches. He did not say “Truth is relative and everyone is free to determine what is right or wrong for them.” If everything is relative, there would have been no incentive for white people in the South to give up their power. Rather, Dr. King invoked the prophet Amos, who said, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). The greatest champion of justice in our era knew that antidote to racism was not less Christianity, but a deeper and truer Christianity. (Tim Keller, Reason for God)
View Larger Eat your heart out Layrite Superhold Deluxe Pomade: You might have generous access to Dan Kimball’s über-hip sandy blonde bouffant, but he let us into his mind. Count it.
Yes, Kimball (author of They Like Jesus but Not the Church) connected last week with one of The Unitive’s new contributors, Ben Tertin, who had first met him about four years ago. They got straight-up conversational, and they warmly welcome you to their chat below. (read more)
View Larger I have a hard time resting. It’s difficult for me to not touch my phone for extended periods of time—it’s something I’m working on.
If I peered behind this compulsion, into my motivations, I’d see lots of things: a desire to be helpful, a need for approval and a fear of letting people down, just to name a few.
So here’s where Jesus continues to help me.
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” (Mark 1:35-37)
