The Body Broken - Ch. 1

One of our practices at Skillman is reading selected books as a congregation. Currently we are finishing The Body Broken by Jack Reese, Dean of the Graduate School of Theology at Abilene Christian University.

In the first chapter I was struck by the description of Certainty. "I often had a difficult time understanding why others who read the Bible couldn't see what we saw. Were they just blind?...The only other explanation I could imagine was that they were just rebellious..." (p22)

I grew up with the understanding that correctly interpreting/understanding scripture was the prerequisite to obedience, and that if I was sufficiently obedient then somehow God's grace might extend to me. Since my salvation was dependent upon getting it right, I needed certainty to assure me.

At some point I grew to understand that "Salvation Belongs to Our God", and that my certainty is in God's grace - not in my understanding or effort.

One of the by-products of the certainty I grew up with was an arrogant pride in being right and a condescending disregard of the thoughts and ideas of those who reached different conclusions. I continuously struggle with my own attitude, but am gradually learning to extend the grace to others that has been so freely extended to me.

First Time, Long Time...

I have created this blog for two main purposes - as a means of communication for those whom I serve as an elder at the Skillman Church of Christ in Dallas, and as a means to discipline myself. I have never been one to share much of my personal thoughts and reflections, but am convicted to do so to be more accountable to the people at Skillman and to practice a discipline of journaling for my own personal growth.

As the title of this post implies, this is my first attempt at blogging; I have been a regular reader of Larry James' and Mike Cope's blogs in particular for some time, as well as a few others less regularly. I have learned much from both the writing and the lives of these two men, as well as from many others. Much of what I post will probably not be original, but will be something that caught my attention or was helpful to me from a variety of sources. I am hopeful that as you journey along with me you might benefit in some small way.