Radical Sonship Conference

My wife Sherry and I had the pleasure of attending the "Radical Sonship" conference in Atlanta Friday and Saturday. The conference was led by Steve McVey and Paul Anderson-Walsh. It was an awesome conference, which was made even better because I got to meet my some of my friends from the blogospere. There was Joel and Matthew, it was wonderful to finally get to see them face-to-face. I also met some new friends, Ryan and Jamie Weeks and John Fincher.

Here are some picts from the weekend:

Lazing around the hotel room

Me, Matt and Joel

Ryan and Jamie

John and Joel

Matt

Joel, Jamie, John, Matt, Me

Faith, Hope, Love

Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger].

But the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

What If?

Steve McVey had a interesting post over on his blog and I thought I would pass it on...


What if we've got it all wrong about God in the modern church world? What if He is nothing like we've imagined Him to be? What if the most basic understandings we have about His nature, His personality and His approach to us completely misses the point?

What if God the Father didn't send Jesus the Son to come alone to earth so that the Father could vent His anger over sin against the Son instead of us, but instead so that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit could together come to deal a death blow against sin in order to free us from its grip before it caused us to waste away into eternal nothingness?

What if the work of Jesus on the cross wasn't to change God's mind about you, but to change your mind about God?

What if God isn't nearly as concerned about what you're doing or not doing as He is about how you see and understand Him?

What if God is smiling as He looks at you right now and you could never do anything to wipe that smile off His face?

What if the coming of Jesus wasn't God's reaction to Adam's sin, but was carrying out a plan that had been made long before Adam was even created?

What if the primary characteristic of who God is has nothing to do with being a judge, but has everything to do with being a gentle, loving, Father?

What if you could never cause God to become angry or even disappoint Him?

What if you didn't need more faith, but only need to depend on Jesus to express His faith on your behalf?

What if you were the child God always wanted?

What if fulfilling God's plan for your life didn't depend on you at all?

What if God loved Muslims and atheists and homosexuals as much as He loves you?

What if you were a part of the inner circle of love shared by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

What if?

Poverty

It is a sad thing to be impoverished by the things you want, while God is waiting to give you the things you need.

Major W. Ian Thomas

Eight is Enough

I know this isn't my usual sort of post and I certainly don't want to offend anyone, but I thought this was a hoot (that's southern for, "gosh that was humorous").

All You Need

If you are born again, all you need is what you have, and what you have is what He is! He does not give you strength - He is your strength! He does not give you victory - He is your victory!

Major W. Ian Thomas

Why is it so hard for us to rest there sometimes? Why is His grace not always sufficient in times when weakness makes the victory unclear? I don't know, but I am so glad that the Good Shepherd makes us to lie down in green pastures...He gives us rest for our souls. We grow when we are at rest and rest can only come when we know we are cared for. We see Him more vividly when we are still and hear Him more clearly when we are quiet. Our fears take flight on the wings of Love.

We Live By Grace

We live by grace, guys! And it teaches us how to handle our freedom. It is the forgiveness of God what encourages me to forgive others. It is the love of God what motivates me to love others. It is my acceptance by God with all my weaknesses what enables me to accept others with all their weaknesses.

Bino Manjasseril

Motivation

Source: http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/

Dour Christians

Dour Christians! Have you ever been around them? On one extreme, they are either mad at themselves or mad at the world and at the other extreme they are depressed and defeated. They are like the monks in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, continually paying penance.





I think both extremes are related and the issue is with our perception of God and how He relates to His Children. How do you see your Heavenly Father? How do you think He sees you? I think that these are the most important questions to get right, aside from "are you saved?"