E-280 Risky Obedience: Crazy Enough to Trust God in Reconciliation
enCourage Podcast Season 16: Risky Obedience: Crazy Enough [...]
enCourage Podcast Season 16: Risky Obedience: Crazy Enough [...]
enCourage Podcast Season 16: Risky Obedience: Crazy Enough [...]
enCourage Podcast Season 16: Risky Obedience: Crazy Enough [...]
JANE STORY |GUEST The request was gentle. I was surprised that a couple who cared so deeply about this issue wasn’t more inflammatory. I had been conditioned to expect pro-life ‘radicals’ to be pushy, condescending, and unsympathetic. My boss sent an email (from his personal address) inviting all his coworkers to join him and his wife at the March for Life. They didn’t demand our attendance or stump the position that all Christians should be on their side. They simply stated that they cared about the issue, they thought it was worth their time to go, and that they could give us a ride. If we had questions, they’d be happy to talk more. I was a young twenty-something and felt affronted by what I considered to be a bold political move. Although I was a strong Christian, I hadn’t decided what I believed about abortion. I had never been confronted with how the Bible spoke to that issue, nor had I had any role models make their own views known. Instead, I had subsisted on our culture’s words about protecting mothers and respecting choice. I was led into confusion about when life begins. All I could say was, it was wrong to kill people, but I wasn’t sure if abortion was killing people. I would have never personally advocated for it, but I wanted to be kind to those who chose it. Finally, I knew I was ill-equipped for complex scenarios where people must choose between the baby’s life and the mother’s life. I’d never heard a Christian give adequate answers to those questions. While politics brought the issue to the forefront for me, the origins of my questions were theological. My theological ambivalence needed to be set aside, and my heart needed to align with Scripture...
JENILYN SWETT | GUEST How did you usher in the new year? Perhaps with a midnight toast, watching the Rose Bowl parade in your pajamas, or eating some dumplings or black eyed peas. In addition to some of those festive activities, I spent time journaling and did some deep-cleaning to help give the year a fresh start. I also started back at the beginning of the Bible reading plan I followed (with a few stops, starts, and detours) last year. If you’ve gotten out of the habit of regular Bible reading – or if it’s a habit you’ve never developed, the new year can be a good time to start (or start again). The Bible is God’s Word, for us, so it is worth our time and attention. It’s worth treasuring because it’s how God makes himself known to us (Psalm 19). And just like any treasure is worth looking at over and over, the Bible is worth reading again. Here are a few reasons why I’m continuing the habit of regular Bible reading again this year, and why I hope you’ll consider doing so too. Because We’re Forgetful No matter how many times I’ve been told, no matter how many times I tell others, I still tend to forget some important things: God’s love for and delight in me, the ugly reality of my own sin, the significance of Jesus’s sacrifice, the hope we have in the resurrection. I need God’s Word to remind me. We have the Holy Spirit to help us remember what we’ve been taught, and one of the key ways he does that is through the living, active words of Scripture (John 14:26; Heb. 4:12). Because We Need Help Praying When I don’t have the words, when I’m not sure what to ask for, or when my heart is just struggling to pray, the words of Scripture are a great help....
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