I loved your article. It clearly reveals that, in our zeal for God we often place the cart before the horse. We try to "do and be" ourselves. First we need inward transformation through the power of God's grace. Then we will naturally live out the things we know God desires us to be and do. For those interested, I have a book available through Amazon.com called, "Transforming Grace: God's Path to Life and Inward Change". May we all experience the power of God's Transforming Grace which will change us and empower us to live the way God desires.
Cheryl Berto
October 09, 200912:14pm
What a great article. I think that Mark nailed it. I will be sharing this article with people in my church. One aspect that caused me to be cautious was the exhortation at the end to get connected to the Word. I think that many of us evangelicals are so prone to "Bibliolatry" that we think that more Bible study will set us free whereas, more of the healing presence of God is what is required. However, connecting with the God that is calling us into relationship (the Word) through the written word, is still paramount. Well, well done!!!
Dan
October 09, 20097:04am
seemingly endless and its verbosity is matched only by its vapidity. horizontal, vertical, do something, don't do something concluding, finally, with a watered down version of, "go to church. hear God's Word, believe God's Word, do God's Word". or was it "don't do?'. i'm unsure. hahaha. evangelicals cannot make any real assessment of themselves, so how can they comment on society or churchianity? oh, right, the preacher will do it each and every Sunday where we are being wonderously and magically renewed. like, i'm sure. i couldn't live in the big old scary fragmented world w/out your collective insights and religious big shots pointing me to where real hope lies which, conveniently, gets them into my head and wallet on a self-serving, politically motivated basis. guess I always have some sort of "pastor" to fall back on as the final authority- the bigger, the better. whew! what a relief! sure beats thinking and personal responsibility. victimization is much wiser.
Ryder C
October 07, 20095:16pm
The most important thing is glorifying God. Being satisfied in Him and relying on the Holy Spirit. God will do the rest.
Jay Phelan
October 07, 20093:45pm
It strikes me as disingenuous for you to claim you did not mention Soong-Chan Rah's book out of respect when you had no difficulty citing other books and authors. It would have been a greater mark of respect to mention the author and the book and to give people a chance to decide for themselves whether his work is accurately described and evaluated. Leaving him out renders him invisible--a state very familiar to persons of color in the Evangelical world. Thus Dr. Rah's book.
Submit Your Comment
Selected writers respond to Mark Galli from around the globe.
Displaying 15 of 43 comments
See all comments
Jim Johnson
I loved your article. It clearly reveals that, in our zeal for God we often place the cart before the horse. We try to "do and be" ourselves. First we need inward transformation through the power of God's grace. Then we will naturally live out the things we know God desires us to be and do. For those interested, I have a book available through Amazon.com called, "Transforming Grace: God's Path to Life and Inward Change". May we all experience the power of God's Transforming Grace which will change us and empower us to live the way God desires.
Cheryl Berto
What a great article. I think that Mark nailed it. I will be sharing this article with people in my church. One aspect that caused me to be cautious was the exhortation at the end to get connected to the Word. I think that many of us evangelicals are so prone to "Bibliolatry" that we think that more Bible study will set us free whereas, more of the healing presence of God is what is required. However, connecting with the God that is calling us into relationship (the Word) through the written word, is still paramount. Well, well done!!!
Dan
seemingly endless and its verbosity is matched only by its vapidity. horizontal, vertical, do something, don't do something concluding, finally, with a watered down version of, "go to church. hear God's Word, believe God's Word, do God's Word". or was it "don't do?'. i'm unsure. hahaha. evangelicals cannot make any real assessment of themselves, so how can they comment on society or churchianity? oh, right, the preacher will do it each and every Sunday where we are being wonderously and magically renewed. like, i'm sure. i couldn't live in the big old scary fragmented world w/out your collective insights and religious big shots pointing me to where real hope lies which, conveniently, gets them into my head and wallet on a self-serving, politically motivated basis. guess I always have some sort of "pastor" to fall back on as the final authority- the bigger, the better. whew! what a relief! sure beats thinking and personal responsibility. victimization is much wiser.
Ryder C
The most important thing is glorifying God. Being satisfied in Him and relying on the Holy Spirit. God will do the rest.
Jay Phelan
It strikes me as disingenuous for you to claim you did not mention Soong-Chan Rah's book out of respect when you had no difficulty citing other books and authors. It would have been a greater mark of respect to mention the author and the book and to give people a chance to decide for themselves whether his work is accurately described and evaluated. Leaving him out renders him invisible--a state very familiar to persons of color in the Evangelical world. Thus Dr. Rah's book.
Submit Your Comment