Apparently, Tuesday is the one day of the week I’m most likely to be “away from my desk.” Who knew??
And since we just got home from an AMAZING (but exhausting) week of Family Camp, I don’t have any energy at all to muster up a blog post.
I did re-read Chapters 9-11 just now, and wow. So much good (and HARD) stuff.
We’re going to do something a little different this week. Instead of me asking a bunch of questions, I want YOU to ask some. Or one. Or just make an observation. Or share a quote you liked. Or didn’t like.
Take it away!
*Next week’s homework: Chapters 12-14.
This book is messing me up. First Radical now this?
I have to agree with Krysten that the part that spoke to me the most and is a real game changer for me is where she quotes CS Lewis on page 130: “We do know that no person can be saved except through Christ. We do not know that only those who know Him can be saved by Him.” However unlike Krysten, Mere Christianity is on my bookshelf and has NOT been read.
Also, my answer to one of your previous questions is that you have to love Jesus to be saved. Ummm…I have some major thinking, praying, rearranging my thoughts……to do.
I hear ya, girl. I’ve read Mere Christianity, but I aim to read it again right soon. That quote stood out to me too.
Um, wow. First of all, I’ve been way too overwhelmed with my first master’s degree class for the past few weeks to even be able to comment about any of this reading, which has been stinking. Today I am putting off my assignment (whoopsie!) to make a few comments because I just can’t stand it anymore. I’ll get to my responsible stuff sometime, really!
So, backing up a second: Zarmina. I love her. I have my own “Zarminas” in my life who I just can’t seem to fit into that little neat black-and-white box I want to cram all of my Christian faith stuff into. My Zarminas are what keep me up at night with my mind going in every direction while begging God to give me more clarity.
Some things that stood out this time around:
I can totally relate to the whole “higher ways” thing in Chapter 11. I’ve often heard that little slice of scripture thrown around when something horrible happens that we can’t explain. But Rachel’s second look at that passage (in it’s entirety, not just plucking out the token memory verse) made me nearly jump for joy when I realized that when you take the whole thing in context, God clearly seems to be speaking about his mercy here. So could it really be that he is trying to tell us that it’s his love and mercy and compassion and his ability and willingness to “pardon abundantly” that is so much higher and deeper and wider than we can imagine, not his anger and wrath!? THAT sits well with my heart and it’s exactly the same thing I see in Jesus all throughout the NT.
Also in Ch. 11, she quotes CS Lewis saying: “We do know that no person can be saved except through Christ. We do not know that only those who know Him can be saved by Him.” Um, WHOA! I am a huge fan of Lewis and have read Mere Christianity more than once…how did that particular line never stand out to me this much!? Wouldn’t that be just like Jesus, to be able to reach and save people who never knew him here on earth? Wouldn’t that be the perfect illustration to go along with what he is saying to us in Isaiah 55…That he’s able to abundantly pardon…his ways are higher than ours…etc…
This is a beautiful mess y’all have gotten me into with this read-along. My heart is getting stretch marks!
I can’t even wrap by brain around the way(s) that Jesus could save someone that didn’t know him here on earth. That’s because his ways and thoughts are higher than mine. Why couldn’t/wouldn’t he do just that?
“I can’t even wrap by brain around the way(s) that Jesus could save someone that didn’t know him” no body really new Jesus when we were saved — that is the miracle of salvation — but we do need to confess by faith –
I agree, Ellen…Most definitely! None of us had a clue about Jesus before he pursued our hearts and we got to know him. Once we confessed our faith in him, we were saved. Reading this makes me wonder if our Savior has some other way of pursuing folks who never could have known him here on earth. For example, all of the people who lived and died before Jesus came to earth, and babies who never got the chance to live their lives here on earth. My heart is wondering…how do they confess by faith and believe in Jesus? This part of Isaiah just makes me giddy to think that perhaps Jesus goes to them in some way that we couldn’t possibly fathom, since his ways are higher than ours. Does that make sense?
I just love bouncing all this wonder around with so many other folks who love Jesus too! : )
I love every single bit of what you wrote here. THIS is why I didn’t write a post today–so that someone amazing like you could come along and say everything I would’ve said if I could’ve figured out how to put some words together. Bless you, friend. xoxoxo
Ahhhhh there was so much more to say. I had to restrain myself (mostly because I have so much other work to do …blaaahhhh!!)
These are the conversations that SO need to happen over some hot tea and long, unhurried hours.
Thank you for hosting this read-along, friend. After reading stuff like Radical and Crazy Love and Consumer Detox and Hole in our Gospel and Not a Fan along with my bible during the past couple of years, I’m not sure I’ll ever have all my questions out on the table, let alone answered! I’m okay with that to an extent, but discussions about this hard stuff will never stop being awesome to me!
Okay…back to work for me. Much love to you! -K
you hould try When Heaven Invades Earth — by Bill Johnson