Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-04) from his book, Accidental Pharisees: Avoiding Pride, Exclusivity, and the Other Dangers of Overzealous Faith (Kindle Locations 2335-2336). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Here is the context of this statement.   Larry says, “Today there’s also a strong tendency to read the Bible through the lens of a poverty gospel. This is the predictable pendulum swing away from the nonsense and excesses of the prosperity gospel, which claimed that God wanted everyone healthy and wealthy. The poverty gospel declares the opposite. It asserts that godliness is found in simplicity, suffering, and poverty. It has a built-in bias against wealth.” He then says, “Try this sometime. Ask a group of younger Christians if the Bible says that money is the root of all evil. Nearly every hand will go up. But that’s not what the Bible says. It says that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and that

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-04) from his book, Accidental Pharisees: Avoiding Pride, Exclusivity, and the Other Dangers of Overzealous Faith (Kindle Locations 2228-2229). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now that doesn’t make sense, does it?   If I honor it and praise it and notice it then it must matter the most. Right? Here is what Larry says, “In his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul said that the body of Christ is just like our physical bodies. The parts we notice, honor, and praise are the parts that matter the least.”   Check out 1 Corinthians 12: 22-25. He goes on, “For instance, you’ll never make the cover of a glamour magazine because you have a marvelous liver, kidney, or pancreas. You might make it if you’ve got great hair, beautiful eyes, a fabulous complexion, a body that won’t quit, or killer abs.” “But none of those are very important to life itself. You can live a long and p

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-04) from his book, Accidental Pharisees: Avoiding Pride, Exclusivity, and the Other Dangers of Overzealous Faith (Kindle Locations 1683-1684). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I don’t know if I had ever thought about this but it really makes sense.   Especially when you see the difference. Larry first of all says, “Our biblical unity is rooted solely in our relationship with Jesus. It’s not dependent on shared religious practices, patterns, or preferences. It’s not contingent on agreeing on every point of theology. It exists even when we wish it didn’t.” Ok but what about uniformity?   Larry says, “Uniformity is very different from unity. It’s based on clone-like similarities. That’s what makes uniformity so comfortable. It’s naturally cohesive. When everyone walks, talks, and looks alike, it’s not too hard to get along. There aren’t so many issues to work through. It’s rather easy