glorycloud's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- spiritual metamorphosis spiritual metamorphosis It is Saturday evening and I am up from sleeping and reading-I have been reading "Cruciformity:Paul's Narrative Spirituality of the Cross" by Michael J. Gorman-got out a book from my library titled "The Road From Damascus-The Impact of Paul's Conversion on His Life, Thought and Ministry" Edited by Richard N. Longenecker-so my OFF day goes by-a quiet day away from pain-misery-meaninglessness. Nothing came in the mail for me. Here is a quote from the book "Cruciformity" ". . . What is important for Paul,who, as a good "mystic," wants to be gradually transformed into that glory (2 Cor.3:18), is that he return to earth to experience in daily life the very things that will bring about that transformation. Paradoxically, what will cause the transformation or glorification to occur is not a series of further revelations or other experiences of overt power but experiences of weakness ( 2 Cor.12:6-10); the transformation into glory through the resurrection is in fact accomplished by conformity to Christ's death (Phil.3:10). In such experiences is the power of Christ realized" pg.25 So my time off from work goes by-Joe enjoyed the Reformed World and Life Conference-made him think-challenged him not to fear the world but to only fear God-we had a good discussion on what it means to live the Christian life in the world-my big point is to find a balance-not to go to extreme-Not meaning we try to keep a balance half worldly and half heavenly-just enough religion to keep the coscience quiet-No we as Christians are to live in this world but not be of this world-we can enjoy things like music, food, marriage and other worldly pleasures without becoming worldly-we are to enjoy this life but not to the point we lose a thirst for God and the world to come-Joe thought that maybe he should stop listening to music-playing with his computer-stop all worldly activities-I told him those things are not evil if we do not go to extreme-meaning if all we do as Christians 24 hours a day is listen to music and mess with the computer then we are off balance-we have lost our focus-What should be first is our relationship with God-maintaining that relationship-also doing things like work, prayer, friendships, family, sleep, eating-living the life of a human being-doing what is set forth in the Bible as life in this fallen world-We do all these natural things with our hearts set on God-we live each day knowing this world will someday come to an end-so we do not live only for this world but we live for heaven-eternal fellowship with God and his redeemed people-we can go to extremes like withdrawing from the world-not providing for our families-not eating-smashing all our CD's-selling all our possessions and living like a begger-there has to be a balance as long as we live in this world as Christians I told Joe. When it comes to the Reformed Faith I told Joe that is hard to define-one of the speakers at the conference did not have good things to say about Calvin College where Joe is attending college-the speaker did not think the college was "Reformed"-he said the college was liberal-that maybe it all depends where you are coming from-how you defind being Reformed. I told Joe I am a Christian first and somewhere down the line I am Reformed-it is a fuzzy to me-I told Joe to read his Bible-study the Bible-go to a church where the Bible is preached from a textual historical redemptive position-live a life of prayer-seek God in all things and be obedient to what is clearly revealed in the Bible-do not get side tracked by the theological traditions of men-or the intellectual battles of Christians-in the end most Christians live simple lives-we are born-born again-work-marry-raise kids-kids go off into the world-work till retirement-get sick-die and go to heaven to be with the Lord Jesus Christ and the saints-elect angels-not many Christians are called to defend the Faith against the enemies of the Cross-not saying we should not be prepared to defend the Faith against the attacks of the World-there is a time and place for everything-but we need to be always deeply in love with God and His Word-live a dying life. Well so has gone by time-we are all in the process of spiritual growth as Christians hopefully. I will close to read and wait for a new work week. 7:12 p.m. - 2001-07-21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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