Thursday, January 11, 2007

The Both/And Church

I have never cried as the result of a Bible class or sermon, but then again, it is only on a very rare occasion that I cry at all. However, I am closer to crying right now than I ever have been at the end of a Bible lesson. The cause: three lessons by Rick Atchley that were powerful, biblical, and most of all for me, CONVICTING. Each lesson is just under an hour, so you'll need to set aside some time for them. But it will be time well spent!

Visit the following link and you'll see audio and video links at the bottom of the page.
http://www.rhchurch.org/praise/Both-And_Church.html

2 comments:

Richard said...

Whether one agrees with Rick or not – and, I think I would agree with almost everything he said in this series – there is little doubt that he has approached this subject with a heart ready to heal the wounds of the past and a conviction ready to embrace the call of God in the present.

To be sure, many will see his assertions as an exclamation point on a generation bent on rebellion and settled on morphing the “true gospel” into a denominational catch all. I feel sorry for those who espouse such a lackluster, low view.

For others of us, however, we see a tide coming in, a new day dawning, an emergence of a fully-orbed, Christo-centric hermeneutic in Churches of Christ. We see a movement back to the moorings of our heritage, a heritage that embraced true believers of every group. We see hope. We see theological congruence. We see a new, fresh Church of Christ emerging from the dust and ashes of a century of brooding and battling. We see dynamic believers with personal relationships with Jesus – people who refuse to be pickled in the brine of bitterness, people infused with the fragrance of Christ. We see Jesus graciously rescuing us from ourselves, our faults, our helpless traditions, and our hopeless interpretations.

In taking such a bold position, I'm sure some think Rick has gone out on the edge of a great doctrinal precipice. Some will call on him to jump. Others will join him in peering into the great expanse of opportunity stretching out before us. And once out there, we will find ourselves among a great company of witnesses, some from the ancient past, some from the glorious Reformation, some from the early ripples of the American Restoration Movement, and others who are just now coming to appreciate what it means to be liberated by the gospel of grace. There we stand joined by the one unifying theme -- the Cross -- and there we praise the God who sees, the God who hears, and the God who redeems. What a great time to be His!

Richard said...

I've added more about this topic here:

http://richardsingleton.blogspot.com/

Stop by and tell me what you think.