Monthly archive: December, 2004

Favorite Books in 2004

December 30, 2004, by No comments yet

Not all of these were published in 2004, but I read them this year, and they have been a blessing to me. I would highly recommend all of them.

  • The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning (devotional/inspirational)
  • Beyond Foundationalism by Stanley Grenz and John Franke (philosophy/theology)
  • The Sacred Romance by John Eldridge and Brent Curtis (devotional/inspirational)
  • The Next Reformation by Carl Raschke (philosophy/theology)
  • Peace Like A River by Leif Enger (fiction)
  • The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey (devotional/inspirtational)

Doug

Doug Stuart is a committed follower of Jesus and passionate about building for the Kingdom of God through education and mobilization. He is a regular writer at LibertarianChristians.com as well as the founder of Living Loud.

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God With Us

December 18, 2004, by No comments yet

I’ve been contemplating the phrase “God with us,” which is the meaning of the name Emmanuel, given to Jesus. It has been increasingly evident to me that Jesus is “God with us” in the present, not only in the past at the incarnation.

The Point of Grace song “Emmanuel God With Us” brought me to understand this more easily:

Oh Emmanuel, God with us
Spirit revealed in us
That we may be your hope to the world
Oh Emmanuel, God with us
With a light to break the darkness
That we may show your hope to the world
Emmanuel, God with us
Be God in us

It’s not as though the purpose of the Christmas season is to reflect on how thankful we are for Jesus’ birth, but to remind us that God is with us, in us, and is blessing the world through us. It is our light that breaks the darkness, and Jesus is our hope to the world.

I’m sure I’ll find more to say about this in the future, but this has been a reflection upon which I am most grateful to have come across.

Doug

Doug Stuart is a committed follower of Jesus and passionate about building for the Kingdom of God through education and mobilization. He is a regular writer at LibertarianChristians.com as well as the founder of Living Loud.

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A Conversational Gospel

December 9, 2004, by No comments yet

The King James Version of the Bible translates what we would call “deeds” or “lifestyle” with the word “conversation.” Today, we use the word conversation to denote a dialogue with a person, sometimes more than one person. Connotations could include our lifestyle, but the word doesn’t carry that meaning as much as it did 400 years ago.

Project 42, an endeavor by some friends of mine and I, exists to promote what I am terming a “conversational gospel.” What has become increasingly relevant in Christianity over the past few years, probably the last two decades, is not what we say about Jesus, it’s how we demonstrate Jesus. I don’t believe this is accidental.
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Doug

Doug Stuart is a committed follower of Jesus and passionate about building for the Kingdom of God through education and mobilization. He is a regular writer at LibertarianChristians.com as well as the founder of Living Loud.

Website - More Posts