tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post7314172994169755802..comments2024-03-24T11:30:08.199-07:00Comments on Can you believe?: Being perfectJohan Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-90224586753463877652013-07-18T02:03:13.525-07:002013-07-18T02:03:13.525-07:00Hello.
Do you have possibilities to communicate vi...Hello.<br />Do you have possibilities to communicate via the Web these days? Wanted to know if I could ask you to review an e-mail.<br />Misha.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-88198513031417150102013-07-13T06:32:27.591-07:002013-07-13T06:32:27.591-07:00Hi Johan,
I was already going to comment on this ...Hi Johan,<br /><br />I was already going to comment on this post when I saw that you had linked to mine. Thanks!<br /><br />What comes to me is that I think our definition of perfect is pretty different from God's. My definition of perfect probably is something like "not making any mistakes." I think God's definition is more like "being faithful regardless of the personal consequences."<br /><br />That is why Jesus is so amazing. Not because he never made mistakes (it's pretty easy to argue that he did . . . and he learned from them), but because he was faithful, even when he knew the consequence would be a painful and public death.<br /><br />Blessings,<br />AshleyAshley Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04767912859236943934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-18080812919620385572013-07-12T23:09:11.788-07:002013-07-12T23:09:11.788-07:00"Don't try, just do"...sounds like a..."Don't try, just do"...sounds like a viable definition of self-abandonment (in the best sense). When shame and fear drop away, then we can "just do." I agree with your comments about real asceticism, taken on as a commitment rather than a compulsion.Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-78488298367519198112013-07-12T08:41:44.068-07:002013-07-12T08:41:44.068-07:00“Isn't it a form of bondage to seek constantly...“Isn't it a form of bondage to seek constantly to be perfect?” I don’t hear Christ telling us to seek constantly to be perfect; I just hear him telling us to be perfect. In other words, don’t <i>try</i>, just do!<br /><br />And I totally agree with you about legalisms and vain asceticisms<br /><br />*Real* asceticism, on the other hand — the strenuous life of Christian practice, running the good race and being temperate as a training (I Corinthians 9:24-27) — <i>that</i> is something I have no trouble getting behind. But the difference between the vain thing and the real thing becomes obvious, once you’ve been exposed to both.<br /><br />Christians talk a lot about the freedom of the gospel, but we don’t always explain what it is, or how it differs from the freedom preached by politicians. I always think of Paul, who converted his jailer at Philippi by showing the difference between the two, not with words, but with his temperate behavior and his joy. (Acts 16) I am glad to see you doing a bit of further explaining here.Marshall Massey (Iowa YM [C])http://journal.earthwitness.org/noreply@blogger.com