Comments for Grace Ring Weblog

Comment on Theology is More Than Academic by Caroline

Caroline — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 05:37:19 +0000

Scripture tells us all that we need to know for faith and godliness. But at no point dare we imagine that the thoughts about God that Scripture teaches us take the full measure of his reality. The fact that God condescends and accomodates himself to us in his revelation certainly makes possible clarity and sureness of understanding. Equally certain, however, it involves limitation on the revelation itself. If we fail to acknowledge God’s imcomprehensibility beyond the limits of what he has revealed, we shrink him in thought down to our size. The process is sometimes described as putting God in a box. It is certainly proper to stree that scriptural revelation is rational. But the most thoroughgoing Bible beleivers are sometimes required, like Job, to go on adoring God when we do not specifically understand what he is doing and why he is doing it. - By J.I. Packer

“Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, “who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?”
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

There are knowledge acquired through reading and meditate on the scripture, there are knowledge obtained by walking with the Lord, abiding in Him, and having fellowship with Him.

Comment on About Prayer by Caroline

Caroline — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 01:28:33 +0000

Yeah! our God is such a God: Sometimes he does not act like a wise economist or shrewd merchant. He will do the silly thing in our eye: leave the 99 domestic ones and spend everything (His Son is more than everything) to find the least worthy (in human eye) prodigal hateful. To illustrate the point better, i have to quote someone else’s writing on this:

“Christianity is the religion of love. Only in Christianity does God reveal himself to the world by becoming himself human and giving himself to us completely, even to a brutal, ignominious death. Other religions profess belief in God or a divine principle and extoll sacrifice, but in no other religion does God show his love by handing himself over to his creatures as an example of love.

The heart of Christianity is the heart of Jesus Christ, which is both human and divine. Here, the central reality is not some Abstract Principle, some Impersonal Force or some Distant Diety, not some Legalistic, Beancounting Judge or Capricious Emperor. The central reality is a person who’s very being is to be a Lover, the person of Jesus Christ. Christ reveals the transcendent love of God and invites us to enter into the most intimate relationship with him.

Without Christ’s love, life is selfishness and decay, and man can have no peace within himself. Without love there is only loneliness. With love, men can enter into communion with each other to build true unity and lasting peace.

Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This, as has already been said, is why Christ the Redeemer “fully reveals man to himself.” If we may use the expression, this is the human dimension of the mystery of the redemption. In this dimension man finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his humanity. In the mystery of the redemption man becomes newly “expressed” and, in a way, is newly created. He is newly created! “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”(64) The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly - and not just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and measures of his being - he must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ.

(John Paul II, The Redeemer of Man, no. 10)

From: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/unique8.html

Well, Dan, maybe I am already off the point now. Sorry.

Comment on About Prayer by Caroline Huang

Caroline Huang — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 06:34:31 +0000

Good writings on prayers! However, I cannot reconcile the scriptures with the following statements: “We do, however need to understand that we cannot affect our circumstances any way through our prayers… We also cannot bargain with God through prayer to accomplish something we desire….”. It seems that in the OT, there are examples that God answered man’s prayers according to their desires. And because of their prayers, circumstances have been dramatically changed. Abraham, Jacob,Joshua… David,…all Isralites are good at bargaining with God, for good reasons, for bad reasons. In NT,Jesus encourages his disciples and people around Him to pray for help regardless. It seems that what Jesus is really afraid of is that people won’t come to Him for their shames and guilty. That he worries is our little faith in Him rather than our RiGHT motive. If the statement “No one is righteous. No one seeks God.” is true, it is unlikely our first prayer to God is very holy in terms of selfless and theoethical. My own experience is that God is concerned more of our prayerless than our right motives to pray. If God qualifies us to approach him by prayers, no one seems ever possible. Whoever thirsty, come near to me.” If Jesus is willing to answer the most outrageous and unqualified prayer request of the murderer on the cross, he would be more likely to hear our half-hearted and half-devoted prayers. It is not pharasees whose prayers is accepted, but the terrible tax collector’s. However, i am arguing from another side of the coin. Yes, God wills us to grow in prayer. Yet, he will leave the 99 good ones and spend everything to approach that lost, silly, and astrayed one. Even our worst prayer is a better one than the polite and proper prayerless in distance.

Comment on Theology is More Than Academic by Caroline Huang

Caroline Huang — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:52:37 +0000

Wonderful presentation:”If we have a high view of God and the utmost respect for Him, we will take the time, take all the time to really try to know Him.” Indeed, we shall know Him throughout all life circumstances and events. “Either you turn right or turn left, your eye shall see the Lord.” “You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar.” Knowing Him so that we might fearfully and wonderfully enjoy Him. Knowing is to be in intimate relationship, otherwise it is difficult to know. The wife of George W. Bush certainly knows Bush more than we do.

Comment on About Christian Dating by Caroline Huang

Caroline Huang — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:41:13 +0000

Thanks for this article on christian dating, which helps me to reexam my own weakness and potential pitfall when dealing with christian dating. I cannot agree more with the author’s point in viewing each other as dearly beloved brothers and sisters in Christ with proper biblical intimacy. Since we are of one mind, one heart, and one spirit, our fellowship in Christ can reach a highest degree of human intimacy or even psychological, spiritual fulfilment, which is an essential means for partaking and sharing christians’ collective experience with Christ, esp. when facing today’s large christian single populations in the world. Each christian, like each human individual, his/her need for human intimacy should be addressed and met biblically instead of being igrnored or silenced. Having biblical friendship among believers is important when a christian is single. I am glad that the author mentioned about the need for biblical brotherly intimacy between sister and sister, brother and brother, and sister and brother. Paul said that we should greet each other with holy kiss. That shows how christian intimacy would be. We are command to love each other dearly. Today often the case is that we might use religion to segregate each other and build walls among each other (even among fellow beleivers) more than bringing each other into community and fellowship.

Comment on About Prayer by Marie

Marie — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:20:33 +0000

This is so thorough (references!), and clearly establishes the reasons why we are privileged to pray to an omniscient God. Thanks for writing this down.
Next on the DanBlog: an exposition of the Lord’s Prayer?

Comment on About Prayer by Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:42:39 +0000

Hi Dan,

Thanks for sharing your blog. You’re a good writer. Keep up the nice work of your blog! May God continue to bless you.