“Grace is radically unbalanced. It contains no but: it is unconditional, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and undomesticated- or else it is not grace.”- Tullian Tchividjian As Tullian Tchividjian (One Way Love) continues his discussion of Jesus’ meal at the home of Simon the Pharisee, he observes that, unlike the other dinner guests, we have compassion for the […]
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”- Lamentations 3:22-24 “Sometimes we stand to learn the most about God from the situations we understand […]
As Tullian Tchividjian continues Chapter 7 of One Way Love, he discusses what Timothy Keller refers to as “the freedom of self-forgetfulness”. When we spend more time being introspective than thinking about Jesus and what He’s done, Pastor Tchividjian notes, we shrink into ourselves. Freed from the burden of establishing our own self-worth, God’s one-way […]
Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish? . . . When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.”- John […]
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”- Romans 5:8 (NIV) In Chapter 5 (“Ex-Convicts, Failed Disciples, and One-Way Love”) of One Way Love, Tullian Tchividjian comments that what brought him out of his rebellious period was not a spectacular, Damascus Road experience, but […]
“Sin is not canceled by lawful living, for no person is able to live up to the law. Nothing can take away sin but the grace of God.”- Martin Luther Tullian Tchividjian (One Way Love) concluded in the last post that fight, flight, and appeasement don’t work, at least not in the long run. Fighters […]
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”- Galatians 5:1 Tullian Tchividjian begins Chapter 3 (“Confessions of a Perfomancist”) of One Way Love with a discussion of the negative, even vicious, demands of performancism. Performancism is a world in which successes aren’t really […]
In Chapter 2 of One Way Love, Tullian Tchividjian continues his discussion of the story of the prodigal son by noting that the parable is more than a beautiful story of God’s one-way love: “it’s a beautiful picture of God’s one-way love for an unloving and actively hostile person.” Yet, as Pastor Tchividjian asserts, the […]
Pastor Tullian Tchividjian (One Way Love) follows his discussion of The Parable of Two Sons with a tale of two very different lunches he had with concerned family friends, one before and one after he had been kicked out of the house at age sixteen. The first family friend read Tullian the riot act. However, […]
Then his master summoned him and said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?”- The Unforgiving Servant, Matthew 18:32-33 In Chapter 2 (“How I Almost Killed My Mother”) of […]
The Wall Around Your Heart (Nelson Books, 2013) The framework of Mary Demuth’s latest book, The Wall Around Your Heart: How Jesus Heals You When Others Hurt You, camps around the eleven phrases of the Lord’s Prayer, prayed in the context of community. The author comments: “Tucked within this prayer are secrets to understanding conflict, […]
“Therefor I have cheerfully made up my mind to be proud of my weaknesses, because they mean a deeper experience of the power of Christ. I can even enjoy weakness, suffering, privations, persecutions and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For my weaknesses are made strong in him.”- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (J. B. Phillips) Author Mary DeMuth […]