Marginal Christianity

http://christanduniversity.com/2014/03/17/the-accountability-of-community/ Posted by Jeff Bilbro 0 Last semester I was discussing The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , an American Slave with my American literature students.  We were talking about the multivalent nature of freedom in this text, and the way that Douglass’s freedom depended both on his learning how to reading, which enabled him to become intellectually free, and on his gaining physical freedom.  Each of these freedoms was needed for Douglass to flourish as a human, but our conversation kept circling back to how reading opened his mind and made him mentally and spiritually free long before he gained his physical freedom.  I kept pressing my students on this question: How exactly did reading free Douglass? Reading is of great importance in Douglass’s narrative.  Douglass begins learning how to read when he is sent to Baltimore, and he completes his education by chall...

http://www.matttebbe.com/2012/12/covenant-triangle-questions/ Below is the Covenant Triangle. (If you’re unfamiliar with the Covenant Triangle, see this by  Mike Breen ). Every story, every teaching, every book of scripture is written through the lens of relationship (Covenant) and responsibility (Kingdom). Below is a teaching tool that summarizes the reality of Covenant from scripture: Some questions I use personally to align myself  rightly in the Covenant Triangle : Do I measure my closeness to God by how little I’m sinning? Or by my trust that, to the extent the Father loves Jesus , the Father loves me? Do I understand my primary identity as “saved sinner” or “saint who sins”? When I talk to God do I spend more time rehearsing my failures or enjoying His presence? What sort of preaching/teaching do I connect with? Am I drawn to pastors who are “tough on sin” and “let me have it” or those who encourage me to trust what God says about my identity in Jesus? D...