rare bird

File under shameless self promotion cross referenced with pointless vanity project. The journal of my month in China this Spring is online. Hope you can read my handwriting... and have decent bandwidth. I was there working from February 20th to March 20th. Quite a time.

It doesn’t, at least not at first. They are two separate, yet related experiences. The knowledge of God can come about without Scripture; the knowledge of Christ cannot. At the same time, they are not in completely different realms. The link between the two is the Holy Spirit, who is a Person in the Trinity, and who speaks to us of God’s existence in our experience. Through Scripture, he speaks to us of Christ. If you read the gospel of John, and/or the letter to the Romans, the link between your experience of God and the reality of Christ is made manifest through listening to the Holy Spirit. After that, the reality of Christ begins to be proven to you through your experience of Him, just as the reality of the Father was proven to you through your experience. But experiencing Christ is somewhat different. You are made aware that God is personable, not merely an overwhelming force. You can speak with God; this is the beginning of prayer. You can speak with God and are not bl

My wife had an interesting comment on the Supreme Court yesterday. She said that she approves of the Court being the ultimate arbiter of legislation, because of its supreme competence. She said she can tell by watching Roberts that he is a competent man. I told her that his nomination probably means that the Court will overturn decisions that have struck down legislation from the states, returning the decision-making process to the states' Supreme Courts on important issues. She said she would not want this to happen. I then asked her if she would rather have a Court that overrides the decisions of Minnesota, giving decisions she did not agree with, rather than a court that defers to Minnesota, that would give decisions that she would agree with. She said she would rather have a court that decided to strike Minnesota decisions down if they thought it necessary. She said the Minnesota Supreme Court is less capable of making competent decisions than the national Court, because the

Your original Thomas Kelly post was by far the best posting on your blog. I've always thought this was strange (and always kept it to myself) but the only thing that makes me believe in the presence of God is scattered clouds on a sunny day. In fact, today I can look out the window of my cube and see just such a cloud. But I have a question for you that I have struggled with for some time... if these are the only time that we feel a divine presence then how does that equate to the "secret heart of Jesus". To me, I don't make the jump that Jesus has any place in my spirit. He was a tremendous historical figure and I'm a little embarrassed to admit how often the words "what would Jesus do" offers me guidance or helps me form an opinion (which by no means says that I actually follow up on those thoughts, I'm also embarrassed by how often I do exactly the opposite). But I can't rightfully say that I'm a Christian when I don't believe in one

Richard J. Foster: Have you ever experienced what Thomas Kelly describes as "a Light within," or "a speaking Voice," or "the Divine Center"?  Describe. YES.  I have experienced it near the ocean, near lakes, near streams, near rivers.  I have felt it in the thunderstorm.  It is the awesome power and presence of the Living God.  It is larger, wider, and deeper than any church.  It is the secret heart of Jesus, shown to those who open themselves to Him.  It does not force; but it overwhelms.  It is what Schleiermacher called "The feeling of absolute dependence."  Dependence - on an omnipotent, omniscient Lord of the universe whose ways cannot be known, but who stoops to reveal Himself to us. Why? I have struggled with this question.  I have asked God why he would give me such a feeling - it seems to have no relevance to the world.  If one other person disturbs this reverie, it is gone.  At work it is the farthest thing from my mind.  I would like t