i’m still thinkin

So I discovered Michael Spencer at Internetmonk.com back before blogging was cool (and I was still in high school).  At that point in my life, his outspoken calvinism and reformed views resonated with me.  He has changed quite a bit (and so have I) since those days, but his writing has only gotten better.  I really appreciated this recent post of his concerning the REAL prosperity gospel…

I don’t know of many Christians who want to stand up in front of a room full of unbelievers and say “I live in the same world as you do; a world with the same problems, the same questions and the same kinds of pain and failure. God doesn’t provide some kind of insurance or protection from this world, and Christians aren’t wise enough to understand or fix everything in this world. In some ways, you (atheists) may be wiser than any one of us. What we have to offer is the gospel of Jesus, and the truth of the gospel isn’t a pay off in this world. Whatever changes the Gospel makes in us, we remain human, fallen and in need of final rescue, redemption and resurrection. There is plenty wrong with us, and some of it is shocking and terrible. In this world, we’re on a pilgrimage to follow Jesus, to love neighbor and to live our lives in an authentically human way.”