2006 September — wadehodges.com

The Felt Presence of God

Filed Under: Spiritual Formation, Theology

According to a Newsweek poll, 92% of Americans believe in God. Six percent do not and two percent say they don’t know.

Philosophical atheism is not a problem in our culture. What is a problem is that most of the 92% who say they believe in God don’t exhibit behavior that backs up their belief. God is an idea or a theory they can say “yes” to but God is not an ever-present reality that makes a difference in the way they live their life. This is called practical atheism.

It’s just as common in churches as in culture. For many Christians who say they believe in God, God is not a real presence in their lives. God is an abstract theory. His presence can’t be “felt” in a consistent way.

The question for today: Is it reasonable to expect that God’s presence can be “felt’ by those who say they believe in him or does the life of faith expect us to believe in a Being whose felt presence is absent from day-to-day life most, if not all, of the time?

September 13, 2006 By Wade 12 Comments

Five Years Later

Filed Under: Gospel, Preaching, Theology

On Sunday, September 9th, 2001, I told the church I was working with in Bellingham, Washington that I was resigning at the end of the year and probably getting out of professional ministry. I was going to get my real estate license and get busy buying, selling, and developing property.

I was disillusioned, depressed, and quite sure that the work I did during the week and the words I spoke on Sunday morning didn’t have much impact on anybody. I had lost my faith in the gospel and it was time to get out of the game.

Two days later, I woke up and turned on the t. v. and saw the same evil everyone else did. After the shock wore off, I found myself believing that maybe just maybe the work I was doing wasn’t so meaningless after all.

There has been lots of debate about how “we” should respond to terrorism. My response was and still is to keep preaching the gospel. Let the State retaliate. Let the government do what governments do. As a follower of Christ, I believe the Church’s best response to terrorism is to make more disciples of Jesus.

This moment of post-9/11 insight has had profound implications on my teaching and leadership. It’s caused me to emphasize aspects of the gospel that I’d neglected beforehand. I no longer see the gospel’s primary goal as being to make sure we go to heaven when we die. It’s also a way to restore God’s shalom (healing, peace and reconciliation) to His groaning creation. I really believe that the hope of the world is to have as many people as possible become followers of Jesus so that they can learn from him the art of love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace. In this regard, I believe that Jesus is “the way” to salvation, not just just the salvation of individual souls in the age to come, but also the salvation of this planet in the present age.

I believe the most important thing I can do with my life is to help those who have given up on Christianity take a 2nd look at the life and teachings of Jesus. I believe my/our efforts in putting on display for the world the full-orbed gospel will make a difference in every sphere of existence.

I came to believe these things on Sept. 12th in a way I didn’t on Sept. 10th.

I guess you could say that on Sept. 11th my faith in the gospel was restored.

September 11, 2006 By Wade 15 Comments

Christians in Politics

Filed Under: Emerging Church, Theology

Tomorrow morning, I’m leading the discussion at the Tulsa Emergent Cohort. Here’s what we’ll be talking about (pdf alert). These are notes I took from a podcast I listened to from Greg Boyd’s church when they were discussing his new book. I thought it was a helpful summary and should make for a good discussion. If you’re in town, join us. If you’re not, then leave a comment.

For the record, I place myself in the separatist/distinctivist camp.

Update: The discussion went well and there was a minimum of bloodshed.

Greg Boyd, Politics, The Myth of a Christian Nation

September 6, 2006 By Wade 8 Comments