Author: Fred Shope

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Weekend Wanderings

The football season is underway, which means basketball can’t be far behind. Things are cooling down here in the sunny South and it won’t be long before the roads in the mountains will be crowded with folks looking at the fall foliage. It’s possible that the United States could be involved in yet another nation in the Middle East by next weekend. We’ll see. Well, enough current events. On to the important stuff.

Here are the links:

Eric Carpenter on freedom in Christ.
Andy Stager on a different church growth strategy.
Ruth Wilson confesses.
Mike Bell on being the church.
M. Morford asks a good question.

Discernment.
Serious allegations.
Victorious life?
Old Erich proverb.
Shepherd.

Kansas Bob on being authentic.
Maybe not in a church service on a Sunday morning.
Wayward Son is un-persuaded.
Len on slow church.
Matt Appling asks a question.

Peacemaking and churches.
World’s 50 most unusual churches.
Homily on grace.
A new legalism.
Doxology in darkness.

Have a blessed week!

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Blast From the Past: Obedience Leads To Freedom

Originally posted on August 18, 2009.

 …or does it? I was listening to Steve Brown the other day. He was speaking about a teaching that I had heard all my life and fully believed, until about a year or so ago. This was the idea that obedience leads to freedom. I heard the story about how the fence around the yard allowed the little dog the freedom of running around the whole yard and protected it from the big dogs outside the fence. I also remember preachers talking about how the train tracks allow the train the freedom to run without wrecking. All of this was to emphasize how we need rules and regulations in our lives and how obedience led to freedom.

Now, it is true that rules do allow many things, including our lives , to run smoother in a lot of ways. Sporting events run much smoother with rules, and obeying those rules does bring freedom as you compete. The problem with applying this to our spiritual lives is that is just not true. The Pharisees rigidly obeyed the Law. They even came up with rules to keep people from even coming close to breaking the rules. They not only had no freedom, they didn’t realize they were in bondage. We all know people who obeyed all the rules while they were growing up and rejected the faith as soon as they got out on their own. Many of us also know folks who obey and stay in church, yet are obviously not free. Of course, that brings up the question of whether they are obeying God’s commands or man’s rules, but that’s another topic.

We aren’t free because we obey. We obey because we are free. Because God has been gracious to us, and has set us free, we can now obey him. Because we are free, we can also choose to disobey. But, because God has given us his Spirit, he works in us to make us more and more like Jesus. That is not to say that we have no responsibility to learn and be a disciple, but rather to say that the strength to do that comes from God and the motivation to do that arises out of gratitude and love. God puts in us the desire to obey. We often fail miserably, but the desire to do what is right and become more like Jesus is from our Father.

It is good for us to realize that it is not our own effort that brings freedom. We are free because of what Christ has done for us. As we sink deeper and deeper into the love the Father has for us, and seek to be more like the Master, we will more naturally do what God wants us to do.

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Three Day Weekend Wanderings

Happy Labor Day weekend! This weekend is sort of the official end of summer, although school has been in session in many places for a week or more, and fall doesn’t arrive until later in September.  The typical August weather has returned to the sunny South, after a week or so of fall like temperatures. It was nice while it lasted. It looks like we might be sending an airstrike against Syria soon. I hope this doesn’t get us bogged down in another war.

On to the links:

Dan Edelen is looking out from a glass house.
Meghan Tschanz has learned something from William Wilberforce.
Zack Hunt on a faith worth losing.
Melody has some things you should do today.
Andy Stager on work and play.

Seeker sensitive churches.
What’s interesting is that a couple of these churches were also on a list of the ugliest.
War on Syria?
Slow Church.
Hippie doorway beads.

Alan Knox on making a difference.
Matt Appling on ideas.
Brit Tasjhian on communion.
Michael Lucaszewski on puffer fish pastors.
Scot McKnight on soul freedom.

When charity is illegal.
Definitions.
How not to comment.
Morning prayer.
Free church.

Have a blessed week!

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Weekend Wanderings

It’s been a beautiful autumn weekend here in the sunny South. Of course, it’s August. We’re finishing up one of the coolest and wettest summers on record. School has begun, and volleyball practice starts Monday. I’ll be working with the 7th grade team this year, so I’ll be doing more teaching.

Enough small talk. Here are the links:

Should Christianity be so boring?
The insanity of prayer.
The Gospel and the American Dream.
Your state and your rep’s religion.
Superhero Christianity.

Mike Bell asks an important question.
Jon Acuff is on a rollercoaster.
Alan Knox on the gospel.
Zack Hunt finds the kingdom of God in an interesting place.
Kelley J. Leigh writes a good post.

What is beauty, anyway?
Blessed assurance.
True meaning of influence.
7 obnoxious Jesus jukes.
Good question.

It’s been a busy weekend, and I’m tired. I hope you have a blessed week!

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Blast From the Past: Gold

This was originally posted on May 20, 2010. The commercials are still running, with different people.

According to G. Gordon Liddy and others, gold is what will save us in these tough economic times. At least it will save our financial portfolios. Besides the question of whether you would buy a used car from that man (a few years ago, Liddy was pushing mutual funds), there are other issues with the pitch being made by the gold sellers, at least for those of us who follow Jesus.

The commercials are based on fear. Fear of the future, fear of the government, fear of losing the American Dream. In contrast, believers are told to not fear. We do not fear because we are children of the Creator of the universe. God gives us a spirit of adoption, not a spirit of fear. Jesus tells us to not fear those who can kill the body (I would add, or take our things), but to fear God. We are loved by a Father who tells us not to worry about the material things, because he knows even the number of hairs on our heads (of course, it’s easier for him to do that with some of us).

The other thrust of the buy gold campaign is security. In one ad, Liddy drops gold coins into one hand and says, “That’s the sound of security.” He’s telling us that his security is in a bunch of rocks that come out of the ground. I wonder what he would say if the price of an ounce of gold suddenly dropped to a much lower amount. Where would his security be then?

As humans, we tend to put our security into what we can see, whether it’s minerals, jobs, possessions, or people. It’s perfectly natural for someone to put his security in gold. For the Christian however, our security is to be in God alone. In Romans 8, Paul tells us that there is nothing in the entire universe that can separate us from the love of God. I think that counts as security, don’t you? All through Scripture, God’s children are encouraged to trust their Father to take care of them and meet their needs.

I really don’t have any problem with people planning their financial future. We do need to be aware of the danger of making things like gold, retirement accounts, and home equity idols that we put our trust in rather than putting our trust in the One who has promised to take care of us.

Besides, if the literalists are correct, when we get to heaven we’ll be walking on streets paved with gold, so it can’t be worth all that much. 🙂

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Weekend Wanderings

School begins this week. The teachers went back last Wednesday, and the students come in this coming Wednesday. I think I’m ready. For some reason the weather around here thinks that it’s October rather than August. It’s been in the 50s at night and 60s and 70s during the day. I’m not complaining, although I am wondering if we’re still to see near 100 degree temps toward the end of the month.

Here is a taste of the good stuff on the web:

Brant Hansen writes about the cost of children.
Mike Erich has a proverb.
Scot McKnight has some cool food hacks.
Challenging words from Jon Acuff.

The pursuit of enough.
Your life.
Homily.
Grow up!
Slow church.

I think I’ll pass on this.
Chaplain Mike on satisfaction.
Elizabeth Marshall is taking the circuitous route.
M. Morford on value.
This is certainly different.

Losing the war.
Alan Knox has a series on 2 Timothy 2:15. Part 1 is here.
Best definition of freedom.
Andy Stager has more good advice.
And lastly but not leastly, my friend Audrey has started a new blog. It’s called Rubies and Remnants. You should check it out, especially if you’re into jewelry and vintage stuff. Or even if you’re not.

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Go Ahead. Be Annoying

Thoreau said, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote about those who die with all their music in them. Many, if not most, people travel from the freedom of childhood to a world where certain things are expected of them. In this world, “normal” is whatever a majority in a group decide, and woe to those who deviate. These people are seen as odd, or annoying.

Melody at dancepartiesintherain, a friend in our church community, has written a good post about growing up as one of those “annoying” folks. This is a good read for anyone who has ever felt like the odd one and been criticized. It was encouraging to this fifty-something who is still learning to be who God created. Check out i didn’t know i was annoying. You’ll be glad you did.

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Weekend Wanderings

It’s time again for everyone’s favorite blog post, Weekend Wanderings! Or not. It’s hot and humid here in the sunny South, and we can’t complain too much because it is August after all. The NFL has started preseason games, and the real thing will begin in a few weeks. College football will also be starting soon. It will be interesting to see how this season shakes out. Possibly with a defensive lineman winning the Heisman Trophy? Maybe.

Anyway, on to the links:

It seems things are getting bad over in Iraq. I thought we solved all their problems.
A mystery about the Mona Lisa may be solved.
God loves her, and she got cancer.
This might be an interesting film.
So there’s been an injustice? I, for one, am grateful, and don’t think I’d like the conviction overturned.

Scot McKnight says we should make trouble.
Andy Stager on casting a vision.
The Merry Monk has a series on pain. Part 1 is here.
Chaplain Mike on community.
Keith Giles has learned some lessons.

Millennials are entitled.
Limited pacifism?
Negotiating the mess.
Erring.
Letters from Jesus.

Dan Edelen writes about the church’s appendix.
Alan Knox on the Lord’s Supper.
A bit of praise from Jared Wilson.
This is one reason why I love our church.
Zack Hunt says Jesus was wrong.

That’s all for now. Have a blessed week!