Introducing Surprising Grace

Surprised by Grace is a really good read, and I'd like to introduce it to you. It's high on my recommendation list, especially if you're wanting to understand the movement of grace in American Christianity or more importantly, if you're soul is hurting and you're needing grace poured out into your life.


Introducing Jonah. You've probably never seen Jonah as Tullian describes him. I've always thought of Jonah as one of the super-spiritual Saints of Old. Sure, he didn't get off on the right foot--that whole rebelling-and-running-to-Tarshish thing. But, he eventually obeyed, right? Tullian helps us see how Jonah is Everyman. He's me. He's you. We aren't obedient people, no matter how much we like to claim that we are.

Mostly, Jonah is angry, as I am angry often. He's mad at God, he's mad at Ninevah, he's mad at the vine dying, he's mad at the world. Jonah also doesn't want God to be merciful to his enemies, as I often feel that I'm the only one who deserves mercy. And, in the midst of Jonah's anger and hatred, God's response is totally surprising.

Introducing Tullian Tchividjian. It's a tough last name. If it helps, "Tchividjian" rhymes with "religion." (Knowing that helps me not just bleep through his last name when I see it in print.) Tullian is the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian, and he blogs and is on Twitter. You may know Tullian as one of Billy Graham's grandsons. He is one of the new voices of the gospel of grace, and he speaks grace with humility and tenderness.

Introducing Grace. If you're like me, you grew up in a Christianity that was harsh at its core. We were gracious to people to get them converted, but once they were in the flock, we loaded them down with rules and warnings. We created Jonahs, angry believers who moped on a hill when God showed mercy to people who we knew deserved hell, fire, and damnation. But the Book of Jonah, as Tullian shows us, reveals that God is very different than the Harsh Idol raised up by many modern Christians. From start to finish, God is gracious in the Book of Jonah. He's gracious to the sailors in stopping the storm. He's gracious to the Ninevites in staying his wrath. But mostly, he's gracious to Jonah, his angry, self-righteous servant who never really gets that in the whole book.

Surprised by Grace made me a more hopeful person. If you can't tell, I'm a lot like Jonah, but Tullian helped me realize how that's not the point. I don't need to focus on the 7 Steps to Becoming Less Like Jonah. Instead, I need to focus on my gracious God and how he is going to keep surprising me with his grace.

2 Cycles in 1 Day!

I'm really impressed that we made it through the 7 Trumpets and the Fall of Babylon in one lesson. We really do move faster later on in the book as people get better at interpreting the symbols, where at the first of the series the going is often really slow. I'm also glad everyone voted for today's bonus lesson. Now, next week's final lesson will focus on the really good stuff of the Rider on the White horse (chapter 19) and the New Jerusalem (chapter 21).

BTW, if you're a student in the class, you can actually watch me build the week's lesson by keeping an eye on the master Prezi I use for the class. Right now, it looks just like the one linked above. As I begin working on the lesson, the pathway will change, and you'll begin to see the new elements I'm adding for this next lesson, including any artwork I find. Remember also that you can find the artwork at my Delicious site and look at the Revelation Art tag bundle.

Enduring well

One of my favorite things about teaching Sunday School is when I learn from my students. That happened again this morning as I taught Revelation 12-14. I wasn't planning any emphasis on the passage's statements about endurance in the face of evil. As we read the passages, I could tell some people were connecting with Jesus' admonitions to endure and persevere. Toward the end of the lesson, someone brought out the call to endurance, and several people nodded their heads.

On this section of the Prezi for Revelation 12-14, I used to have the caption saying, Evil is real. Expect persecution. Now, thanks to my current students, in the future I'll focus on Evil is real. Expect Persecution. Endure well. It was a good word to me as well, and actually a timely one. I've faced evil this week in my life in a way I never have before, and Jesus' words to me to endure are encouraging me even now.

The 6 Seals (and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse)

Here's the Prezi from last Sunday. You can click through it here or click the link below if you need to see it in its own screen. Please let me know any questions you have. If you leave me a comment here, I'll get back with you as soon as I can.

Revelation: The 7 Seals 21Nov2010 on Prezi

How People Learn (at church)

Here's the link to the Prezi I'm using during the first session of OMPC Teacher Training. With Prezi, you can click the arrows to follow the path I use, or you can click around anywhere to explore on your own. Remember also that all of the links should be active so that you can click over to web-based resources.