Some Thoughts

Two somewhat related thoughts from separate blog posts the other morning:

Not in Theory but in Practice
“The purpose of the church is not to prove Christianity is true, but to demonstrate what the world is like if it is.” - Stanley Hauerwas
This is absolutely true. Thinking a bit about the proof part of that statement: Having faith in God is something not provable by it's nature. It is an assumption. Thus attempting to "prove" it will always fail, even if all the logic of your argument is perfect. Unlike science, where you first examine the evidence, test it, re-test it, replicate it, etc. then come to a conclusion; with faith in God you have to first make the conclusion, and then you get the evidence.
Anyway, the above link is to a blog post on Pastor Rob Fairbank's blog. He is teaching a course at Whitworth University this Jan term about the missional church, and his students are sharing his blog space this month. Rob was the pastor of the church I attended in college. 

Does God Laugh at our Resolutions?
Another interesting post. There is a great mystery in scripture between free will and God's sovereignty. I don't know exactly how that all plays out, but i'm becoming more convinced that even though God may be moving us all the time, we don't always know it and our paths are not always crystal clear. In fact, I would say that most of the time, from my own perspective, I could choose many directions, all good and ultimately have to make a step on my own. I think point 3 is the important one. God is not going to make us go out and live into our calling. We have to take initiative and do the walking and the work. Yes, sometimes this involves risks, and sometimes we will screw up, but trying and failing is better than doing nothing at all, because at least you learn what doesn't work.

Related in the following way: Living the Christian life is about living each small step of our lives following Jesus and reflecting that to those around us.