The Threatening Gospel

I stumbled across this great quote earlier in the week. Nelson Mandela used part of it in his inaugural address, though it was originally by Marianne Williams:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

Then, today I read this from Tim Keller's The Reason for God. He was talking to a woman at his church who explained why she was threatened by the Gospel message of Grace:

If I was saved by my good works then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through. I would be like a taxpayer with "rights"-- I would have done my duty and now I would deserve a certain quality of life. But if I am a sinner saved by sheer grace-- then there's nothing that he cannot ask of me.

We are immensely powerful and God can ask us to do anything. No wonder the Gospel is so frightening-- it's simply much more comfortable be inadequate.

Is God a Republican?

"Bush, Cheney to miss Republican convention" from Reuters

The far right would like you to believe that God leans Republican. Further evidence of this theory is shown in the timing of Hurricane Gustav and the fact that Bush and Cheney must now leave to attend to matters of national importance. For his entire campaign, McCain has carefully distanced himself from Bush. He has neither courted the administration or actively sought their endorsement. This is rare for a candidate representing the party of an incumbent.

Bush's scheduled appearance at the Republican National Convention would have not helped McCain with moderate and swing voters. It would have further galvanized the conservative base, but McCain does not need help with them. Bush, with his less than 30 percent approval rating [by the way, click on this link for a great visual of GW's presidency], would have chased away many middle of the road voters. Thank goodness for divine intervention...

Never Alone// Hebrews 13:5

I stumbled upon this picture browsing "Interestingness" on Flickr. I like the cleverness and creativeness of the photo and the message of the artist. Photo credit goes to the very cool Demi-Brooke.

Hebrews 13:5-

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."