Finding Our Way

From the transcript... This is just one of Baxter Kruger's books. He has several, and they're all good. Yeah. Well, I've read that book. I highly recommend it. There's also YouTube teachings. I think it's a four-part series that Baxter does on The Undoing of Adam. I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again. In my memory, which could be fuzzy, I think it was video three, but I may be wrong. But it's in one of those videos that Baxter made some comment to the effect that this is how I retell it. This is not how he said it. When we're preaching a penal substitutionary gospel, which is what I was raised on, “If God would do that to His Son, what would He do to me?” And that behind that gospel is this questioning in our heart: “Can He be trusted if this is how He is?”

From the transcript... I wouldn't argue with that. It's dense, for sure. Baxter Kruger, Jesus and the Undoing of Adam. I want to read just a little quote: “Behind creation, figuring as the driving force of all divine activity, as the one thought at the forefront of the divine mind and the preoccupation of the heart of God, was the decision to give human beings a place in the circle of the Trinity.” That's good. That's the point, and that's probably where I picked it up, ain't gonna lie. I've been reading him so long, it's absorbed in me, not realizing it. But God was happy within Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, enjoying that dance with one another, loving one another, preferring one another, other-centered, self-giving love. But they were enjoying one another so much, they wanted to share themselves with another. And that's when God said, “Let us create man in our own image.” This is just one of Baxter Kruger's books. He has several, and they're all good. Yeah. Well, I've read that book. I highly recommend it. There's also YouTube teachings. I think it's a four-part series that Baxter does on The Undoing of Adam. I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again. In my memory, which could be fuzzy, I think it was video three, but I may be wrong. But it's in one of those videos that Baxter made some comment to the effect that this is how I retell it. This is not how he said it. When we're preaching a penal substitutionary gospel, which is what I was raised on, “If God would do that to His Son, what would He do to me?” And that behind that gospel is this questioning in our heart: “Can He be trusted if this is how He is?” And however he said that, and I probably ought to go back and listen to it again. Kind of like I ought to read that book again, listen to those videos again. But that was a huge point of, in my mind, of yes, this is why. Because I had come to a place of frustration as a pastor of why people didn't love the Lord like I tried to love the Lord. Why they didn't trust Him like I was trying to trust Him. I had noticed there's this gap. And then when he said that, I'm like, “Oh, that's what's wrong with the gospel I'm preaching.” And that's when I began to see it and consciously shift away from that into a better understanding of what Jesus has accomplished. Who God is.

From the transcript... So, what's your understanding of salvation? Maybe take two minutes and articulate what it used to be. Then we can talk the rest of the day about what it is. Yeah, well, I used to have a very, I call it, very narrow view of salvation. And if I try to summarize it, it was: everyone's born a sinner, condemned to hell, eternal conscious torment. That if at some point in your earthly life, you did not repent of your sins and believe in Jesus as your Savior, you would spend an eternity in hell of eternal conscious torment. Like a bar. Like a, yeah. Eternal. It was that. You were under the judgment of God already. And being saved was belief. I still got two minutes. I'm just kidding. And then being saved, you know, you believed in Jesus. He saved you from that hell. And then you get to live with him in heaven forever. It wasn't just saying a prayer, though.

From the transcript... Larry and I talk with Jason Clark on this Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos. We didn't get to eat any tacos, but we got to talk. This week and the next three weeks are that podcast broken up into three segments so I can air them here on GAN.

From the transcript... Larry and I talk with Jason Clark on this Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos. We didn't get to eat any tacos, but we got to talk. This week and the next three weeks are that podcast broken up into three segments so I can air them here on GAN.