1.25.2006

The Way

Just finished reading through the book of Acts -- the second book in the bible authored by Luke. In his first book, he tells the story of Jesus. In his second book, it's the story of how early Christians carried on the message of Jesus.

As I finished Luke's book, I went back to read the publisher's introduction (written by Eugene Peterson). A portion of his intro really challenged me tonight:

"The story of Jesus doesn't end with Jesus. It continues in the lives of those who believe in Him. The supernatural does not stop with Jesus. Luke makes it clear that these Christians he wrote about were no more spectators of Jesus than Jesus was a spectator of God -- they are in on the action of God, God acting in them, God living in them. Which also means, of course, in us."

I'm also reminded of what Brennan Manning taught a few weeks ago:
  1. Jesus loves us for who we are, not for who we should be, because no one is who they should be.
  2. The essence of the Christian faith is not a religion, but rather a furious love affair between us and our Maker

1 comment:

charlesdean2 said...

When I was in seminary there was some fascinating discussion about the connections between Luke & Acts. It really is unfortunate that the book of John was placed between the two because it leads many people to separate the gospels from the rest of the NT. One of my profs argued that when taken as a whole, Luke-Acts forms an extended chiasm (a literary tool used not unfrequently in the Bible), which makes a tight connection between Jesus & the life of the early church.

Right now