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Bonhoeffer Chapter 5

     This book by Bonhoeffer has been very eye-opening and a wonderful read. This week’s reading was about the confession of our sins within a communal setting. I relate so much to this chapter and even more to this specific quote on page 112 which says, “In confession the break-through to community takes place. Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community.” I can not even count the number of times that I hid my sins from other members of the body of Christ. I had the chance to confess but resisted. That is a huge problem within the Christian community. We do not want to be honest with each other about our wrong doings. It is like we expect each other to be perfect. That is the exact opposite of the true gospel. It is a common misconception within the church, and it needs to be shattered.      If we hide our sins and do not confess them, we will continue into a pattern that looks like this: Sin, feel guilty and ashamed, sin ag...
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Bonhoeffer Chapter 4

     Reading what Bonhoeffer has to say about ministry was quite interesting and insightful. I thought that he has done a good job at tying in ministry to what he talked about in the rest of the book as well. There is so much to ministry and I believe that we must take that seriously as Christians. I believe that Pastors and all Christians, no matter their calling, should take it very seriously and other believers should be holding them to that.      One of the things that Bonhoeffer talks about is the ministry of listening. For me, something that stuck out to me the most in this section was this quote, “There is a kind of listening with half an ear that presumes already to know what the other person has to say. It is an impatient, inattentive listening, that despises the brother and is only waiting for a chance to speak and thus get rid of the other person” (pg. 98). I often catch myself doing this. I am not going into ministry myself as a pastor (at lea...
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Bonhoeffer Chapter 3

     This week Bonhoeffer touched on something that is very deep and near to my heart. It is something that I struggle with and did not even think about it this way until after reading this chapter. On page 76 he says, “The person who comes into a fellowship because he is running away from himself is misusing it for the sake of diversion, not matter how spiritual this diversion may appear” (pg 76). Compared to previous chapters, this one really convicted me. The other ones made me think hard, but this one was completely different. It really showed me the level of my weakness.      For a long time, I have struggled with lustful temptations and desires and have often fallen to them. It still goes on today. After reading this chapter, it helped me realize what I do when I am struggling with this sin. I will often go hang out in a spiritual setting and allow the idea of that setting help me pull away from my sin instead of my relationship with God. I am also ...
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Bonhoeffer Chapter 1

     This week’s reading caught my eye because I am a huge quality time type of guy and love community with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Community in the church and community outside of the church often gets confused or looked at as the same. It is not. There is a blatant difference between relationships with a fellow believer and a relationship with a non-believer. Both are important, but one has more aspects and a greater meaning. Our relationship with a non-believer will be for the strong reason of spreading the Gospel and encouraging them to follow Christ. It is so different with a believer.      When we are in relation with a non-believer, we do not get much of anything that truly matters. We might show them love but get a different outcome from them in return. That is different with a fellow believer. Bonhoeffer says on page 22, “Our righteousness is an ‘alien righteousness,’ a righteousness that comes from outside of us (extra nos)”. Believer...
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Machen Chapter 7

       This week talks about something that I think about often. As a brotherhood in Christ, it is something that is often misperceived. There is difference to how the world perceives Christian brotherhood and how Christians should look at it. There is a deeper level when the body of Christ and the Holy Spirit are involved. It is a game changer. We are redeemed through and by Christ, whereas those who do not believe in God are not. Since there is that difference, we cannot just say we are all one brotherhood. That is a life defining feature, one that separates us. That does not mean that we do not love them, or hate them, but we have an obligation to our brothers and sisters in Christ within the church that we do not have towards them. On the other hand, we have an obligation to spread the Gospel to those who do not believe.      An important thing that often gets misconstrued with brotherhood and the body of Christ is that we should just accept peop...
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Machen Chapter 6

       This week’s reading was on salvation. A key concept discussed was the true simplicity of our salvation as God’s people. A quote from Machen on page 100 says, “On the contrary, though it involves mysteries, it is itself so simple that a child can understand it. ‘We deserved eternal death but the Lord Jesus because He loved us, died instead of us on the cross’”. That sounds simple to me. I often question other’s ability to understand it and accept it. I do know that it does take the Holy Spirit to work inside them to convict and show them their wrong doings and to come to Christ. I was in that same spot a few years ago. It is a confusing spot, and I often look back and wonder why it was so hard to understand back then.      If it is so simple, why do we make it so difficult. Well, I believe it is because we are broken human beings. We are graced with a gift from God to have understanding and knowledge from His Word. Without that, we would be los...
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Machen Chapter 5

     The reading this week was based primarily on the basis that Jesus is the object of our faith. Machen asked the question, “was Jesus really a Christian”? That is quite a good question. I think the answer is no. The point being made here is that liberalism does not accept Jesus as the object of their faith, rather he is an example for them to live their faith out. To me, that makes no sense. Our relationship with God and our place of eternity solely relies on who Jesus was and is. If he was just an example, then our salvation would have been nothing. Instead, Jesus was and is God and he came to down as the greatest example, yes, but more than that as God. He was both Human and God and did what no human could ever do. He took on the flesh of life and lived it perfectly. Not faulting once.      I recently watched a video made by a man who is from the LGBTQ community who claims to believe and have a relationship with God Almighty. I decided to watch this ...
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