It is not surprising that John’s Gospel emphasizes not only Christ’s deity, but the marvelous – and scandalous – truth that “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Not a universal spiritual or moral idea, but a particular human person who lived, suffered, died, rose again and will come again in the flesh. – Horton, Michael; [...]
Archive for the ‘Horton, Michael’ Category
He Is Not a Universal Spirit Nor a Moral Idea
Posted in Horton, Michael, tagged Christ's Deity, John 1, John's Gospel on August 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
What Is Called For In These Days From the Church
Posted in Horton, Michael, tagged ACts 6, Church, Demographic, Ethnic Disctinctives, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Laws of the Market, Po9litical Ideologies on August 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
What is called for in these days, as in any other time, is a church that is a genuine covenantal community defined by the gospel rather than a service provider defined by laws of the market, political ideologies, ethnic distinctives or other alternatives to be the catholic community that the Father is creating by his Spirit [...]
What Does Missional Mean to You?
Posted in Horton, Michael, tagged Baptism, Conservative Evangelicalism, Discipleship, Missional, Postmodern on August 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Being missional often seems not only to mean the appropriate pursuit of methods of informal witness and service in addition to the official gathering of the covenant people but also to dispense with all formal elements of the public service itself. Again this is nothing new or especially postmodern. Those of us raised in conservative [...]
Is Preaching Even Necessary?
Posted in Horton, Michael, tagged Gnosticism, Pelagianism, Preaching Sacraments on August 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Combining the Pelagian emphasis on self-salvation with the Gnostic emphasis on inner experience and enlightenment over the external ministry of preaching, sacrament and discipline, much of contemporary practice across the ecclesiastical spectrum seems to assume that mission is one thing and the marks of the church (preaching and sacraments) are another. If the message of [...]
The Self Must Be Dethroned
Posted in Horton, Michael, tagged Church, Gospel, Moralism, Spirituality, Therepeutic Diesm on August 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
When our churches assume the gospel, reduce it to slogans, or confuse it with moralism and hype, it is not surprising that the type of spirituality we fall back on is moralistic, therapeutic deism. In a therapeutic worldview, the self is always sovereign. Accommodating this false religion is not love – either of God or neighbor [...]
What You Get When You Come to God as a Consumer
Posted in Horton, Michael, tagged Liberation, Saved by Grace, Sin, Sinners on August 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Coming to God as consumers saved by following the instructions on the product label rather than as sinners saved by grace is not only the essence of human sin, it does not even deliver on its promise of liberation. Instead it drives us deeper into ourselves, into the solitary confinement of the convictions, longings, felt [...]
Are Americans Anti-Intellectual?
Posted in Horton, Michael, tagged Americans, Pragmatists, Study on August 2, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Americans, as we have already seen, have a fairly pronounced anti-intellectual streak. We are doers, not believers; pragmatists not thinkers. Impatient with tedious study and reflection, we would rather be overcoming obstacles, conquering nature, and putting it to use more than understanding and enjoying it. – Horton, Michael; Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the [...]
What Is Necessary for us to Become Pelagians?
Posted in Horton, Michael, tagged Means of Grace, Pelagianism, Sacraments, Transformation on July 29, 2011 | 1 Comment »
All that is necessary for us to become unwitting Pelagians is less preaching and teaching of the law and the gospel – downplaying the means of grace (Word and sacrament) in favor of our means of transforming ourselves and our world. – Horton, Michael; Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church; Baker Books; [...]
Which Church Do You Desire to be a Part of?
Posted in Horton, Michael, tagged Church on July 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A church that is deeply aware of its misery and nakedness before a holy God will cling tenaciously to an all-sufficient Savior, while one that is self-confident and relatively unaware of its inherent sinfulness will reach for religion and morality whenever it seems convenient. – Horton, Michael; Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American [...]
Lost in Translation
Posted in Horton, Michael, tagged Conversion, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Pride on July 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Efforts to translate the gospel into contemporary language actually aim at making the gospel is so counterintuitive to our fallen pride that it cannot be believed apart from a miracle of divine grace. And because it is through the gospel itself that the Spirit accomplishes this feat, we remove the one possibility for genuine conversion that [...]
