Dear Theophilus

I couldn't find the lyrics to The Brilliance's song "Oh Gracious Light," based loosely off one of the oldest Church hymns outside of the bible, if not the oldest, "Phos Hilaron" - so here they are: O Gracious Light, so pure and bright Dispel the darkness of our hearts That by Your brightness we may know the light Incarnate Word, grant that the light Deep enkindled in our hearts May shine forth and give us divine life Dayspring of Life, true Light from light Pour into every broken heart Peace and virtue binded by the light O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed We sing Thy praises in our hearts God of heaven, Giver of all life Bring Your peace, hope, and love Bring Your peace, Gracious One O Gracious Light, so pure and bright Dispel the darkness of our hearts That by Your brightness we may know the light ------------------------------------------------------------------ In case any one wants the chords as well: V...

I have been noticing more and more this week that my friends are talking about "believing in God." Usually I think this discussion is a great thing, but lately I have been wondering if it is actually good at all. Somewhere, in the mix of all the science and philosophy, enlightenment and post-modernism, "faith" has been merged with "belief." And, to be fair, I am sure belief is a part of faith somehow. But where the sacred scriptures talk about "faith in God" they rarely mean "belief in God." My sense is that the Bible spends little to no time at all talking about belief in God. And since we have a desire to talk about religion in dichotomies, theists vs. atheists, I feel that we are missing some key aspects about faith. The simplest possible meaning for faith is trust. Let that sink in.... .... .... ... can you already feel it? "I believe in God" is radically different than "I trust God." Isn't it?  But t...

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments... They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them" - Jesus (John 14). It seems to be in vogue these days to want to talk about discipleship in the context of long-term transformation. Basically, the logic presents itself this way: as the Holy Spirit works in our lives over a long period of time, we will be better abled to love/forgive/reach/extend grace to/ give financially to - God and others. The problem: the above statement is absolutely true. The wholer we become, the holier we can become through the power of the Spirit. And for that reason we need counseling and small groups and worship and accountability partners and devotionals and prying questions and sermons. We need to grow and become whole. Our capacity at self-deception knows few bounds and our ability to be functionally broken is near limitles...