A few weeks ago I read this article by John Ortberg in Christianity Today, Leadership magazine. He is a great pastor and author of several books. He asks the question, can eternal happiness be achieved by selfish pursuit?
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The link you posted doesn’t take us to the article (sorry).
I searched for the article and found the link: http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/currenttrendscolumns/leadershipweekly/cln81020.html
Ravi Zacharias speaks of the indirect vs direct method of reaching up to touch one’s nose. In the direct mode, you simply lift and touch. With the indirect, you reach around and ultimately touch.
Seems that understanding the gospel message can be somewhat aligned with that kind of thinking. If we ARE still selfish enough that what we want primarily is the trip to heaven, then we’ve still not yet reached around to grasp what we wanted in the manner (and with the motive) that God intends for us to reach it.
We’ll never be completely set free of the motive to look out for self. It’s the original commandment: God or “not God” (self as god). Setting our sights on selfless living will ultimately get us back to “heaven”, but if that’s all we’re set on, then we miss the “trip” which contains all the joy as we practice those things (disciplines) that teach us to focus on others more than self.
I do love his term: “gospel with power”.
I’m on the lookout for that@!
Hi Pastor Todd,
Just want to share with you the website of the church where I used to attend and see the how the love for God work in action, that even as young as 5 years old wants to have a share of burden for the kingdom of God. Pls. visit http://www.projectmosaic.info
There might be some foreign language but most of them were written in English.
Have a blessed day!