Archives For November 30, 1999

Does God Punish Christians for Disobedience?

Charles Kiser —  June 5, 2015 — Leave a comment

Fix Original

Some friends and I have been having an interesting conversation this week. We’ve been discussing the question, “Does God punish Christians for disobedience?” Is there a connection between the struggles we encounter and God’s displeasure with our sin?

Particularly troubling is the story in 2 Samuel where the prophet Nathan informs King David that the child he had with Bathsheba would die. The reason: God was punishing David for murdering Bathsheba’s husband Uriah so that he could have her as his wife. Then 2 Samuel 12:15 says, “…the Lord struck the child….” Seven days later David’s son died.

Honestly, I’m not sure what to do with this story. I have so many questions and difficulties with it!

My questions notwithstanding, the issue that David’s story raises is: should we expect these kinds of things to happen to us? Does God still deal in one-to-one punishment? What exactly is God up to when we face hardship and suffering?

As I reflected, four texts came to mind.

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In Discipleship
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Everyday Discipleship

Charles Kiser —  January 18, 2015 — 7 Comments

Purpose

I began this blog in 2007 as my family was moving to Dallas to begin our church start-up work.

At that time, posting to a blog made sense because we had a number of supporters and friends (probably three) for whom reading a blog was an easy way to stay updated on our work.

When Storyline, the church we helped to start, became “self-sustaining” in 2013, the dynamics changed: we no longer needed to update our supporters as often, and so the blog sat on the shelf.

Since then I’ve been wondering: what will be the new purpose of this blog? Who do we want to read it?

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In Discipleship
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Rituals Define Reality

Charles Kiser —  November 20, 2014 — Leave a comment

Baptism

[This is a guest post by Paul McMullen, a fellow leader in the Storyline Community.]

I was fortunate to take an intensive theology course this summer. The title was, Theology as a Way of Life, and it focused on the ways in which liturgical and ascetic theology spiritually form the community of God’s people. If that sounds a little heady, it was a bit beyond me, especially since it was taught out of the Anglican/Episcopal tradition, which I’m unfamiliar with.

One of the big takeaways I did have is that God has gifted us with (at least) two rituals filled with power and mystery: baptism and communion. As followers of Jesus, these rituals form us. They define reality. Another way to say this is that, in a mysterious way, these rituals connect us to God’s story on the cosmic level.

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In Baptism, Church, Discipleship
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From North to South: Highlights of a Move from Canada

Charles Kiser —  November 14, 2014 — Leave a comment

Vancouver, B.C.

[This is a guest post from Paul McMullen, a new co-worker in the Storyline Community. Paul is a pastor with a missionary’s heart.]

Over a year ago, my family visited a Storyline worship gathering at the beginning of a three-month period of travel and discernment. We’d left our belongings in a 10X15 storage unit sitting a few hundred feet off of Vancouver Harbour. That harbour sits in the shadows of the North Vancouver mountains. As we pulled into the parking lot where Storyline met that Sunday, it was hard not to notice the contrasts between our previous home and our new setting. No mountains in Dallas, for one. No one saying, “Eh,” but plenty of “y’alls!” Returning to the south, part of me felt back home and part of me felt completely disoriented.

We learned at least three lessons in our transition from Vancouver to Dallas.

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In Discipleship, Mission, Storyline, Team
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Church as Red Hot Center of Mission

Charles Kiser —  September 19, 2014 — Leave a comment

I’d like to flesh out this dream we’re pursuing in Storyline to become a “red hot center of mission.”

The inspiration for the metaphor comes from a series of posts written by Mike Breen on missional communities, where he explores the red hot center of the early church, the three elements of a red hot center, and what happens when “torches” of red hot centers gather together and make a “bonfire”.

flywheel

This is a powerful metaphor and a great vision for the church in North America, especially in a time when the fire of mission sometimes seems to have burned down to embers.

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In Church Planting, Discipleship, Family, Mission, Missional Community, Worship Gathering
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