Beneath The Cross of Jesus

Justin Taylor offers this long quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer on his blog today under the title: Bonhoeffer on What a Christian Under the Cross Can Offer that a Secular Therapist Cannot.  Click Here

I've been returning to it throughout the day.  It is stunning and inspiring and convicting.  Bonhoeffer is the German pastor who stood against the Nazi madness and ran an underground seminary to train pastors.  Life Together was written while he taught at that seminary. 

The Missing Cross: A Different Grace

Ever find yourself going from link to link and reading  countless articles on some blog to avoid working?  I recently spent about 45 minutes on the Huffington Post doing that, and it was pretty eye-opening. They were all  on their "Religion" section and all related to Christian faith.  But in a really different way than a generic evangelical like me is accustomed to.

I'm not really recommending - or denigrating - any particular articles, ideas or writers. When I step back and take a global view though, two things stood out to me:

Good Friday Meditation - Forgiveness is "Picking Up the Tab"

Votaire, the 18th century French skeptic has said that "God forgives because it is His business."  It is hard to look at Jesus dying on the cross and think that forgiveness is a business with an attractive return on investment.  Instead, I think that God forgives because He loves.  And love is willing to pick up the tab.  For forgiveness to happen, someone must pay a price.