Feb 18, 2023

Living out God's grace

 



It is not by accident that the hymn, Amazing Grace is a favorite for so many. It captures so well the essence of what attracted us to Jesus and redeemed us, and it will indeed be something that we will spend eternity trying to comprehend. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians...
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Apr 07, 2022

Becoming practitioners of grace

 




There seems to be a dichotomy between how Jesus practiced truth and treated people and how believers practice truth and treat people. I am always fascinated by the interactions that Jesus had with people whose lives were far from Him. That is until they met Him. Think of the Rich Young Ruler exchange or the conversation with Nicodemus, or the conversation with the woman at the well or the many...

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Mar 16, 2022

The Challenge of Legalism

 



One of the challenges of life in Jesus is that of living in freedom rather than in bondage to rules and regulations. This isn’t because Jesus gives us unnecessary rules and regulations. It is because we often create those rules because we believe they are necessary for Godly living, and then we impose them on others as well. In fact, if you have been around any church long enough, you discover...

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Apr 06, 2018

10 signs you are in a legalistic church


Legalism is pervasive in the church and it robs us of the freedom and joy Jesus intended for us. It was true in the early church, see Galatians, and it is equally true today. See this insightful article and think about the church you attend.

10 signs you are in a legalistic church - a thought provoking blog by Sheila Gregoire






TJ Addington (Addington Consulting) has a passion to help individuals and...
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Apr 11, 2015

Do you attend a rigid, graceless or mean church?

They do exist and the three descriptors of rigid, graceless and mean go together pretty well. They play out in a number of key ways that all contribute to a dysfunctional (church) family system.  Here are some symptoms.

Legalism: There are a lot of rules about what is acceptable and unacceptable which come not from Scripture (or a proper reading of it) but from tradition or someone's strong...
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Apr 11, 2015

Do you attend a rigid, graceless or mean church?

They do exist and the three descriptors of rigid, graceless and mean go together pretty well. They play out in a number of key ways that all contribute to a dysfunctional (church) family system.  Here are some symptoms.

Legalism: There are a lot of rules about what is acceptable and unacceptable which come not from Scripture (or a proper reading of it) but from tradition or someone's strong...
Read more
Feb 09, 2013

Your freedom is a threat to my legalism

That is a great quote that I heard recently. The Scriptures give us an amazing amount of freedom in choices we make. Yet there are always professional legalists lurking in the background ready to pounce on those who make choices they would not make. These are not the "innocent" who will be hurt by our lifestyle decisions but legalists who are threatened by our liberty and who believe that others...
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