Purgos

You may be wondering why I have titled the blog purgos.  It comes from a text in the New Testament that has always meant a great deal to me.  When I was working on my undergraduate degree at what is now Davis College I took homiletics (the science of preaching) from a man I deeply respected.  It was a sort of class/preaching lab, and he let us choose the text we were to preach our first sermon on in this particular class.  I chose one verse, Luke 14:28.  It says,  Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?

The context surrounding this verse is a strong call to follow Him as a disciple.  He places this metaphor in his challenge and I think it speaks vividly of what we all as believers should desire, namely that our lives would be built into a long-lasting, enduring tower that will radiate His glory for all to see. Purgos, is the term for “tower” in this text. 

Discipleship is in part about counting the cost and in part about perseverance, and I think both of these ideas are caught up in Jesus words in this verse.  Like Eugene Peterson titles his book on the Psalms of ascent, it is “a long obedience in the same direction”.  So then as you can probably see the tagline flows from title.  The process of discipleship, properly understood in a nutshell, is building lives that make God look great.  May we each count the cost of building such a life and may God get the glory and may we share in His joy as we do so.      

I have entered the blogosphere…maybe against my better judgment.  Actually I am really looking forward to having a forum to share and discuss things that God is doing in the life of Lifeline Community and in my own spiritual and intellectual life.  Anyone who knows me knows that I love ideas and enjoy talking about them.  They also know that I love the local church and count it a privilege to pastor the people at Lifeline Community.  As a church we are a little over three years old and have really seen God do some astounding things in our midst over the past several years.  He has taken us from a living room to a tiny facility, to one twice its size and now it seems as though He might be taking us to a yet larger place.  If you attend Lifeline you know we need it and that is a good problem to have.  Please pray that God would shows us clearly where He wants us to be.

Throughout this blog I want to spend time interacting with a couple of categories of thought, namely:

   1. Issues dealing with theology, philosophy, apologetics, biblical interpretation and the life of the mind

    2. Issues dealing with the inner spiritual life, spiritual disciplines, life in the Kingdom of God and the renovation of the soul 

As a pastor and theologian I see these issues as central to all of life.  I hope you benefit from what you read.  I also want to take you on some of the spiritual journey that I find myself on and share with you what I am seeing and hearing.  Blessings to each of you.