Adam L. Feldman's Blog, page 8

For God’s Glory Alone (Soli Deo Gloria)

What inspires worship of God in your soul? What lifts your eyes off of the ground, out of the dirt, away from your self-indulging preferences, beyond the pain of this life… what lifts your eyes to Heaven and the throne of Jesus Christ our King?

Where do you go to meet God? What time of day is your favorite time to dwell in the Presence of Christ our Lord?

How long has it been since you wept in raptured love of our Lord? When was the last time you worshiped unhindered, unashamed, unbound, undi...

In Christ Alone (Solus Christus)

Ten years ago this month, we started planting Metanoia Church. (10 years…!) I remember early on when we were crafting our mission statement. We wanted a simple, memorable phrase that reflected two things: the name of our church and Jesus Christ as the head of our church.

The Greek word metanoiameans “repent.” I find it best to describe metanoiaas turning away from a life of sin and selfishness and turning toward a life of forgiveness and freedom in Jesus Christ. So, whatever our mission state...

Through Faith and by Grace Alone (Sola Fide and Solus Gratia)

What role should the pursuit of holy living (piety) play in the believer’s life? Ought we to pursue holiness or should we be content with those pockets of our lives that harbor or nurture hard-to-overcome habits and sins? These are important questions, and they are answered by first coming back tothe source of holiness: salvation through faith in Jesus Christ by the grace of God alone.

In the first article in this series, I introduced you two latter reformations that followed the Protestant R...

Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura)

In the first article in this series, I introduced you two latter reformations that followed the Protestant Reformation. (Here’s the article if you missed it.) These reformations—the Catholic Counter Reformation (or, Catholic Revival) and the Dutch Second Reformation—focused on the renewal of personal piety. That’s just a fancy way of saying that the reformers sought to renew a commitment to holiness among Christians.

Our understanding of holiness is based entirely upon God’s precepts, command...

Always Reforming (Semper Reformanda)

Here is a tale of two reformations—one Protestant and one Catholic.

Both of these reformations (really, “revivals”) occurred several decades after the Protestant Reformation, which began when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg. The Protestant Reformation emphasized a return to the authority of Scripture, the doctrine of salvation through faith by grace alone, salvation in Christ alone, and all things for the glory of God. These are refe...

VOV: A Christian’s Prayer

I enjoy live music. I have many fond memories of listening to live bands at coffee shops, outdoor concert venues, and bars. The best part of live music is improvisation. Its wonderful when bands play songs from their albums, but its the unique improvisational additions that make a live concert so special.

Improvisation only works because the artist knows the fundamentals of his or her instrument. By practicing scales over and over again, a concert pianist can improvise jazz because her practi...

Resource: Seeking God’s Face (prayer book)

I was fortunate to spend a few days on retreat recently. It was such a refreshing time, and I am always thankful that Kim helps make space and time for me to go away. Upon returning home, I was pleasantly surprised to find a gift in the mail from a good friend of mine. He sent me a leather bound copy ofSeeking God’s Face: Praying with the Bible Through the Year.What a wonderful gift!

I have written about prayer books (my favorites are Hearts On Fire, The Valley of Vision,and The Divine Hours)...

8 Dangers of One-sided Spirituality – Part 2

We’re looking at 8 dangers of one-sided spirituality found in Mark 3:7-19. One-sided spirituality is a form of reductionism.Reductionism, or “generalization,” occurs when we reduce something complex (like another human being, or a nationality, etc) to one characteristic. In the first part of this series, I gave you a couple of examples of reductionism.

The 8 dangers of one-sided spirituality all involve reductionism in some form. The first 2 dangers we discussed involved reducing Jesus to one...

8 Dangers of One-sided Spirituality – Part 1

I recently wrote about 6 marks of a disciple found in Mark 3:13-19. The broader context of that text, Mark 3:7-19, also shows us 8 dangers of one-sided spirituality.

When I use the word “spirituality,” I am referring specifically to Christian spirituality—life with Jesus Christ. The dangers that I list in this series are pitfalls that we must avoid if we wish to be faithful to the missional calling of discipleship to Jesus. I’ll give you the first 2 dangers today and the remaining 6 next week...

Summer Reads 2015

Just for the fun of it, below is a list and quick review of what I have read, am currently reading, and plan to read this summer.

Have you read any of these books? If so, what was your experience like? What are you reading this summer? What do you recommend that I read this fall? What I’ve Read Already This Summer The Martian, Andy Weir

I never heard of The Martianuntil I saw the trailer for the film coming out later this year. After watching it, I thought: “I haveto read this book before t...