|
|
|
|
| |  | Michael Fox CPCC,
founder of m�agine!,
is a professional
coach and trainer,
author and creative artist, whose work has been featured throughout
the world.
Michael is a
Certified Practitioner
of the
Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator.�
Do you know someone
who might benefit
from our weekly email?
|
|
|
Learning of God,
or making random guesses...
|
Mark Twain was never at a loss to critique the powerful and influential. Of theologians, in particular, Twain mocked, "There never was a century nor a country that was short of experts who knew the Deity's mind and were willing to reveal it."
Eugene Patterson--author of Reverse Thunder, the Revelation of John & the Praying Imagination--offers a more thoughtful appraisal of those who devote their lives to the study of scripture for the sake of others:
The task of these theologians is to demonstrate a gospel order in the chaos of evil, and arrange the elements of experience and reason so that they are perceived proportionately and coherently: sin, defeat, discouragement, prayer, suffering, persecution, praise, and politics are placed in relation to the realities of God and Christ, holiness and healing, heaven and hell, victory and judgment, beginning and ending. Their achievement is that the community of persons who live by faith in Christ continue to live with a reasonable hope and in intelligent love.
The Christian community needs theologians to keep us thinking about God and not just making random guesses. At the deepest levels of our lives we require a God whom we can worship with our whole mind and heart and strength. The taste for eternity can never be bred out of us by a secularizing genetics. Our existence is derived from God and destined for God. St. John stands in the front ranks of the great company of theologians who convince by their disciplined and vigorous thinking that theos [that is, God] and logos [that is, study] belong together, that we live in a creation and not a madhouse (p. 5).
Whose opinion around theologians resonates more clearly with you: that of Mark Twain or Eugene Peterson? Regardless, sit with Peterson's ideas for a few minutes and consider:
At the risk of focusing and, therefore, appearing to value, one idea above another, give a moment to Peterson's suggestion that we need "theologians to keep us thinking about God and not just making random guesses."
What does it look like to make "random guesses" about God?
If you were sitting in conversation with Peterson and he offered this suggestion, what would you say or ask next?
Do any other ideas among Peterson's thoughts strike you as intriguing?
Is there any knowing here for you?
|
|
Michael Fox
m�agine!
530/613.2774
407 Myrtle Drive
Farmerville, LA, USA 71241 |
|
|
In addition to personal and professional coaching,
m�agine! specializes in spiritual transformation coaching,
employing its proprietary models
--Values, Vision, Voice and Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength--
as well as
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator� curriculum
published by CPP, the People Development People.
Michael's books include
Complete in Christ,
Complete in Christ Spiritual Transformation Workbook,
and Biblio�files.
Coaching fees are based upon a sliding scale. Contact us for details.
For additional information, visit our website at maginethepossibilities.net.
Limited scholarships are available for spiritual transformation coaching.
On the flip side, if you are able, please inquire about opportunities
to fund scholarships for those who cannot afford coaching fees.
View our archives!
|
|
|
|
|
|
