Jesus Christ – OwenStrachan.com http://owenstrachan.com Serving Him, of course. Sun, 28 May 2017 19:13:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5 Evangelical Guilt in Evangelism–and How John 3 Helps http://owenstrachan.com/2010/07/30/evangelical-guilt-in-evangelism-and-how-john-3-helps/ http://owenstrachan.com/2010/07/30/evangelical-guilt-in-evangelism-and-how-john-3-helps/#respond Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:21:12 +0000 http://owenstrachan.com/?p=15

Do you struggle with guilt related to evangelism?  Do you feel like you do very little as a Christian to “draw” lost people?  I sometimes struggle with this feeling–and sometimes, it’s justified.  It’s a very healthy thing to examine one’s evangelistic witness, and to push oneself out of one’s comfort zone (read: the evangelical church/parachurch bubble, oftentimes) into the pathways and patterns of lost people.

But it is also possible to carry the weight of the lostness of the world on your back.  If so, here’s a helpful text from John 3:20-21:

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

Sometimes, we can think that we are repelling lost people by living a God-glorifying life.  In fact, this may be true.  People don’t want to be around the light when they live in darkness.  They want to stay in the darkness.  They are justly ashamed.  They hate the light.

This doesn’t give us a permanent excuse for not evangelizing lost people, of course.  Just as Jesus did, we need to

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Do you struggle with guilt related to evangelism?  Do you feel like you do very little as a Christian to “draw” lost people?  I sometimes struggle with this feeling–and sometimes, it’s justified.  It’s a very healthy thing to examine one’s evangelistic witness, and to push oneself out of one’s comfort zone (read: the evangelical church/parachurch bubble, oftentimes) into the pathways and patterns of lost people.

But it is also possible to carry the weight of the lostness of the world on your back.  If so, here’s a helpful text from John 3:20-21:

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

Sometimes, we can think that we are repelling lost people by living a God-glorifying life.  In fact, this may be true.  People don’t want to be around the light when they live in darkness.  They want to stay in the darkness.  They are justly ashamed.  They hate the light.

This doesn’t give us a permanent excuse for not evangelizing lost people, of course.  Just as Jesus did, we need to

…]]>
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Why Forbidding Little Girls from Wearing Victoria’s Secret Is Deeply Christocentric http://owenstrachan.com/2010/06/22/why-forbidding-little-girls-from-wearing-victorias-secret-is-deeply-christocentric/ http://owenstrachan.com/2010/06/22/why-forbidding-little-girls-from-wearing-victorias-secret-is-deeply-christocentric/#respond Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:26:53 +0000 http://owenstrachan.com/?p=25

Dads, you should be aware of what your little girl is wearing at all times.  It’s not something you necessarily understand perfectly, but this matter requires your fatherly care and leadership just as much as what church to go to or what devotional book to read together.  The issue covered below is only going to heat up in coming days, so I encourage you to read on.

Over at Christianity Today, I’ve written a piece entitled “Tiger Dads vs. Sexualized Daughters” on gospel-driven modesty inspired by LZ Granderson’s recent CNN column decrying tiny girls dressing sexy.  The CNN piece got 440,000 “likes” on Facebook, so I thought it worth considering in light of a redemptive cultural hermeneutic.

Here’s a snatch:

Should you get Botox for your ten-year-old daughter? What would you think of breast augmentation for your eleven-year-old girl? These and similarly startling issues cropped up in a recent CNN column by LZ Granderson. Writing in an outraged style, Granderson tackled how parents allow the culture to sexualize their daughters. The piece, entitled rather prosaically “Parents, don’t dress your daughters like tramps,” began with a word of personal experience (from Granderson):

“I saw someone at the airport the other day who really caught my eye.

Her beautiful, long

…]]>

Dads, you should be aware of what your little girl is wearing at all times.  It’s not something you necessarily understand perfectly, but this matter requires your fatherly care and leadership just as much as what church to go to or what devotional book to read together.  The issue covered below is only going to heat up in coming days, so I encourage you to read on.

Over at Christianity Today, I’ve written a piece entitled “Tiger Dads vs. Sexualized Daughters” on gospel-driven modesty inspired by LZ Granderson’s recent CNN column decrying tiny girls dressing sexy.  The CNN piece got 440,000 “likes” on Facebook, so I thought it worth considering in light of a redemptive cultural hermeneutic.

Here’s a snatch:

Should you get Botox for your ten-year-old daughter? What would you think of breast augmentation for your eleven-year-old girl? These and similarly startling issues cropped up in a recent CNN column by LZ Granderson. Writing in an outraged style, Granderson tackled how parents allow the culture to sexualize their daughters. The piece, entitled rather prosaically “Parents, don’t dress your daughters like tramps,” began with a word of personal experience (from Granderson):

“I saw someone at the airport the other day who really caught my eye.

Her beautiful, long

…]]>
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