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Entries in good heart (4)

Monday
Aug162010

New e-book excerpt: "Enough is Never Enough - Abusing the Good Heart"

DateMonday, August 16, 2010 at 9:33AM

Non-commercial www.paulprescott.comThis excerpt is from a new e-book I'm writing on the idea of spiritual abuse -- specifically how spiritual abuse can kill the very life of our hearts.
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The particular kind of abuse I'm talking about is reflected in the following description of abuse.  It comes from The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, by Johnson and VanVonderan:

"Spiritual abuse is the mistreatment of a person who is in need of help, support or greater spiritual empowerment, with the result of weakening, undermining or decreasing that person’s spiritual empowerment."


The authors go further:

"Spiritual abuse can also occur when spirituality is used to make others live up to a ‘spiritual standard.’  This promotes external ‘spiritual performance,’ …or is used as a means of ‘proving’ a person’s spirituality."


This abuse may not even be intentional, but kills the heart, nonetheless.

Notice the effects of this kind of abuse:

  • weakening, undermining or decreasing that person’s spiritual empowerment.
  • enforcing a 'spiritual standard,' 'spiritual performance,' a means of 'proving a person's spirituality'

The e-book is nearly completed, and I'll be announcing its completion soon.

As always, feel free to click the "Post a Comment" button below.

AuthorJim Robbins | Comment2 Comments |
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Friday
Jul162010

Danger: Exhortation that ignores the new heart

DateFriday, July 16, 2010 at 6:27PM

Much of what passes for the “gospel” these days is a message of exhortation without regeneration—preaching that excludes the New Covenant reality of a transformed heart. (Or more accurately, preaching that is grossly unaware of this transformation having already occurred.)

The message of exhortation translated today says, “You’re not doing enough of this; or you’re doing too much of that:” “You’re too selfish, not committed to your marriage, not serving enough …”

Exhortation becomes an attempt to manage (or manipulate) people’s behavior by pressure and guilt, rather than urging them to release the good stored up in their heart through Christ’s work in them.  Exhortation leans toward the 'not-enough' and 'not yet' rather than relentlessly pursuing the  supernaturally-pure heart Jesus has already given us at our conversion.

[Excerpted from my book: Recover Your Good Heart -- Living Free from Religious Guilt and the Shame of Not Good-Enough.]

AuthorJim Robbins | CommentPost a Comment |
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Tuesday
Jul132010

Good and also becoming good

DateTuesday, July 13, 2010 at 1:40PM

How can Christians be both already good, and becoming good?  Here are two verses that lay this out for us:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17)   (Here, there’s a sense of finality. Our goodness is a settled fact.)


But Scripture also show us the ever-increasing process of becoming good …

“ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge...and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1: 4-8)

(In this verse, we have a sense of Christ’s character developing in us with growing measure, over time.)

As I learn to live from my new and supernaturally-good heart, I mature in the goodness that God has already given me. That goodness may be as yet not expressed, but nevertheless still present in me. Discipleship is the process by which I enjoy and continue to express an already-present holiness and wholeness within me.

AuthorJim Robbins | Comment1 Comment |
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Thursday
Jun182009

New podcast - special guest Joel Brueseke, Graceroots.org

DateThursday, June 18, 2009 at 12:00PM

A deeper look at grace.

Joel Brueseke is the founder of graceroots.org and has recently created a graceroots community on Ning network. He's a guy that gets the message of Jesus and understands the message of the new heart.
This is my interview with him. 

 

AuthorJim Robbins | Comment2 Comments |
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