tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015340.post6985749054147073104..comments2023-12-22T01:59:35.407-05:00Comments on The Musings of an Urban Christian: AfflictedLHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02127870226377459490noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015340.post-57592461689421512832009-09-10T05:45:03.021-04:002009-09-10T05:45:03.021-04:00Nicholas, thanks for sharing. Yes, the Piper book...Nicholas, thanks for sharing. Yes, the Piper books includes a mini-bio on Judson. <br /><br />You make some good points. I may add more later, for now I will simply say that, at least, following Jesus involves not making presumptions about a certain life path after which we then figure out how to do God's work. In other words, how many times have we heard (or said ourselves), "I'll take care of my stuff first, and then I'm available for radical obedience." <br /><br />"My stuff" means different things for different people - earn a certain income level, have a certain type of job, live in a certain type of house, get married and have kids - and to put any of them first, as non-negotiables after which we can then get to the business of Christian discipleship, is to make those things into idols. I think that gets at some of what it means to "die to self."LHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02127870226377459490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015340.post-77191215313748025222009-09-09T19:29:02.211-04:002009-09-09T19:29:02.211-04:00I spent much of last week grappling with a Piper s...I spent much of last week grappling with a Piper sermon on the life of Adoniram Judson, whose biography I presume was included in that book. Most of the same themes which challenged you have really given me a lot to think about.<br /><br />In a country and an economic class where suffering is rarely encountered, how do we follow this call to be like the fruitful grain of wheat? I don't think we are to be ascetics and directly seek suffering for its own sake.<br /><br />Are we to flee the classes and accompanied privileges which we occupy? Are we to pick up our roots and become frontier missionaries?<br /><br />That calling and others like it may be the case for many of us. We should make sure we aren't discounting that God might call us to that kind of life.<br /><br />One thing the rest of us can do is make sure that in our lives we encounter those who are not in such fortunate positions. Done properly, this involves following the example of Jesus in becoming incarnate and dying on the cross. We should truly identify with and become one with those we meet, thus joining them in their sufferings in a way which hopefully alleviates them.<br /><br />To me that sounds pretty, but very difficult. I know I don't see it in my life.Nicholashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876710927302794606noreply@blogger.com