There is no rut or groove in which to be stuck, rather, through the course of a single year, a complete theology, a totally biblical world view is rendered. And I have been politically at odds with nearly everyone since 1962 . And had the misfortune of going to the Vietnam War, whose veterans have always been somewhat out of sync . Right when straight males with patriarchal institutional mentalities were immediately at odds with the newly feminized culture of the church . And to top it off, my daughter, Melissa, recently told me I dress in the fashion of my last good year which she thinks was probably 1972.
Obedience is the bottom line , it is the key that unlocks the possibility to finally get it right .
The final exam in our attempt at a right relationship with God is obedience. Obedience is the litmus test of all our claims to be servants of God. This message is not too terribly different from what the Gospel suggests to us. The full become empty They too are humbled, brought into subjection, choose to follow, are obedient to the very Jesus, through whom only they too will be saved. But the Bible is so much more than merely a place to encounter God, although it is certainly at least that.