Two Great Posts

The masterful house-painter/blogger Nate Spencer has been on a roll lately. First, there's this amazing post at his blog, The Jesus Paradigm. This is really thoughtful material based on a 1 John 2:18-27.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, Nate got busy on our group blog, Mount Jesus, which is a 3-way conversation concerning the sermon on the mount. Nate clearly gets inspired by "difficult" Bible passages. This time, it's the blessing of suffering for our faith.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matt 5:10-11

This is another amazing post. Here's a brief snip:

Why are these beatitudes the scariest? They seem to speak of my life, in terms of it's pursuit of comfort, security, and pleasure, as irrelevant, as something that are grass for the furnace. As if it is a help to me when my reputation and comfort burn up.

Jesus is out to kill your fear, once and for all. Growing up into the fullness of Christ, which means living as if we were citizen of heaven all the time, should produce a lot of fearless saints. Read the whole post to follow Nate's reasoning.