Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Blogging 101

This blog site is part of and connected to VTM ministries. Our homepage is www.paulburleson.com and all things relative to our ministry such as schedule,types of meetings. etc., can be found there.
Someone may ask why a blog? My answer is so I can address issues theological and ministerial in a conversational way. I will, of course, be giving my view on the issues and will do so with the knowledge that my grasp of Truth is finite and growing. I trust the Spirit to give understanding as all Christians do and am confident He does and will. My confidence in my ability to hear Him and to grasp the Truth, however, is not as strong. I've lived with the power of flesh and self too long to have much confidence there. I will attempt to be open, honest, and careful in what I post so at least you will know where I stand.
I do believe strongly that our ground of unity is not in agreement on issues or even nuances of minor doctrine however. I'm using the word minor here not meaning unimportant but related to essentials of salvation/eternity which are the majors .
Our ground of unity, which by the way we are never told to create but to maintain because the Spirit HAS ALREADY CREATED OUR UNITY IN CHRIST, is on the basis of Christ and His work on the Cross as Paul said to the Corinthians in the first three chapters of that First Corinthian letter. If a person says Christ was human only and not the divine Son of God who died on the Cross for us that person is not my brother. I will love them and share my life with them but they are in need of the gospel. My brothers/sisters are those who name Jesus as Lord. And we are as different as daylite and dark in understanding of doctrine, associating with various denominations, having differing views on issues and the embracing of a multitude of methods in mission and evangelism. But we are brothers/sisters because of who Christ is to/in us and our acceptance of what He accomplished on the Cross and the empty tomb. This obviously presupposes a confidence in the integrity of the Scriptures.
This blog will address those issues, differences, and nuances, but as a brother in Christ. I will be doing what my son and others have been doing for several months and quite successfully. I only hope I can be as gracious and gentle as they have been. If I can then perhaps this little personal word will be of help and enjoyed by some.

Paul Burleson