Indagatio Veri

    Today I had the opportunity to play violin at First Lutheran in Fargo with a small chamber orchestra.  At the beginning of the service I was confronted with a very interesting phenomenon.  The pastor greeted the congregation and then told them to greet each other with the JOY that has been given us.  People turned in their pews, shook hands, and mumbled a soft 'goodmorning', or 'peace be with you'.  This is very similar to what happens in many services but it leads me to ask one question.....where is the JOY???        Jesus died for us! He saved us! We live in freedom for the Kingdom of God!  When we come together to worship Him we ought to be ecstatic. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be ...

        In the following passage, Bonhoeffer writes about the Christian community in relation to the world?  How should we view the world, and how should we interact within it?  For we are no longer of this world, we live in it but are not of it.  The kingdom we are apart of is from another place.        "The Christians live in the world.  they make use of the world, for they are creatures of flesh and blood, and it was for the sake of their flesh that Christ came into the world.  They indulge in worldly activities.  they get married, but their marriage will look quite different form marriage as the world understands it.  Christan marriage will be undertaken 'in the lord' (1 Cor. 7:39).  It will be sanctified in the service of the Body of Christ and in the discipline of prayer and self-control (1 Cor. 7:5). It will be a parable of the self-sacrificing love of Christ for his Church....

         I have just started reading this book, and already I can tell it will be very challenging and convicting.  Here is a few paragraphs about grace, and the differentiation between what Bonhoeffer calls cheap grace and costly grace.  Generally we utilize the grace of God to justify our lifestyle... but this is not the gospel message.  Rather grace allows for us to follow after Christ, denying ourselves and following him which will include suffering and persecution.  It is costly because as a christian our whole life is given for the purpose of His kingdom.  But it is grace because we are allowed to follow Jesus Christ.         "Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without Church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.  Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace...