An idea frequently heard from contemporary Christians is that the Bible is God’s “love letter” to humanity. But is this true? And if it is, why does so much of the Bible not read like a love letter? In this episode Chuck and Aaron discuss the question of the Bible’s genre and its relationship to God’s love.

While a main theme of the Bible is God’s love for his human creatures, it–contrary to a popular evangelical trope–is not a love letter to us.

First of all, the genre of scripture is not that of a letter; while there are letters in the Bible (e.g., the letters of Paul), so much of God’s Word reads completely differently than a letter: there are genealogies, rules, poetry, laws, and many other genres of writing. So fundamentally, the Bible is a story–the story of God’s plan to rescue his creation.

And secondly, the Bible is not written to any individual person but to a group of people, the church. To individualize the message of Scripture is to risk losing its cosmic scope, to minimize his plan to rescue–not just individuals, but–a new family to himself. But at the end of the day, the idea that the Bible is God’s love letter to me does capture an important reality. God does love me!

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

Subscribe to the show at https://cacg.saintjamesglencarbon.org.

To comment on this episode, visit https://saintjamesglencarbon.org/cacg-ep109.

How do pastors become pastors? How does God make pastors, and how do they know that’s what God wants them to be? And how do they know what church they should be at. In this episode Chuck and Aaron answer these questions and also talk about Aaron’s call to be a pastor.

Pastors are called by God to preach and teach the Gospel to the Christian church. In this sense the call is unique to this particular ministry. But in another sense the call to be a pastor is no different than the call to be a mother, or lawyer, or church musician. God gives each of his people gifts to use in loving him and loving each other, and these specific gifts will make clear what call each person has received from God. And for pastors, the question of which church they should serve at is also connected with the gifts God has given them. Which church can best use his gifts and cover his weaknesses?

Aaron is making the transition to pastoring a new church, so Chuck and Aaron discuss how Aaron and his family made the decision to leave St James and move to his new church.

And in related news, Chuck and Aaron also discuss the ongoing mission of Craving Answers Craving God, and how the podcast will continue producing episodes in spite of Aaron’s move.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

Subscribe to the show at https://cacg.saintjamesglencarbon.org.

To comment on this episode, visit https://saintjamesglencarbon.org/cacg-ep108.

It’s not at all controversial to note that Christmas, as a cultural phenomenon in the United States, does not always resemble the Christian festival celebrating Jesus’ birth. Commercial interests have exploited the season for profit, and it seems like all of us have agreed to make the month of December the most hectic and least peaceful season of all.

On the one hand, this misplaced emphasis on capitalist greed and frantic busy-ness at least holds Christmas up as important, and as long as Christmas is at the forefront of the cultural consciousness there is a chance its main message - that God has become human to recur his human creatures and creation - might break through the barriers.

But its worthwhile for Christians to push back against the noise and pace of “American” Christmas and spend more time quietly meditating on what it means to wait on the Lord, to find our happiness in the arrival of Jesus to save us.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

Subscribe to the show at https://cacg.saintjamesglencarbon.org.

To comment on this episode, visit https://saintjamesglencarbon.org/cacg-ep107.