I greatly enjoy the phrase “transformed affections” to explain one of the many effects of being a follower of Christ. As believers, we should have a changed heart, which consequently means we should have transformed affections. This is one aspect of a person’s life who is anchored in Christ. Our hearts should long for the glory of God to permeate everything in our lives. Our affections should no longer be for this world or anything in it. Those affections are temporal and fleeting. As followers of Christ, our affections should be so deeply entrenched in the heart of God that our lives overflow with His grace and love. Those are transformed affections.

I’ve been thinking about a certain topic for awhile now. There are two logical sides of the issue that I am debating back and forth in my mind. I can’t seem to figure out which side would be most effective. Here is the issue: should churches be timeless or timely in what they do? I’ll give you an example of what I mean. One of the hot topics in church life today is the style of praise songs churches should use. Should we have many different services that cater to the different musical tastes of the congregation? Should we have one style that stands the test of time? Now think about it carefully. Don’t make any decisions too hastily because there are pros and cons to each side. There is one more possible option that I’m beginning to analyze: do these two sides have to be mutually exclusive? Most of the time we tend to think they have to be mutually exclusive. I’m not so sure they do. I’m still in the process of contemplating this issue and I would love to hear some of your thoughts…..

I recently read a great blog post from the guys at The Resurgence.  The post stated the differentiating characteristics between communities of believers centered around grace and those centered around performance.  It was a great article for the church today, because I think many of our churches are struggling with being authentic.  I believe part of being authentic is being anchored in the grace of God, not in our own performances.  Tim Chester really hits the nail on the head with his article here.