Love this part: "God doesn’t command worship because He lacks something — He commands worship because He is opening His own life to us. Our worship, then, is not the vain food that God eats for His own amusement. It is the way that we join into this eternal dance of devotion between Father, Son, and Spirit. "
Thank you for the article. Excellent food for thought.
I was also moved by these lines in particular: the image of our worship as participation in the eternal, perichoretic dance. To be brought up into this dance is to experience the fullness of life, which draw us in closer and allows us to know more of God’s character. And the more we come to know His character, the more we come to know His heart and can thus articulate and reflect it in ways that more accurately portray Him, of course all through the grace of His revelations to us. I love how you also noted that God often reveals His character to us through paradoxical ideas that we cannot even begin to comprehend without the illuminating work of the Spirit. And that illuminating is part of the eternal dance, a never-ending-knowing and overflowing of love!
Always so grateful for the theological richness and depth of your writings. May this new year be filled with continued blessings of revelations and reflections, brother!
I’m always grateful for your writings as well! And am especially grateful for this deeply kind review of my work. I’m so glad it edified you in some way. Glory to God!
Thank you for reading, and thank you for interacting with me! May God continually bless you, and may we both grow in the grace, peace, and love of God together!
I think there are huge difficulties in modern Christianity. I have dubbed them collectively as SGS (Small God Syndrome). What people fail to understand, largely because of church teaching, is that the whole world is lost, meaning it is not under His direct dominion. Dominion of planet earth belongs to the prince of this world. That was passed to him by Adam.
If we accept, as true, the worldly point of view, as you outlines so well in the article, then we completely fail to recognize that the fallen point of view is so because we are naturally rebellious against our Creator.
In reality, all God wants from any believer is allegiance. It is by allegiance to the true ruler of all of creation that will overthrow the tyrant who reigns with false dominion. His domain is a domain of slavery to sin, which the world sees as freedom.
This said, the demands of Scripture are not really demands at all but the pleadings of the Father for those who will come, to reject the tyranny of sin, for the reign of God. Allegiance.
I really appreciated how you framed the “dance” not as something poetic only in theory, but as a rhythm we actually live — back and forth between surrender and action, between stillness and motion. It’s easy to talk about harmony in abstract terms, but you showed it as something lived, something embodied, something that shapes how we experience daily life.
This needs to blow up. I thank the Lord for leading me to this!! And thank you Holy Spirit for guiding Cole in this beautiful composition. I was fed so much through this I almost lost my mind. I’ve been sharing it with so many people. Even my brother who is a pastor loved hearing this explained this way. He backed it further with Colossians 1:12-19. I love the way the Spirit led you in the structure of this. Starting with those 2 points and then leading into the solitary God and WOW. I couldn’t even make it past the mic drop moment of THE FATHER SAYS LOOK AT MY PERFECT SON and the SON SAYS LOOKS AT MY PERFECT FATHER. THIS!!! So good. Thank you Jesus!!!!!!! Thank you Cole for being obedient in following this through.
"And their shared Spirit taking no glory for Himself, rather being the very light that illuminates Father and Son, acting as the breath that carries their words of love and gently descending as a dove to set them upon our ears." ... Beautifully put. I believe you are correct in identifying the self-emptying love of the Trinity as the key to insight. And love, by its nature, is non-coercive, so worship is returning love to love, an invitation to participate in the "dance" of the Trinity, as you thoughtfully wrote. Thank you.
My article was attempting to show how the commands of God are not actually the legalistic and narcissistic actions that some make them out to be. Even Jesus told His disciples, “A new command I am giving to you…”
Yet, these commands, as you said, aren’t just checklist items, but invitations into His own life.
Hi Koffi, I think you might be referring to when I said, “red-letter faith.” Which simply means that people disregard everything in the bible except for what Jesus verbally spoke, which is often printed with red letters.
Great peace. This is definitely a question. Many of us have pondered and some have struggled with. I’ve come to the understanding now in my life that it makes perfect sense for God to be the way he is as described in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. If we proceed on the concept that God is the only God, and all other gods that we know in our human history are just constructs of human storytelling that don’t really exist, I would then offer that God isn’t necessarily jealous of these other fake gods, he is trying to tell us that they don’t exist and he is the only God. For me that comforts me actually. There’s another big part to all of this and I think it’s primarily in the western culture more than anywhere else, but this idea that we are God. Or that the human being is the highest level of consciousness. I certainly don’t believe that, but I do understand why people have a hard time in our society with the idea of worshiping a God that is greater than them. That’s because it is admitting there is something greater than them. Many of us don’t want to admit that. And most of our media and entertainment now pushes the idea that we are God, and that we are the greatest, and that we are the highest level of consciousness, and if we could only just tap into ourselves, all our problems would go away, and we’d be very happy. But the truth is, we are not tapping into ourselves. We are just vessels for souls created by God. And he is greater than us.
Cole - You frequently mention the “tri-une “ God. I wondered if you were aware that the subject of the dynamic relationship between the three was a favorite subject of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. The subject is known as pericoresis. Hoping this note finds you well.
Hi Antonio! I am aware, that’s precisely why I so frequently mention it! I take it as a high compliment that you made the connection, and a great kindness that you would lead me to that! All glory to God!
Love this part: "God doesn’t command worship because He lacks something — He commands worship because He is opening His own life to us. Our worship, then, is not the vain food that God eats for His own amusement. It is the way that we join into this eternal dance of devotion between Father, Son, and Spirit. "
Thank you for the article. Excellent food for thought.
Thank you Joseph! For reading and for your kind interaction with me!
It is a delight to me that you found something edifying from my words. Glory to God!
I’m glad to see you here and hope to get to know you better! May God bless you abundantly brother!
Thank you! If you have the time, I'd love to get your thoughts on the T.F. Torrance quote on the Incarnation and the Trinity that I use is this little article. God bless! https://therichesofhisgrace.substack.com/p/o-blessed-christmas?r=6oic1w
I’ll check it out and let you know what I think! Thanks!
I was also moved by these lines in particular: the image of our worship as participation in the eternal, perichoretic dance. To be brought up into this dance is to experience the fullness of life, which draw us in closer and allows us to know more of God’s character. And the more we come to know His character, the more we come to know His heart and can thus articulate and reflect it in ways that more accurately portray Him, of course all through the grace of His revelations to us. I love how you also noted that God often reveals His character to us through paradoxical ideas that we cannot even begin to comprehend without the illuminating work of the Spirit. And that illuminating is part of the eternal dance, a never-ending-knowing and overflowing of love!
Always so grateful for the theological richness and depth of your writings. May this new year be filled with continued blessings of revelations and reflections, brother!
I’m always grateful for your writings as well! And am especially grateful for this deeply kind review of my work. I’m so glad it edified you in some way. Glory to God!
Thank you for reading, and thank you for interacting with me! May God continually bless you, and may we both grow in the grace, peace, and love of God together!
I think there are huge difficulties in modern Christianity. I have dubbed them collectively as SGS (Small God Syndrome). What people fail to understand, largely because of church teaching, is that the whole world is lost, meaning it is not under His direct dominion. Dominion of planet earth belongs to the prince of this world. That was passed to him by Adam.
If we accept, as true, the worldly point of view, as you outlines so well in the article, then we completely fail to recognize that the fallen point of view is so because we are naturally rebellious against our Creator.
In reality, all God wants from any believer is allegiance. It is by allegiance to the true ruler of all of creation that will overthrow the tyrant who reigns with false dominion. His domain is a domain of slavery to sin, which the world sees as freedom.
This said, the demands of Scripture are not really demands at all but the pleadings of the Father for those who will come, to reject the tyranny of sin, for the reign of God. Allegiance.
Thank you Carl! Amen!
I appreciate you reading and sharing your insights with me, it is truly a delight to my heart.
May us and many more give our greatest allegiance to our wonderful God!
And may He bless you immensely friend!
What a post to kick off the year👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 thank you
Thank you Jezneel! All glory to God!
I’m delighted that you could be blessed by the article!
May He bless you abundantly friend!
I really appreciated how you framed the “dance” not as something poetic only in theory, but as a rhythm we actually live — back and forth between surrender and action, between stillness and motion. It’s easy to talk about harmony in abstract terms, but you showed it as something lived, something embodied, something that shapes how we experience daily life.
I appreciate your kind words Victoria, they are truly a delight to me. All glory to God!
Thank you for reading, and for interacting with me. The "dance" is one of my favorite things to contemplate upon.
May He bless you abundantly sister!
He created us for this purpose. Yet, we have the ability to choose not to.
Asking the hard questions! Love it
Thank you for reading and commenting Brittany! I truly appreciate it!
May God bless you abundantly, sister!
This needs to blow up. I thank the Lord for leading me to this!! And thank you Holy Spirit for guiding Cole in this beautiful composition. I was fed so much through this I almost lost my mind. I’ve been sharing it with so many people. Even my brother who is a pastor loved hearing this explained this way. He backed it further with Colossians 1:12-19. I love the way the Spirit led you in the structure of this. Starting with those 2 points and then leading into the solitary God and WOW. I couldn’t even make it past the mic drop moment of THE FATHER SAYS LOOK AT MY PERFECT SON and the SON SAYS LOOKS AT MY PERFECT FATHER. THIS!!! So good. Thank you Jesus!!!!!!! Thank you Cole for being obedient in following this through.
Thank you Marianly. Your words are truly a delight to me. It gladdens me to know that my writing could bless you in this way. All glory to God!
Love that passage in Colossians, thanks for adding that!
I appreciate your kindness and fellowship, may God bless you abundantly sister!
Wow‼️ This is amazing! Beautiful work, thank you ‼️🙏❤️🙏❤️❤️😺
Thank you Dawn. Your kind words are a delight to me, truly! All glory to God!
May He bless you abundantly.
"And their shared Spirit taking no glory for Himself, rather being the very light that illuminates Father and Son, acting as the breath that carries their words of love and gently descending as a dove to set them upon our ears." ... Beautifully put. I believe you are correct in identifying the self-emptying love of the Trinity as the key to insight. And love, by its nature, is non-coercive, so worship is returning love to love, an invitation to participate in the "dance" of the Trinity, as you thoughtfully wrote. Thank you.
Thank you Andrew, truly! Your kind words are a delight to me.
I'm very appreciative that you took the time to read, and I'm glad you could be blessed by what I wrote. All glory to God!
May He bless you abundantly brother!
Your posts have such fascinating insight. You have a way of painting these beautiful pictures in my mind with your words ✨️ Thanks
No, thank you Rach! Truly, your words mean the world to me and they’ve shone a brightness upon my day. All glory to God!
May He bless you abundantly sister!
Dans le Nouveau Testament, on ne parle plus de << commande>> .Jésus n'est pas venu pour nous donner une liste des règles à suivre.
Hi Koffi, thank you for commenting!
My article was attempting to show how the commands of God are not actually the legalistic and narcissistic actions that some make them out to be. Even Jesus told His disciples, “A new command I am giving to you…”
Yet, these commands, as you said, aren’t just checklist items, but invitations into His own life.
God bless you friend!
Qu'est-ce qu'une foi fonctionnelle ?
Hi Koffi, I think you might be referring to when I said, “red-letter faith.” Which simply means that people disregard everything in the bible except for what Jesus verbally spoke, which is often printed with red letters.
Thank you for reading! God bless you abundantly!
Great peace. This is definitely a question. Many of us have pondered and some have struggled with. I’ve come to the understanding now in my life that it makes perfect sense for God to be the way he is as described in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. If we proceed on the concept that God is the only God, and all other gods that we know in our human history are just constructs of human storytelling that don’t really exist, I would then offer that God isn’t necessarily jealous of these other fake gods, he is trying to tell us that they don’t exist and he is the only God. For me that comforts me actually. There’s another big part to all of this and I think it’s primarily in the western culture more than anywhere else, but this idea that we are God. Or that the human being is the highest level of consciousness. I certainly don’t believe that, but I do understand why people have a hard time in our society with the idea of worshiping a God that is greater than them. That’s because it is admitting there is something greater than them. Many of us don’t want to admit that. And most of our media and entertainment now pushes the idea that we are God, and that we are the greatest, and that we are the highest level of consciousness, and if we could only just tap into ourselves, all our problems would go away, and we’d be very happy. But the truth is, we are not tapping into ourselves. We are just vessels for souls created by God. And he is greater than us.
This is good stuff.
Perichoresis <3
A beautiful truth. Thank you for reading and interacting with me Christa!
May God bless you abundantly!
Cole - You frequently mention the “tri-une “ God. I wondered if you were aware that the subject of the dynamic relationship between the three was a favorite subject of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. The subject is known as pericoresis. Hoping this note finds you well.
Hi Antonio! I am aware, that’s precisely why I so frequently mention it! I take it as a high compliment that you made the connection, and a great kindness that you would lead me to that! All glory to God!
Thank you friend! May God bless you abundantly!