Refreshing Theological Fire Hydrant
A few years ago I immersed myself in lectures by Dr. C. Baxter Kruger of Perichoresis Ministries—one of the best contemporary theologians of this century.
His lectures were like the refreshing, invigorating spray of a fire hydrant. The cleansing waters helped set me free from dry, parched legalism. I recently began listening to them for the third time—I just can’t get enough! You can listen online or download into an iPhone or iPod.
If you need to understand that God is less interested in doctrine and theology than in relationships and, ultimately, our personal relationship with him—listen to these audios!
I especially like “The Great Dance.” (See yesterday’s post: Dancing with the Trinity.)
A few words from Baxter explains the heart of his lectures:
“Jesus Christ in our lives rocks our illusions and demands a serious repentant rethinking of everything we thought we knew about God, ourselves, others and creation.
History is the space and time given to the human race to come to grips with the relationship Jesus Christ has with us and the cosmos. He is the center. We are all united to him and he is not going away.
Being blind as bats, we are in for a wild ride. He promises freedom and life to those who follow him, and warns us all that continuing to live in our own worlds spells greater and greater pain.
Second, I want to say that Jesus is right about the Father and we are dead wrong. Jesus’ Father loves us forever. It has never crossed His mind to abandon us. Why won’t we let Him love us? And I would regret it sorely if I did not say something about the redeeming genius of the Trinity.
I love that about the Father, Son and Spirit. They are in it for our blessings and they are constantly at work turning our darkness and our blunders into life and good.
Jesus suffered our universal rejection. We condemned him, mocked him and crucified him. He did not retaliate. He did not meet our rejection with rejection.
He embraced us in our darkness through his suffering, and thereby established a real and personal relationship with us at our very worst. He brought his communion with his Father and Spirit into our hell, and he knows how to meet us and share his life with us in every form of our brokenness.”
Perichoresis Podcasts
Perichoresis 101
These straightforward lectures address the questions, “Who is God?” “What is Reconciliation?” and “What is the heart of the gospel?” Together they offer a clear picture of what the vision of Perichoresis ministries is all about. Also included is Lenny Firth’s reading of “The Parable of the Dancing God.”
- Perichoresis 101 Lecture 1
- Perichoresis 101 Lecture 2
- Perichoresis 101 Lecture 3
- Perichoresis 101 Lecture 4
The Great Dance: The Christian Vision Revisited
The Trinity and Christian Life
The Secret of Narnia
Home Revisited
Books by Baxter Kruger
The Great Dance: The Christian Vision Revisited
In The Great Dance, Dr. C. Baxter Kruger takes the historic doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation, shakes them free of their academic dust, and shows how they unlock the hidden truths of our ordinary lives. From motherhood to baseball, from relationships and music to golf and gardening, Kruger shows how our human existence needs be understood as participation in the life of the Father, Son and Spirit.
Jesus and the Undoing of Adam
Jesus and the Undoing of Adam is straight from the heart of St. Athanasius and the early church. In this short but powerful book, Dr. Kruger takes us behind the back of Augustine to rethink the work of Jesus Christ in the light of the doctrine of the Trinity. Dr. Kruger sets forward a stunning vision of the Triune God and articulates a view of Christ’s incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension that is rigorously consistent with the truth that the Triune God eternally purposed our adoption in Jesus Christ.
God is for Us
“When I picked up God is for Us I read it through in one sitting, in an hour. I could not tear myself away from the sheer goodness of the triune God that Baxter Kruger conveys in this short book. But then I had to go back and read it carefully through again in order to allow the deep truths to penetrate my life afresh. Here is a clearly presented exposition of the profound truth that we are created to be with God forever!” —Graham Buxton
Across All Worlds: Jesus Inside Our Darkness
Jesus Christ is not a theoretical idea or a mere concept that is far removed from our human experience. In Across All Worlds, Baxter Kruger brings us face to face with the fact that Jesus established a very real and personal relationship with us in our darkness. Jesus accepts us and walks with us because he is determined to see that we come to know His Father with Him and life in His embrace.
Jesus and the Undoing of Adam
What happened on the Cross? Why did Jesus die? How do we understand the meaning of His death? Dr. Baxter Kruger voices the questions we have often asked ourselves, and challenges our legal mindset about God and Jesus and the whole sin thing.
