Kirk Douglas used be the Pastor at Gwinner, North Dakota and is now at New York Mills, Minnesota. Aside from having a movie stars name and being an avid hunter and horsemen Kirk is very interested in Mission and mercy. He took this picture on a wagon ride South of Crystal Springs, Somewhere, and made it a poster. Pretty cool stuff. The context of Paul’s passage is that he urges us to lay aside the work righteous nonsense that clings to our old human nature, to forget about all the Jesus plus theologies and press on to the calling we have in Christ. A Jesus plus theology is any idea that in order for faith to be “full” and us to be” faithful ” we have Jesus but we have to add something more.
Sometimes I think that some believe that mercy work is an “add on” to the Gospel proclamation that is mission work and I believe that they are of a piece. Our high calling is to preach Christ and serve our neighbor.
