A recent post by P. Andrew Sandlin:
I learned a long time ago as a Christian minister that I can’t hope to out-cool our apostate culture, and if I try, I’ll gradually create followers who crave coolness and will gravitate to a “community” cooler than mine.
Joe Rigney has a great piece on the Trinity House website. With apologies to Joe, I’ll give it to you in a nutshell, then make some brief observations. But make sure you read the entire article.
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“That which they sought to save them from the condemnation of the Law of Moses has also innoculated them against the grace and Spirit of Jesus Christ.”
Pope Francis, in a recent homily, has written,
“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! `Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. `But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”
This exhortation is not radical. It exposes the Roman Catholic Church for what it is, as least on paper (its official doctrine). The problem is that the Bible says nothing of the sort, which is one of the big reasons behind the Reformation. But this is only the primary problem with his statement.
Comedian Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) shares his experience of meeting a witnessing Christian.
What is the referent of “body of Christ” in 1 Corinthians 11:29?
“For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”
One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
An excerpt from Jeffrey Meyers’ The Lord’s Service: The Grace of Covenant Renewal Worship, pp. 283-285.
Faith comes from hearing. —Romans 10:7a.
One does not need to read very far into Emily Dickinson’s poetry to discover that her verse often captures the quintessential American religious consciousness. Consider these lines from three of Emily Dickinson’s poems:
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A very surprising, thought-provoking and edifying lecture by Edward Tingley from Augustine College.
She drove a Plymouth Satellite
Faster than the speed of light…
“Pastor, if the local atheist knows the Bible and understands its basic implications for morality, society, politics, education, economics, history and science better than the people you instruct every week, and most likely he does, you are failing them.”
It seems to me that good Christians go off to Bible college and seminary little suspecting that these institutions are places where they teach you how not to read a book.
Here’s an [edited] excerpt from Toby Sumpter’s new book on Job, which I am really enjoying. It is a commentary with a pastoral heart, as evidenced below:
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