Last weekend I had the very great joy of participating on the leadership team of a retreat weekend. The purpose of this “little course in Christianity” was to give people a taste of an intentional walk with God in Community. Particularly, it teaches a path embracing worship (or piety), study, and action.
One of my functions was to talk about the role of study in Christian life. I thought I would like to share my address on that subject here. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, Marriage
There are any number of mnemonic devices for remembering Bible verses, and for remembering and communicating the central points of Christianity. The “Apostles’ Creed” is about the earliest, and I think still about the best. “The Four Spiritual Laws” is one I remember from my teens and early twenties.
Many of us, perhaps most of us who seriously entered an Evangelical understanding of Christianity 40 or 50 years ago will remember “The Roman Road” as it lays out the work of God in Jesus through six verses in the Epistle to the Romans.
Romans 3:10 “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one…’ “
Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:13, “for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ “
I think, though, that there is another “Roman Road” spelled out. I have often seen the journey described as the road humanity takes/has taken when we refuse to look to God. But I have discovered that here, as in most warnings, they are not only for “those OTHER people” … Christians, too, are vulnerable. This “Roman Road” leads to deception, self-deception. I know very closely at least two, who think themselves devout Christians yet have fallen into this road. I am one of them. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity
“In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.’ “
Isaiah 19:19-25
This passage from the prophet Isaiah came up this morning. It raises so many thoughts relative to the news of the day that one’s mind flies from one idea to the next, trying to capture it all. But among all the thoughts of great prophetic deeds done thousands of miles away, there is one thought supremely close at hand. I want to stick with that. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity
Well, I just finished my weekend reading, a new little book
entitled
“Unabashedly Episcopalian”
written by the Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle,
9th Bishop of the Diocese of Texas (Episcopal)
Before a review, something of a disclaimer:
First, Bp. Doyle is my bishop.
Those who know me well will know what an amazing statement that is.
Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Book Reviews, Christianity, Church
Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
The beginning of Psalm 105
This morning, the daily reading app (at YouVersion.com, of which I am quite fond, btw) on my phone served to me Psalm 105 which starts with this marvelous call to praise God.
I read it in the context of reading a post from another long-time member of Houston’s Church of the Redeemer (Episcopal) Lisa Tenney. Her thoughts were a joy to hear; and as I began to read this Psalm of praise and exhortation to praise God for His mighty acts, I could not help but put the two together.
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, Church, Uncategorized
I have been more open to restorations lately. I think perhaps that can happen when one doesn’t try so hard to keep everything on the fence, balanced so that you can go for either opportunity that may present itself. Nothing wrong with staying open – I heartily encourage it – but one’s real life is lived in only one pasture at a time, not on the fence. (Damned uncomfortable place, anyway!)
My latest small victory is in rediscovering music. Continue reading
This morning, we had a guest preacher, the Rev. John Newton, Canon for Life-Long Spiritual Formation for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. He preached mainly from the Epistle reading for the day, from first chapter of Ephesians. He started in what I thought was headed for a standard corporate-church theme of God’s blessings (“we need to realize that God has already blessed us, yadda, yadda, yadda …”) Yes, he went there, and I can’t totally fault him for that; he has an excuse in that the point is correct.
But then he went somewhere more interesting. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, preaching, Theology
“Would it possible to be tempted, in such a way that we miss God’s desire for us, by being part of a church that is almost perfect?”
As an answer to the question, I will suggest that part of the reason for the story of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament is to answer a related question. It is one I have sometimes heard from skeptics. It goes something like this:
“If God is real, why doesn’t he just “show up” and prove himself? Then people would believe in him! Instead, all we get are some writings in a book (and those kind of hard to understand), and the word of people like you who tell us just to ‘have faith and trust him.’
I’m sorry, but if he is real, and expects to be acknowledged, he needs to say so, directly. Then we would all see the truth, and could all believe. Until then…”
I think there is some merit to the question. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, Church, Theology
Over the last several weeks I have run into what is often called “The Parable of the Sower” from the Gospel According to Mark (It’s also in Matthew and Luke, but this month, it always seemed to come up in Mark). If you ever had any exposure at all to stories from the Bible, you probably remember this one; on its simplest level, it tells of a man sowing seed, somewhat randomly. The seed falls on four different kinds of dirt, and the story explores what happens to that seed in each. The link to the story is here: Mark 4:2-9. But what does it all mean? And why did Jesus say it that way at all? Well, as our good fortune would have it, Jesus’ followers asked those questions too, and He told them. We can read it right there in Mark. No need for fancy interpretation, “…move along, nothing to see here, it’s all been explained….”
However some of us can’t leave well enough alone. Here’s my addition… Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, Church
More on the idea of universal salvation and personal choice Discussion on the nature of the Holy Trinity: Why only 3? This post prompted me to reply with what I intend to be a draft of a fuller post Starting with Anthroposophy, a very interesting discussion ranging from stained glass and mirrors and the invocation of Saints, to Jung and speculations about the existance of evil.
Random Musings 