The Orant

My wife Joan and I have been adjusting to life here in Chicago since we moved last fall. It has been quite a transition. I have been working towards my MDiv at North Park theological seminary. We are finding our place in Chicago and the community at at North Park. I have found a home at Resurrection Covenant Church which has been a source of joy for me, and has allowed me to continue doing worship ministry from time to time. Joan is expecting our first child in October which is very exciting! We … [Read more...]

Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christianity has been stirring up the evangelical world. In it McLaren offers some bold perspectives on how faith is to be shaped. One reader recently commented somewhat ironicly that "Some day our great-grandkids will lament the way their generation falls away from classical emergentism. O where is a MacLaren for today, they'll cry..."The great faith traditions of Evangelicalism have developed flowers to help people understand what they belive (often at the cost … [Read more...]

The following is how one group of Christians in Spain over 1000 years ago dealt with pedophiles. A cleric or monk who seduces youths or young boys or is found kissing or in any other impure situations is to be publicly flogged and lose his tonsure. When his hair has been shorn, his face is to be foully besmeared with spit and he is to be bound in iron chains. For six months he will languish in prison-like confinement and on three days of each week shall fast on barley bread in the evening. After … [Read more...]

I have taken the Belif-o-matic test several times... It's actually helps me track where my thinking has changed on certain things as My results have changed... One thing has remained though... I am always told I am 100% a Orthodox Quaker but when I look at what that means it becomes quite clear to me I am NOT an Orthodox Quaker... ALSO Seventh day adventists get high marks... but again that is NOT me.The rest of the results make sense to me. (to see all my results scroll to the bottom)I am … [Read more...]

The above cartoon by Daryl Cagle illustrates how simplistic the Media's coverage of the sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church is. The RCC has always been a target for the media... and in this case they have brought the criticism upon themselves. However I do think much of what I have encountered has been extremely biased.My wife is Catholic and she is suffering a great deal because of this. I think her experience is representative of Catholics as a whole. They feels angry at the behavior of the … [Read more...]

For over 20 years Lamin Sanneh has been an outspoken voice about how Christianity is growing throughout his native continent of Africa. Although he was born a Muslim and received his Ph.D. in Islamic History, he is a convert to Christianity and is a professor of World Christianity at Yale Divinity School. I recently read his 2003 book Whose Religion is Christianity? (William B. Erdmans Publishing). In it Sanneh offers an invaluable perspective on how Christianity is growing and becoming a part … [Read more...]

Today the Church celibates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. This day inaugurates Holy Week. The last week of Jesus' life before his crucifixion on Friday. For centuries the church has cried out on this day "Come let us Run With Him." Let us ask ourselves today how we can enter in the Journey toward the cross as the Aroma of Christ to the World. As you look at this icon reflect on where God is calling you this week.God grant that with the angels and the children we may be faithful, and sing … [Read more...]

For those of you who like Slam Poetry (with the full knowledge that some of you don't) I thought you might like this. It's by a young slam poet, Chris Tse.Much of his message is needed, but I think it brings up a lot of stuff that needs to be worked through a great deal more. He's apologizing, but in such a way that I feel he is mostly attacking the Church without engaging in the areas he's attacking.This isn't wrong, in fact it's needed. I commend Chris for a thoughtful critique, and appreciate … [Read more...]

The Word was made man and he lived among us - John 1:14In 9 months we will celebrate Christmas. Because of this the church in the west and the east recognizes today as the feast of Annunciation. This is the day we remember the day God first initiated his saving work of incarnation by becoming flesh in the womb of the virgin Mary. For me this festival has a great amount of significance this year. Many of us within Churches that came out of the reformation have lost how important the annunciation … [Read more...]