Trees are Trees – Thoughts on the Goodness of Creation

April 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment
National Park Service Photo

by R. Scott Rodin, MTh, PhD An intersection in north Spokane was once surrounded by tall Ponderosa pines. I always loved arriving at this intersection. It gave me the feel of being on a forest service road deep in the woods. One day several large, yellow pieces of earth moving equipment arrived and over the following weeks diesel-belching machines managed to bulldoze and dispose of acres of forest. Not one tree was left. This once pine-laden piece of nature became the new home of yet another … [Read more...]

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How the Trinity Changed my Mind on Creation Care

April 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

by R. Scott Rodin, MTh, PhD Ten years ago I faced a crisis of faith.  I’d been raised to believe that there was a pecking order to God’s love: our eternal souls first, our physical bodies a distant second, and creation a very distant third.  Life and faith were evaluated through this criteria screen, and creation almost always paid the price. What caused me to question this flawed filter was my Trinitarian theology.  In considering God’s triune nature I reached a point where I … [Read more...]

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A Thousand Questions

March 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A great video from Willow Creek that helps frame some of what's being faced in the world today.   … [Read more...]

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True North: Christ, the Gospel, and Creation Care

February 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment
True North

Listen in as Alexei Laushkin talks to Dr. Seth Bible the Director of Student Life at Southeastern Theological Seminary. Dr. Bible is the co-author along with Dr. Mark Liederbach of True North: Christ, the Gospel, and Creation Care. They talk about how Jesus gives us the clearest guidance when it comes to our care of God's Creation. Be sure to listen in!   … [Read more...]

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Of Sacraments and Idols

January 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

by Eugene Peterson But when we return to such natural settings in order to recover such feelings, what ordinarily happens is that we become more attentive to our feelings than to God. We have crossed a line. We are not praying but "using" nature to produce religious feelings. By engaging in the proper rituals and with a little of bit of luck we can manipulate nature for selfish benefit. This is the origin of the antiprayer called magic. Prayer is willingness practiced before God; magic is … [Read more...]

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So What About the Book of Revelations?

January 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

by Harold Dean Trulear I hear a sound. It is a knock. Do you hear it? It is a knock-- sure and steady. There is a knock; yes, there's somebody knocking at our door!  Jesus is knocking. He has not given up on Laodicea. Jesus is knocking. There is hope for Laodicea. Jesus is knocking. The ultimate destiny of Laodicean saints is still in view. Jesus is knocking, and he has a word for us in Paterson today. He says, "If anyone hears my voice ..." Oh, I am glad he said "anyone." That's … [Read more...]

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Tending the Garden Without Worshiping It

January 4, 2013 By 2 Comments

by Ron Sider I'm afraid that one reason Christians fail to live more simply for the sake of the poor and the environment- one reason we persist in our practical materialistic worship of things- is that we don't really love Jesus very much. We substitute lukewarm faith and mere tradition for a passionate love for the Lord and a radical commitment to worship and to obey him at any cost. Colossians 1:18 says Jesus is to "have the supremacy." Is that true for you and me? Is that true for our … [Read more...]

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A Passion for His Kingdom, A Passion for His Name

August 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
photo by Dominik Bartsch

by Alexei Laushkin When we sow sparingly we reap sparingly. If you have a garden or have ever grown food you know this to be true. If you sow and prepare a meager portion, your field or your garden will produce meagerly. Many of us live 24/7 lives. Matthew Sleeth of Blessed Earth encourages us to live 24/6 lives. We won't have room for the Kingdom and His purposes if we don't give him some room to work in our lives. If we sow sparingly, we'll reap sparingly. The Kingdom isn't just about … [Read more...]

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Are We Returning to the Mourners’ Bench?

May 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
mournersbench

by Mitch Hescox I have a confession.  I’m an evangelical Christian and I love to share Jesus.  I love to tell the story of Jesus and his love.  Jesus’ story is a love story – a love for God, for all creation, a special love for the most vulnerable, for you, and for me.  Jesus’ love story doesn’t offer an escape from this world, but it does offer hope for a new one, a renewed creation where all things are made new.   The ultimate focus of the scriptures is that in the end … [Read more...]

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New Wine

April 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
photo by Ricardo Bernardo used via flickr creative commons

by Mitch Hescox Luke 5:36-39 (NIV) "He told them this parable: "No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, 'The old … [Read more...]

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