Human beings still need God as the only possible center for a stable life. They still become like the thing they worship. Paul saw humans imaging a god in the likeness of the beasts, and so coming to have the morals of the beasts, and that would do for the mild-mannered and aesthetic cult of nature today. Those who worship sunsets will acquire just about as much stability and reality as the sunset itself. Those who worship the machine will... Read more
Here’s a good word from my friend, former student, and fellow minister Rev. Randy Saultz of Ohio. See what you think about PTESS– Post Traumatic Election Stress Syndrome. —— November 9, 2016 by scattered thoughts I get it. You were stressed about this election. You were passionate and full of feeling about who would take their place in the executive branch of our government. And now you are still stressed. You were up all night watching election returns and too... Read more
‘Thy will be done’—-The phrase as it is commonly used is blasphemy. Some awful possibility lies before us; we do everything in our power to avert it; we fail, and we finally say, having exhausted every other possibility, ‘thy will be done’. To say this implies at least two horrible presuppositions—first it means that God’s will is a dreadful thing to be avoided at all costs. And second it means we’ve tried everything we know to get our own will,... Read more
O God of earth and altar, Come down and hear our cry, Our earthly rulers falter, Our people drift and die, The walls of gold entomb us, The sword of scorn divides, Take not thy thunder from us, But take away our pride. From all that terror teaches From lies of tongue and pen From all the easy speeches That comfort cruel men From sale and profanation Of honor and the sword From sleep and from damnation Deliver us Good... Read more
When you grew up with Marvel Comics, as I did, everyone had their favorites. For me it was clearly Spiderman. Dr. Strange was so on out there, and Oriental in character that it didn’t make my list of top five fav ravs. But comics are one thing, movies are another. For example, I loved the Fantastic Four comics, but the several attempts to film those stories turned out disastrously poorly. Not so with the Benedict Cumberbatch boot up of the... Read more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I15k-ZsFZs This is a deeply moving 139 minute film, though it has some gory scenes about two-thirds through the film and is not suitable for the young. To be honest, this is a better Gibson movie, in terms of being faithful to the true story, than Mel Gibson’s the Passion of the Christ, which often depends on the later mystical writings of Anna Katherine Emmerich, rather than sticking to the Gospel text. This movie means a great deal to me,... Read more
Here is a quite interesting discussion from my friend Philip Jenkins on the possible connection between what James says about rich and poor in James 2 and what is said in the famous parable of the rich man and Lazarus. See what you think. BW3 Lazarus and James October 21, 2016 by Philip Jenkins I have been puzzling out its possible relationship to the miracle of Lazarus in the Gospel of John. Here, I will pursue that question by citing... Read more
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