If thou wilt be perfect. Great enterprises are always left to the free choice of those who hear of them. – Jerome [1] Perfection is attainable. Perfection is really something we can grasp. However, none of us are perfect, not in our sense of the word. Jerome and the Early Church Fathers don’t negate this Scripture one bit. So maybe there’s a difference in the way they look at perfection. In fact, I believe there is. i. Perfect has a... Read more
Some geeks used Google+ and actually knew what they were doing. Then some geeks like me used G+ with no idea why everyone else was using it. Now that it’s shutting down in April, it doesn’t matter what any of us were doing on it anyway. For me, G+ eventually became a quick reference library for many of my favorite quotes and articles. This is information outside of Facebook’s normative social influence. These are quotes that chase the theme of... Read more
This is part of a short series exploring the thoughts of three different Early Church Fathers about the Rich Young Ruler, and the ancient virtue of Simplicity.[1] Jerome writes extensively on the topic, so we’ll devote a couple weeks to him. First, we see the significance of the Rich Young Ruler’s choice, an aspect of the story that seems to be the primary lesson according to Jerome. The previous posts are: Simplicity: Clement’s stark conclusions about the Rich Young Ruler... Read more
The first year after seminary, I decided to slow down my readings. I research for other professional publications, so I do a lot of reading for those projects, too much to share here. Personally though, instead of reading for information, I’ve been reading more for formation. Reading for formation Let me offer a brief explanation of what that can look like. In 2017 I took a Basic Christian Doctrine course at Asbury Theological Seminary. However, the readings were far from... Read more
This is part of a short series exploring what three different Early Church Fathers teach about The Rich Young Ruler.[1] Within this story we see truths unfold about the ancient virtue of simplicity. Origen takes time to examine the allegiances of the Rich Young Ruler in a way that could probably challenge any one of us, about our excessive way of life. The previous post is: Simplicity: Clement’s stark conclusions about the Rich Young Ruler on the allegiances of the Rich... Read more
There are few times since my opening blog posts with Patheos when I have shared a personal narrative essay. This is one I have been wanting to share for awhile now, Christmas reflections on a few points of interest along the way this Advent season. The Christian year I start with the question posed to me by Pastor Kent Anderson, a good acquaintance of mine in town. “Why not the Christian year?” We were discussing sermon selections at the time,... Read more
This introduction will serve to set up the blogs for the next couple weeks. I’m going to be looking at a Scripture that a few of the Early Church Fathers chime-in on, something that doesn’t occur often. Different Fathers have expertise in various areas of Scripture, just like many leaders do today. The passage we’ll be considering is the Rich Young Ruler (Matthew 19.16-30; Mark 10.17-31; Luke 18.18-29). We’ll look at it first through the lens of Clement of Alexandria, secondly... Read more
Initially, I wrestled with the idea of posting this book review, but now I believe I made the right choice. I may not understand everything in the political realm, but I believe our President is at least attempting to make choices that will resolve our dilemma with immigrants. If we refuse to make decisions, then we have decided to allow correlated problems to escalate. I certainly do not have the answers. I don’t even know all the questions. I’m not sure... Read more
I haven’t posted yet this week, although I normally post twice each week. The fact is, I have been wrestling with the idea of posting this book review. The candid reality of our President’s speech on Tuesday night greatly impressed me. As someone who lived in California for nearly half my life, I believe he covered some important points for us all to consider about our southern border. I seldom use this platform for a piece on ethics and society. ... Read more
I have always contended that no one fully understands discipleship until one is discipling others. It follows then that I am not being fully transformed, unless I am investing in the formation of my children. So I count my time reading with my children or with my wife, as equal to or greater than any private devotional pursuit. Reading to Eliseo in 2018 I have read all the Chronicles of Narnia books and The Hobbit to my older two sons. ... Read more
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