Here is one of my favorite prayers from The Book of Common Prayer, and it was in our daily prayers this morning. It focuses on prayers of petition, and this weekend in our prayers for Haiti this prayer might be an encouragement: Almighty God, who has promised to hear the petitions of those who ask in your Son’s Name: We beseech you mercifully to incline your ear to us who have made our prayers and supplications to you; and grant... Read more
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Read more
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Read more
David Brooks, in the NYTimes, knows that relief is needed immediately but that a bigger issues looms in this discussion: that current “remedies” for poverty aren’t working — and Haiti is the best example because there are as many as 10,000 organizations at work in Haiti — while perhaps the best remedy for poverty is paternalistic self-confidence that demands achievement. The issue, as many would argue today, is not that aid must be given; the issue is how aid is to... Read more
O’Hare airport parking lot. I don’t often say this, because if I did it would get boring, but we appreciate all the links you send to us weekly. I read them all and then include most on the blog … so keep them coming. For the most part, the books reviewed in Jesus Creed were sent to me, almost always unsolicited, by publishers. Here’s a very serious piece that outlines the view that resulted in so much consternation in Young... Read more
How much of our vision for what God is doing in this world is shaped by a belief that God saves us in order to have an intimate relationship with him (personal piety) that flows over into fellowship with others, rather than Jesus’ bigger kingdom vision of what God is doing in this world and that personal piety is designed by God to prompt us to work for that vision? Read more
A link sent to me by a reader: A breakthrough in the research of the Bible has shed new light on the period in which the Bible could have been written, testifying to Hebrew writing abilities as early as the 10th century BCE, the University of Haifa announced on Thursday. Prof. Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa recently deciphered an inscription dating from the 10th century BCE, and showed that it was a... Read more
Kris and I have sponsored a child in Haiti for a few years, and we are glad to receive this report today from World Vision’s site: Note for sponsors with a sponsored child living in Haiti or the Dominican Republic: We value your commitment to sponsoring a child in Haiti or its neighbor, the Dominican Republic. Our staff on the ground report that all sponsored children in World Vision sponsorship communities and surrounding areas are safe at this time. However,... Read more
Seven Theses on a Missional Approach to Law In response to some of my “Law” posts here at Jesus Creed, a few commenters have expressed consternation over my criticism of some “conservative” Christian perspectives on the law. As I’ve tried to express in response to some of those comments, my primary concerns have to do with how “law” is understood in relation to the mission of God. As I’ve said before, in my very humble opinion, the North American Church’s participation in... Read more
What terminates a marriage? Or what are the grounds for a permissible divorce? William F. Luck’s Divorce and Re-Marriage: Recovering the Biblical View examines this sort of question in chp 2 of his book. Marriage, Luck is arguing, is a b-lateral covenant that is, by nature, conditional. Thus, when one person violates the terms of the covenant, the other person is set free from the obligations to the covenant. But, let’s back up to what he says about “rights” and the... Read more
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