Sixth Sunday after Pentecost O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Read more
We were in Sorrento at lunch one day and decided to have bruschetta — and the color of the tomatoes were deep, glowing red, but the taste of the tomatoes was otherworldly. An Italian friend of mine told me his father had visited him here and asked what was wrong the tomatoes — he said they had no taste. Have you had a good tomato lately? Here’s why not: The mass-produced tomatoes we buy at the grocery store tend to... Read more
From Urban Faith, by Christine Scheller, and this is but a small clip … read the whole thing: On Tuesday, someone asked me what I thought of the Supreme Court ruling on the ACA. I took a deep breath and said I was glad it wasn’t struck down, because I need affordable health insurance sooner rather than later and the ACA is the engine that will give it to me. I probably would have opposed it a decade ago when... Read more
This post is by our friend Jeff Cook… They Don’t Believe Because Your God Isn’t Desirable I watched the recent debate between William Lane Craig, a Christian, and Sam Harris an Atheist. The debate (seen Here) was over the foundations of morality. The Christian addressed the philosophical question at hand with skill and insight. By the midway point the atheist struck me as seriously outmatched and overpowered. Yet then things changed. Sam Harris began putting forth a set of arguments... Read more
Protecting Water in California! Wyndy Corbin Reuschling unleashes against the Christian silence on an ethic for the common good — and the place to begin is — yes — Israel’s laws demanding Israelites to surrender some of what they raised and earned for the good of the poor (we call that taxes today): “What has disturbed me most over the months has been the lack of theological and moral arguments for access to health care. I am not naive about... Read more
From The Blaze: I totally agree: the church that can’t speak into politics, is not the church of the Jesus who preached the kingdom; the gospel that is not inherently political — Jesus is King after all – isn’t the apostolic gospel. And the distinction between “political” and “partisan” is crucial here, and so is the church as a politic vs. the church being used politically a crucial distinction. Rev. Jeremiah Wright claims that church wasn’t Barack and Michelle Obama’s “thing,”... Read more
From John Blake, at CNN.com: Anyone who doubts that a president’s faith remains important to the American people has only to look at the experiences of Obama. Obama has declared his Christianity in his biography, and in many speeches. He evoked it recently when he came out in support of same-sex marriages. But arguably no president has had his faith so aggressively questioned. Many Americans still believe he is a Muslim. Stephen Mansfield, author of “The Faith of Barack Obama,”... Read more
If you had to list the top five “marks” of the church, what would they be? Mark Driscoll, standing in a line since the Reformation of “marks” of the church (where preaching got some prominence — prior to that it was “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic”) — and joining some more recent voices (like Mark Dever), proposes eight marks of the church. I’m not interested in whether or not you like Driscoll, so visceral reactions are not needed, but instead... Read more
I’ve been asked more than once What do you say, then, when you are calling people to … here the words matter but I don’t want to parse them at this point … decision? I have observed, with David Platt, that the Sinner’s Prayer is neither here nor there; it’s not the point; it can be the right thing for the right person but it can (too) easily become a magical potion for some evangelists and for some responders. We... Read more
I want to propose, before I get to the substance of today’s post, a model for understanding how scientific theories change. There is word on the street that scientists are always changing their minds, that their models shift paradigmatically, etc, so therefore their conclusions and knowledge are limited, slanted and even erroneous. That science changes is the name of the game. How it changes is part of the game, too. I propose this: We have for years gone to a... Read more
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