A 10-Day Cleanse and Detoxification Program
I have been inspired. I have been inspired not to preach or write, but to eat ethically and live healthily. I have been inspired by the gruesome and cruel images contained in a video showing ill creatures being abused in an inhumane attempt to usher them into the slaughter house. I’m not sure which is worse: treating sick but living creatures so awfully, or the simple but sickening thought of buying and eating diseased slaughter. The slaughter, packaging, and selling of diseased animals must happen all the time; the Hallmark Meat Packing Company in Chino, California just happened to get caught this time. Read More »
Saturdays are for Family
I only have enough time to share a very quick but very, very important lesson I have learned during my post-seminary ministry: Saturday is for family! No, I am not able to compromise this practice. Yes, I am 100% devoted to it. Saturdays are for me and my family, barring the most urgent and absolute emergencies. Anyone ministering really should pick a day for family, and protect it like he/she would protect the church. God smiles on such practice.
Find, Affirm and Own Your Axis Mundi
Axis Mundi. It is a strange pair of words. Esoteric sounding? Yes. Perhaps it paints a shamanistic image in your mind? Maybe. Is it Buddhist? Yes, though it would definitely be articulated with a different language, culture, and custom. The same sort of contextual articulation would apply to a plethora of Indigenous Tribes, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. In fact, Axis Mundi, as a concept, is universally present in all of religion. We all search for our own Axis Mundi. Read More »
Nurturing Gratitude in Christian Community
Brennan Manning, in an interview for Christianity Today (”The Dick Staub Interview: Brennan Manning on Ruthless Trust,” ChristianityToday.com 12-10-02), said the following:
I believe that the real difference in the American church is not between conservatives and liberals, fundamentalists and charismatics, nor between Republicans and Democrats. The real difference is between the aware and the unaware.
When somebody is aware of that love - the same love that the Father has for Jesus - that person is just spontaneously grateful. Cries of thankfulness become the dominant characteristic of the interior life, and the byproduct of gratitude is joy. We’re not joyful and then become grateful - we’re grateful, and that makes us joyful.
The Christian story is a story built upon joy. We are – or we should be – a people who overflow with joy. This joy is not a common sort of joy. A number of simple but important things can make us happy: a great song, a fantastic piece of art, a new outfit that we look really, really great wearing, a great haircut, a good meal, a new - or even reliable - automobile, a new house, or a vacation from our regular work schedules. These are all very, very good things and they do make us happy. They are not, however, the things upon which our joy - our Christian joy - is founded. That’s a good thing too because that sort of joy - a joy derived from common things - doesn’t last very long, does it? It is temporary, at best. Things like these do make us happy, but that joy is not the byproduct of the deep gratitude Brennan Manning is referencing. The joy Brennan Manning is talking about is a byproduct of the deep gratitude that we all experience when we realize how much God loves us and when we accept God’s invitation to become integral characters in God’s story. Read More »
James Fowler’s Six Stages of Faith Development
I have long been interested in developmental psychologist James Fowler’s Stages of Faith. The Stages offer readers a socio-scientific sort of glimpse into developmental aspects of faith that may - or may not - personally resonate. More often than not, people introduced to the list can in fact place themselves in one stage or another. Sometimes personal experiences reveal a broad span across a few stages too.
Fowler’s Stages, if nothing else, can serve as one tool with which those who are dedicated to critical self-examination and self-awareness can semi-accurately gauge their faith journey. Read More »
Notes on A Sunday Morning with Ravi Zacharias
Distinguished lecturer, Christian philosopher, apologist, and author Ravi Zacharias was in Lancaster yesterday. He was preaching both morning services at Calvary Church. We obviously couldn’t pass on this opportunity to actually hear Ravi Zacharias speak. We were not disappointed! Ravi delivered a wonderful and thought-provoking sermon. He is an amazing communicator of God’s simple (not simplistic) truth.
Ravi’s sermon was rooted in the eighth chapter Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy was Jesus’ favorite book, according to Ravi. When Jesus quotes Torah, most of his quotes come from Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is especially important for the follower of Jesus, if the number of quotes sourced by Jesus from this book is any indication. Read More »
Ecological Sustainability is a Theological Issue
Christians in North America have ignored environmental issues for far, far too long. We have justified our actions - or lack thereof - by leaning too heavily upon complicated, if not abstractly vague, eschatological schematics. It worked too, at least for the time being. Why would or should anyone care about ecological stewardship if Jesus was returning tomorrow? You see, Jesus’ cataclysmic return not only signified the beginning of a new age for the Church, but also the subsequent end of the old age of the world. The total and utter destruction of earth as we know it, for some mysterious reason, become a practical if not fatalistic reality. The logic of this sort of apocalyptic thinking, of course, leads one to what would seem to be a very solid conclusion: if the world is going to be morphed into dust, why then should we worry about environmental issues? Well, most Evangelicals did not worry about it at all! Read More »
How to Reduce Your Church’s Ecological Footprint
Yesterday was fantastic. The larger part of our afternoon was happily spent on friends and fellowship at the home of the senior pastor of Manor BIC, our home church. We enjoyed the warm weather and bright sunshine from the sturdy, wooden deck in his backyard while we sipped lemonade and nourished ourselves on primo foods graciously served to us by his lovely and beyond hospitable wife. It was a remarkable day filled with fun, friendship, and conversation. Read More »
