I’ve noticed in recent discussions both online and offline that there seems to be some fuzziness about the difference between these two concepts. I think that perhaps our human tendency is to either excuse or condemn. By “excusing” I mean either minimizing a transgression or perhaps even claiming it’s not a transgression at all. When…
OK, I’m blogging on a Sunday morning before I go to church, but I will use as my excuse the fact that I get up substantially earlier than the world, or so it seems, and thus I do reading and such well before it’s time to go to church. I expect to hear an excellent…
This is a topic where I tend to make just about everyone uncomfortable. Long time readers may recall a previous discussion of speaking in tongues, and my own experience of it. Those who expect me to be intellectually oriented and rational are uncomfortable with mystical experiences, and many who are comfortable with the mystical experiences…
Have you ever heard a conversation like this? “You can’t legislate morality,” says one person. “Oh yes you can! We do it all the time. Murder is immoral and we legislate against it.” Interesting, no? For me, this gets combined with separation of church and state. I’m an advocate of separation. People will frequently ask…
A friend e-mailed me the link to Mother Teresa’s Crisis of Faith. Although they use the singular “crisis,” that one crisis was one she lived with for a long time. I have to say that I have ample sympathy, not to mention empathy with people with doubts from time to time. I think God leaves…
Laura has an excellent post on this. She links back to an earlier post I wrote, but that’s not why I’m calling it excellent. She also makes a number of good points, and links to a number of good posts. Some Christians make the assumption that if you’re not “in your face” about your faith,…
Kevin at Everyday Liturgy is beginning some reflections on his visit to St. Gregory Palama monastery. This caught my attention, since my recent discussions of the atonement led to some discussion of the Eastern Orthodox view of the atonement, and thence to some articles on St. Gregory Palamas, and I now have a plan to…
I join with Laura in welcoming Discovering the Heart of God as a new Philophronos Blogroll member. Go check out his blog. I’m going to link to a specific post from the Pacesetters Bible School Newsletter to which I’m the primary contributor.
Joe Carter has an excellent post looking at the Christian standards on drinking. What does one do with the behavior of Jesus, who did drink? Would Jesus be acceptable as a pastor or elder in our churches or as a faculty member in our seminaries? I am a member of a United Methodist congregation, and…
My new book wasn’t planned–by me, that is. Rev. Riley Richardson, pastor of Gonzalez United Methodist Church (and thus my pastor) were talking one day about books, and he said, “What I need is an extremely simple book that I can give to new members that will tell them what to do next and help…