The Blogging Parson's piece on Rowan Williams and hermeneutics goes a long way to explain the Archbishop of Canterbury's position--or more precisely his lack of one--in the current Anglican Communion row over homosexuals in the episcopate. But it also is an opportunity to stop and think about one of the most important issues in Christianity--the …
Move to empower laity raises church ire
The idea of the Anglican Archdiocese of Sydney (Australia) to empower the laity raises the ire of many churches. It's an issue that has some peculiarly Anglican implications, but it's also interesting for many of the rest of us. The "empowerment" they're proposing is allowing lay people to celebrate the Holy Communion, which traditionally is …
When God Pulls the Plug
Jim Workman's piece in The Living Church Foundation on "Turning Away from God" is a good treatment on the subject of institutions and God, and certainly relevant for the present state of the Episcopal Church. But it's also a reminder to everyone that institutionalism isn't God's original plan for his people. God established the proper …
D. James Kennedy Had His Moments, Too
The passing of D. James Kennedy is a loss for Christianity. Kennedy literally revolutionised personal evangelism with his Evangelism Explosion course of study. And he lived his own course, taking the initiative to share the Gospel when the opportunity presented itself. Well, most of the time. I used to be very active in the deep …
Church or Community?
Never was the Church meant to be an extension of the community, or a service provider, but a whole new, genuine, community. If we look at the “blueprints” found in the Bible we see that Christians are called out from the world around them to be a separate, holy, people of God. It is only …
SanctiFusion: So Many Books so little time
If only to be playing it safe, it seems like the safer bet to recognise that we have one life, and no promise of a “spare,” and no guarantees on how long this one is going to last. So how do we find the right “door?” Please consider these suggestions. Read more...
The East is Red With Something Different
Eighty years ago, Mao Zedong predicted the following: For the present upsurge of the peasant movement is a colossal event. In a very short time, in China's central, southern and northern provinces, several hundred million peasants will rise like a mighty storm, like a hurricane, a force so swift and violent that no power, however …
Modern Palestine?
Although I can't claim I saw Jesus in a dream as our friends in the More Than Dreams videos did, my saving encounter with Our Lord was a "direct divine intervention." That being the case, my early Christian formation didn't get as much help from family and church as one would like. But one of …
When Blind Legalism Pays Off
John Ashcroft's resistance to the wiretapping program put forth by the White House is a classically Pentecostal way of approaching a problem: strictly by the book, no matter how unhappy it makes people. Pentecostal churches are best known for exuberant worship, but are have been traditional centres for very strict legalism. Ashcroft's Assemblies of God …
Pentecost: Nothing Like a Newbie
It goes without saying that USA Today's article on Pentecostalism was intensely interesting. But the real shocker came with the cover photo. The Earnests--whom my wife and I know very well--have only been members of our church, the North Cleveland Church of God, for about a year. Before that they were at a Baptist church. …
Positive Infinity 