Recently I read a terrific article in Renew.org by Joel Singleton.
The Good Samaritan is a loaded parable, packed with applications and implications. It’s one of Jesus’ most powerful reversals of cultural expectations in his time. Perhaps the one lesson we always take away from it the most is that we should always stop and help people when we have a chance, no matter the excuse.
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It’s one of those days where a nation is met with terrible news of unspeakable, unpardonable violence. We wish for less of those days. We cringe at the hearing of them. Sometimes we are quick to respond. Continue reading
I grew up hearing a lot about how the Church is a family, and I’m thankful for that. Sometimes I would hear it described as an institution, and it struck me as funny to hear. For a long time I’ve tried to remind myself that Church is family, but I haven’t been challenged quite like I was when reading Joseph Kellerman’s When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus’ Vision for Authentic Christian Community.
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This isn’t the first time Ann Coulter has gone over the line.
[I refuse to link directly to her site, so here is a link to another site summarizing her.]
I’m beginning to lose count of the times she has defecated out of her mouth. If anything is a sign of the darkness of our times, it’s the tremendous following she has, the number of asinine barbarians who spout her views.
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Thanks for the free parking.
A Church Divided—Confessions From a Millenial—Link
An honest millennial shares the struggles of growing up with know-it-all ignorance, swinging into know-nothing ignorance, and striving for the spiritual balance of theological confidence and humility.
thanks for the free parking…churchsigngenerator.com
From the post:
“My invitation to you, my brothers and sisters who would one day beat your swords into ploughshares (but not just yet) is simply this: at least be more welcoming to peaceful peasants such as I am, who have welcomed God’s kingdom into our lives by laying down our sword and shield (perhaps preemptively) by the riverside to study war no more. We are doing no harm to you. Further, I would challenge you to consider what it is worth making your ploughshares into swords and your gardening tools into spears over.”
“My Week at the Full Armor Lectures”
by Jeremy Marshal
the Shocking Truth:
From the Conclusion:
“When I wrote these, I wrote them
for children who were told that dancing is tantamount to sex.
For girls who were taught that their bodies were shameful by preachers who blamed Bathsheba for David’s sin.
For families where brothers and sisters were not even allowed to swim in the same pool for fear of arousing unnatural passions.
For those who have lived in constant fear of hell because of a soteriology that can only be described as, “Once saved, always in jeopardy.”
For those who have been deprived the comfort of the Holy Spirit’s presence in their life by preachers who told them that the Spirit dwells only in the Bible.
For entire families of preachers who have literally been kicked to the curb without notice because of a homiletical misstep or a personality conflict with a power-hungry eldership.
For those who have been told, “We will not even baptize you until you divorce your wife, because your marriage is unscriptural. It is better to break up your family than to burn in hell.”
For the women who have been “put in their place.”
For the LGBTQ family members who have spent hellish years trembling in the closet.
For the young alcoholic booted out of the Christian college without so much as an offer of help or treatment.
For the young man with a porn addiction who confided this to an elder and was threatened, “I’ll bet your momma would be real ashamed if she knew what you were doing.”
For the men with porn addictions who were told in the Open Forum of a Christian college lectureship: “I don’t see how it’s a problem. I love to go fishing, but if Jesus told me not to do it, I’d get rid of my rod and reel. It’s that simple, boys.”
I wrote these for everyone who has ever felt the need to pray, “Lord, protect me from my brethren.”
CALEB COY 