Energion Direct

Category: Christian Living

  • William Powell Tuck: How Do I Love my Enemy?

    by Dr. William Powell Tuck, friarsfragment.com, retired pastor, professor and author of A Positive Word for Christian Lamenting, The Church Under the Cross, Overcoming Sermon Block, and more!
    Dr TuckJesus’ words in Matthew 5:43-44 that we are to love our enemies seems not only difficult but, if we are honest, impossible to put into practice. How, for example, do persons who were freed from years of being imprisoned by terrorists, forgive their enemies? How do relatives, who stand before the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington, D.C., love the enemies who killed their relatives and friends? How do the millions of Jews who saw their husbands, wives, children or parents gassed, victimized and tortured in Nazi concentration camps, forgive them? How do the Japanese, who lived in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, forgive us for dropping the bomb on them? How do the relatives of those who were killed in the twin towers which collapsed from the crashed planes of the 9/11 attacks forgive those who were responsible for such an act?

    A Difficult Saying

    “Forgive your enemies,” sounded difficult in the day when Jesus first uttered it. He was addressing a people who were at that moment enslaved by the Romans. The tax collectors, their fellow Jews, were working with the Roman government to collect taxes from them. Jewish religious leaders often set up restrictions of the law which were so binding that no person who had any kind of ordinary job could possibly follow their rigid regulations.

    Who are Our Enemies?

    Enemies are easy to define in wartime. Let’s put wartime, terrorists, murderers, and rapists aside for a moment and bring our enemies closer to home. Who is our enemy? Our enemy is anybody who hates us or who wishes us harm or injury through word or deed. An enemy comes closer and takes on a familiar face when you see your enemy as someone who may cause you difficulty and turmoil in your job or makes your work miserable. Our enemy may be seen as someone who has caused us to go bankrupt, or smeared your name or hurt your reputation through gossip or slander, or anyone who has told a half-truth about you or sought to cause you harm. Or some one who makes fun of you, puts you down, or ridicules you. An enemy may be someone who has closed the door of communication, or some one who responds differently to you because she has misunderstood or misinterpreted something you said or did. All of us feel we experience some kind of enemy.

    Why Should I Love My Enemy?

    The more basic question seems to be: Why should I love my enemy? Why should we try to love somebody who wants to hurt us, hates us or cause us harm? If you respond to a person who dislikes you or hates you with the same attitude they are directing toward you, you will soon find that your life is poisoned within. Hatred is a self-destructive attitude. Jesus went so far as to say that the wells of anger and lust within determine our outward behavior.
    We need to make a distinction between hating things and hating people. We tend to identify a person with the vicious, destructive or harmful behavior which he or she does. It is easy to hate a murderer, rapist, or terrorist. Instead let’s direct our indignation to the root cause behind the evil and not on the person who is committing the act of evil. We need to love the person and hate the evil. We need to overcome war, prostitution, prejudice, drugs and other enemies, but not by hating the persons involved in them.
    Why should we love our enemy? We love our enemy because love is the only power which can change our enemy. Jesus was not interested in condemning a person but in saving them, making them whole. No prostitute was ever changed by treating her as a prostitute. No thief was ever changed by treating him as a thief. An enemy is not changed by treating him as an enemy. Love is the power which can convert an enemy into a friend. Why do we want to love? Because it is only in forgiving others that we are really forgiven ourselves. This is what Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.” If you and I refuse to forgive others, we close the door to our own forgiveness by God.

    Loving Does Not Mean We Have to Like Our Enemy

    We begin to love our enemy by realizing that we don’t always have to like our enemy. There are things that our enemies do that we will never like. Who can like somebody that murders and rapes, robs and kills, or somebody who hurts us with words, or who victimizes us, or who is prejudiced against us? It is difficult to like these people. But we are told not to like them but to love them.
    The word agape is different from a sentimental concept of love. Agape means that you deliberately direct your will to accomplish what is best for your enemies. This kind of love is not based on emotion or sentiment. When I loved my children by directing my will to recognize and motivate the best within them, there were times that I had to deny them what they wanted. At times I had to discipline them or put restraints on what they wanted to do. I had to correct or try to modify their behavior. I may not have liked what they did, but I continued to love my children. I also continue to love myself when I do some things that I don’t like. Real love does not say that it doesn’t make any difference what a person does. By an effort of my will–by loving them–I try to bring about change in their lives.

    Don’t Identify a Person with his or her Sin

    Another way to love my enemy is by not identifying the person with their sins. I make a distinction between my real self and what I do. I need to do the same for others. I have to see the potential within others. If I refuse, I will never give another a chance to change. Jesus looked at people and saw what they could be through grace and forgiveness. He saw Zacchaeus, a tax collector, who was one of the most despised persons of his day. Yet he saw the difference that could be in his life if he would follow him and change his life. He saw within the life of Mary Magdalene, a prostitute and an outcast of society, what she could become through transforming love. He saw within Saul, who was persecuting and executing Christians, a pioneering missionary.
    This is what God does for us. We can learn to forgive our enemies when we begin to realize how often people do not really understand their own actions. Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” The influence of friends, relatives, peer groups, community, social or national pressures, gangs or other pressures cause us to act the way we do. Sometimes, we do not really “know what we do.” But thank God we can break free from packs and their pressure and experience forgiveness and have the opportunity to start again.
    This Radical Forgiveness Identifies Us with God
    Jesus told his disciples that if they learn to forgive their enemies they would be children of the most high (Luke 6:35). This kind of love reveals that we are like our Father. Even if we are like the prodigal son and go into the farthest country of sin, God will still forgive us when we say: “Father, I have sinned.” Out of love God extends grace that issues in our forgiveness.

    This Is a Demanding Love

    This kind of love is not easy. Its claim on our lives and attitude is demanding. The love that Jesus Christ models for us goes beyond anything many we can imagine. This love demands the forgiveness of others, the unwillingness to cling to grudges or harbor hatreds, and the goal of being “perfect” like God. Christ calls us to be unselfish, caring, patient, understanding, loving, and sacrificial. Jesus didn’t say his way was easy. Loving our enemies is difficult and hard to accept. But it is at the heart of our faith. This teaching makes us realize how far we are from following our Lord’s way.
     
     
    [slideshow_deploy id=’2745′]

  • Ronald Higdon: Surviving a Son's Suicide – Three Years Later

    by Dr. Ronald Higdon, retired pastor and author of In Changing Times: A Guide for Reflection and Conversation and Surviving a Son’s Suicide.

    pose casualA favorite phrase of some who want to encourage you to move on from a jarring life experience is: “Get over it.” As the years increase, most of us learn there are some things you never “get over” – if by that you mean shifting gears, zooming ahead, and forgetting that it ever happened. “Get over it” at first seems to be sound advice for something that slams you to the floor and puts a hold on everything in life. But it’s not.
    Grief is a very individual experience and there is simply no right or scheduled way to deal with it. So much depends on family rituals, the culture in which we have lived, our faith community (or lack thereof), what we have learned in dealing with former losses, our relationship with the deceased person, other things going on in our lives at the time, our emotional state of health, and all of the other factors that make up our world experience.
    This is why “one size doesn’t fit all” when it comes to what we need to do in order not to get mired down in grief that permanently sidelines us from living. What is helpful for one person may not be helpful for another. There is usually no end to the number of well-meaning people who are eager to provide a recipe for recovery that is the intended resolution of your grief.
    Cindy Lightner’s 13 year old daughter was killed by a drunk driver. (Cindy is the founder of MADD.) In her book Giving Sorrow Words she describes what occurred when a minister came to comfort her:
    I asked him over and over again, “Why her?” He simply sat on the couch and said, “This is God’s will.” I was already angry and perhaps he noticed. He repeated, “You should remember when things like this happen, it’s God’s will.” “What do you mean by God’s will?” I said. “God’s will isn’t to run down children in the street and leave them there to die.” And I got him up from the couch and physically shoved him out the door.”
    We soon realize that some people cannot handle our grief at all so they offer for themselves what they need in order not to be overcome by fear of the loss you are experiencing. It is unfair to expect everyone to be able to stand with you in a loss that is frightening the wits out of them. The best they can do – and the best they ought to do – is simply to show up in silence with whatever they feel comfortable in offering in the way of a hug or a shared tear – or simply to stand with you a few moments. The worst thoughtless statement I have ever read is one Lightner cites in her book that she assures us she is not making up: “I know just how you feel,” one woman said. “My dog died two weeks ago.”
    Pat (my wife) and I were spared any such “comfort” but were instead blessed with friends who not only stood with us but who provided the many needed “services” that are a part of visitation and funeral arrangements. There was an abundance of food both for our family at home and for those who visited the funeral home. Errands were run, phone calls were made, lists were kept of those who cared for us in so many ways. In short, comfort was put into action at a time when our energy for the basics was almost non-existent.
    During those days that still seem a blur, presence was everything. Notes and cards were treasured reminders that we were not alone. Whenever I talk about that time I emphasize one of the things that provided so much support: we could actually feel the care and love around us. In those early days it was literally our lifeline.
    Pat has always kept a personal journal and she wrote a lot in those early days. She talked with close friends. She read for comfort and strength and found one of the most helpful books for her was Lament for a Son by Nicholas Wolterstorff. I also read and wrote. After about six weeks I returned to an interim position at the First Baptist Church in Morehead, Kentucky. Fortunately, I had already spent several months with them and knew they would receive me back where I was. My sermon that first Sunday was “A Personal Journey into Grief.” Putting my grief into words before an affirming and loving congregation I count as a major step in beginning to move forward.
    Over the course of several months I wrote what later became the book Surviving a Son’s Suicide. Subsequently, I began to offer free workshops where the discussions were honest and, sometimes, emotional. I always confessed at the beginning of the workshop (even now after three years) that I never know when grief may suddenly emerge from the wings and momentarily once again take center stage. I let the attendees know that this is okay with me in my grief journey and I trust it will be okay with them.
    My study is on the lower level of our home and at the bottom of the stairs is a large portrait of our two sons that was given to us on our fiftieth wedding anniversary. This means that several times a day I am reminded of a son who led such an accomplished life. His bi-polar condition and suicide do not define his identity. Pat and I know there is so much more about his life than those last few tragic months. Three years after our loss we have not forgotten what a blessing he was to us and how much we continue to miss him. The best way we know to honor his memory is to be as fully alive as we are able and to be available to stand with others who need companions in their personal grief journeys.
     
    [slideshow_deploy id=’3528′]

  • Doris H. Murdoch: The Mount of Temptation

    by Doris H. Murdoch, teacher and author of Testify: By the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony and Constructing Your Testimony
    city-of-palmsWe read about the Mount of Temptation in the books of Matthew (4:1-11), Mark (1:12-13), and Luke (4:1-13). After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the Judean desert wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It is believed that Jesus fasted for forty days in a cave on the Mount of Temptation, also called Mount Quarantal. The Mount of Temptation overlooks the oldest city in the world (10,000 years), the lowest point in the world (1300 feet below sea level), and the city of palms, the city of Jericho. Jericho is located in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The summit of the Mount of Temptation is seven miles northwest of Jericho. From the summit, one has a panoramic view of the Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley and the mountains of Moab and Gilead. The Jesus Cave, the place of fasting and meditation, is located within the parameters of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Temptation, which is about halfway up the mountain. At one time, the only way up the mountain was via a walking path, but today the monastery and Jesus Cave can be reached via a cable car.
    After forty days of fasting, Jesus was hungry. The Bible tells us that the tempter or devil came to Jesus and said, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Jesus responds with, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ” (Deuteronomy 8:3) Jesus was human like us; He hungered after forty days of fasting. Man’s body must be replenished after fasting. Jesus, unlike humans, was sinless; He faced temptation and did not give in. When faced with temptation, do you find strength in Jesus and the Word of God? Do you try not to give in or be disobedient of God and His commands? Are you striving to be Christ-like?
    jericho-poolIn the second temptation, the devil took Jesus to the Holy City of Jerusalem an-d had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple. The devil said, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’ and ‘On their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’ ” (Psalm 91:11-12) Jesus responds with, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’ ” (Deuteronomy 6:16) Here the devil tempts Jesus with possessions, power and pride. We all like sporty cars or trucks, stylish clothing, beautiful homes, new technological gadgets, and the material world goes on and on! For a wealthy person or a person with leadership skills or gifts, it is a very strong temptation to get caught up in the devil’s schemes of power and possessions. Do you struggle to be strong in the Lord and allow Him to guide your acquisitions? Do you seek God’s will in how these things are used? Ask yourself, “Am I using these things to serve and glorify God?”
    Lastly, the devil takes Jesus to another mountain and said, “All these things (kingdoms of the world) I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Jesus responds with, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’ ” (Deuteronomy 6:13, 10:20) The devil left Jesus and the angels came to Jesus and ministered to Him. Here, we see Jesus tempted by the devil, promising Jesus the world that was not even within his power. The devil was trying to distort the worldview for Jesus with world control that was not focused on God’s plan for mankind. Jesus kept His focus on God’s purpose for coming to earth as a man. He knew He was here to accomplish the journey to the cross. He was here “for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
    As you recall, Eve was tempted by the devil, a real, fallen angel! The devil was thrown from Heaven because of his desires for power and his pride in that he was as great as God. Satan, the devil, is always around when there are people trying to follow and obey God. Just think, if Jesus would have given in to the devil, he would have failed in His assigned mission on earth, to die on the cross for our sins and to give us the opportunity to have eternal life. If the devil seems to be very active in your life, he may be trying to block God’s purposes for you and others around you. Daily, hour by hour, minute by minute, put your eyes on Jesus. Keep your focus on the journey that God has planned for you and allow God’s will to become your will. Is your victory in Jesus?
     
    [slideshow_deploy id=’2440′]

  • Ron Higdon: The Challenge of Change

    by Ronald Higdon, retired pastor (including intentional interim ministry), adjunct professor, and author of In Changing Times: A Guide for Reflection and Conversation and Surviving a Son’s Suicide
    in-changing-times-coverA reporter was interviewing an elderly Kentucky farmer and posed an obvious-answer question: “You’ve been farming for over sixty-five years; I bet you’ve seen a lot of changes in that period of time, haven’t you?” The farmer replied, “I certainly have. And I’ve been against every one of them.”
    This is not unlike the song sung by Groucho in an old Marx Brothers movie that has this recurring line: “I’m against it!” This is the theme song of many who see change as only danger and threat. I often quip that I have pastored some churches with the unstated but obvious philosophy: “Come weal or come woe, our status is quo.”
    The above examples keep one in the negative and “kickative” mode because change is the one constant in life that can always be counted on. It is one of the great inevitables written large in the universe. Only of God’s consistency in his grace, mercy, and love can it be said: “As it was in the beginning, so it is now, and so shall it ever be, world without end.”
    A friend was recently talking about some changes that are about to be made in the church of which we are members. Her comment was: “Nothing in my world has remained the same. It seems that everything I have loved and cherished is no more. I guess I had always assumed that at least I could count on my church remaining the same.”
    Books have been written on the impact of the not only increasing amount of change in our world but of the rapidity with which it has come. I told my friend who was lamenting the changes in her life, even in the church, that each day when I get up I look out the window to make certain I’m not living on another planet. Many have brought to our attention our basic dilemma: those of my generation were educated to live in another time and now we find ourselves living in this time. My seminary education was excellent but it certainly did not prepare me for ministry in the church-world of today.
    The reference has been lost but not the story of the Bishop who was meeting with a group of pastors and began his session with the announcement that he had good news and bad news for them. He asked them which they wanted first. After a brief pause, one of the pastors spoke up: “Give us the bad news first.” “It is more difficult to be in pastoral ministry today than in any other time I have known.” After a brief period of silence and heads nodding in approval, the request came: “What is the good news?” The Bishop smiled and confidently announced, “If the fifties ever come back, we’re ready!”
    The impossibility of this kind of “back to the future” does not have to be spelled out even though the attempt to live it out remains in evidence. We shouldn’t have to be told, “There are no trains to yesterday.” We know the intellectual truth of this, even though some continue to wait at the Nostalgia Station for the Express to the past. It’s not coming.
    The time is now. It is not the same as it was in the past and, when the future arrives it will be different than what we are experiencing but, of course, will not be called the future but the present, the now. This is the only time zone in which we can live and in this “new time” in order to live with purpose and hope I believe, that basically, we have to see the changes in our lives as challenges and opportunities.
    In 1980, William Bridges wrote a book titled Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes. He offered what I believe continues to be solid advice: “Whether your chose your change or not, there are unlived potentialities within you, interests and talents that you have not yet explored. Transitions clear the ground for new growth. They drop the curtain so the stage can be set for a new scene. What is it, at this point in your life, that is waiting quietly backstage for an entrance cue?” The challenge in this he spells out in one sentence: “To have a new beginning you need to acknowledge an ending.”
    Why is it so difficult for us to acknowledge that some things are simply over? Endings are usually never swift or easy and are hardly ever complete. I maintain that successful beginnings always depend on reasonably successful endings. The grief process in mourning our losses plays a large part in successful endings and varies greatly with the nature of the loss (ending) and the way we have dealt with previous losses.
    It is not always easy to view change as a time of transition and the opportunity for a new beginning. But that is what it is – if we are determined to be truly alive in the moment in which we are living. Just because something is difficult (and what worthwhile thing isn’t?) doesn’t mean it is not meant to be a part of our learning and growing in God’s world for this time. Who knows what fresh beginnings await us? A lot depends on how we handle the changes that will only keep coming.
     
    [slideshow_deploy id=’3528′]

  • William P. Tuck: What Makes You Angry?

    by William Powell Tuck, retired parish pastor, professor, and author of Lord, I Keep Getting a Busy Signal: Reaching for a Better Spiritual Connection, The Church Under the Cross, A Positive Word for Christian Lamenting: Funeral Homilies, and more!

    Dr TuckToo many times in life we are angry for wrong or minor reasons. But sometimes there are times that we should be angry. Not to be angry at some times or in certain situations is a sin. If you and I can be surrounded by poverty, disease, hunger, sexual abuse, racism, crime and other abuses and not be angry enough to want to change these conditions, then something is wrong with us. This anger is not over some personal or petty concern but about someone else’s needs. This kind of anger can express love and genuine concern.

    The Church cannot be silent in the face of world problems but has a responsibility and a commission to be the transforming element within the world. The Church is to be the salt, the light, the leaven to change mankind. A newspaper columnist once remarked after a group in his community had a cleanup of crime in his city: “Any group of honest men, when they get mad enough, can drive out crime and make an awful lot of trouble for the criminals.” Anger is appropriate at this kind of behavior!

    Some voices are saying that the Church has become too tame and comfortable to challenge the evils of our society. If the Church, however, can recapture its birthright, it will sense the creative and redemptive power with its body. As T. S. Eliot wrote, “In the juvenescence of the year, comes Christ the Tiger.” From this Christ the Church, his body, receives the explosive power to turn the world upside down. A tamed, comfortable Church will not change the world but a Church which has seen “Christ the Tiger” can. May the prayer of E. Stanley Jones become your prayer and mine. “O Christ of the whip and the flashing eye, give us an inward hurt at the wrong done to others, but save us from personal resentments, for they destroy us. Amen.”

    Religious history rings with those – who care enough to be angry at the right time. Moses was angry at the enslavement of the children of Israel in Egypt. Elijah was angry at the prophets of Baal and the idolatry which they practiced in Israel. John the Baptist was angry at the distortion of religion by the Jewish leaders. Jesus was angry with the abuse of those who charged worshippers large prices for their sacrificial animals. Paul was angry at those who wanted to confine the gospel to the Jews. Luther was angry at the corruption in the established church. John Wesley was angry at the practice of religion in the Church of England. There are times when anger needs to be directed toward particular situations or problems, if we are to find a solution.

    Several years ago the Chrysler Corporation former Chairman, Lee Iacocca, addressed the graduating class at the University of Michigan. Time Magazine reported his address in its June 20, 1983 issue. Among other things he told the students that day, he made the following observations: “I want you to get mad about the current state of affairs. I want you to get so mad that you kick your elders in their figurative posteriors and move America off dead center. Our nation was born when 56 patriots got mad enough to sign the Declaration of Independence. We put a man on the moon because Sputnik made us mad at being No. 2 in space. Getting mad in a constructive way is good for the soul — and for the country.” There are constructive ways where anger can be beneficial. We need to discover those areas and ways.

    One of my favorite heroes from the Civil War is Robert E. Lee. After the Civil War, Lee was in Lexington, Virginia, where he had gone to be president of a small college called Washington University. One day he was sitting on his porch in his rocking chair with his crutches by his side. Some men from the Louisiana Lottery came to see him and offered him a proposition. Lee couldn’t believe what they had said, so he asked them to repeat it. They said that they didn’t want anything from him except to use his name. In using his name, they told him that they would make him rich. Lee stood up in his chair and thundered: “Gentlemen, I lost my home in the war. I lost my fortune in the war. I lost everything in the war except my name. My name is not for sale, and if you fellows don’t get out of here I’ll break this crutch over your heads.”

    Sometimes anger needs to be directed in a positive way. The apostle Paul has said, “Be angry and sin not.” Phillips has translated that verse, “Never go to bed angry–don’t give the devil that sort of foothold.” Paul wrote in the latter part of this same chapter the following words: “Have done with spite and passion, all angry shouting and cursing, and bad feeling of every kind. Be generous to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32). What makes you angry? There should be some things that do. But on other occasions, you need to keep your anger under control. We are measured by what makes us angry.

    [slideshow_deploy id=’2745′]

  • Bruce Epperly: Philippians and Facebook Etiquette for Christians

    by Dr. Bruce G. Epperly, pastor, professor and author of Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God, Finding God in Suffering: A Journey with Job, Transforming Acts: Acts of the Apostles as a 21st Century Gospel, Ruth and Esther: Women of Agency and Adventure, and more!
    A number of years ago, I wrote a piece in which I asserted that Facebook provides an opportunity for people to affirm the holiness of everyday. Now, in this election year, I have a different perspective. Yes, I still believe that Facebook reflects the moment by moment wonder of living and our gratitude for life itself in its quotidian activities. As such, Facebook can contribute to our spiritual growth and our empathy with others’ spiritual journeys. It can create community and renew friendships.
    But, Facebook has become over the past year a place of venom, insult, and impoliteness in which people regularly post responses with words they would never say in face to face encounters. In the past few months, I have had someone drop the F-bomb on my wall in response to my affirmation of President Obama and another person refer to me as ignorant when my position differed from his. I have found that you can even talk about the weather and receive a contrary response. I have been insulted by the left for being too moderate and the right for being too progressive. I have received disparaging remarks from Clinton, Sanders, and Trump supporters, all of whom have questioned my good faith. Moreover I see the commandment not to bear false witness routinely violated by persons who would otherwise claim to be honest followers of Jesus. Lies about political figures or distortions of facts are routinely posted by otherwise decent people, sometimes just a few minutes after leaving church.
    9781893729971mI believe that the words of Philippians 4:4-9 provide good counsel for Facebook users who claim to be followers of Jesus. First, Philippians counsels “let your gentleness be known to everyone.” This is surely good spiritual counsel for Facebook users: When you post, it is appropriate to answer a few fundamental questions: Does your post have an irenic spirit? Do you respond in terms of policy, beliefs, and issues, and not in terms of personality? Do you assume that your position is limited – that’s the reality of perspective and sin – and not absolutely right? Do your posts evidence respect for those with whom you dialogue, formerly known as the “loyal opposition.”
    Philippians tell us to be gentle even when you disagree. Are you adding joy to the world, as Paul counsels, or do your posts create alienation between people?
    Paul also says, “whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” In other words, live affirmatively and speak affirmatively. In the political realm, focus on the positives of your candidate’s position and not the negatives of the other candidate. Don’t post news items without checking for their accuracy. While I don’t post news items often, I always go to factcheck.org, polifact.com or snopes.com before posting something about whose veracity about I’m uncertain. While these sites aren’t perfect, they are generally free of bias and give positive and negative evaluations of both conservative and liberal candidates.
    Philippians reminds us to look for the best in others and try to understand contrasting positions before challenging them. Other persons may be just as sure of their position as you are sure of your own. Further, people of differing viewpoints also love their nation and seek the highest good for our country. Try to avoid name calling even if it is tempting to say “Lyin’ Donald Trump” or “Crooked Hillary Clinton.”
    Don’t claim expertise where you have none. I tend to use terms these days such as “I have a contrasting position” or “I believe otherwise” or “we will have to disagree on this” rather than any sort of invective. After all, I could be wrong and in the spirit of Niebuhr, I need to look for the truth in my neighbor’s falsehood and the falsehood in my own truth. All perspectives are limited, finite, and prone to self-interest. Moreover, sin infects even our highest motives.
    Finally, ask yourself the following questions before posting or responding: Is this true or accurate? Is it healing? Will it only add fuel to the fire of polarization? Does it glorify God and contribute to a “more perfect union”?
    We need to follow our better angels, as Lincoln counseled, and this applies to Facebook, the election, and every aspect of our lives. Above all, let us who claim to be Christians be persons who are instruments of peace, following the pathway of Jesus, and leaning not to our own perspective but following God’s greater vision, so that we might be healthy activists and hospitable in our disagreements, and claim our vocation as God’s healing partners in our troubled world.
     
    [slideshow_deploy id=’2461′]

  • Herold Weiss: Why are you afraid?

    by Dr. Herold Weiss, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN and author of Meditations on According to John, Meditations on the Letters of Paul, Creation in Scripture, and Finding my Way in Christianity: Recollections of a Journey
    weiss101513-1As spectators of the current campaigns for the presidency of the United States, we have been regaled with abundant evidence of the power of fear. Whether the fear politicians appeal to is that provoked by news of uncalled for violence, that of immigrants who are considered dangerous by some, that of judges who will not decide the way some think they should, that of economic conditions that will take away the wealth of some or prevent others from creating wealth for themselves, or that of the possibility that this or that unqualified candidate will become president, it is clear that the contenders in this race understand that fear is quite capable of stifling reason.
    Both candidates to the presidency of this country are also emphasizing that their opponent cannot be trusted, while contending that they, of course, are most worthy of the trust of all voters. Thus, the presidential election is in a very real sense an election to be decided on the basis of whom do you trust to take away your fears. This question needs to be answered not just at the time of voting for a president but frequently in the lives of those confronted by the call of Christ.
    According to the apostle Paul, Christians are those who live their lives in terms of the faith Jesus had when facing death. Jesus did not face crucifixion thinking that it was just a performance that would provide justification for pardoning sinners. He faced death as a human being who trusted, had faith in God. On that basis Paul invites all human beings to be crucified with Christ and then live in the faith of Jesus. That is, Christians are those who participate in the faith Jesus displayed when facing death and are then faithful to what God has promised to do for the faithful because they live in Christ.
    It is a common misunderstanding to think that the enemy of faith is doubt, but that is not at all the case when faith is understood correctly. Doubt may be considered the enemy of faith only when faith is reduced to a mental exercise. As activities in the mind, faith and doubt are always in dialogue. Mental agreement to a proposition without the consideration of arguments for or against is not worth much. It may turn out to be a prejudice, an illusion, or just a misconception. In the mind, all propositions must be able to stand against doubt. All propositions must be examined critically; otherwise, they are just naive personal opinions or intuitions. Doubt is the essential companion of faith in the mind.
    Faith, however, is not just something that happens in the mind, even if it also involves the mind. Faith is something that is validated by a way of being. Faith is the demonstration of one’s certainty of God’s promise by a way of living. Paul certainly addresses the mind and argues extensively for his understanding of the Gospel and for the authenticity of his apostleship. His strongest admonitions, however, are directed at what his converts are doing or consider doing. Their error is to judge or despise others, to settle internal disputes by taking fellow Christians to court, to wish to be circumcised, to make of the Lord’s Supper a personal meal, to visit prostitutes, to practice “abnormal” sex, etc. He tells his converts that “their manner of life must be worthy of the Gospel” (Philippians 1:27).
    For Paul the Gospel is power, power to live faithful to the promise of God. All the faithful join the father of the young man with a dumb spirit who asked Jesus, “If you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” To his request, Jesus answered, “All things are possible to him who believes.” The father then cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:22-24). That is the human condition of all believers. In the mind, faith and doubt are in dialectical tension.
    The faith that justifies, as Paul insists, is lodged in the heart, the core of being, and produces obedience (Romans 6:17; 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 7:37; 2 Corinthians 9:7). The enemy of that kind of faith is fear. Fear is what prevents the power of the Gospel to determine conduct. Fear prevents reason from functioning and empowers the emotions to rule over the heart. Fear makes one think that the manner of life empowered by the Gospel is going to bring about dire consequences on one’s security in the world. Faith is the power that can put away fear from the heart.
    In the New Testament, when an angel intervenes in someone’s life, he greets the human addressee with the words, “Fear not” (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:13, 30, 50; 2:10; Acts 27:24). When Jesus came to the disciples walking on the Sea of Galilee in the middle of a storm, and the disciples thought a ghost was approaching, Jesus greeted then saying, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear” (Mark 6:50; Matthew 14: 27; John 6:20). The admonition not to succumb to fear is preceded by the affirmation “It is I,” a most telling reason for the dispelling of fear. The three gospels that tell this story describe the disciples seeing a ghost in the middle of the storm as paralyzed by fear, terrified. That is the human condition. It is most revealing that the gospels make clear that the disciples were not afraid when they were engaged in surviving in the middle of a stormy sea. They became afraid when they saw Jesus walking in the sea but had not recognized him. Being approached by an unidentified stranger with evident divine power caused them to be afraid as their minds struggled with doubts. The three sentences in Jesus’ greeting are lined up perfectly: 1) “Take heart,” become whole again; 2) “it is I,” God is here, and 3) “have no fear,” have faith instead.
    The enemy of faith is fear. That truth is especially made clear by the gospel of Mark. In this gospel there are two stories of Jesus and the disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee in a storm. In the first one, Jesus has been sleeping in the boat while the storm is raging. When the disciples wake him up, Jesus asks, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” (Mark 4:40). Here the opposition of faith and fear is explicit. Faith is a manner of life, and fear is what paralyzes the mind and the heart, thus allowing for life in the ways of the world to take over.
    In several of the healings related in Mark fear is a prominent feature. When the Gadarenes came out of the city to find out what had happened to their swine, they saw the man possessed by a demon now healed and “they were afraid” (Mark 5:15). When on his way to the house of Jairus a woman touched Jesus’ garment and Jesus looked around to find the culprit, the woman came forward “in fear and trembling.” Then Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well” (Mark 5:34). When messengers came saying that there was no longer need for Jesus to go on because Jairus’ daughter had died, Jesus said to Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe” (Mark 5:36). Again, the opposition of faith and fear is explicit.
    One of the characteristics of Mark is its negative portrayal of the disciples. Repeatedly the narrator highlights the disciples’ lack of understanding of what Jesus says or does. After the feeding of the multitude and the calming of the storm in the sea, we read that ‘they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, and their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:51-52). When on the road to Jerusalem Jesus explains to the disciples the need to fulfill his vocation in Jerusalem, we read that the disciples “did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him” (Mark 9:32). My favorite verbal picture in Mark says, “They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid” (Mark 10:32). They had premonitions of what would happen in Jerusalem and could not understand how Jesus could be determined to go there. They doubted the wisdom of his actions. They feared the consequences of appearing in Jerusalem with Jesus. These few words set the stage for the events in Jerusalem. As Jesus accomplishes his vocation, the lack of faith of the disciples caused them not just to walk dragging behind but to abandon him in fear.
    Finally, the ultimate expression of this leitmotive, is found in the last words of this gospel according to the most ancient manuscripts available to us. They end the gospel in verse 8 of chapter 16. This ending is a bit abrupt, but totally Markan. Mark’s style is succinct. The chapter begins telling of a group of women who intend to anoint Jesus’ body and very early on Sunday morning go to the sepulcher with aromatic spices. At the tomb rather than Jesus’ body they find a young man dressed in a white robe sitting, and they get scared. The young man tells them to tell the disciples to go to Galilee where Jesus will meet them. The evangelist then closes his book writing, “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid” (Mark 16:8).
    By means of this ending, the evangelist’s picture of the disciples as paralyzed by fear reaches its climax. Of course, he wrote the gospel as a definitive expression of his faith. In the process of writing, however, he took care to insist that the followers of Jesus should not be following him to Jerusalem dragging behind in fear. Neither should they become so afraid of the consequences that they fail to tell others that Jesus is alive. Fear is what prevents Christians from living up to the demands of the Gospel. Faith is a way of being in the world that triumphs over the fear that is endemic to life in the midst of the chaotic situations faced in this mortal life. The fear that blocks reason, paralyzes the heart and allows the world to guide one’s life cannot be found in a Christian’s life.
     
    [slideshow_deploy id=’2675′]

  • Allan Bevere: We Need the Whole of Scripture for Christian Ethics

    from the personal blog of Dr. Allan Bevere, pastor, professor, and author of Politics of Witness: The Character of the Church in the World, Colossians and Philemon: A Participatory Study Guide, and more
    Bible Psalm 119Christians have always struggled to view the whole of Scripture as authoritative in a practical sense, but it has become fashionable of late to deliberately argue that 21st century Christians should have a canon within a canon, that we modern, enlightened, scientifically-oriented believers have the wisdom to decide which Scriptures are relevant only for today and which are only for a by-gone more primitive era.
    The problem with such a view is that the church hasn’t left us with that option. All Scripture is authoritative and necessary for Christian ethics, for Christian life– from law to prophetic pronouncement, from poetry to prose, from parable to narrative– all of it is authoritative. Once we realize this, we are freed from the arrogance of suggesting that we know more than the ecclesiastical wisdom of the ages what God has and has not said, and we can spend our time reading, interpreting, struggling, and wrestling with the biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation in all of its complexity. (Read more … )
     
     
     
    [slideshow_deploy id=’2564′]

  • David Alan Black: A New School Year and a Favorite Book

    from David Alan Black‘s blogsite, jesusparadigm.com.
    Book Cover EnglishI’m really looking forward to a fun and exciting fall semester, not least because I’m teaching NT Intro again for the first time in several years. The course covers Acts – Revelation, which means that, if I time things just right, the semester will end before I have to discuss the Apocalypse (wink, wink)! Let me tell you how we’re beginning the class. Day One consists of students reading the book of Acts and then also reading my Seven Marks of a New Testament Church – which, I would remind you, is nothing but an exegesis of Acts 2:37-47, eleven of the most action-packed verses in the entire New Testament. Students will then produce a “reaction paper” to what they have read and I’ll ask for a few volunteers to share with the rest of us what they learned. Thus, from the very first day of class, we’ll be asking ourselves the question: “What does an obedient church look like?” Christian discipleship means placing ourselves under orders. It’s not merely a psychological experiment in self-improvement (along with watching our weight and catching up on our Honey-Do lists). As disciples, we are not on our own. The goal is not self-actualization but obedience to the instructions of the church’s Head and only Boss. (Read more … )

  • Katy Isaacs: Does It Matter What I am Doing Today?

    Unbroken Road book coverWife, mother, daughter, sister, musician and author of The Unbroken Road, Katie Isaacs considers the importance of her life on her blog, Hearts on Things Above, from July 7, 2016.

    Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. – Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)

    It’s been awhile. This goes on record as the longest amount of time in my 5+ years blogging that I haven’t posted! Yet, I’m back! Baby is napping and though I’m surrounded in clothes to fold and a billion stuffed animals that need to be picked up, I said to myself, “Nope. Let’s sit down and write something.” So I am. Thank you for reading!  … Read More

Energion Direct
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.