Energion Direct

Category: Christianity

  • Hold Them in Love

    (July 4, 2017) 10:46 AM Shot this pic in Dallas.

    You’ll notice that “community” is used instead of “church.” This is the high calling of the body of Christ, including your local church and mine: to live in community. (Some day I will stop using the word “church” to translate the Greek ekklesia. If people around me aren’t doing it, that’s no excuse for me not to try. An ekklesia is a group of people who have something in common as opposed to an ochlos, a “crowd.”) This illustrates something important for me. I am being lured back to the simple ways of Jesus. And I am finding the process so convicting. The humility of Christ doesn’t grant us permission on this Fourth to call out our fellow Christians for feeling patriotic or to harp about a revolution in 1776 that was probably at odds with Paul’s teaching about submission to civil authority in Romans 13. Oh my. This approach, it seems to me, is based largely on the habit of being negative — seeing only (or mostly) what’s wrong in our culture and even in our church culture. In Matthew 25, Jesus condemned those on His left not because of something they did but because of something they failed to do right. This is how simple the Gospel is. “Whatever you do for the least of these, My brothers and sisters, you do for Me.” In other words, Jesus is describing (as in the church sign above) a community, and a community that cares. If, on my website, I’m constantly calling out gays or liberals or Trump-supporters or Trump-haters, how can I ever expect to befriend them with a view to sharing with them the love of Christ? I’ve already alienated them. As my seminary evangelism professor once told me, “You’ve got to play the music, Dave, if you want to say the words.” We take our marching orders from King Jesus, and last I checked I don’t think He was asking us to defend homeschooling or eldership or a political brand. Believe what you want, but be careful of becoming apologists for your views. That’s the theme, by the way, of my little book Christian Archy. One example I used was pedagogy. Practice homeschooling if that’s your personal conviction (it was ours), but remember that other Spirit-filled Christians might view education differently, and you can both hold your convictions in love because you are in community, not pontificating from a keyboard. Following Jesus never comes with a permission slip to get up on our high horses. In their book The Tangible Kingdom, Hugh Halter and Matt Smay write, “People in America are not ignorant of Christianity…. They’ve seen so much of pop Christian culture that they have a programmed response to us: Ignore, ignore, ignore” (p. 125). Representing a kingdom alternative to the world does not require a boo-hooing of everything else in our culture.
    Well, Dave, isn’t it time you stopped preaching to the choir and got real? How are you going to change? After all, aren’t you the greatest of sinners? (Answer: Yes.)
    If I see a serviceperson today, I will thank him or him for their service without stopping to think (not even for a nanosecond) about politics. I will watch tonight’s fireworks and marvel at this Chinese invention. I will listen to Sousa and tap my feet. I will take a long walk. (I don’t need to be in “church” to experience God.) I will look for Him in a grandchild’s smile or in the reflection in a pond or in the scent of a gardenia or in feeding my puppy a treat or in taking a bubble bath. I won’t feel guilty that I live in a free nation. Instead, I will seek to leverage that privilege for Jesus. For starters, I will ask God to help me to make the most of every opportunity that lies before me both on the internet and at home, school, work, and every area of my life. I will ask Him to knock down a few of my defensive walls. Like Jabez, I will ask Him for broader horizons to share my faith. I will think long and hard about people I know who are not yet heaven-bound and will add them to my salvation prayer list and intercede daily for them. I will ask God to soften their hearts to the love and saving power of Jesus and to convict them of their sins. More importantly, I will ask God to make my life a light that points them toward heaven.
    Friends, the amazing thing is that it’s within our power how we will view this national holiday. With a snub we can create enmity; with charity we can work miracles, even the miracle of leading someone to the Savior. A put-down, even if it seems well-deserved,  might make us feel good for a while, but loving encouragement can heal a multitude of wounds. And boy could our nation use some healing right about now.
    So ….

    • Have your convictions.
    • Hold them in love.
    • Act civilly toward all.
    • Be Jesus to everyone you meet.

    It’s a tall order, but it’s not one-sided. “Remember, I am with you, day after day after day.” The Lord has big-time plans for Americans who, on the one hand, value their liberty, but who, on the other hand, leverage it for the Gospel.
    Happy Fourth!
    (From Dave Black Online. Used by permission.)
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  • Edward W.H. Vick: How Not To Believe

    by Dr. Edward W.H. Vick, retired professor and author of Death, Immortality and Resurrection, From Inspiration to Understanding: Reading the Bible Seriously and Faithfully, Philosophy for Believers, Creation: The Christian Doctrine, History and Christian Faith and more!
    Does that question mean that we try as believer to say how to believe, or does it mean that we as non-believer are trying to say how not to believe? The question is ambiguous. Whichever way we take it, the exploration is interesting and serious. Shall we contemplate taking it in the first way and then in the other? To discover what we can believe will enable us indeed require us to refuse alternative beliefs. To realise what we cannot believe may lead us to discover what we can believe.
    In the one case we are trying to say what to avoid when we are believe. We are then believers, or prospective believers. We conclude, ‘This I can believe.’
    In the other case we are trying to say how we shall come not to believe. We are then prospective unbelievers. We conclude, ‘This I cannot believe.’
    In both cases, we are concerned with giving ourselves assurance that we are rational in holding our belief on the one hand or on the other rational in abandoning our belief.
    To ask the question means that we are serious about our belief. The alternative is to dismiss the question and go on with our belief as if it had never crossed our minds to raise such question. Once it had not. It had become near impossible at a given time for us to be able to raise the question, as we have put it. How can a young child not believe in Father Christmas? How could the medieval churchman, or any other medieval, not believe that the earth was the centre of the universe? How could either raise our question? How can one avoid being deceived when one has neither the means nor the incentive to inquire?
    The fact is we find ourselves holding our belief without ever having had to raise any question about it. The corollary to this is that we may find it easy to abandon a belief, easy just to let it go, having become indifferent to asking how we held the belief in the first instance or how we have held it for as long as we have. The belief that promoted and sustained action in our past may become irrelevant in the present. Social support for our belief may no longer sustain it. Changed circumstances may make it otiose.
     
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  • William Powell Tuck: The Importance of Moral Living

    William Powell Tuck: The Importance of Moral Living

    by Dr. William Powell Tuck, friarsfragment.com, retired pastor, professor and author of The Forgotten Beatitude: Worshiping Through Stewardship, A Positive Word for Christian Lamenting: Funeral Homilies, The Church Under the Cross, and more!

    In a recent Gallup Poll, it was noted that 80 per cent of persons in the United States said that moral ratings were at the lowest point in seven years. What does that say about the state of our country now? I believe that a part of the origin of our problem in morality is the belief in absolute freedom. Absolute freedom is a myth because no one can do anything that he or she may want to do at any moment without regard for other people. My actions and your actions involve others, and we are never totally isolated in what we say or do in any particular moment. Rules do have importance in life. Persons are, of course, more important than rules. Jesus indicated that persons were more important than regulations about the Sabbath Day. Persons were more important than the rigid legalism of the Jewish system that focused on minor details of the law. But Jesus did give us some principles about life in the Sermon on the Mount and in his other teachings. His teachings offer guidance on how we are to think about ourselves and how to relate to others in society. To say that there are no rules by which a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, or an unbeliever lives, and that each is free to make up his or her own rules, is, in my opinion, to misrepresent that person’s faith or tradition. The Ten Commandments are still valid as basic guidelines for living. As a Christian, I seek to follow Christ and to incorporate the principles of his life and teachings into my own life, and I think persons of other faith traditions need to do the same with their teachings.

    A father of twelve children who lived in a house with only one bathroom, once said: ”Rules are not an option here. They are a necessity!” And so are moral principles. When we try to live in the world, rules are not just optional, they are essential. This is true not only in individual relationships but most especially when we move to the wider dimension of society at large. What I do privately not only affects me, but it also touches other people. In society, I may live a private moral life but my morality must also move over into the business world where I work, and in the industrial and financial world in which I am involved. “He who claims he doesn’t need anyone is either ignorant or a liar,” Michel Quoist writes, “because he lives thanks to other people who have engendered life since the beginning of time. If he refuses to live for others, he is a parasite. He grows by feeding off his brothers.”

    Over eighty years ago Reinhold Niebuhr, one of the great moral theologians of the last century, wrote a book entitled Moral Man and Immoral Society. In this book, he addressed the issue of morality in one’s private life and the difference in morality in our business, industrial, national, and other collective areas. Persons can often do very immoral things in the collective areas of life and never see how that is immoral. Niebuhr’s challenge echoes the biblical demand that morality is an absolute necessity in our business practice and in all our public as well as private relations with people. Morality is not limited to one’s private life, as important as that is, but moral values should permeate our relationships in business, industry, government, and other collective institutions. Walter Rauschenbusch has reminded us that “sin is not a private transaction between the sinner and God.” “Humanity always crowds the audience-room when God holds court,” he declares. Amos had cried for justice in the land of Israel, “seek good and not evil … Hate evil and love good; enthrone justice in the courts” (Amos 5:14-15, NEB).

    Morality is not merely what one thinks is correct in the moment. Too many people depend on their conscience alone. They assume that if one thinks it is the decent thing to do that will make it okay. They declare that they will let conscience be the guide. I am sometimes very troubled by some people who want to follow their conscience, because their conscience does not seem strong enough morally to give them the kind of guidance which they need for a valid decision. When decency has no spiritual rootage, I believe, it is based primarily on what some individual thinks is right or wrong. I am very frightened of those who want to let their conscience be their primary guide. Some people have too easily and quickly let their conscience become twisted and distorted by all kinds of negative influences upon it.

    I have often wondered if we would do certain things, if we would give it the publicity test. How would you like for certain acts or deeds which you have done to be reported in the local newspaper, or on the local television, or Facebook or to be reported in the paper of your church, or synagogue or in the community? None of us may want some dark deeds done in the shadows to be put into the public eye. But one of the tests for our morality might be, “Can it stand the test of daylight and exposure in the public arena? Can it stand the public test of those around me–my friends, and others? Do I want private acts to be known in public circles? “You won’t even achieve enduring external success,” David Brooks attests, “unless you build a solid moral code.”

    Some politicians have later gotten into great difficulty because of indiscrete acts they engaged in earlier in life. So, you and I should seek to live in such a way that our lives are not destroyed later by the acts we may do in the darkness or in times of weakness. Learn to let the test of publicity remind us that our moral lives are evidence that we have been challenged to live morally in the light or dark places of our lives.

    I heard about a woman who had lost her sense of touch. She could place her hand on a hot stove and be burned badly because she could not feel it. Her hand could be literally frozen to a block of ice because she could not feel the pain. A pin could be stuck in her hand and she could not feel it. That is a great tragedy and danger. What an even greater tragedy it would be for those of us who are supposed to be children of God, if we lose our sense of feeling for what is right and wrong. Injustice, immorality, and unethical behavior are too much evident in our land and around the world. We are challenged not only to do what is right and moral ourselves, but we must seek to see that justice and righteousness is directed and administered for all persons regardless of their race, sex or sexual preference, religion, creed, political alliance, economic status, belief, or non-belief.

    Featured image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay

  • Bob Cornwall: Religion and Human Rights

    by Dr. Robert D. Cornwall, pastor and author, from his blog, Ponderings on a Faith Journey. Author of Faith in the Public Square, Ultimate Allegiance: The Subversive Nature of the Lord’s Prayer, Unfettered Spirit: Spiritual Gifts for the New Great Awakening, Marriage in Interesting Times: A Pariticipatory Study Guide,and more!
    On the evening of March 21st, I had the privilege of being one of three speakers at a Niagara Foundation sponsored Abrahamic Dinner. This event was held at Rochester College, and brought together members of the Islamic, Jewish, and Christian communities — to promote dialog and understanding. Each of us, a Rabbi, an Imam, a Christian pastor, was asked to speak to the ways in which our faith traditions understand human rights, and whether this overlaps with or differs from secular understandings. We were asked to speak from the perspective of our own faith tradition, which is difficult when Christianity’s 2 billion adherents are divided into thousands of denominations and sects. Nonetheless, I did my best! As for my partners, the Rabbi went first, and I didn’t find much if anything to disagree with. In fact, he set me up nicely! As for the Imam, I learned a lot about the flexibility of Islamic law, which allows for support of human rights (more so perhaps than secular American law).
    Since this is an important conversation, I decided to share some of what I said. Below you will find my answer to the first question, which dealt with my traditions codes of human rights and relationship to secular codes. Before I share below, I want to add that I agree completely with the Rabbi’s statement that the Jewish tradition, and the Christian tradition following it, speaks not of rights but obligations. That said, I invite you to consider my response:
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  • William Powell Tuck: The Art of Preaching (Video Interview)

    You’ll get some good ideas about preaching from Dr. William Powell Tuck, author of Energion titles Overcoming Sermon Block, The Forgotten Beatitude, and A Positive Word for Christian Lamenting. Also check out the Energion Direct category Preaching.

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  • Chris Eyres: Thanks for the trust …

    by Chris Eyres, an Energion Publications editor and former English solicitor.
     
    I’ve just listened to an interview with Walter Brueggemann on the topic of money, and as a result have his book on the subject on my wish list. I wrote a fair amount about property a little while ago (this is a link to the earlier post in that series), and it is very good to hear Brueggemann endorsing my view that possessions and money are not to be regarded, if you wish to follow the Biblical witness, as being “yours”; I like the concept of “holding on trust” which he talks of.
    Of course, I anticipate the argument that we can’t actually run a society based on these Biblical principles. G.K. Chesterton wrote “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried”, and I am very tempted to agree. As I’ve written before, there seems evidence in Acts 2-5 that the very early church was trying to take a view of economics which was essentially communitarian (particularly Acts 4:32), but the experiment does not seem to have persisted all that long, and the injunction in Leviticus to hold a regular “year of Jubilee” when all debts were cancelled and all land returned to its original owners does not seem to have been followed for very long, if at all – certainly there is no trace of it in the historical record; I ask myself whether the Pauline efforts to support the Jerusalem Church were in fact famine relief, or whether trying to follow Jesus’ and the Hebrew Scriptures’ injunctions regarding property might have had significant negative effect, in which case there would be some justification in saying that Chesterton was wrong in saying the ideal had not been tried.
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  • Doris H. Murdoch: What’s Up with The Hill of Evil Counsel?

    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.
     
    goldmans-promenade-1These pictures were taken from Goldman’s Promenade on the Hill of Evil Counsel. The Goldman’s Promenade sits amidst the Peace Forest. The junction of the Kidron, Hinnom and Azal Valleys separate the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Evil Counsel, also called (Jebel Deir) Abu Tor. From the location of the Hill of Evil Counsel, one can see: the pine trees of the Peace Forest; the Old City of Jerusalem; Mount Moriah, the site of the first and second temples; the Dome of the Rock; to the west, the Hinnom Valley and Mount Zion; and to the east, the Kidron Valley and Mount of Olives with the Garden of Gethsemane and the Tower of Ascension. What in the world is the Mount of Evil Counsel? It is the location for: the attempted overthrow of King David by his son, Absalom; the place where the high priest Caiaphas and his colleagues decided to arrest Jesus; Judas Iscariot’s final hours; making battle plans; and, today, the United Nations headquarters.
    Chapters 15-18 of II Samuel tell the story of how Absalom plotted to overthrow and kill his father, King David. In this plot, Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel, saying “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then you shall say ‘Absalom is king in Hebron’ ” (II Samuel 15:10, NASB). Absalom seeks the counsel of Ahithophel, David’s mystic counselor or sage, as his wisdom and advice were of God, except he failed to give God the credit or glory for this wisdom. Ahithophel suggested that Absalom go into David’s concubines and then Ahithophel would take 12,000 men to pursue and strike down David. Absalom also sought out Hushai’s advice who suggested Absalom go himself to carry out the task. Hushai remained true to David and David knew of the plan. In conclusion, Absalom ends up dead in the Peace Forest on the Hill of Evil Council and David remains in power as king. Absalom received evil counsel that brought on his death (hung on a tree, stabbed 3 times by Joab, and then finished off by Joab’s armor bearers, II Samuel 18:14-15). Regretfully involved in the overthrow and disgraced by his ignored counsel, Ahithophel commited suicide. Here, we see “pride goes before destruction” from Proverbs 16:18. His rumored final words to his family were, “Never side against the royal Davidic family and take no part in dissensions.”
    The scriptures of John 11:47-53 share the evil counsel as the Jewish leaders plan to conspire against Jesus:

    Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. 48 If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” 51 Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they planned together to kill Him. (NASB)

    The council of elders decided to offer Jesus to the governor of Judah, Pontius Pilate. According to Christian tradition, Pontius Pilate agreed to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ after this gathering on the Hill of Abu-Tor at the residence of the past high priest, Ananias.
    goldmans-promenades-2The ancient hill is also identified as the place where Judas Iscariot finalized his contract to betray Christ. The flat-top area is called the Field of Blood where Judas made the deal on the arrest of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, the blood money for betraying Jesus. Acts 1:18-19 states, Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. 19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood. In this scenario of Judas betraying Jesus after his visit to the Hill of Evil Counsel, we are reminded of the betrayal of David by his counselor Ahithophel in the same location.
    The view from the Hill of Evil Counsel is a panorama of Jerusalem with a most spectacular view. Most likely, those who have invaded Jerusalem have made their battle plans and drawings from this site. Saladin and other Arab leaders may have viewed Jerusalem from this hill. I would suggest that Romans, Egyptians, Assyrians, and Philistines may have all taken a good look at the city of Jerusalem before making any battle plans. Here on the Hill of Evil Counsel stands the Government House, a colonial residence when the British Crown had control of the area on behalf of the League of Nations. Today this serves as the Israel headquarters of the United Nations. Most people think of the United Nations as a world arbitrator on issues of right and wrong among nations. Where does the authority of the United Nations come from? It certainly is not the authority of God, but the authority of world governments based on the human model of democracy and voting in proportion to representation.
    Recently, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) made the decision that Israel’s Jews no longer had any historical or religious connections to the Temple Mount. The U.N. agency wants to adopt a policy of the Temple Mount being sacred to Muslims only. Israel’s ancient high court of Sanhedrin has reformed and responded with, “The Jewish right to the Temple Mount was established in the Bible, and should therefore be recognized by Christianity and Islam. In fact, the Jewish claim to Jerusalem is as essential to those religions as it is to Judaism. The biblical connection between the Jews and Jerusalem led to the building of the First Temple by King Solomon, which strengthened our claim to Jerusalem even more.” The Sanhedrin have warned the U.N. that such statements and decisions encourage global terrorism and do not promote world peace, which should be the ultimate goal of the U.N. organization.
    As Christians, we have a responsibility to the United Nations and other global humanistic organizations to question decisions by acknowledging and seeking out God’s authority and wisdom. We need to ask ourselves if the U.N. (UNESCO) decision is the best decision for all of mankind as it relates to the will and plans of God. The U.N. acknowledges God in its New York office building with part b of Isaiah 2:4; all of the scripture, parts a and b, need to be acknowledged. God is the Supreme Judge and anti-semitism cannot be a part of such an organization.
    a And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples;
    b And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war. (NASB)
    When we look back in history on decisions made by the U.N., we see obvious discrepancies in how the nation of Israel is being viewed by this world peace organization. The following highlights concerning Israel and UN have been made available by Steven Shamrack, independent editor of The Kings Calendar, The Shamrack Report:

    1. Before 1990, the Security Council passed 175 resolutions, 97 were directed against Israel.
    2. Before 1990, the UN General Assembly voted on 690 resolutions, 429 were directed against Israel.
    3. The UN was silent when Jordanians destroyed 58 synagogues in Jerusalem.
    4. The UN was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
    5. The UN was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
    6. The UN was silent while for 18 months Israel was terrorized by indiscriminate suicide bombing campaigns unleashed by PA leadership.
    7. There are 54 Muslims countries in the UN. As well as many more are others, Arab oil dependent states.
    8. Israel is the ONLY MEMBER OF THE UN THAT IS NOT PERMITTED MEMBERSHIP ON THE SECURITY COUNCIL.
    9. Israel is the only country excluded from the U.N.’s regional group system. Since Israel does not belong to any group, it is the only country of 190 member states that is not eligible to serve on the numerous U.N. commissions.
    10. In recent years, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights has annually passed five resolutions condemning Israel. This year, they passed seven. By contrast, each of the following countries/regions has been the subject of only one resolution: Afghanistan, Burundi, Congo, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Russia/Chechnya, Sierra Leone, Southeast Europe and Sudan.
    11. Nov. 29 is the United Nations Day of International Solidarity with the Palestinian People. No other group or nation has a U.N. Day of Solidarity.
    12. Israel is the only state to which a special investigator with “an open-ended mandate to inspect its human rights record” is assigned by the U.N.
    13. It is the only state targeted by two special committees and special units of the U.N. Secretariat ostensibly devoted to the Palestinians but in reality dedicated to Israel-bashing worldwide, costing millions of dollars a year.
    14. UNIFIL, the U.N. force stationed on the Israel-Lebanon border, hid a videotape of Israeli soldiers being abducted by Hezbollah in October 2000. After finally admitting to having the tape, the U.N. would only show an edited version (in which Hezbollah faces were hidden) to the Israeli government.

    Does it sound like Israel has been viewed fairly as it relates to internal and global peace? According to Zechariah 14, the nations of the world need to take a sincere look at the countries they are supporting and following. The Lord will fight against all the nations that do not support Jerusalem and He will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem. “Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.” A great panic from the Lord will fall upon the nations. At some time in world history, the nations that oppose Israel may have stood on the Hill of Evil Counsel, but they will not stand in the end times. Jerusalem will dwell in security.
     
     
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  • Shauna Hyde: Touching the Face of God

    by Rev. Shauna Hyde, is a pastor, mother, a black belt in Shota Khaun karate, and author of Victim No More!, Fifty Shades of Grace, and Vicar of Tent Town.
    This is from Shauna’s blog, shaunahyde.com, May 12, 2016.
    MountainReligion is my life. It really is that simple. I not only live it, I study it, teach it, and practice it. I am fascinated by religion and all that comes with it. I have acquired many friends from other Christian denominations and other faiths and I have been present with them in their holy moments just as they have been present with me in mine. At my United Methodist ordination was a Buddhist, a Wiccan, a Jew, several Roman Catholic nuns, and a Pagan.
    I love being at Native American ceremonies and feel the beat of the drums vibrate through the earth into my soul. I love hearing the chant and the wail of the singers late in the night around a fire. Sitting in a Buddhist or Hare Krishna temple listening to the bowls, bells, and soft chants calms my body to peace and stillness. I have been present to bring in Beltane and watched with fascination as the practitioners dance, sing, run, play, pray, and celebrate new life and the cycle of life. There is something about watching a new moon rise in the dark of night that is beautiful and hope-full. Every Passover I go to a friend’s house to take part in the remembrance of their roots and the celebration of their freedom. Sitting around the table with the traditional food and symbols I listen as he sings in Hebrew and I can feel with spirit swell with joy and love. I know I will leave full of physical and spiritual nourishment as we say, “Next year, in Israel.” I have watched a ghost hunter speak to ghosts and a Native American cleanse a space. The call to prayer, bells ringing throughout the area, and the harmony of choirs remind me of the beauty of our duty in communing with God. In churches all around, I have listened to song, praise, prayer, chants, bells, organs, guitars, pianos, voices, and stillness. I love Communion and Baptism with a passion. Hearing the Lord’s Prayer said in mass still gives me the Spirit Skin. (Read More)
     
     
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  • Doris H. Murdoch: The Lion's Gate

    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.
    the-lions-gate-1The Lion’s Gate is located in the northeast section of the Old City Walls of Jerusalem. It is one of seven gates in Jerusalem that is open today; the Lion’s gate has numerous names that will be discussed. There are four lions near the crest of the gate, two on the left and two on the right. There is some discrepancy over what “cat” is actually on the gate; there are tales that the animals may be cheetahs, leopards or lions. The Lion’s Gate is known worldwide for several reasons: Muslim and Jewish identity; Jesus’s final walk from the prison to crucifixion; and the Six Day War.
    During the Crusader period, the gate was called Josophat’s (Jehoshaphat) Gate. Jehoshaphat means the Lord judges. We know that Jehoshaphat was a leader who pursued peace and sought God’s guidance during his reign in Judah (I Kings 22:5). In the end times, God will gather the nations in the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be judged (Joel 3:2). God’s judgment is divine wisdom; we know there were officials named Jehoshaphat during David’s and Solomon’s reigns. (II Samuel 8:16; I Kings 4:17) The Christian name is St. Stephen’s Gate. The Early Church chose seven leaders to distribute food to the needy with Stephen being one of the chosen deacons. Acts 6 and 7 tells the story of Stephen in his ministry and death through stoning. It is believed that the gate is the one taken into the Kidron Valley where the martyrdom of Stephen took place. The gate is also called the Sheep Gate (Nehemiah 3) as sheep were led into the city for sacrifice via this gate. This is the gate Jesus took as he was led from prison to crucifixion. As the Lamb of God, He laid down His life for His sheep (John 10:1-11). The Hebrew name for the entryway is Sha’ar Ha’Arayot (in honor of the decorations above the gate) and the Arabic name is Bab Sitna-Mariam, the Gate of the Tribes. It is said that the tribes of Israel entered the Old City through this gate. It is also called St. Mary’s Gate. This is because the Virgin Mary’s birthplace is on the road to the right, St. Anne’s Church.
    As mentioned earlier, the “cats” on the gate are up for discussion. Some say the cats are leopards; others say cheetahs; and then some say the animals are lions, like the Lion of Judah. Most likely, the cats were placed on the gate by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to celebrate the defeat of Mamluks in 1517. Folklore states that Suleiman had dreams of lions eating him after high taxing of the people of Jerusalem and meditating on how to punish those who were unable to pay the taxes. The wiseman who interpreted the dream said that God was angry with him for his evil thoughts and actions. To atone or appease God, Suleiman built the gate to protect Jerusalem from invaders. Some say it was Suleiman’s predecessor Selim who dreamed of the lions eating him when he planned to level Jerusalem. He spared the city and built the wall around it for protection. Some say panthers or cheetahs of the Baybars were transferred to the gate as a symbol of their dominion. No matter the tale, lions became the symbol of the city of Jerusalem and the mighty God it serves, the Lion of Judah (Genesis 49:9). At the peak of the gate is an Arabic inscription and below the inscription is a Jewish symbol, the Magen-David (Star of David). Observers witness the identity of the Muslims and the Jews in the Lion’s Gate.
    Before the crucifixion, Jesus would have used the Lion’s Gate as He traveled from Judean Desert (Jerusalem-Jericho Road) to begin His early ministry. He would have taken this route from The Mount of Temptation. The road from the gate descends to the Kidron Valley and the foothills of the Mount of Olives. This would have been the route after His arrest at the Garden of Gethsamene. Jesus’ final walk from the prison to the crucifixion is via the Lion’s Gate. The Temple Mount is to the left and the road to St. Anna (St. Anne’s Church), believed to be the home of the Virgin Mary, is to the right. As one moves in a westwardly direction, the road becomes the Via Dolorosa.
    The Lion’s Gate has more recent history for the Jews. Suring the Six Day War, Jerusalem united under Israel control when the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) fought against Jordan, Syria and Egypt during June 5-10 of 1967. In a decisive victory for Israel, the 55th Paratroop Brigade came through the gate in 1967 and placed the Israeli flag above the Temple Mount in the Old City. In an effort to create peace in the Middle East, some developments and setbacks took place through the Oslo Accords in 1993-2001. Since this, terrorist attacks and suicide bombings have been the result of land disagreements in the Arab-Israeli relations. Arabs and Jews enter and depart through the gate, but positive feelings of the shared history of the gate are doubtful.
    From biblical times through today, the Lion’s Gate has played a vital role in the happenings of Israel. God may be revealing His mystery and divine wisdom of the end times in this gate called the Lion’s Gate. What is your response concerning the shared history, Arab-Israeli relations or the end times in respect to the Lion’s Gate?
     
     
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  • 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.

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