Christians, especially American Christians, can be really good at sanitizing the gospels in order to make Jesus less offensive. We want a version of Jesus that doesn’t make us uncomfortable, one that fits with our American way of seeing things. The story of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus is a case in point. One of the … Continue reading Bible Note #57: Zacchaeus #1–The Real Zacchaeus and That Terrible Children’s Song
Tag: Kingdom of God
Quote of Note #186/Prayer Note #65: Prayer for Christlikeness
"Dear Father, for Christ's sake, I beseech thee to take from me and from all others for whom thou wouldest that we should pray, all envy, pride, arrogance, disdain, hatred, and all suspicion. Grant unto us mercy, humility, patience, meekness, long-suffering, gentleness, peace, charity, and love. Comfort the feeble. Relieve the poor. Help the fatherless. … Continue reading Quote of Note #186/Prayer Note #65: Prayer for Christlikeness
Quote of Note #183: Giving Myself Away for Christ
"But the truth is that there is enough time and enough wealth to go around. The people in the churches every Sunday outnumber the people who are on the streets and the number of people who are on welfare. If the church took up the responsibility of caring for the poor, of living internationally, of … Continue reading Quote of Note #183: Giving Myself Away for Christ
Quote of Note #181: Political Idolatry
"That American Christians are known among many not for our primary allegiance to God's kingdom, but rather for our allegiance to wealth, power, and voting blocs suggests that the very fabric of our churches has become idolatrous. Thus the idols plaguing the American church are not made of wood, metal, or stone, but instead lie … Continue reading Quote of Note #181: Political Idolatry
Pastor Note #128: The Resurrection–A Devotional
Introduction:If saving non-material human souls is all that matters, what is the point of the bodily resurrection of Jesus? If the goal of the Christian faith is to get souls into heaven, then the bodily resurrection of Jesus is irrelevant and unnecessary. And yet, there can be little doubt that the New Testament writers were … Continue reading Pastor Note #128: The Resurrection–A Devotional
Quote of Note #158: Christianity and Nationalism
“Mr. [Middleton] Murry holds that ‘the real conflict that is preparing is the conflict between Christianity and anti-Christian nationalism’: but surely a nationalism which is overtly antagonistic to Christianity is a less dangerous menace for us than a nationalism which professes a Christianity from which all Christian content has been evacuated.” T. S. Eliot, Christianity … Continue reading Quote of Note #158: Christianity and Nationalism
Quote of Note #132: What is “race”?
photo by GAC "In order to fight racism, we must begin with the fact that race is a socially constructed category that offers certain privileges and advantages to one group, which in the U. S. context is white people, to the detriment of all those who are excluded from that group--that is, 'non-white' people, or … Continue reading Quote of Note #132: What is “race”?
Pastor Note #118: Advent Reflection #4
Okay, look out. Gary, the curmudgeon, is in the house. I realized that it’s a terrible cliché of the Christmas season to complain about the way human beings observe the Christmas holiday. And the Church has been doing that for centuries. At least from the Middle Ages onward, you find examples of the Church trying … Continue reading Pastor Note #118: Advent Reflection #4
Pastor Note #117: Advent Reflection #3
So, here we are in the third week of Advent. It’s really a terrible cliché to say that time seems to fly by as we come up on Christmas. But cliché or not, somehow it seems to be true. Maybe it’s because we crowd these weeks full of events and “to-do list” items and expectations, … Continue reading Pastor Note #117: Advent Reflection #3
Pastor Note #115: Advent Reflections #1
I just did a quick online search for Advent calendars and discovered that you can buy Advent calendars at Target, Walmart, and on the Etsy site. They’re everywhere. I also noticed that almost all of them are incorrect. All of the Advent calendars I looked at start on December 1, and five out of every … Continue reading Pastor Note #115: Advent Reflections #1
