Neither Jew nor Gentile

We often hear things similar to the following:
There is no such thing as a gentile christian or a jewish christian. We are all one in Christ. Prior to Christ, you were either jewish or gentile, but not after: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither [...]

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God-Oriented Choices

Several days ago I posted about Identity, opining that “Who we are is the sum of our choices.” This evening I’ve been pondering how brilliant it was of God to give us a list of “approved” choices.
Think about it; knowing that our identity is largely comprised of the accumulation of the choices we make, God [...]

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Tradition Must Live and Breathe

In Chapter 10 of his De institutis coenobiorum (Institutes), which contains 12 chapters on the ordering of monastic life, St. John Cassian (circa 360 – 435) gives practical and pithy wisdom on the adaptation of “rules” to time and place.
But we need only keep to those which the situation of the place and the customs [...]

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A New Dark Ages?

“If my account of our moral condition is correct, we ought also to conclude that for some time now we too have reached that turning point. What matters at this stage is the construction of local forms of community within which civility and the intellectual and moral life can be sustained through the new dark [...]

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The Trick to Community

As Walter Brueggemann says in Reverberations of Faith: A Theological Handbook of Old Testament Themes:
“The trick of community is to hold together real differences of interest in the midst of treasuring a passionate commitment to belong faithfully to one another.”

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Casting Away Your Sins

There’s a wonderful Jewish tradition connected with Rosh Hashanah, or the Feast of Trumpets, called Taslich. Basically it consists of emptying your pockets of leavened bread crumbs and casting them into a river or stream, and letting the water carry away your “sins” to the sea as a visualization of Micah 7:19.
Who is a God [...]

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Identity

The other day I called a friend to encourage him in love and good deeds. I got his voice mail, so I left a message. In the process I articulated something that has been intriguing me ever since.

Who we are is the sum of our choices. This means that simply by making a right choice [...]

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New Monasticism

To a large degree ’twas monasticism that fueled the Great Reformation. If ’tis true that we’re witnessing the early waves of a second reformation, as I’ve oft heard these last few years, there will be a new monasticism to accompany and provide safe-haven for the changes underway.

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The Origins of Life

Either the universe had a personal beginning, or an impersonal beginning. The universe is therefore either an impersonal universe, or a personal one. If it is an impersonal universe, the evolvement of personality is a sad thing, because there is no satisfactory explanation giving meaning to thinking, acting, communicating, loving, having ideas, choosing, being full [...]

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The Order of Worship

There’s an interesting post about the Order of Worship over at the Between Two Worlds blog
The Order of Worship as a Pattern for Participation

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A Refreshing Perspective

“To begin with, the OT nowhere maintains that relationship with God can be earned. Instead, the biblical statement concerning the establishment of the relationship between God and Israel can be described best under the theological heading of election. The OT consistently maintains that, in an act of unmerited and inexplicable grace, God chose [...]

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