Category: Blog
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You are the Scum of the Earh and this World’s Garbage
Most people have Jesus’ saying memorized that Your are Salt of the Earth and Light of the World. What Paul says is equally true though: We are no more than this world’s garbage; we are the scum of the earth to this very moment! How does that make you feel?
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Tolerance: Karma, Christ, Star Trek, Star Wars, Whatever?
Today Christian Smith wrote an interesting piece on religious tolerance. I agree with him that when it comes to religion “we need to reject both sectarian conflict and liberal whateverism and commit ourselves instead to an authentic pluralism.” The battle that has been brewing between Star Trek and Star Wars for 35 years is now…
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Spiritual Growth
One’s spiritual life is often compared to a plant. Paul describes a three-step: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow.” Who was your Paul? Who was your Apollos? Who is the God who makes you grow? Whose Paul are you? Whose Apollos are you? Who…
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Homiletics 101
How does the art of preaching work? Here is a lesson from Paul (1 Corinthians 2:1-16): – Do not use big words. – Forget everything except Jesus Christ and especially his death on the cross. – Do not deliver your teaching and message with skillful words of human wisdom. – Allow room for convincing proof…
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Fides quaerens intellectum
Paul knows: “God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful.” Faith cannot be argued for or achieved through a thought process. But faith seeks understanding and rational expression once found, as Anselm of Canterbury put…