Too much of a good thing? When there is so much grace that one does whatever they feel like. Freedom. I went to go to a ‘contemporary’ church, much on a whim rather than thought-through, which was not into religion or religious people. Someone there, seemingly not concerned, yelled at me when I did not do as she expected in her group. Human nature, I guess. But is it also a belief? God graces me, so I am entitled to treat someone ungraciously, even when it is a mistake? I guess you could feel justified in losing your temper if you have lost religion and got grace. At wit’s end, eh? But should not grace wind you up to better responses? Being gracious, for example.
Continue reading “Losing religion?”Tag: God
It is done
Jesus said, ‘It is accomplished’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit. (John 19:30, Jerusalem Bible)
Everlasting peace
In the days to come
the mountains of the Temple of Yahweh
shall tower above the mountains
and be lifted higher than the hills.
All nations will stream to it,
peoples without number will come to it; and they will say:
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
to the temple of the God of Jacob
that he may teach us his ways
so that we may walk in his paths;
since the Law will go out from Zion,
and the oracle of Yahweh from Jerusalem’.
He will wield authority over the nations
and adjudicate between many peoples;
these will hammer their swords into ploughshares,
their spears into sickles.
Nation will not lift sword against nation,
there will be no more training for war.
O House of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of Yahweh.
-Isaiah 2:2-5, Jerusalem Bible
‘Spirited exchanges’
I’m posting the following article because it resonated with me. It’s quite fascinating–could God be “working” in people a brand new thing when they separate from the church they had belonged to for years? Here’s the article which I wrote in 2002, for Challenge Weekly.
Continue reading “‘Spirited exchanges’”
Pastor says: on what the church has to offer
What does the Church have to offer?
Interviewer: Speaking of the Church, in the area of religion, what is there to turn to, when all else fails?
Rodney Macaan (Former Baptist pastor): I think one of the things that the church can really offer now, when it is working well, is two things.
Continue reading “Pastor says: on what the church has to offer”