I Keep Coming Back to This: Love

October 21st, 2008 § 2 Comments

I keep coming back to this. In all of my study, reading, discussion, everything. It all comes back to this one simple, yet amazingly complex and difficult concept. It is the essence of Christianity. And, it is precisely where Christians always fall short.

John 13:34-35 (The Message)
34-35″Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

I realize I just wrote a similar post to this last week in the context of evangelism, but I’m just struck by this thought tonight. We Christians need to love. It’s the answer to every issue we are faced with in our churches, in politics and in our lives. We need to love and let love guide our decisions.

Love Each Other: A New Evangelism

October 15th, 2008 § 2 Comments

In my slow, and occasional, reading of UnChristian I came across this passage written by Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Consider the rise of the Christians during the Roman era. People were drawn to Christians, not because of evangelistic outreaches or crusades, or through mass media-those didn’t exist. The church grew because Christians were doing the gospel and had a community-a local church-where people really loved each other. During the great plagues that swept Rome in the second century, all of the doctors fled, but the Christians stayed and took care of the sick. They embodied what Christians are called to do. Although many Christians died because they took care of the sick, pagans were drawn to Christ because they saw both the love of Christians and Christianity itself as a better way of life. When Constantine declared Rome the Holy Roman Empire, people thought he did that for political reasons, but he didn’t. It was already Christianized; he just recognized the realities of what really happened.
- Chuck Colson

I don’t know how you feel about his theory of Constantine’s Christianization of Rome, but he poses an interesting hypothesis. He says that people were not drawn to Christians because of their “evangelistic outreaches or crusades.” He says people were drawn to Christians because they were living out their faith.

It’s increasingly becoming my opinion that we spend too much time worrying about converting people and not enough time caring for people. What drew people to Christ, according to Colson, was the love that they proved in their daily actions. Perhaps, it’s time we set aside the mailers, tracts, etc. and get out into our communities and just love each other. That’s probably the best form of evangelism we could ever hope for.

Blog Action Day: Give Your All

October 15th, 2008 § Leave a Comment

This probably is not what was intended by those who set the theme for this Blog Action Day, but it’s what I felt compelled to share this morning regarding the theme of poverty.

Luke 21:1-4 (The Message)

 1-4Just then he looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the collection plate. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, “The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.

The passage reminds me that even though I may experience disappointment, and difficult times, there are people in far worse situations, like the widow, giving their all.  It’s very rare that I give half of myself, let alone my all.

Today as I consider poverty, I realize how lucky I am to have my home, job and wife, and I’m struck with how much I need to give back.

Happy Rosh Hashanah

September 30th, 2008 § 2 Comments

It’s hard to believe but three years ago I wrote this post in honor of Rosh Hashanah.  A few days later I gave my famous Tashlikh Communion Devotional, in which I asked the congregation to symbolically cast their sins off in the the water (Micah 7:18-20) as is the Jewish practice.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was unfortunately met with little enthusiasm and caused a few to wonder who this heretic giving the communion devotional was. Looking back, it still seems like it was a good idea, but what can you do.
Today, in honor of Rosh Hashanah, whether your a Jew, Christian, Muslim, or whatever, I encourage you to take some time and think about last year’s failings, shortcomings and sins.  After you’ve done that cast them aside and ask for forgiveness.  I’m sure you’ll feel much better about yourself. 

Tony Alamo Ministries

September 22nd, 2008 § Leave a Comment

I’m not going to say much about it because I don’t know all of the details, but I’ve always thought Alamo Ministries was a little off. My only experience with them is the tracts that I used to find on the windshield of my car. They were pretty weird and kind of extreme.

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