ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGFebruary 19, 2022In Romans, The Apostle Paul wrote, “God’s gifts and calling can’t be taken back.” I am baffled again and again when people will say things like, “Well God use to love the Jews, but that was before Jesus” or “They were once children of God, but no more.” There are so many theological problems with that kind of talk. Among them, how are we to
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGFebruary 18, 2022Human beings have a tendency to cling to the wrong stuff. Have you ever notice that? We grasp things that appear to provide protection, but so much of what might appear strong and unrelenting is in fact flimsy at best. This wrong stuff may provide us a sense of short term security, but in the end it is all susceptible to rust or inflation or
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGFebruary 17, 2022A while back, I wrote an Etching about baptism, and how Christianity has gone off the deep end when it comes to its sense of ownership and control of the ritual. Like I shared before, we have received phone calls and letters from other churches where a former CCCC member was seeking to transfer his or her membership. The inquiry wanted to know the specific
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGFebruary 16, 2022I receive a daily email from Sojourners Magazine, and in yesterday’s email was a quote from Amanda Gorman, from her poem: “The Miracle of Morning.” In it, she writes: The question isn’t if we can weather this unknown,But how we will weather this unknown together. Have you ever needed a message that sort of appeared at the right moment? As human beings, we need regular
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGFebruary 15, 2022Frederick Douglass was a former slave who, upon escaping (which of course was breaking the law), would become one of the great speakers and writers in the anti-slavery movement. Douglass was willing to have conversations with the pro-slavery folks, including slave owners. This was not well received by the radical abolitionists. I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around what it must have been like
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGFebruary 14, 2022Is it in the chocolate or flowers? Is it found in the elegant dinner with candlelight? Is it expressed in the amount of money spent on jewelry? Where is love found? It is a question we bring to you in faith, O God. We struggle with the odd fixation our culture has with a love that can be bought and sold. Wherever love is needed,
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGFebruary 13, 2022What does it mean for someone to respond to an experience of the Good News? Throughout the centuries, the church has known fabulous moments when it has taken the message of God’s limitless love to the world. At the same time, we must acknowledge those moments in the church’s history when it forgot its purpose. It demanded adherence to specific doctrines or lists of rules
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGFebruary 12, 2022Have you ever avoided a confrontation? Have you ever danced around or physically walked around a situation you were wanting to escape, or at least evaded it for the moment. Tomorrow, I am preaching on the wonderful story from John 4, the Woman at the Well. It begins with the narrator informing us that Jesus is on the move, returning to Galilee. This doesn’t sound
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGFebruary 11, 2022A funny thing happened to me on the way to the… You’re wondering where I’m going with that. That’s the kind of line that has folks sitting up, listening, even preparing to hear something funny or unusual. Jesus did it with hyperbole and parables and with the occasional self-offered invitation to dinner. Can’t you just imagine Jesus turning to his disciples as they were feeling
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGFebruary 10, 2022We have confused the church with a building or an institutional structure. In the book, “If the Church Were Christian,” Philip Gulley asks some tough questions of those who claim to be followers of Jesus. Phil says, “Looking after a building and maintaining the necessary financial and committee structures is important, but only to the extent they contribute to the church’s primary mission of seeking