ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 9, 2024In James 1:22, we read: “…be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” I believe the church has experienced many moments of self-deception, talking itself into a belief that what it thinks or what it says is the doing of the Gospel, when in fact it is not. Today, I am thankful for all the good “DOING” of the word at
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 8, 2024Yesterday’s Etching inspired a lot of comments, a lot of good thoughts and questions. I know I have mentioned this before, but if someone is a traditional Trinitarian and holds to the idea that Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), then how do we make sense of the unconditional love we see in Jesus and a God who is full of
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 7, 2024The most common understanding of what occurred on the cross is what we call Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory. It has been presented as the one true Biblical understanding of why Jesus needed to die on the cross. But like a lot of things, there is more to the story than what most folks know. First of all, this theory of atonement did not exist until
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 6, 2024What does it mean to trust love? What does it mean for those who follow the ways of Jesus, the one who painted for us a picture of God’s love with his life? Love is one of those funny things, as it is a word that interacts with a plethora of possibilities. And it is defined on a personal level through the lens of our
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 5, 2024A couple of studies I recently read looked at Religious Trauma, what I have often called spiritual malpractice or even called spiritual violence by some. High doses of guilt, fear, and intimidation in the context of a religious body have dramatically impacted more than 1/3 of people living in the United States. More than 15% of people are continuing to suffer and live with the
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 4, 2024Prayer for the Week: Holy God, whenever a change is needed—whenever the reset button is put before us—whenever a reshaping of life would honor you and the ways of Jesus, we pray for the capacity to hold your sacred purpose above all fear and to strive for your calling, whether it be something small or something significant. We do not pretend such decisions are easy,
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 3, 2024Today will be a good day! I say that not because I know about anything special that will make it a good day, but because I sort of wonder if there is a better chance of it being a good day if my attitude and expectation are suggesting it might be. I have always believed that if I am open to the possibility, I am
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 2, 2024Change is hard! And though some people might suggest that they are fine with change, I tend to believe that group of people is much smaller than we might think, and the change that doesn’t bother them is change that does not really impact them. At the Men’s Retreat a few weeks back, Rev. Paul Koch, who served as our keynoter, talked a lot about
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 1, 2024On this day in 1692, a group of people were brought before the local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, for what would be the start of the Salem Witch Trials. Now much of what has been shared about the trials is exaggerated or misunderstood, and of course, many movies have used the trials as a starting point for some fanciful horror stories. Depending on who
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSFebruary 29, 2024There is that one extra day every fourth year that I’m not too sure what to do with. I’ve got an extra day this year—an additional 1/365th of a year—that I could use for some wonderfully crazy idea that will forever change history. Sadly, this extra day will probably feel a lot like yesterday and tomorrow. But why can’t we approach today like we’ve been