Paul

, as in Paul’s vision, God will in the end be ‘all in all’ (1 Cor. 15:28), then nothing present and nothing past is excluded. We are told that in the fulfilment of the times all things will be united in Christ, things in heaven and things in earth’ (Eph. 1:10) and ‘all things reconciled to him, whether on earth or in heaven’ (Col. 1:20), because ‘all things were created through him’ (Col. 1:16); and if this is so, we have to talk about the universality of God’s grace. ‘Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Phil. 2:11). Then ‘universal reconciliation’ can no longer be a heresy and a reproach. It is an expression of hope and of trust in God’s goodness. But the decision is God’s alone" Moltmann ☀

Jesus Anyone?

“Who was challenged by Jesus? Who did he come into conflict with? Who was willing to have him killed? We need to answer these questions to know whether or not we’re engaging our culture in a way that honors the Gospel. So if we’re truly like Jesus, who are going to be pissing off?" Is the Church Pissing Off the Right People? ☀

The People's Pope

“The Pope welcomes everyone: people who are disfigured or sick, people who are young and old. Pope Francis is able to express joy and radiate compassion and empathy for others. This may be due to his experiences of pain and weariness. He rose quickly within the ranks of the Society of Jesus and this caused tensions which caused enough Jesuits to despise his leadership. As a result, when he was just 50 years old, his Jesuit community stripped him of all responsibility and he was exiled to Cordoba, Argentina. That experience was humiliating and also humbling. It eventually made him more merciful and kind as he experienced what is sometimes called a “dark night of the soul.” Because he knows deep pain and despair too well, Pope Francis is able to emulate and embody the compassion and love that Jesus showed. We are all broken and in need of compassion, understanding and love. This draws thousands to listen to and meet the Pope as he stands in solidarity with those who suffer and are in need of hope, mercy and grace." The People’s Pope: Our Attraction and Fascination with the Pope ☀

Romans 1:26-7 - The Bible Says That Homosexuality Is A Sin?

"The bible says” is often the excuse employed by homophobic Christians who believe scripture requires a condemnation of homosexuality. The bible is a neutral object. It only “says” something when we act upon it. This is why we as actors must use this prop in a Shakespearean manner and not improv it as so many do today.


 In the last several decades, the use of classical rhetoric as a tool to examine the Pauline epistles has become something of an institution among New Testament scholars. Because of this, we are able to wield scripture more effectively. Equally so, there is push back from fundamentalists and conservatives who would read scripture as if they were the ones writing it, divorced from its first century Greco-Roman-Hellenistic context. It is because of this insistence we read scripture as a modern how-to guide that those who use it are likely to do so not only in error but to the harm of others as well.


 A case in point is the often (mis)used passage, Romans 1.18-32. It does not take long in a discussion on scripture and homosexuality for the more traditional defender to take this out of his or her arsenal, as if it is the “nuclear option.” Jesus may not have spoken directly about homosexuality, but Paul did, we are assured. However, and I relish this role as the bearer of bad news, this passage is not about condemning homosexuality, but about condemning those who condemn others."


 Romans 1:26-7 - The Bible Says That Homosexuality Is A Sin? Via azspot.net
 I strongly agree with this.

Who Did Jesus Condemn?

“Jesus condemned no one excerpt hypocrites"

Love Your Muslim Neighbors'

“Bottom line – if “Muslims” are your enemies, it’s clear what Jesus calls us to do with enemies.  And if these “Muslims” are your neighbors (and many of them are), it’s clear what Jesus asks us to do with neighbors.  Either way I think you’re stuck. You gotta love em." An Open Letter to Franklin Graham ☀

Theory and Observations

"Seems like a lot of people are a lot more theoretical than practical. I mean it's neat to think about the theory and the logical and intellectual ramifications, but without practical and accurate observations your theory can get pretty detached from the reality of the situation." Friend Sam Strelitz

Christians

I honestly believe that the solution to the problems in the inner city has more to do with Christians being willing to go there and less to do with any program (political or religious) that comes from the outside. The inner city needs the increased presence of the Holy Spirit and the best and most effective way that can happen is by Christians carrying it there. We are the temple and where we go is holy ground, so why are we not in the inner city saying, like Christ did before us, this is my Father’s house and it will be a house of prayer? Not once or twice, but each and every day. Why is it so hard for us to see that we don’t need more soup kitchens, we need more Christians feeding people out of their kitchens. Why can’t we see that we need less homeless shelters and more homeless men, women and children sleeping on Christian couches finding the way to God and to Hope? Why can’t we see that while it is always good and right to pray that God changes situations, it is more effective to pray that God uses us to change situations? Why can’t we see that the problems in the inner cities are not the people that are there, but the people who are not? The problem of {insert favorite inner city here} ☀

Lectio divina (translated “divine [or sacred]

Lectio divina (translated “divine [or sacred] reading”) is an approach to the Scriptures that sets us up to listen for the word of God spoken to us in the present moment. Lectio divina is a practice of divine reading that dates back to the early mothers and fathers of the Christian faith. Referring to the material being read and the method itself, the practice of lectio divina is rooted in the belief that through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures are indeed alive and active as we engage them for spiritual transformation (Hebrews 4:12). Ruth Haley Barton ☀

Proving Darwin... Laws regarding Evolution, IC and ID

I am never good at technical details regarding genetics and such but I posted my view before this one regarding the fossil record. IC may be a fooler... It may be nature based if intelligent evolution is viable. If IE is not viable it may be nature based nonetheless, through processes that look ID but are not (with ID, IC or Evolution the laws of bonding, attraction, magnetism and reactions, patterns, pairing, etc come into play, information systems and technology, complex algorithms, complex system's, patterns, complex information, etc also applies but, again, may be a nature based complex process of living organism's and their systems).




Theistic Evolution is viable btw, as is Intelligent Evolution. Special Creation may apply to Humans and certain animals.

Proving Darwin... The Fossil Record

"The fossil record is incredibly sparse. There were probably billions of species that are now extinct or evolved, but we have fossils for only about 250,000 unique species.
 You cannot use the fossil record for inferrring very much about abrupt changes, as just about everything in the fossil record is an abrupt change.


 The fossil record is like a series of snapshots of different countries from a vacation trip through Europe, where there are less than one snapshot per country." DC via FB

Biology Through The Eyes of Faith book excerpts

Some excerpts regarding Evolution taken from Biology Through The Eyes of Faith by Richard T. Wright:


 "Evolutionary relationships dominate our understanding of the genetics of living organisms, from DNA structure to the importance of characteristics in the next generation. Ecology, animal behavior, comparative anatomy, embryology.. All are organized and interpreted from an evolutionary framework" (The Importance of Darwinism to Biology, pg. 117)


 "The millions of species of plants, animals and microbes are classified according to evolutionary principle's (common descent). The adaptations of all living things are understood as natural selection acting on genetic variations. The geographical distribution of organisms is interpreted as the outcome of speciation followed by dispersal." (The Importance of Darwinism to Biology, pg. 117)


 "...General trends in the fossil record suggest a progression: For example, single cells are found only in the oldest fossil bearing layers, invertebrates are found in the Cambrian (early Paleozoic), the first replies in the late Paleozoic, the first mammals in the Triassic, and placental animals in the late Cretaceous." (Evidences for Evolution, pg. 121)


 "..The appearance of gill arches in land animal embryos and notochords in higher invertebrates" (Evidences for Evolution, pg. 122)


 "Darwin's work on the biological sciences was his most greatest and revolutionary accomplishment" (The Darwinian Revolution and Human Thought, pg. 120)


*Applies to God guided or theistic evolution as well.

Common Ancestory Unites Us

Common Ancestory unites us, Special Creation divides us.

Evolution, creation

People don't like.the idea of a common ancestor and evolution because if they acknowledge that, they relinquish their rights to special creation or engineering, which gives many people not only a moral superiority complex and takes away fear of death but also means that all living things are related and many people do not want to give up prejudice, racism, control, religious ideology nor other views which may include hunting, destruction of environment, war, etc..
 Having a common ancestor through evolution would mean that every living thing is related and many people are not cool with that, they like the idea of being created, special and superior in nature to other Humans and species.

“Perhaps the anthropological role of the Christian church in human history might be oversimplified as follows: To undermine the structures of sacred violence by making it impossible forget how Jesus died and to show the world how to live without such structures by making it impossible to forget how Jesus lived." Gil Bailie ☀

"The Bible is not a self-help book. While it contains a lot of advice about life it isn’t primarily a book designed to help people live well or be healthy. Plenty of the advice is terrible, like when it’s acceptable to sell your daughter into slavery. Some of the advice only works in certain contexts and the vast majority of it is not aimed at individuals, but at communities." What the Bible is NOT ☀

“Rather Jesus represented the way of non-violence and even anti-violence. He represented the way of love – not of force or brute power. He opposed the Myth of Redemptive Violence and turned it on its head. In his death, he was not satisfying the demands of a vengeful God for a violent sacrifice to restore order. Rather he was taking upon himself all the violence of the world system, of us, in order that it and we might be healed, redeemed, saved from the otherwise endless cycle of violence and revenge."The cross of Christ and the Myth of Redemptive Violence ☀

'A lot of interpretive decisions were made for you before you picked up Romans. Ignoring verse divisions, chapter divisions, and paragraph breaks created by committees is one way to begin taking Romans back. Trying, as best we can, to read Romans as its original recipients would is the key. Knowing a bit about Greek style in writing rhetoric is indispensable. Forgetting caricatures of Judaism drawn from unbalanced reading of Jesus’ criticisms of some Pharisees in his time should be a prerequisite. And it might be worth supposing, from what we know of Gentile god-fearers in the first century, that the Gentile readers of the letter to the Romans respected Jewish teaching. It might be further worth supposing that Paul saw himself as a better Jewish teacher than any they might be getting advice from.”
—   How Your Bible Christianizes Paul, via azspot.net as well