On the (Imagined) Silent Gospel of St Francis

The Roman Catholic Church has a new pope – the first ever to take the name Francis – and American media outlets are filled with people extolling the St Francis – the 13th century figure – for his love of the poor, the environment and this quotation: “Preach the Gospel at all times.  Use words if necessary.”  I guess two out of three is not bad for American media these days.

St. Francis never spoke those words that are so often attributed to him.  It is as simple as that.  Click Here for a great blog post – from July 11, 2012 no less – that deals with this matter.

Welcoming People Well - March Outreach

You will notice a major effort during the month of March to reach out to people in our community and introduce Christ Covenant to them.  I want to remind each of us that consider Christ Covenant home of why we are doing all of this as well as what we are doing:

Cloud Of Witnesses: Growing Deep In Christ

When I came to faith as a high school student – many, many years ago – I thought that our Youth Group was living the next chapter of Acts to be written.  I’m thankful for the sense of close connection to New Testament life which that represented.  I’m embarrassed by the sophomoric self-righteousness that caused me to think that we had the best handle on God and His Kingdom in the nineteen centuries between the Book of Acts and me.

The Father has been at work extending the Gospel of grace to all nations across those centuries.  That history and accumulated wisdom becomes a rich resource for better understanding and serving Jesus in my own day and setting.  I now look at the church across history as fellow believers who have much to teach me.

Beginning this February, I will be leading a group designed to dig into that rich understanding of Christ and His Kingdom.  Our Steering Committee will be using the Leadership Training Material developed by the Evangelical Presbyterian Church for Elder training and would like to open the opportunity to everyone interested.  Here’s how it will work.

You Are Equating Voting Rights With What?!?!

Seneca Falls: “We demand that women have the right to vote, like men!”  Stonewall: “We demand that men have the right to dress like women!”  Thank you, President Obama.

I have been stunned by the line in President Obama’s second inauguration speech: "We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths—that all of us are created equal—is the star that guides us still," said Mr. Obama, "just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall."  I’m troubled by those who have supported this assertion of equivalence, and baffled by the many - women and ethnic minorities in particular - who remain silent at the connection of their voting rights with the sexual practices of a few.

Stop and think about what events and outcomes are being equated here.

Meaning What You Mean When You Say It

Christopher Hitchens, recently deceased, was one of the best known of the "New Atheists."  He and others were not simply atheist in their own conviction.  They were also virulently anti-faith of any sort.  No "live-and-let-live" sort of guy, Hitchens made a career out of vitreolic attacks on any expression of faith but his own.

Though I most often found myself disagreeing with him - usually very old arguments and observations served up with new hyperbole and snarky sarcasm - I was taken by his observations in an interview shortly before his death.

Ben Stevens refers to it and then comments in his post entitled, The Gospel According to Christopher on the Huffington Post, which follows:

Standing Up Against Domestic Violence

I was unaware that Sunday, November 25 was the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  It became the occasion for a strong and illuminating response by many Gospel-centered bloggers.  The Church, the Gospel, and Violence Against Women by Justin Taylor is a blog post worth reading carefully.  Justin is a favorite Gospel-centered blogger of mine.  His post includes excerpts and links to 12 others on the topic.  I would encourage people to read his blog, and then read his links.  This matter is too important for us to get wrong.  Click Here for his blog.

What is particularly encouraging for me is that most of these writers are men who hold a different basic view of the Bible’s teaching about the relationship of husband and wife.  They are “complementarian” and hold a gracious view of “male headship” in the marriage.  On this issue, I am what is called “egalitarian,” meaning that because in Christ men and women are equal before God, a marriage is the coming together of equals.  For whatever differences, all of us stand strongly against domestic violence.

Let me add as well that domestic violence is not just about the violence that produces physical bruises and spills blood.  In many ways, the more damaging violence is the psychological and relational manipulation that undermines a safe relationship and emotional connection.  Men are perfectly capable of bringing home a paycheck, and then using it as an emotional club or a justification for being distant relationally.  Prisoners of war carry wounds in their psyche long after their physical captivity is over.  Likewise, many women and children carry wounds deep within them long after a relationship is ended and physical safety is secured.

Here are five excerpts and links from Taylor’s blog to give you a bit of what is there for further investigation.

Reflecting On The Matter of Life and Abortion

I'd like to recommend for your careful reading and reflection a number of good blog posts related to the issue of abortion.  I've been deeply troubled by the lack of careful consideration of abortion and all that it invllves during the last election cycle.  This is far too important a matter - lieterally life and death - to be left to sloganeering and "gotcha moments" by media pundits.  Set aside time to read and ponder these articles.  In some cases, you can look back on news events and consider them with hindsight.  Consider it part of the ongoing education on an issue that will be with us for the foreseeable future.