I just went through my bookmarked blogs and deleted a few that havent posted in months! I may not post faithfully but I read yours faithfully!!
Friday, December 03, 2004
Disagreement
I found this on a link. It is thought provoking and created some good dialogue for my bro and I.
What if I strongly disagree with someone who professes to be a Christian?
Disagreement is a fact of life. There is no family, and certainly no church family, free of disagreements. The question should be, "How can I strongly disagree in Christian charity?" It is how we handle disagreements, which makes all the difference. As in a healthy family relationship, so long as we respect the person(s) with whom we disagree, so long as we accord them the privilege of holding their own views, we may disagree productively. We all know that disagreements can be destructive, especially if people who disagree aren't honest with one another and show little or no respect for the other person(s). When honesty and charity abound, people find that disagreement can deepen dialogue, create new understandings, and promote growth.
St. Paul in a number of his letters (epistles) compares the church to a human body with many different parts cooperating in the same work. Uniformity and complete agreement are neither part of Paul's analogy nor even ideal for the welfare of the body. We need people with different understandings so that together, working together in love and respect, we can grow in faith, respond to new opportunities, and come to new understandings. Yes, Christians are expected to come to new understandings.
Ours is a living faith. While we cherish many traditions and need to build on the understandings of the past, in every age the Christian Gospel has to be reinterpreted in light of what is going on in our world and in our lives. We face challenges unknown to our ancestors, and we are called to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to bear on the problems and opportunities of our world. No one individual at any given time knows the mind of Christ. Together as a community, we are led by the Holy Spirit toward knowing the mind of Christ. Disagreements, even strong ones, are a necessary and often productive aspect of living into the challenges of Christian community with the intent of discovering the mind of Christ for our own day.
The famous 13th Chapter of I Corinthians is one way in which St. Paul attempted to explain how Christians could productively pool their differences and work through their disagreements. In a word, we do this in love. The love he envisioned is not "warm, fuzzy feelings" about those with whom we share church life but genuine respect, forbearance, kindness, and a willingness to listen to others, forgive them, and work with them no matter how much we disagree. Sometimes in Christian community we need to even agree to disagree about some things so that the mission of the church can move forward. In other words, our unity needs to be built on something more basic and lasting than agreement; it needs to be built on love and respect for every other child of God.--
The Right Rev. Robert W. Ihloff
Bishop of Maryland
What if I strongly disagree with someone who professes to be a Christian?
Disagreement is a fact of life. There is no family, and certainly no church family, free of disagreements. The question should be, "How can I strongly disagree in Christian charity?" It is how we handle disagreements, which makes all the difference. As in a healthy family relationship, so long as we respect the person(s) with whom we disagree, so long as we accord them the privilege of holding their own views, we may disagree productively. We all know that disagreements can be destructive, especially if people who disagree aren't honest with one another and show little or no respect for the other person(s). When honesty and charity abound, people find that disagreement can deepen dialogue, create new understandings, and promote growth.
St. Paul in a number of his letters (epistles) compares the church to a human body with many different parts cooperating in the same work. Uniformity and complete agreement are neither part of Paul's analogy nor even ideal for the welfare of the body. We need people with different understandings so that together, working together in love and respect, we can grow in faith, respond to new opportunities, and come to new understandings. Yes, Christians are expected to come to new understandings.
Ours is a living faith. While we cherish many traditions and need to build on the understandings of the past, in every age the Christian Gospel has to be reinterpreted in light of what is going on in our world and in our lives. We face challenges unknown to our ancestors, and we are called to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to bear on the problems and opportunities of our world. No one individual at any given time knows the mind of Christ. Together as a community, we are led by the Holy Spirit toward knowing the mind of Christ. Disagreements, even strong ones, are a necessary and often productive aspect of living into the challenges of Christian community with the intent of discovering the mind of Christ for our own day.
The famous 13th Chapter of I Corinthians is one way in which St. Paul attempted to explain how Christians could productively pool their differences and work through their disagreements. In a word, we do this in love. The love he envisioned is not "warm, fuzzy feelings" about those with whom we share church life but genuine respect, forbearance, kindness, and a willingness to listen to others, forgive them, and work with them no matter how much we disagree. Sometimes in Christian community we need to even agree to disagree about some things so that the mission of the church can move forward. In other words, our unity needs to be built on something more basic and lasting than agreement; it needs to be built on love and respect for every other child of God.--
The Right Rev. Robert W. Ihloff
Bishop of Maryland
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Paintball
Been really thinking about gettin back into paintball. It was a great adrenaline rush. The only thing is.. like anyone who knows me knows.. When I get into something.. i dont just get what I can get by with.. I go all out.. get it good and get it all. So im considering.. will prob wait till spring. But I can handle that wait.
Now, what was my complaint?
In 1636 during the Thirty Years War--one of the worst wars in the history of mankind in terms of the sheer number of deaths, epidemics, the economic results--there was a godly pastor whose name was Martin Rinkert. In a single year, this pastor buried 5,000 people in his parish--about fifteen a day. He lived with the worst that life could do.
But if you look in your hymnal, you'll find that in the middle of that time, he wrote a table grace for his children, our thanksgiving hymn:
"Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done,
In whom his world rejoices."
If I'd spent the year holding 5,000 funerals of the people I served, could I write for my children a song of thanksgiving? It's an unusual thing that in history many who have the least to thank God about thank him the most.
But if you look in your hymnal, you'll find that in the middle of that time, he wrote a table grace for his children, our thanksgiving hymn:
"Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done,
In whom his world rejoices."
If I'd spent the year holding 5,000 funerals of the people I served, could I write for my children a song of thanksgiving? It's an unusual thing that in history many who have the least to thank God about thank him the most.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Inventory
Oh right, it's been a long time since I blogged. And judging by the other times when I lacked bloggability, there is a reason. It's now time for me to take spiritual inventory of what my life consists of and what to keep and what to discard of. At this point, life is good and life is bad. It just depends on what part I think about. I've been thinking of playing paintball again, that has to be the biggest adrenaline rush i've ever had. I've been told that snow boarding is better, but I don't snow board. My apologies to anyone i've ever insulted or hurt, I now know what it's like. And from the experience, i've found out that I had never really been insulted or hurt that I could remember. But anywho, my apologies! Power is a good thing and a bad thing. Thinking of New Year's Eve, not sure if I will coordinate anything this year or not, not so much of not wanting to. It's just the biggest hassel is finding a venue/hall/warehouse to have it at! There is nothing around this area.
PC///t
PC///t
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)