Linkathon!
I’ve wondered out loud for years what it would take for Christians to put aside their strife and worldly ideologies to pursue the the true faith once given.
My thought was that it would take something terrible to turn us around. I thought maybe it would be the pandemic, but that just resulted in more division and scorn for each other.
Will the prospect of WWIII or a pandemic we can’t argue about do it?
Russias initial failures don’t mean Ukraine will survive…
Across US, worshippers seek solidarity at Ukrainian churches, pray for peace…
What God wants you to know when life doesn’t make sense…
Pray and support Ukraine by giving here…
Another Ukraine ministry to support…
The future of United Methodism…
Ukrainian American churches use praise as a weapon…
Jesus turned His humiliation into solidarity…
About Russias and Americas invasions…
“For the enemy, God gave up life, gave up everything; now you give your enemies what you have: bread if they are hungry, water if they are thirsty, help if they are weak, blessing, mercy, love of the enemy. Are they worth that? Yes. Who would be worthy of our love, who would need our love more than the one who hates? Who is poorer than such a person, who is more in need of help, who is more in need of love than your enemy? Have you ever looked at your enemy in this way, as the one who basically stands in front of you, poor as a beggar, and who asks you, without being able to say it himself or herself: help me, grant me the one thing that can still lift me out of my hate, grant me love, the love of God, the love of the crucified Savior.”
The false eschatology of progress…
Six ways to respond to people leaving church…
Volodymyr Zelensky at the Bridge: The Costly Virtue of Heroism in the Real World
Victim of plagiarism by Christine Caine speaks out…
More later…
On “Six Ways to Respond…”-During the pandemic, I almost left the church of which I had been a member for 20 years, but I never thought of leaving “the church” entirely. I was concerned with my church’s rather staunch COVID response-the church is open and only the fraidy cats and the uninvolved are at home. Thankfully , something changed along the way, and those of us on the livestream were validated as much as the warm bodies in the pews. It think it happened because so many people got sick at one point…COVID was suddenly a real thing.
But, some people have left. They can catch the livestream of our church, or many others in town (I don’t think that’s bad for those who really can’t attend) without being involved at all. I do pray for them, I do ask them how they are doing, and, if I ask about church, I try to do it in a kind, compassionate way. I think it may be several years before we have recovered from COVID’s affect on the church. There is the fear of being in large groups, the fear that the church let many people down by drawing spiritual “maturity” lines around things like masks and vaccines (the whole “faith not fear” approach, with no COVID safeguards in place, and lifestyle changes. I know some people who have discovered that being at home more, vs being at church so much during the week, is really better for their own mental health and that of their families. Pre-COVID I was at church three nights a week and Sunday. Now it’s Sunday and one night at church, and one night on a Zoom Bible study. It is not as hectic as before, and I enjoy the more relaxed pace.
I don’t believe the church will ever cease to exist as Jesus promised the gates of hell would not prevail against it. But I can see a smaller, possibly with more committed church, coming out of the pandemic. I hope it is a church committed to worship of God and love of neighbor (in a significant, concrete way vs. some of the superficiality of many of the mega churches. I also hope it will be a church where the leadership is committed to God, His people, and godly living. I would love to not have to read about all the scandals unfolding in so many churches because righteousness has been embraced.
Linn,
Good observations…well said.