Things I Think
1. I make no bones about the fact that I’m both Anglican and ecumenical. Being ecumenical doesn’t mean that I accept every doctrine or sect as having equal veracity, it’s simply a recognition that God uses different orthodox sects for different purposes.
My question today is simple…why can’t we apply the same spirit to politics? In my opinion, we need a way to reject extremes and embrace a center which isn’t holding…
2. I do think I’ve been wrong about something…I used to chastise old line Calvary Chapel guys for being so protective of their “distinctives”. Now, I see how important it is to maintain a specific identity lest you become a group without any identity at all…and no real reason to group together in the first place…
3. The theological error that erodes my faith more regularly than any other is “over realized eschatology”… the expectation that the kingdom to come is the kingdom now…
4. The most difficult tension we have to hold to in the Christian faith is the same…especially because there are times when the kingdom to come inexplicably breaks through into kingdom now…but not according to any formula…
5. One can never forget that someday the kingdom will be here in it’s fullness when the King arrives…that’s indeed the “blessed hope”…and it’s the hope we cling to when we realize it’s not here yet…
6. Social media has lifted the sin of “bearing false witness” to completely new heights…
7. The change of seasons brings the opportunity to complain about a new set of meteorological conditions…
8. Those who want to flatten out every difference in people…sexual, cultural, regional, etc…are trying to create mutants that would lead to extinction from boredom if the Lord tarried…
9. Watching those Senate hearing made me long for elected officials that represent the best attributes of who we are instead of the worst we can be…
10. Most people are sane and decent…it shouldn’t be so easy to forget that…
Comments on your thoughts…
1. I like them bones!
6. Amen. And it’s a very easy sin to fall into, especially with theological and political differences.
7. (Meteorologist here in the house)…can’t complain here in GA…stuck in the 80s and humid still…unrelenting summer.
10. It would be nice to translate this view into the social media world…where are the peacemakers a la the Sermon on the Mount, with regards to twitter, for example?
Dan,
We have to be the peacemakers on social media…we are making that a priority here and on our social media outlets…
“This my Father’s world, the battle is not done
Jesus who died shall be satisfied
And earth and heaven be one”. ?
Agreed Michael. It is something that has been on my mind lately…how I interact with those online, mainly with those who I don’t see eye-to-eye with.
the Senate hearings have shown that even the politicians have forgotten their civics lessons.
regarding #4–the Kingdom to come vs. now–isn’t that related to the work of the Holy Spirit, who moves like the wind…?
Dan,
We ‘re making a real effort in our conversations behind the scenes to insure that we keep a civil and decent conversation going here.
On my other media, I simply don’t engage much anymore…because it just gets nowhere.
9. We no longer have statesmen. We have warring tribal leaders.
10. Most people ARE sane and decent. However, there are too many out there operating on the basal instincts spoon fed to them by a limited variety of sources. I lost count of how many people I have disagreed with who site merely one or tow sources for their claim.
filbertz,
In a way…I’m speaking about that day when the creation is restored, death is no more, and heaven and earth become one place.
That kingdom breaks in now and again…but without explanation or pattern.
I want to live in it all the time…and someday we all will.
David,
Amen on the lack of statesmen…
Michael, that is one HUGE aspect of this site that I think not only I appreciate, but others as well….a much more civil place for discourse.
#9
Well…I think we still have statesmen,, like John McCain (I know he’s passed, but his life, writings
and example are still there for us to emulate.)
Sens. Flake and Coons hammered out a compromise re: Kavanaugh. That was an example of a
“good.”
But the bigger problem, as Flake said on 60 Minutes, is that there’s no “currency” for
bipartisan agreement in Congress. And that’s a HUGE issue.
Dan,
To be honest, civility is bad for ratings.
People are addicted to rage and adrenaline.
We’ve chosen to do it this way, anyway…and we were a rough house long before most.
I always like it when people hold up McCain as some political peacemaker.
McCain enabled the Tea Party and what has led to Trump these years later by choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate – as if he needed the Yukon vote to carry the election.
McCain was a singular example of a political opportunist.
You’re wrong.
You need to read “Faith of My Fathers.”
Plus, I never said he was a peacemaker.
He is, however, someone to emulate. He was a statesman and we need
more folks like him.
Was McCain a statesman or simply a brave patriot who was tested and proved he could walk the talk? I don’t know…
Can anyone name any war that McCain was against? Is war hawk the centrist view?
bob1, which part of my statement about McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin and it’s lasting impact is wrong?
Need I bring up his involvement as one of the Keating Five that collapsed the Savings & Loan industry?
Not to mention, well I guess I am, him leaving his crippled wife to marry the politically connected beer heiress?
Michael
On @1 – I will admit this to those here. I long for an Anglicanism that I fear is quickly slipping away. One in which our aesthetics are informed by our history and tradition; one in which courtesy and civility is the norm rather than the exception; one where we can be lost in wonder love and awe in the beauty and dignity of our worship. Sometimes one can feel homeless…
Yesterday, I visited a church in which the celebrant was in a black t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops with a knitted green stole… Indeed, the center is not holding.
1. That will require a collective will of the people to respect others regardless of their personal beliefs. I don’t see that now and don’t see it coming down the road peacefully…
2. That’s a really good point. Their mistake was saying they alone are the right Christians…
3. What does that kingdom look like, then? Very different than political and cultural power…
4. God, if you believe in Him, seems to have His own agenda…
5. I think more and more that, for all of us, the King will arrive when we die. Assuming there’s anything beyond death…
6. I hate social media. I still see some good in it and once championed it. Now, it’s a place to follow Bloom County, up-to-the-second news and commentary, get some sports scores, and see what the backside of America looks like up close…
7. I hate being teased by a couple of cool fall days. Go away summer, come back next April (global warming, folks).
8. Hi Jackie!!! 🙂
9. If we all vote for some random cat who lives in our district/state, we’ll have them.
10. I think most people are jerks.
BrianD, seeing you brings back a lot of memories. I hope all is well with you. Still a big sports fan? God bless!
Dr. Duane,
“Indeed, the center is not holding.”
Perhaps there is more of a paradigm shift taking place in the church than many of us realize. Most church groups that I am aware of are splintering or redefining themselves. Do we try to hold on to the traditions or learn how the traditions can best inform the cultural shifts that are taking place?
pstrmike
We of course must be sensitive to cultural shifts. I fear, however, that we are “throwing the baby out with the bath water”. When we set our contemporary culture over against 2000 years of Christian reflection, practice, modes of spiritual development, learning, etc., I think we are setting ourselves up for a fall. As a friend said, “If you marry the present, you’ll surely be a widow in the future…”
And I remember thinking I was being ecumenical for fellowshipping with those (and when invited attending other ministries) where they didn’t teach “verse-by-verse” (setting aside neither did anyone else in the Bible, including Jesus, but I know better than to challenge the traditions of man).
Poor God (seriously), I can picture Him just feeling such pity for me-and probably still does, but at least now I’m aware of my dimwittedness.
Am I the only one thinking of the irony that right now (thinking in human terms), Chuck is in the presence of Jesus and neither are referencing nor care about The Dinstinctives?
Uh-oh! Might I cause a third (or fourteenth by now) split in CC-dom?
Chuck is actually walking with Jesus in a way most in CC would balk at!
He’s (Chuck) is actually enjoying (wait for it)….LIBERALS!!!!
Ok, maybe Jesus puts us all together gradually. But its an interesting thought.
I’m happy to see BrianD here again.