FOLLOWING JESUS

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99 Creative Logo Designs for Inspiration

Achieving a well designed logo requires really hard work and being up to date with the latest trends in design. It's probably the best way of establishing brand...

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10 weird things kids do at communion I wish more adults would do

Over the past several years I have had the joy of administering a sacrament in the Church called the Eucharist or Holy Communion. Maybe it is because of the fancy word Eucharist or the purity invoked when we call something "holy" but adults, for the most part, are funny when it comes to teaching kids "how to take communion". Mainly there is a strong reverence that is attempted to be transmitted from the adult to the child. But as children are not that keen on reverence and can "say the darndest things" communion with kids is something to behold. Mainly because the theology a child has at communion is more profound than most adult's understanding of communion. Here is some cool stuff kids teach me about communion based on things that have happened to me: 1. Run down the aisle. It is okay to run down the aisle for communion. In fact shouldn't we all be running to feast with Christ? Next time, don't walk to communion - run. 2. Take communion with a stuffed animal. This should be acceptable, as long as the stuff animal is served communion as well. Kids understand that everyone is welcomed to the table. Human and teddy bear alike. 3. Drink every drop. It is critical that every drop of grape juice and morsel of bread is consumed at communion. Who cares is people are waiting behind you to move back to their pews, you do not leave that table until you have been able to take ever last moment you can with Christ.. 4. Ask for a "big piece". Why settle for just a little bit of Christ? Don't we all want a "big piece" of Christ? 5. Dunk the whole piece into the cup. If you get to dip the bread into the juice, soak that bread and be sure to no worry about drips or stains (see points 3 and 4 for justification). 6. Seek out the leftovers. The bread of Life is too good to discard in the trash or fed to the birds. That is why we eat all the bread after worship. 7. Being shy is okay. Kids understand that it is an honor to be at the table of God and they do not demand a place but know that it is a treat to be there. Being shy to kids is like being humble to adults. Humility at the table of God? Great idea. 8. Laugh. Partaking in the banquet of God is a joyful event! Smile, laugh and if you need to, put a rubber crocodile on your head and make the pastor laugh with you. 9. Express thanks. One thumbs up at the meal is something, but two thumbs up is great. 10. Save some for later. Putting bread into your pocket seems like a reasonable way to take Christ into the world. Update: Thank you for reading and for commenting on this little post. Needless to say I have never had this volume of response to anything that I have ever written. The number of people I read who shared their own lesson they have learned from children have been inspiring and smile inducing. Thank you. Also thank you to everyone who commented on the grammatical errors. I need to be better at editing posts. And, the irony is not lost on me as today is National Proofreading Day. Finally, may you all have a Holy Lent and may Christ continue to embody us all to Be the Change. Peace.

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10 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Arminianism - OnFaith

Do Arminians and Calvinists actually disagree as much as we think?

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Presentations on Faith & Evolution

Ard Louis (Professor of Biophysics at Oxford University) gave an excellent talk “Randomness and Other Metaphors in the Theory of Evolution.”  My personal favorite.

http://youtu.be/KPaICAFgS04

John Walton (Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College) gave an concise and entertaining talk summarizing his most recent work on the question of Adam “Investigating What the Bible Claims Concerning Adam and Eve.

http://youtu.be/NAoZ7wbGur0

Scot McKnight (Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary) spoke on “Adam and the Scientists.” Also an excellent talk and very thought-provoking, although more academic than for a general audience.

http://youtu.be/FaSH27HsmQ4

Ted Davis (Professor of  the History of Science at Messiah College) gave a fascinating overview of the history of the science and faith discussion: “The Bible and Biology: How Did We Get Here?“

http://youtu.be/Dqh1c2ELOqo

Oliver Crisp (Professor of Systematic Theology at Fuller Seminary) gave an academic talk on the problem of sin: “A Moderate Reformed Doctrine of Original Sin.”

http://youtu.be/fXAmUsy3Fko

Rev. Leonard Vander Zee gave a pastor’s perspective in a talk entitled “From Stardust to the New Jerusalem”  This talk ended with powerful retelling of the story.

http://youtu.be/JhUaqvBksE4

source: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2015/08/18/videos-galore-on-evolution-and-christian-faith-rjs/

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A New Generation Grows Up with Facebook

“Social media makes it extraordinarily easy to join crusades, express solidarity and outrage, and shun traitors. Facebook was founded in 2004, and since 2006 it has allowed children as young as 13 to join. This means that the first wave of students who spent all their teen years using Facebook reached college in 2011, and graduated from college only this year.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/

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Here is a list of serious work that defends the personhood and rights of unborn children.

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Source: http://therenegadepharmacist.com/what-happens-one-hour-after-drinking-a-can-of-coke/

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Larry Hurtado on Early Christian Studies

“Now, granted, in and after the fourth century AD the extant Christian texts and other data (church buildings, art, sarcophagi, jewels, elegant manuscripts, etc.) multiply considerably. But I wonder if this perhaps makes it more difficult for scholars to recognize adequately what we do have from the earlier period. If you come to the second century, with training and previous focus on the post-Constantinian period, does this make you too aware of what seems missing, and less able to appreciate what is there in its own terms?”

-https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/early-christianity-a-plea-and-a-modest-programme/

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Miroslav Volf on Anglicanism

“I first encountered Anglicanism practically when I arrived in the US to study, and was soon in flight from bad preaching. In Protestant churches of whatever stripe, it was hard for me to find good preaching. And by ‘good preaching’, I don’t necessarily mean rhetorically polished preaching, though that’s wonderful, or intellectually challenging preaching, though that’s even better. I simply mean the kind of preaching that has the nerve to be unabashedly and joyfully Christian, rather than an ersatz version of something else, such as psychology or sociology, or some common-sense wisdom gleaned from ubiquitous self-help books. Equally unsatisfying, I’ve found many 'conservative’ churches that have retreated into fortresses built with the hard stone of rigid orthodoxy and lost Jesus Christ in the process. The Book of Common Prayer has been a great refuge for me. If the rector delivers a good sermon, I’m very happy. But if the sermon is disappointing, at least I have access to the genuine content of the Christian gospel expressed in the beautiful cadences of Renaissance prose.”

-Miroslav Volf (via wesleyhill)

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I’ve always loved movies about dinosaurs. This one time I made my wife watch “Walking with Dinosaurs” with me. I loved it. Her—not so much.

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The Mystery of ISIS

“Nothing since the triumph of the Vandals in Roman North Africa has seemed so sudden, incomprehensible, and difficult to reverse as the rise of ISIS. None of our analysts, soldiers, diplomats, intelligence officers, politicians, or journalists has yet produced an explanation rich enough—even in hindsight—to have predicted the movement’s rise.”

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/aug/13/mystery-isis/

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St. Isaac the Syrian on Working Out

“Whoever does not voluntarily withdraw himself from the causes of the passions is involuntarily drawn away by sin. These are the causes of sin: wine, women, riches, and robust health of body.” (“On Keeping Oneself Remote From the World and From All Things that Disquiet the Intellect”)

If only I had the Spirit’s granting to heed his perspective! ;)

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Wesley Hill on Eunuchs Who Are So Not by Choice

http://wesleyhill.tumblr.com/post/124253199231/according-to-my-reading-of-the-gospels-jesus

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The Altogether Christian

“May we all thus experience what it is to be, not almost only; but altogether Christians; being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus; knowing we have peace with God through Jesus Christ; rejoicing in hope of the glory of God; and having the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost given unto us!”

John Wesley, “The Almost Christian”