Christian claim #7: “We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” I have long appreciated this fascinating quote from Reinhold Niebuhr: Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must…
Christian claim #6: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified.” The God of all grace, who rescued us–in Christ Jesus–even when we had nothing to offer him, calls us to a way of life that is patterned after…
Christian claim #5: “Who for us and for our salvation came down, was incarnate, and was made man; He suffered and the third day he rose again, and ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of the Father.” On May 12, 2013, Maya Angelou appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show. The award-winning American poet sat opposite Oprah…
Christian claim #4: “I believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, very God of very God, who for us came down from heaven and was incarnate.” Linda Ellis tells us that the most important element on any tombstone is the dash. “It matters not how much we own, the cars…the house…the cash. What matters is how we live and love, and…
Christian claim #3: “For us and for our salvation he became man, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” Dying to Live In the early morning hours of September 2, 1666, fire broke out in the city of London. The source of the fire was the King’s own bakery, oddly enough, on Pudding Lane. It could not…
Christian claim #2: “I believe in the forgiveness of sins” Houston…We Have A Problem! We have a problem. And how we deal with the problem is, well…problematic. On the one hand, we all sense deep down in our bones that something is wrong. The psychiatrist Carl Jung’s theorised that deep in our bones we are fractured and are in search…
“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other” (John 13:35 MSG). In 1968, Peter Scholtes was serving as a priest for St. Brendan’s, on the southside of…
In 1555, at the end of Broad street just outside the gates of Balliol College, Oxford, three leaders in the Church of England were burned at the stake. 300 years later, the city of Oxford offered a rather public apology when they constructed a monument “in grateful commemoration” of the three martyrs for “bearing witness to the sacred truths which…
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is…
“Two things can save the world, thought and prayer; but the trouble is the people who think don’t pray, and the people who pray don’t think.” – Bruce Marshall, Satan and Cardinal Campbell “ARE THERE NO SINS OF INTELLECT?” Some people are naturally curious–always skeptical, inquisitive, and probing. Others seem not so burdened. There is nothing inherently virtuous or vicious…