Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
An update: I’ll be posting a separate blog every other weekend on www.cordeo.org.uk in a sharing of responsibilities with Peter Mead in our Cor Deo mentoring initiative. His first post is already available on that site and invites a visit! My first post there is set for next Sunday. Now let’s turn to today’s concern. What drives us? Are …
Read More Love and PowerMost people have never heard of Joachim of Fiore (c. 1135-1202). Yet his voice was notable in a Christian tradition that still has echoes today. He was a mystic and monk who claimed that God intended to work in human history in three stages. The first stage was the age of the Father, that is, the Old …
Read More Joachim’s Notions“Now,” the pastor implored us as he completed his sermon, “in light of what we’ve seen in 2 Timothy 3:16 this morning, I challenge each of you to equip yourselves for life and ministry! God commands us to be obedient and to glorify him through our obedience so I’m asking each of you to spend …
Read More Bible Reading AdviceI spent two years in a locked psychiatric unit during my days at seminary. As a part-time “psych tech” in a secular hospital my role was to support the nursing staff in patient care. The real life of most of our patients was often heart-breaking: in some measure all were broken and hurting. We did …
Read More God in Real LifeLater this week I’ll speak to a group with the task of comparing a “Trinitarian” to a “non-Trinitarian” understanding of God. It’s an important topic; and I probably should have launched the Spreading Goodness site with this question since it stands behind much of what we’ve offered here since beginning. On the other hand it’s …
Read More The Trinity and TrinitarianismOn Friday I read a news release by HealthDay News that cited a study of American college students over the past three decades. It found less empathy among students today than in the recent past. “We found the biggest drop in empathy after the year 2000,” co-author Sara Konrath, a researcher at the University of …
Read More Looking for CompassionYesterday I watched a miracle take place. It was God’s work of taking two people and making them one. The wedding was one part of the event. The consummation of the marriage, in the privacy of the honeymoon suite, will have followed. Then in the communion of life that will unfold in days and years …
Read More A WeddingYears ago I read a thought-provoking article by Heiko Oberman: “Calvin’s Critique of Calvinism” [in The Dawn of the Reformation, ch. 11, see p. 265]. There he noted Lucien Richard’s The Spirituality of John Calvin that demonstrated that Calvin turned from a spirituality of devotio (spiritual devotion) to a spirituality of pietas (spiritual piety). Devotio …
Read More Two TraditionsLast week I wrote of the importance of the Word. This week we take up prayer—the spontaneous complement to Bible reading. As I noted once before, the two go together. God offers his heart in the Scriptures and we share our hearts, in return, through our prayers. As in any conversation each party must have …
Read More PrayerSometimes we hear reports of what others say about us. That happened a few years ago when a friend passed along what a noted ministry leader said about me: “The trouble with Ron is that he always rides the same pony.” What was the pony? “He’s fixated on Bible reading.” My response? Wow! Please put …
Read More The Word