524 results for tag: blog

One Thing Is Needed – Lazar Puhalo

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10:42. Christians need to regularly examine whether we have mere religion, or are rather struggling to have a life in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is the true goal of our Christian life.  Perhaps we might consider spending less energy trying to judge and condemn and correct others and focus far more on the condition of our own spiritual lives. It seems to me that the myth of a "holy nation" (i.e., one in which extreme political repression forces people to externally observe what one or another religious group ...

The Story of Jonah: Dare we hate those whom God loves? – Lazar Puhalo

Coptic Icon of Jonah The story of Jonah presents a quandary. The history of Nineveh and the Assyrians is well known and documented. The Assyrians left their own records and the nations around them had much to say of them. They were hated by all and proud of it. Nineveh, however, never accepted the God of Israel and certainly never repented "in sackcloth and ashes." So what is the story of Jonah about? This story unfolds at a time when Judah and Israel had become particularist. They were turned in on themselves and not even attempting to engage other nations with the worship of the true and living God. Indeed, the population of the two ...

Jesus as Scapegoat – Richard Rohr

Christianity Without the Religion All the great religions of the world talk a lot about death, so there must be an essential lesson to be learned here. But throughout much of religious history our emphasis has been on killing the wrong thing and avoiding the truth: it’s you who has to die, or rather, who you think you are—your false self. It's never someone else! Historically we moved from human sacrifice to animal sacrifice to various modes of seeming self-sacrifice, usually involving the body. For many religions, including immature Christianity, God was distant and scary, an angry deity who must be placated. God ...

The Wrath of God – Nuanced as Divine Consent – Brad Jersak

A pastor-friend of mine from America was telling me about how one of his pristine elderly congregants was lamenting news of the latest death of their troops in the Middle East. This precious Christian lady said, “Our boys are over there getting killed by the people they are trying to help. Maybe we need another Hiroshima.” Why do we go there? My best answer: the language of wrath is an expression of our felt-need for God to straighten out the ‘bent-ness’ of injustice in our world. Even those who don’t profess faith find themselves looking over their shoulder when tragedy strikes. “What did I do to deserve this?” We find ourselves ...