I have been enjoying the wonderful reflections of my friend Rev. Frank Showers. I met Frank when he came to speak at our community Valley Mosaic. He is a spiritual adviser and Lutheran Minister and currently resides in Chicago Illinois with his son. Here is one of Frank’s latest email reflections. Feel free to contact…
Category
Christianity
A Story About A Hermit
Throughout the month of October I have been attending a wonderful lecture series organized by Holy Cross Orthodox Church here in Williamsport. I’ve never really been exposed to the Orthodox expression of faith before but have always been an admirer of it’s long rich tradition. Interestingly, I just finished reading Scott McKnight’s blog post on …
Higher Education: Who Needs It?
My friend Michael and I were talking a bit about education the other night. He posted some thoughts on a book he read by Robert Adams that asks if art can indeed be taught in a college/academic setting. As far as teaching art goes, I tended to agree with this quote from Adams: “Can Photography…
Get Busy Livin’ or Get Busy Dyin’
I led a discussion at Valley Mosaic tonight. We had some great meaingful discussion I thought. I talked about John 5:1-8, where Jesus encounters a crippled man on his way to Jeruselem at the pool of Bethesda. This is such a great story with many layers. I’ve been really interested in the Gospel of John…
Are We All Institutionalized?
Sometimes our pain and suffering can become comfortable to us. Sometimes, if we’ve suffered for a long time, we can’t imagine what it would be like to not suffer. We secretly hold on to our pain, it becomes part of our identity, part of who we are. But somewhere, deep down, we seem to intrinsically…
A Few Reasons Why I Don’t Drink
I read Jason Boyett’s post/article about alcohol over at Relevant Magazine recently. Jason writes a thoughtful and articulate article about the legalism and fear found on both sides of the [Christian] alcohol debate. I have been meaning to express my feelings on this subject for quite a while and Jason’s article has given me the…
Social Justic vs. Divine Justice
That biblical vision of a world-for-all did not come from our modern ideas of democratic power or our contemporary claims about human or civil rights. It did not come from liberalism, socialism, or communism. In recognizing its challenge we are not retrojecting any of that modernity back onto antiquity. A world-for-all came, if one needs…
In case you didn’t know, faith and reason are NOT in conflict. | Art by Jordan Kasey
Albert Einstein once famously stated that “Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.” I for one agree with him completely. Religion and science, regardless of what you read about in the newspapers as it relates to these conflicts, can very much co-exist quite well. The above quote comes from Dr. Thomas Plante’s…
Blest Be the Tie that Binds: A Sad Post
We share our mutual woes, Our mutual burdens bear, And often for each other flows The sympathizing tear. When here our pathways part, We suffer bitter pain; Yet, one in Christ and one in heart, We hope to meet again. This post is in memory of an honorable man who will be missed by many….
Much Fear and Trembling
What Luther discovered, which we too often hide from, is the theological and existential discovery that God is crucified, that the monster takes God, that death and separation destroy God. And this is not to be celebrated, but despaired. Just like Paul, we are in much fear and trembling. For Luther, like Nietzsche, God is…