Understanding Spirituality and Culture through Christ
In Christian living, when our goals do not pan out the way we want it to, how we respond to that shows our true colors and we know if we are being Iago or not. Our response when facing disappointments brings up the question of whether in spite of God not meeting what we deem to be our minimalist goals, we will still follow God.
Read Moreprayer gives us union with Christ, the greatest gift. In union with Christ we can face any reality. Without union with Christ we cannot face any reality. Without union with Christ we can do nothing.
Read MoreInside Out is a brilliantly written deeply moving story that shows why knowing how to grieve is important for healthy living. Inside Out takes an inside out view of the human psyche to show that if we do not know how to make grief into a shared loving experience, we will loose our ability to be human.
Read MoreWhen St. Augustine says "weight moving me is love", he means that if his love is heavy like earth then it will be stuck in the materialism of this world. On the other hand when one's love is light like the fire, it will raise up towards the Heavens where God resides.
Read MoreHow can a 'banana republic', which serves the interest of the rich and powerful, become a democratic republic, which serves the interests of the 'least of these'? The answer: by forming Christ-like, self-giving Christian Leaders in the community, which is the work Micah Project is incarnationally involved in at Honduras.
Read MorePrayer is not extra security that is added so that the Christian, who is already formed by other means, stays safe. Prayer IS the furnace where the Christian is cleansed and forged for God's great purpose. Prayer makes the Christian into who he/she is. In as much as we miss this, we miss what prayer is about.
Read MoreSometimes, the Holy Spirit channels a bit of Jerry Maguire in the life of the Christian, so to speak. He is there as the 'Helper' who wants to see us become the great Child of God, but in order to do that, He has to help us by convicting us of our sins - by helping us break away fom the prison of our own pride, ambitions and dreams.
Read MoreWe leave the obsessiveness and anxiety of finite time that culminates in ending and death, and enter into eternity.
Read MoreThe willingness to suffer is a prerequisite for any enterprise to be successful. Pain avoidance is a bad strategy. People who are unwilling to suffer cannot participate in a purpose bigger than them selves. In the case of Tony Soprano, the bigger purpose was Tony's own glory. In the case of the Christian, the bigger purpose is the Kingdom of God.
Read MoreBonehoeffer, "...(God) responds to sincere prayer and responsible actions." Jesus in His humanity had prayer and obedience as his primary values was He walked through suffering (Heb 5:7-8). If we are to be conformed to His image, our values should be His - Sincere Prayer and Responsible (obedient) action.
Read MoreAfter 10 years of working in the Software field, here I, on my last day of work am looking back with happy contentment and looking forward with an anxious excitement! Looking back to the cherished times I enjoyed working in the twilight zone between human beings and technology. Looking forward to the adventurous journey of going to Seminary to pursue my call to become a Theologian, Writer and Preacher, where I will navigate through the world of timeless ideas to bring new meaning into the lives of people.
Read MoreWhen I was a kid, Robin Williams was enough to make me happy and hopeful for more happiness. Now that I have grown and become more aware of the cynical hopeless of life, my need for wonder and hunger for hope to compensate for the 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short' life has grown such that I need more than a phenomenally talented Robin William, I need a powerful and loving, transcended and immanent God to make my happy.
Read MoreI pray to God that, my demented self, which remembers the vain trivia of this world but forgets the Lord would be turned to the dementia of the other kind, the blessed one, like that of this lady of old faith, which forgets the vain things of the world, but as the Philosopher of 'vanity of vanities' commends, "remembers the Lord".
Read MoreI could not have dreamt of a day when I would use a romantic Disney movie to exemplify the sort of 1 Corinthians 13 'real love' that St. Paul talks about - the real one that isn't about 'having it easy', but about moving mountains, albiet thorough pain and suffering.
Read MoreIf there isn't a big purpose that is captivating us, we will likely be lost in one of two realms. We would either be lost in a flurry of activity bouncing about from one whim to another or in the realm of inactivity callously slipping into a depression. Both of which makes man less human.
Read MoreThere is type of idolatry attributed upon 'Pastor Marc Driscoll' by the lay Christians in the Evangelical circles. It is of a very subtle kind that is difficult to see it except in some egregious circumstances. Lo and behold, we just hit on one such circumstance.
Read MoreIn the depths of deep despair, when we appear to be lost tumbling about in void without a sense of orientation of who we are and what we are to do, we will do ourselves a favor by reminding ourselves of the our true place in the BIG Story of redemption that God is writing.
Read MoreEvangelical Christians, as is normally the case, have rightly diagnosed the problem of obsessive demonology, but unfortunately the strategy evangelicals appear to be pursuing, of running a million miles in the opposite direction, suffers from the mistake exchanging simplicity for a complex all encompassing worldview.
Read MoreAll that is gold does not glitter; Not all those who wander are lost... These words speak powerfully to the Christian living in the human condition. In life, everybody wanders. We never stay in one place. The question really is, are we wandering towards a destiny or are we truly lost.
Read MoreChrist did not just say 'let him that has ears hear', He also said, 'let him that has eyes SEE'. What do we Christians have to show? Nothing much really, not so much in terms of our sacrificial Christ-like lives, not so much in terms of our symbols/arts either. We mostly spout out some hot air as the monk in Monty Python and the Holy Grail does when he preps to bless the 'holy grenade' which will kill a rabbit
Read More