So forgiveness pre-requires understanding the mistakes of the past? here hear re this opposing this me-first, America-first, white-first, male-first approach>…
Weekly lessons in theology and public life • Since 2011
Tag: love
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Lesson 17: Faith, Hope, and Love In Decision Making
Read MORE: Lesson 17: Faith, Hope, and Love In Decision MakingIt’s fine to speak of Christianity being unconditional love all the way down. It’s exhilarating to read St. Isaac of Syria write of even Hell being filled with God’s love. However, it is frustrating when various Christian groups totally disagree…
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Lesson 14: Truth
Read MORE: Lesson 14: TruthJohn’s Passion primarily involves two long conversations, one at the Last the Supper (14-18) and the second in Pilate’s chambers (18:28-19:16). Together these make up 6 of his 21 chapters. Obviously, they are important. The first begins with Jesus’ proclaiming,…
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God’s Beloved: Epiphany 3a
Read MORE: God’s Beloved: Epiphany 3aThis is a very special day for me. In November 1999, I began to feel ill in the middle of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In four days, I had heart bypass surgery. For the first time in my life, I faced…
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Wise Men Search for the Baby: Epiphany
Read MORE: Wise Men Search for the Baby: EpiphanyEthiopian Orthodox Christians celebrate Jesus’ birth on Epiphany. Their equivalent of our Christmas Eve service sometimes involves the Wise Men’s search for the baby Jesus. In the dark of the night very tall, very black monks dress as the Magi.…
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Lesson 21: Conclusion
Read MORE: Lesson 21: ConclusionBob suggested another challenge to Christian Ethics might be that people who certainty. I got that all the time during my ministry. Many said they missed the old days when you were told what was right and what was wrong.…
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Lesson 17: John’s Christian Ethics
Read MORE: Lesson 17: John’s Christian EthicsYou could make a case that humanity’s greatest problem is fear. We do not follow Jesus, because we are afraid to let go of what we mistakenly think gives us security. Our authorities, even the best, work to keep us…
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Lesson 16: Paul’s Christian Ethics
Read MORE: Lesson 16: Paul’s Christian EthicsBob, Rita, and Derek all observed we do not base our lives entirely on what Jesus said in the Gospels, because we are sinners and live in a sinful world. From the very beginning, Christians understood this. They struggled with…
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Lesson 15: Forgiveness – A Way to Healthy Relationships
Read MORE: Lesson 15: Forgiveness – A Way to Healthy RelationshipsThere are two ways to understand forgiveness. The first focuses on it as a law that calls on us to repress our natural human instincts in order to do what God wants. It usually ends up either dividing people between…
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Lesson 30: How Does God Operate Through Words? Part 4
Read MORE: Lesson 30: How Does God Operate Through Words? Part 4Bob suggests we’ll always have false prophets, because we’ll always have people looking for religious interpretations that support their preconceived ideas and prejudices. I think we are bound to have more, because of the way modern media uses words. We…
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Lesson 7: Sin in the Gospels
Read MORE: Lesson 7: Sin in the GospelsJesus like the prophets sees sin as injustice. The similarity is obvious when he describes the Last and Ultimate Judgment based on giving food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger and clothing the naked, caring…
Recent Comments
An extremely timely topic. Thanks, Fritz!
yes we need to forgive our leaders yet make sure they do the right thing – which they aren’t.