Reflecting upon the Acts of the Apostles during paschaltide is an examination of conscience to see if we are loyal to the characteristics of our first-generation Christian ancestors.
If we’re lucky, we have attractive models today who base their daily lives on the gospel and the paradigm of the Acts of the Apostles.
We here in the archdiocese are indeed so fortunate, as we enjoy friendship with such a remarkable community, the Bruderhof.
And, these Easter days, we are particularly united with them as they commend their Senior Elder, Pastor Johann Christoph Arnold, to eternity.
Source: Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan - "Radical Discipleship Lived in Our Midst", Catholic New York, 27 April 2017, http://www.cny.org/stories/radical-discipleship-lived-in-our-midst,15453
Harder In Practice Than Theory
Forgiveness is harder in practice than in theory.
Authentic forgiveness is a hard business, as any crime and justice reporter trying to fashion an article on the topic will confirm.
The exceptional instance of a victim truly forgiving a criminal is tough to find and then evaluate by conventional journalistic standards. And even those opportunities come along only a few times in a reporter’s career.
Source: Mark Morris - "Forgiveness is Harder in Practice than in Theory," Mark Morris, The Kansas City Star, 1 March 2015, http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/local-columnists/article11877386.html#storylink=cpy
Jemar Tisby
First, I believe in the church. I will not break fellowship with her or any of her people based on politics. Jesus Christ himself prayed for the unity of believers. “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:11b). Christ wants his church to be unified, so it is in the name of Christian unity that I must speak honestly.
Source: Jemar Tisby - "Trump's Election and Feeling 'Safe' in White Evangelical Churches", Reformed African American Network, 18 Nov 2016, https://www.raanetwork.org/trumps-election-feeling-safe-white-evangelical-churches/
I Had Failed
I started asking God for a repentant heart. And God, who answers prayer, responded. Shipwrecked on the rocks of a difficult relationship, I had to face reality. I had failed. I was incapable of truly loving someone who made life hard for me. God convicted me of my sin and gave me a contrite heart.
Source: M. Basilea Schlink - Repentance: The Joy-Filled Life, p. 16
John Armstrong
I am convinced that some Christians, and a growing number of congregations, are experiencing something previously unknown in American church history: Catholics and Protestants are learning to interact with one another in gracious ways. They are forming friendships not possible before. Even within the Eastern Orthodox Church, a church that very few Americans understand, similar relationships are forming, though on a vastly smaller scale. Thus there are people in all three of the great Christian traditions who are actually learning how to love one another. They are finding out that what unites them is greater than what divides them. I believe this has to be the work of God's Spirit.
Source: John Armstrong - Your Church is Too Small, p. 23
We Are One Body
What kind of churches do we at Theopolis dream of? Churches like these:
....
Protestants who recognize that they are already members of a Church where some venerate icons, some believe in transubstantiation, some slaughter peaceful Muslim neighbors, some believe in papal infallibility and Mary’s immaculate conception. For we are one body.
Source: Peter Leithart - Theopolis Institute blog, "Reformational Catholicism, A Wish List", 20 October 2016, https://theopolisinstitute.com/reformational-catholicism-a-wish-list/
An Evangelical Honoring the Catholic & Orthodox Churches
The book is catholic in the sense that it respects the beliefs and practices of the historic churches. Truths about the Spirit are scattered throughout segments of a divided church and ought to be gathered from anywhere and everywhere. We are bound in the Spirit to believers of every continent and every century. Therefore I have dipped into the treasures of Catholic and Orthodox traditions in ways that I had not done before and have found affinities that surprised and delighted me.
Source: Clark H. Pinnock - Introduction to "Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit", p. 18
John Dawson
Go Global
Why not be part of something big? Remember the wounds of the world we discussed in chapter three? You can be part of the answer. During the writing of this journey I took a prayer journey … [Stories from Spanish prayer journey, including the council of Elvira with the 1st anti-semitic decrees by Christian leaders] ... This prayer journey was just the beginning of the "Gates of Iberia" initiative, which in turn is part of a worldwide initiative towards healing the foundational rift between Jew and Gentile in the church, stemming from 140 A.D. A reconciliation movement has already been launched in Spain, which, while focused on messianic Jews, is already having a profound effect on relationships between Catholic and Protestant. There will be many more catalyst events and prayer journeys in Spain and throughout the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world. This will undergird Christian repentance proclamations to the general Jewish communities. You could be a part of something like this. ... Get connected, join an initiative, be a part of the answer to the prayer of Jesus: "I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved me." (John 17:23 NIV)
Source: John Dawson - What Every Christian Should Know About Reconciliation, pp. 52-54
Nate Bacon
I am convinced that the deep collective wounds of Canada, the US, Guatemala, and indeed all of the Americas, cannot be healed without humbly looking into our sordid past, and seeking sincere and life-transfiguring reconciliation with the African-American community, and with the Native Peoples of our continents.
Source: Nate Bacon - Ministry newsletter on 1 Sept 2017
A Breach in the Church in Scotland
It is an interesting question discussed by historians whether the Scottish Reformation could have been avoided. The most plausible answer seems to be “no,” given the condition of the late medieval/early modern Church, and the political ambitions and avarice of the nobility. What is slowly coming to be recognized, however, is that it represented not only a ‘disruption,' as was later suffered in the 19th century within the Kirk itself, but a breach that has weakened Christianity in the country and is now leading to the death of the reformed part of it.
Source: John Haldane - A Tale of Two Cities - And of Two Churches, First Things, 23 Oct 2015, https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/10/a-tale-of-two-citiesand-of-two-churches
Austin Callaway's Descendants
Callaway's descendants, who only learned about him recently, welcomed the occasion as a chance to right wrongs and bring about healing in the community.
Deborah Tatum, whose grandfather was the brother of Callaway's father, learned his name and his story in 2014 while researching genealogy. She was surprised to learn about the terrible secret but could understand why her relatives may have kept it hidden.
Source: Emanuella Grinberg, CNN - "'Justice failed Austin Callaway': Town attempts to atone for 1940 lynching", Emanuella Grinberg, CNN, 28 Jan 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/26/us/lagrange-georgia-callaway-1940-lynching/index.html
Pray By Name For ...
I heard another great prayer idea by Southern Baptist Pastor Dean Anderson from Trenton, KY. He offers this advice: "Pray by name for the other churches in town." Here is an example of how he does this: "I pray that the Father will bless them, use them and grow them to build His Kingdom." This can be added to your individual and community prayer intentions.
Source: Dean Anderson - Southern Baptist Pastor from Trenton, KY, as quoted by Frank Lesko, "The Traveling Ecumenist", in his blog post "Lenten Practices for Christian Unity", 17 February 2015, http://travelingecumenist.blogspot.com/2015/02/lenten-practices-for-christian-unity.html
The Roots of What Happened in Nazi Germany
"Trembling, I realized that if I looked into my own heart I could find seeds of hatred there, too. Arrogant thoughts, feelings of irritation toward others, coldness, anger, envy, indifference - these are the roots of what happened in Nazi Germany. And they are there in every human being. As I recognized - more clearly than ever before - that I myself stood in desperate need of forgiveness, I was able to forgive, and finally I felt completely free." -- Hela Erlich, Holocaust survivor
Source: Johann Christoph Arnold - Why Forgive?, pp.36
Catholics & Lutherans
The Catholic and Lutheran confessions have in the course of history defined themselves against one another and suffered the one-sidedness that has persisted until today when they grapple with certain problems, such as that of authority. Since the problems originated from the conflict with each other, they can only be solved or at least addressed through common efforts to deepen and strengthen their communion. Catholics and Lutherans need each other's experience, encouragement and critique.
Source: Lutheran - Roman Catholic Commission on Unity - Conflict to Communion: Report of the Lutheran - Roman Catholic Commission on Unity, p. 87
Daughters of a Murder Victim
In the interview that was conducted before Stephens' death, Cooper asked the sisters if they had a message for him.
"I would say turn yourself in, that would be No. 1," Debbie Godwin said.
"I mean because although I do believe in forgiveness, I do believe in the law, meaning, when you break the law, there's a penalty for breaking the law. And this man broke the law by taking my father's life."
For two days, authorities scrambled to find Stephens in a nationwide hunt.
"I believe that God would give me the grace to even embrace this man. And hug him ...," Godwin said. "I just would want him to know that even in his worst state, he's loved, you know, by God, that God loves him, even in the bad stuff that he did to my dad."
Source: Melissa Mahtani - "Cleveland victim's family: We forgive killer", CNN, 18 April 2017
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/18/us/cleveland-victims-family-we-forgive-killer-cnntv/index.html
Traci Vanderbush & Thomas Cogdell
ORIGINAL POST BY TRACI VANDERBUSH:
Last night, I found myself on my knees, overwhelmed with a sense of a collective, heavenly cry. I physically felt the weight of it pressing me to kneel, and to join in with that cry.
You know that oft-repeated question before the holidays, "What do you want for Christmas?" This past year I've often felt like apologizing to Jesus because He is yet to get what He prayed for long, long ago when He prayed in John 17 for our oneness. He said, "So that the world may know that You sent Me." He told us, "I am in the Father. You are in Me. And I am in you" (John 14:20). What mind-boggling oneness!
Much of Christian America has elevated the inferior realm above the superior realm. We have shut off ears to hear the hearts of brothers and sisters around us, and we bicker, quick to give our opinions. All the while, heaven cries out for our oneness. Jesus asked for our oneness. "So that the world may know...." Do you want the world to know who He is?
So I knelt last night, hearing a collective cry of, "Father, hold me!" Cries from all over the world joined with the cry of heaven for unity. The whole world will never know who He is until we put Him on display...not with signs, not with programs, not with selfish agendas, not by our political stance, but by being in Him, walking more aware of His realm, the way He walked..."he went around doing good...releasing captives and prisoners and healing all who were oppressed." Thankfully, many, many people are doing that today. I marvel over friends of mine who risk their lives daily to feed, rescue, and extend the hands of Love to humanity. THAT is how the world will know.
RESPONSE BY THOMAS COGDELL:
George Miley once said, "Is it conceivable that the Father's answer to His Son's prayer before the cross will be ... 'No'?" This should encourage you, Traci, that we WILL be one, as the Father and the Son are one. The question is, as you so beautifully put it ... "How long?". Usually it's us crying out "How long, O Lord?" but in this case perhaps Jesus is crying out to us, "How long, O Church?" ... and we turn a deaf ear because we're so busy with the other things we think He cares about. This is a matter worthy of contemplation, grieving, and repentance ...
Source: Traci Vanderbush - Posted on FB 27 Jan 2017
We are Not in Proximity
In the aftermath of Trayvon Martin’s death, I realized that the reason we have such division [in the church and elsewhere] is because people are not in relationship with one another. We’re not in proximity. When you don’t have friendships, you assume things about people who are different than you culturally. You won’t have empathy, because you don’t know anyone who looks like that, or anyone that worships that way, or anyone that dresses that way.
Source: Latasha Morrison - As quoted in Christianity Today, "Latasha Morrison: The Church Is the ‘Only Place Equipped to Do Racial Reconciliation Well’", interview by Morgan Lee, January 2017, http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2017/january/latasha-morrison-church-is-only-place-equipped-to-do.html
At the Core of Salvation
Paul here was writing to those who had already put their faith in Christ, yet were now estranged from him and his companions who were carrying the message of the Gospel. This fragmented relationship gave way to a disconnect from God's purposes towards them. To be estranged from God's ambassadors and community was to be estranged from God himself. Alternatively, to be reconciled to them was to be reconciled in Christ to God.
There is an urgency in Paul which invites his pleading with this fragmented community. Reconciliation and unity are not subsidiary realities to the Gospel, but at the core of salvation and what it means to be the church. If God was in Christ to reconcile the world to himself, and he is now in the church, then he must be at work within the church to reconcile men one to another.
God continues to work to reconcile the community of the redeemed and the church is still his chosen method in revealing himself. The message of salvation is incapable of being disconnected from its incarnation in the community of Christ. As Christ works through to us to plead to the world, he is also at work among us in a similar way with the plea, 'be reconciled to God,' and with it, 'be reconciled with each other.’
Source: A2J Community - Apprenticeship to Jesus Community, Phoenix, Blog Post "Unity Week Devotion - Day 5", 22 Jan 2016, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/unity-week-devotion-day-5
Madeleine L’Engle
How often we children have been unwilling: unwilling to listen to each other, unwilling to hear words we do not expect. But on that first Pentecost the Holy Spirit truly called the people together in understanding and forgiveness and utter, wondrous joy. The early Christians, then, were known by how they loved one another. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people could say that of us again? Not an exclusive love, shutting out the rest of the world, but love so powerful, so brilliant, so aflame that it lights the entire planet – nay, the entire universe!
Source: Madeleine L’Engle - As quoted by John Armstrong on the Costly Love FB page, 24 May 2017
The Will Of God Is Clear
The church in its 2000 year history has done much to make vain the grace of God within it by its splintered fellowship and the discord found between those who confess the reconciling truth of the Gospel in Christ. It has forgotten that its working together is a working with the one who expresses his love in service, humility and sacrifice. This appeal to remember God's favor and working is now an appeal through the Spirit to us, reminding us that God is once more a deliverer and is capable of bringing his saving power to our disunity and divisions.
Much time is spent speculating on the circumstantial will of God and how we are to use our time. We can become mired in our inability to know how and in what way the Lord is leading us. In situations like this though the will of God is clear. Now is the time of God's favor, the time of healing and reconciliation, where once more his grace finds its fullness in us, those who are working together with him in his salvation.
Source: A2J Community - Apprenticeship to Jesus Community, Phoenix, Blog Post "Unity Week Devotion - Day7", 23 Jan 2016, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/unity-week-devotion-day-7