However, this doesn't happen in the pulpit. For Jernigan and his family, ground zero of the fight against sin begins in their living room.
"Even to this day, my wife and I (host a) meeting every Wednesday night where people can come," Jernigan says. "It's just like Vegas: what happens in the living room, stays in the living room. People feel safe."
If believers genuinely want to change the culture, here's where the rubber meets the road, Jernigan says: "What if every believer in America saw their home and family as a conduit of healing? We'd change the culture overnight.
"Stop expecting church, church leadership to minister to people we're involved with. Never once did we go to barn to get the harvest, but we went to the field. ... We are all as new creations called to be ministers of reconciliation."
Source: Dennis Jernigan - Quoted by Jessilyn Justice in "Ex-Gay Songwriter Believes You May Be Born Gay, but It Doesn't Matter", Charisma Magazine, 2 Dec 2015, http://www.charismamag.com/life/culture/25004-ex-gay-songwriter-believes-you-may-be-born-gay-but-it-doesn-t-matter
Amy Cogdell
When I was younger, I used to believe that all the great Catholic Christians of history would have been Protestants if they had only had the opportunity or sound teaching. The more I read of their writing, the more I understand that they were truly Catholic with all the particular quirks of Catholic spirituality . Many of my favorite writers are from the Counter-Reformation and they spoke out strongly against the reformers. I often like to think of them in heaven, singing next to the Wesley brothers.
Source: Amy Cogdell - Personal correspondence
"The past shapes the present"
Callaway's lynching lived in whispers among African-Americans of that era. As they passed on, in the absence of official records, media accounts or a gravestone, Callaway faded from the town's collective memory.
Almost no one in LaGrange today knew Austin Callaway's name until recently -- not his descendants, not the local NAACP president, not the mayor, not even Police Chief Louis Dekmar.
As the chief learned more about the lynching, he came to understand how it strained relations between his force and the African-American community. He decided it was time to apologize for law enforcement's role and acknowledge its impact on community relations.
"The past shapes the present," he said in an interview before the event.
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
From Conflict to Communion
“The meeting in Lund stems from a process of dialogue spanning several decades,” said the Rev. Michael Bjerkhagen, official chaplain to the king of Sweden. “A milestone in this process was the document, ‘From Conflict to Communion,’ signed in 2013. In this document Lutherans and Catholics express sorrow and regret at the pain that they have caused each other, but also gratitude for the theological insights that both parties have contributed.”
Source: Catholic News Service - "Sorrow and joy: Marking the Reformation with honesty about the past", 28 October 2016, https://cnstopstories.com/2016/10/28/sorrow-and-joy-marking-the-reformation-with-honesty-about-the-past/
Early History of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
In 1913, the Faith and Order Commission of the Protestant Episcopal Church published a leaflet promoting prayer for unity on Whitsunday and in 1915 published a Manual of Prayer for Unity. The preparatory Conference on Faith and Order at Geneva in 1920 appealed for a special week of prayer for Christian unity ending with Whitsunday. Faith and Order continued to issue “Suggestions for an Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity” until 1941 when it changed the dates for its week to that of the January Octave. In this way, Christians, who for reasons of conscience, could not join with others in prayer services could share in united prayer at the same time. These various efforts while not attaining wide observance among the churches was to pave the way for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which came to be observed widely throughout Christendom.
Source: Rev. Thomas Orians, S.A. - "BACKGROUND: Brief History of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2017", by Rev. Thomas Orians, S.A., Associate Director of Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute, http://geii.org/week_of_prayer_for_christian_unity/background/brief_history.html
Pope's Message to Taizé Youth Gathering
Young Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic Christians, by these days lived in real fraternity you manifest your desire to be protagonists of history and not let others decide your future. The Pope encourages you to stand firm in hope by letting the Lord live in your hearts and your daily lives. With Jesus, the faithful friend who never disappoints, you will be able to walk along the path toward the future with joy and devote your talents and abilities for the good of all.
Source: Pope Francis - As quoted in "Pope sends message to Taizé youth gathering" by Vatican Radio, 27 Dec 2016, http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/12/27/pope_sends_message_to_taize_youth_gathering/1281913
Bergoglio & Cantalamessa
Long before he became pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was practising this “ecumenical ecumenism” in Buenos Aires, giving his support to huge joint Catholic-evangelical meetings in Luna Park stadium.
Two of them were attended by Cantalamessa, who was deeply impressed by the Archbishop of Buenos Aires’s extraordinary openness to the current of Grace. “I’ve never seen a bishop in front of an interconfessional audience declare, ‘this is the Church’,” he told me during a break on Thursday.
Source: Austen Ivereigh - "Jubilee in Rome highlights charismatic fruits in Francis’s Pentecost papacy", Crux, 3 June 2017, https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/06/03/jubilee-rome-highlights-charismatic-fruits-franciss-pentecost-papacy/
The Bishop of Gozo
Why did the Bishop of Gozo make this gesture? Here are a few thoughts:
1) Jesus prayed to the Father that Christians would be one in him and the Father is answering this prayer. (John 17)
2) There is a rising tide of Christians from all traditions whose passion is to offer themselves to see this prayer of Jesus become a growing reality in our day.
3) The Holy Spirit is breaking down barriers and opening up unimaginable possibilities.
4) This Bishop is simply following the example of Pope Francis.
Source: Ryan Thurman - "Signs of Hope: A Lenten Surprise", A2J Blog post on 2 March 2017, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/signs-of-hope-a-lenten-surprise
Pentecostal & Charismatic Movements
Paragraph 14 - For more than a hundred years, Pentecostal and other charismatic movements have become very widespread across the globe. These powerful movements have put forward new emphases that have made many of the old confessional controversies seem obsolete. The Pentecostal movement is present in many other churches in the form of the charismatic movement, creating new commonalities and communities across confessional boundaries. Thus, this movement opens up new ecumenical challenges that will play a significant role in the observance of the Reformation in 2017.
Source: Lutheran - Roman Catholic Commission on Unity - Conflict to Communion: Report of the Lutheran - Roman Catholic Commission on Unity, p. 14
Forgive ... and forget?
As Glenn's life (and countless others) shows, forgiving always involves the conscious decision to stop hating, because hating can never help. Contrary to the simplistic proverb "forgive and forget", however, it does not necessarily require forgetting. Who can cast off the memories of a childhood marked by abuse? and how can someone in a wheelchair possibly forget that he or she will never walk again? Nor does it need to involve confronting the perpetrator. In the case of sexual trauma, this is probably not even advisable. Still, for some people, a face to face reckoning may prove to be the only way forward.
Source: Johann Christoph Arnold - Why Forgive?, pp.9
Fr. Ruff
Father Frank [Ruff] said good relationships between denominations are a matter of the heart as well as the head.
“It is not enough to have formal agreements and scholarly statements,” he cautioned. “You have to bring the attitude of respect and cooperation with each other.”
Source: Fr. Frank Ruff - As quoted by Frank Lesko in "After the Fire", Posted 3 Jan 2017 on Glenmary Home Missioners, http://www.glenmary.org/after-the-fire/
Sincere Mistakes Rather Than Dishonest Rationalizations
I was never taught to hate Catholics, but to pity them and to fear their errors. I learned a serious concern for truth that to this day I find sadly missing in many Catholic circles. The typical Calvinist anti-Catholic attitude I knew was not so much prejudice, judgment with no concern for evidence, but judgment based on apparent and false evidence: sincere mistakes rather than dishonest rationalizations.
Source: Peter Kreeft - Hauled aboard the Ark, http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hauled-aboard.htm
http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hauled-aboard.htm
"Each one of us forgives the killer"
Tonya Godwin-Baines agreed with her sister about the need for forgiveness.
"The thing that I would take away the most from my father is he taught us about God ... how to fear God, how to love God, and how to forgive. Each one of us forgives the killer."
Her voice breaking, Godwin-Baines credited her faith with keeping her strong and helping her recognize others are grieving, too.
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
History of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
What were some of the important historical antecedents to this octave of prayer? Certainly in the 19th century, the desire for Christians to pray together was part of the spirit of the age among those alarmed by the divisions which weakened the power of Christian witness. In 1846, for instance, the Evangelical Alliance was established in London and had developed both international and inter-church connections. Ruth Rouse noted that it was “the one and only definitely ecumenical organization . . . which arose out of the Evangelical Awakening in the 19th century” (A History of the Ecumenical Movement: 1517-1948). The concept of unity espoused in their constitution was union among Christian individuals of different churches for renewal in the Spirit; they would not deal with the question of the reunion of churches. The Alliance set aside one week beginning on the first Sunday of the year, for united prayer by members of different churches to pray for renewal in the Spirit.
Source: Rev. Thomas Orians, S.A. - "BACKGROUND: Brief History of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2017", by Rev. Thomas Orians, S.A., Associate Director of Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute, http://geii.org/week_of_prayer_for_christian_unity/background/brief_history.html
Catholics & Evangelicals
Catholics are already copying Protestant techniques for generating enthusiasm in their children (there’s even a growing Catholic niche within Contemporary Christian Music), and evangelicals are tinkering with the model of Catholic education in their own Christian schools. More substantively, many Catholics appreciate the straightforward earnestness of evangelical devotion, while evangelicals are beginning to appropriate the spiritual exercises and theological precision developed in the Catholic tradition. This is possible only because Catholics and evangelicals both have a rich love for Christ, and want it to get richer.
Source: Daniel P. Moloney - As quoted in a First Things letter to the editor, https://www.firstthings.com/article/2001/03/peter-and-mary-together
Reveal a Wound
The extension of Pope Francis’ trip to Sweden by one day to accommodate a papal Mass for the nations’ Catholics does not detract from the ecumenical power of the trip, but actually highlights the need for Christian unity, said the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation.
Initially, Pope Francis had planned to make a day trip to Sweden Oct. 31 to take part in two ecumenical events launching a year of commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. But at the urging of local Catholics, the pope decided to spend the night and celebrate Mass Nov. 1 before returning to Rome.
The Rev. Martin Junge, general secretary of the LWF, told reporters at the Vatican Oct. 26 that the Lutherans fully understand the desire of Catholics in Sweden to have Mass with the pope and the pastoral responsibility of the pope to fulfill that request.
“Of course,” he said, “it is also going to reveal that we are not yet united; it is going to reveal a wound that remains there” since the divisions between Catholics and Lutherans mean that in general Eucharist sharing still is not possible.
While Rev. Junge and other Lutheran leaders have accepted an invitation to attend the Mass, the fact that they will not receive Communion “is going to be a strong encouragement to continue working toward unity,” he said.
Source: Catholic News Service - "Ecumenical papal trip will also show pain of division, Lutheran says", 27 Oct 2016, https://cnstopstories.com/2016/10/27/ecumenical-papal-trip-also-will-show-pain-of-division-lutheran-says/
"Can this really be?"
As I lay there in the nighttime, with the lights off … I saw how wrong I had been. I had been expecting Jesus to use me, as a Pentecostal, to shake the churches. I thought I would pound home the truth, tell them just where they were wrong, shake them in righteous indignation. But the Lord sais, no, that's not the way. "The revival will occur if you forgive. If you fight - nothing."
During that time the Lord sent me again and again into chapter 13 of the First Letter to the Corinthians, the most powerful words ever written about love. I read, and I prayed, and I thought. "Can this really be?"
Love is so important that it is beyond our understanding as ordinary human beings. It is more important than talking in tongues to God. More important than talking directly to God. It is more important than prophesying, than receiving a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom directly from God. It is more important than healing the sick, than moving mountains. "Can this really be?"
It is more important than selling all you have to feed the poor. It is more important than giving your life in the cause of social justice. It is more important than your devotional life, than your preaching ministry. All is meaningless without love. "Can this really be?"
In that room of green walls, white ceiling, bedsores, bedpans, and endless hours, the Lord spoke: "You must love those people you minister to. Don't ever minister to anyone unless you love him."
Source: David du Plessis - From "A Man Called Mr. Pentecost", as told to Bob Slosser, Ch. 18, p. 159
Simeon's Song
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”
Source: Bible - Luke 2:25-32
Johann Christoph Arnold
On Holy Saturday, April 15, the world lost a giant of the faith, Johann Christoph Arnold.
Christoph had served as a pastor of the Bruderhof Communities for 43 years, as Elder for 18 years, and as Senor Elder since 2001.
Christoph was a passionate leader and author of 12 books that sold millions, including Why Forgive? his most famous book. He always went right to the root of life’s problems - whether writing about marriage and family, racism, peacemaking, death and dying, forgiveness, faith, and moral purity.
I met Christoph in the most unlikely place for both of us: in Rome at the Vatican. Pope Francis had invited both of us as non-Catholics to speak on the biblical meaning of marriage at his Vatican conference on marriage and family.
Although I had already loved reading many of his books, meeting Christoph made me love him even more. His quiet humility, his contagious smile and laugh, his deep love for both Jesus and people, and his passion for peacemaking evidenced the true spirit of Christ. I look forward to long discussions with him in Heaven one day. I thank God for the life of Christoph Arnold.
Source: Rick Warren - Posted on FB 18 April 2017
The Ecumenism Of Blood
There is another ecumenism, which we must recognize and which is so timely today: the ecumenism of blood. When terrorists or world powers persecute Christian minorities or Christians, when they do this, they do not ask: But are you Lutheran? Are you Orthodox? Are you Catholic? Are you reformed? Are you Pentecostal? No. “You are Christian.” They recognize only one: the Christian. We are witnesses, and I am thinking, for instance, of the Coptic Orthodox brothers beheaded on the beaches of Libya: they are our brothers. They gave witness to Christ and they died saying: “Jesus, help me!” With the name: they confessed Jesus’ name.
Source: Pope Francis - Zenit, "It’s Not My Jesus vs Your Jesus, But Our Jesus, Pope Says to Ecumenical Group", 13 Oct 2016, https://zenit.org/articles/its-not-my-jesus-vs-your-jesus-but-our-jesus-pope-says-to-ecumenical-group/