Death of the Amish

On May 13, 1993, five Amish children were killed by a speeding auto near Fredericksburg, Ohio. The auto was driven by a young man, Eric Bache, who showed no remorse for his action in the days that followed. After the funeral, an elder of the community, Henry Burkholder, said: "We could take it a lot easier if he would feel sorry. It's a little harder to forgive since he doesn't seem upset. But we have to forgive him. And we will."

Source: Henry Burkholder - Elder of the Amish Community in Fredericksburg, Ohio, quoted by the New York Times, 17 May 1993, as reported in Peter Schmiechen's "Christ the Reconciler: A Theology for Opposites, Differences, and Enemies", p. 112

Alexei Laushkin

I realize so much of how I think about relationships is influenced so strongly by Christian formation writers from the 3rd-20th century.

They were writing about how not to let conflict and sin go out of control for centuries and centuries.
It's proven to be such grace, imperfect practitioner that I am.


Source: Alexei N. Laushkin - Posted on FB, 11 Nov 2020

Blessed Martin

When the terrors of the Spanish Civil War began, Blessed Martin took all of the consecrated hosts from the chapel, and went into hiding living in barns, caves, and haystacks. He evaded the militia for a few days but was caught and imprisoned where he spent his remaining time ministering to other prisoners, hearing confessions, and distributing the Eucharist he had rescued.

When the time of his execution came, he was asked if he would like to face away from the rifles during his execution, he said “no”. When asked if he wanted to say anything, he said gave them a blessing and said “I only give you my blessing that God does not take into account the madness that you commit.”

Then he shouted “VIVA CRISTO REY!”

Right before being shot, he smiled for the photographer, a Republican, called Hans Guttman, who took a couple of photographs of him. In his eyes, you can see a foretaste of eternity. You can see the joy of a faithful priest.

Blessed Martin was beatified on the 1st October 1995 by Pope Saint John Paul II. His feast day is the 18th August. Blessed Martin, Ora Pro Nobis! Viva Christo Rey!

Source: Ryan Scheel - Article on uCatholic, http://ucatholic.com/blog/man-die-smiling/

Did Luther Nail His 95 Theses On The Church Door?

It was like a slap in the face when the catholic Luther researcher, Erwin Iserloh, asserted in 1961 that the nailing of the theses to the door of the Castle Church belonged to the realm of legends.

The facts are convincing, the first written account of the event comes from Philipp Melanchthon who could not have been an eye-witness to the event since he was not called to Wittenberg University as a professor until 1518.

Also, this account appeared for the first time after Luther's death and he never commented on 'nailing anything up' in 1517.

Announcements of upcoming disputes were supposedly regularly hung on the door of the Castle Church. But, openly hanging the theses without waiting for a reaction from the Bishops could have been seen as a clear provocation of his superiors. Luther would not have done that because he only wanted to clear up some misunderstandings.

It is also worth noting, that there was no open discussion of the theses in Wittenberg and that no original printing of the theses could be found.

One thing is sure: Luther wrote a letter to his superiors on October 31, 1517 in which he denounced the sale of indulgence and asked for repayment and removal of the misunderstandings. With the letter he included 95 theses which were to be the basis for a discussion on the topic.

Today, the majority of Luther researchers see it as fact, that Luther did not nail his theses to the door of the Castle Church on that day. But the picture of Luther nailing the theses to the door of the church is still today the most common in regards to Luther, the reformation and Lutherstadt Wittenberg.


Source: www.luther.de - KDG Wittenberg, http://www.luther.de/en/legenden/tanschl.html

What Did Pope Francis First Do at Age 17?

Asked about his personal experience with the Lutheran Church, Pope Francis said the first time he ever entered a Lutheran church was when he was 17 and went to a co-worker’s wedding.

Later, as a Jesuit and professor at the Jesuit school of theology in Argentina, he said he had frequent contact and exchanges with professors at the nearby Lutheran school of theology.

“I invited a professor of spiritual theology from that faculty, a Swede, Anders Ruuth, to hold lectures on spirituality together with me,” the pope said. It was “a truly difficult time” for the pope personally, he said, “but I had a lot of trust in him and opened my heart to him. He helped me a lot in that moment.”

Friendships and formal exchanges with Lutheran pastors and leaders continued while he was archbishop of Buenos Aires and now as pope, he said.

Source: Catholic News Service - "Pope on why he’s going to Sweden: ‘Closeness does all of us good’", 28 Oct 2016, https://cnstopstories.com/2016/10/28/pope-on-why-hes-going-to-sweden-closeness-does-all-of-us-good/

Thomas Roberts

Thomas Roberts was closely associated with the Union de Priére, a group of Reformed ministers first touched by the Pentecostal movement in the South of France in the 1930s. The Union de Priére focused on prayer for four intentions: the revival of the churches by the conversion of souls; the salvation of the Jewish people; the visible unity of the body of Christ; and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead. ... Thomas Roberts grew in his grasp of the vision of one reunited body of Christ, manifesting the glory of the Savior and the power of the Spirit to the world ... Roberts was a model of a Christian who always remained faithful to his original call - he was always characteristically Pentecostal - yet who was so grateful to the Lord for opening his eyes to see the riches of other Christian traditions, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox.

Source: Fr. Peter Hocken - One Lord One Spirit One Body, pp.viii - ix

Martin Luther's Marriage

Life was hard. Family life was hard. Marriage was hard. And yet, Martin and Katie loved each other tremendously. They viewed marriage as a school of character, whereby God uses the hardships of daily family life to sanctify us.
...
May the marriage of Martin and Katie, as well as their love for their children, remind us today of Christ's love for his church and the Father's love for us as his redeemed children.

Source: Matthew Barrett - "Martin Luther on Marriage as a School of Character", Christian Living, The Gospel Coalition, 3 August 2011, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/martin-luther-on-marriage-as-a-school-of-character

The Nicene Creed

It was the great religious “confab” of the 4th century: a gathering of Christian bishops from throughout the world, convened by no less an authority than the Roman Emperor Constantine I. In A.D. 325, a town in the Black-Sea province of Bithynia played host to 318 scholars of the church who met to deliberate on the burning theological questions of the day. We remember it today as the Council of Nicaea: the first attempt to forge a truly “ecumenical” Christianity—that is, a Christianity that encompassed all the world’s human habitations—by coming to a consensus on church doctrine.

The most significant result of the council was the Nicene Creed: the first uniform expression of Christian doctrine. The Creed would be elaborated upon in subsequent councils, but its essential form, conceived during that historic gathering in Nicaea, remains the fundamental statement of orthodox faith, embraced by churches throughout the world—and repeated during every Armenian badarak as the Havadamk (“We believe”).

The Armenian Church participated in the council, with St. Aristakes, the younger son of St. Gregory the Illuminator, representing his then-ailing father. This Saturday, our church will remember the 318 Fathers of the Holy Council of Nicaea, and the project they began 1,695 years ago.

Source: Christopher H. Zakian - "Getting to 'We Believe'", blog post on The Armenian Church website, 4 Sept 2020
https://armenianchurch.us/2020/09/04/getting-to-we-believe-2

Hong Kong / Sao Poaolo

I see social activists from the urban centers of Hong Kong joining with Pentecostal preachers from the barrios of Såo Poaolo and together weeping over the spiritually lost and the plight of the poor.

Source: Emmanuel Katongole & Chris Rice - Reconciling All Things, p. 275

English Jesuit honored by Queen Elizabeth

An English Jesuit who left his order to become a diocesan priest in Northern Ireland has been honored by England’s Queen Elizabeth II for his services to a community wrought by sectarian violence.

Father Paul Symonds, a priest of the Belfast-based Diocese of Down and Connor, has served for four years in Ballymena, a predominantly Protestant town known for anti-Catholic sectarianism. Father Symonds is especially known for his work with Catholics and Protestants in Ballymena’s Harryville section, where Catholics have been subjected to sustained campaigns of intimidation. As recently as the summer of 2005, Masses at Our Lady the Mother of Christ Church in Harryville were canceled because of such intimidation.

Source: Catholic Review - "English priest receives awards for work in Northern Ireland", 5 Jan 2008, http://www.catholicreview.org/article/faith/vocations/english-priest-receives-award-for-work-in-northern-ireland

Dixie Ribs

I am not sure I fully understood the power of forgiveness and reconciliation until I lived with Florida State Rep. William L. (Bill) Flynn, owner of Flynn's Dixie Ribs, a barbecue restaurant known also for its Key lime pie, in 1980. Flynn represented South Dade County, where my family lived. I met Flynn only a few years before the photo of the men in blackface and a Ku Klux Klan costume appeared on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's yearbook page when he was a medical student.
...
I learned from my parents that in the 1960s, Flynn didn't let blacks eat in his barbecue restaurant. Two black community leaders said Flynn had even chased them away from the property with a shotgun. But he had since renounced his segregationist ways as a result of the civil rights movement and implored my mother to entrust him with my care.

I don't know what was in Flynn's heart and mind. Had he rejected segregation at his restaurant because it was the morally right thing to do? Because he was legally required to do so? Because it was an opportunity to earn more revenue? Or, because it was politically expedient, since blacks were now able to exercise their right to vote? Regardless, he did it, and in doing so, publicly confronted his past.
...
As a young adult, I didn't understand how people could so drastically change or evolve their views, but I knew my parents wanted to give Flynn a chance to prove himself. While my parents' decision was not supported by many in the black community, they still felt it was necessary for reconciliation.

Source: Johnita P. Due - "What a Dixie Ribs joint owner taught me about forgiveness and reconciliation", CNN.com, February 3, 2019
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/03/opinions/william-flynn-power-forgiveness-reconciliation-johnita-due/index.html

Be the Bridge

When it launched in 2015, Be the Bridge’s Facebook group had about 69 members. Today, the online community fostering racial reconciliation is more than 21,000-strong, with more than 1,000 groups in 48 states.

The nonprofit was tapped in September to receive up to $1 million in grants by Facebook’s inaugural Community Leadership Program, which also awarded Morrison and four other global leaders a residency.
...She describes Be the Bridge as a ministry and the organization’s successes as guided by God. Yet, when she presented Be the Bridge at a Facebook summit, Morrison was unsure if she should identify it as a faith-based organization.

“But they (Facebook) really wanted me to name it,” she said. “I thought that was just incredible, that they wanted me to name it.”

She said that the consultant Facebook had her work with at the time encouraged her to bring her “full self” to the table.

“That impacted me, that there’s an organization that doesn’t claim that they’re a Christian organization or anything like that, but they wanted me to bring my full self when there are Christian organizations and churches that I cannot step in and be my full self. I thought that was incredible,” Morrison said.

According to Facebook, Morrison and her fellow residents have “demonstrated the ability to transform the way people support each other through community.”

Source: Nicola A. Menzie - "‘Be the Bridge’ fosters dialogue between black and white Christians", Baptist Standard, March 19, 2019
https://www.baptiststandard.com/news/faith-culture/bridge-fosters-dialogue-black-white-christians/

Hostility towards Pentecostals

c) “Satanic” Pentecostalism in Germany

Equally, Evangelicals’ former exclusion of Pentecostals from the camp of the faithful is yet another example of over-extended essentials. In the highly influential 1909 statement adopted by a large section of German Evangelicals in the so-called “Berlin Declaration,” the Pentecostals were judged to have so compromised the essentials of the Christian faith by their beliefs and practices that they were actually dismissed in print as demonic, the exact words being:

"The so-called Pentecostal Movement is not from above, but from below; it has many phenomena in common with spiritism. Demons are at work in it which, craftily led by Satan, mix lies and truth, in order to mislead the children of God. In many cases, the so-called ‘Spirit-gifted’ have subsequently proved to be possessed. In the conviction, that this movement is from below … [we note] the healings, tongues, prophecies, etc., by which the movement is accompanied. Such signs were ever connected with similar movements, for example with ... spiritism. "

Thankfully, a significant measure of reconciliation was reached between the so-called “charismatic” and “non-charismatic” wings of Evangelicalism in Germany with the 1996 signing in Kassel of an accord between the German Evangelical Alliance and the Union of Freechurch Pentecostal Congregations (Bund Freikirchlicher Pfingstgemeinden) whereby they expressed mutual respect for each other in the midst of their doctrinal differences. (Anon 1996) That it took nearly ninety years to reach this accord again indicates the proclivity we Evangelicals have of hardening our denominational distinctives into wider tests of true Christianity.

Source: Paul Miller - "Evangelicals Cooperatively Evangelising & Discipling with Catholics in Faithfulness to Evangelical Distinctives", by Paul Miller

Eberhard Arnold

All the movements of the past decades will one day converge in a radical awakening of the masses that leads the way to social justice and to God's unity. And so we prepare ourselves to set our little community in the midst of this mighty awakening. We must be ready to sacrifice ourselves.

Source: Eberhard Arnold - As quoted by Peter Mommsen in "Homage to a Broken Man", p. 118

Biblical Story of Identificational Repentance

The result of Daniel's prayer, fasting, and identificational repentance was that the angel sent to him on the second occasion broke through the opposition of the demonic principalities of Persia and Greece (Dan. 10:13, 20). Because there was spiritual breakthrough, God's desire was fulfilled to open the way for Daniel’s people to return to Jerusalem and to reveal to Daniel by the angel of God what God's redemptive plan was for Israel in world history--that the anointed Messiah of Israel would establish God's Kingdom over Israel and all nations (Dan. 7:13-14, 26-27; 9:2ff., 25ff.; 12:1-3). In fact, Daniel’s intercession seems to have been answered by the Lord releasing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem from Babylonia, since Ezra 1, describing the return of the exiles to Jerusalem, and Daniel 9, describing Daniel’s prayer and repentance, are both dated to the first year of Cyrus’s rule, 539/38 B.C.

Source: Dr. Gary S. Greig - The Biblical Foundations of Identificational Repentance as One Prayer Pattern Useful to Advance God's Kingdom and Evangelism, April 2001

Imitating Other Churches?

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God which you heard from others, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s other churches around you ...

Source: Bible - 1 Thess 2:13-14

History of the John 17 Movement

2010. Our new Phoenix Bishop Olmstead asked me and another friend to present him with a list of a dozen or so key evangelical pastors and leaders, which the Bishop invited to a luncheon at the Diocesan Center. He told us that mainline churches have a point person, as do the Mormons. (We have three Mormon temples in Phoenix.) But no one person speaks for Evangelicals. The meeting was a first for many, maybe most of the people in room. The bishop’s purpose was to call us together around our shared concerns about religious liberty, life, and family and he shared his remarkable faith journey.

2013-Present. I’ve been told that, at the time or our lunch meeting with Bishop Olmstead, he was more interested in shared activism than in deep and personal fellowship. That changed dramatically three years ago. A dear friend and colleague, Joe Tosini, who has residences in Phoenix and Long Island, reconnected with his Italian friends Giovanni Traettino, a Pentecostal pastor, and Mateo Calisi, appointed by St. John Paul II to lead the Charismatic Movement in the Catholic Church. (It’s estimated that there are 150 million Catholics who have had a deep personal experience with the Holy Spirit.)

Source: Gary Kinnaman - Presented during Movement Day NYC, representing the John 17 movement and Greater Phoenix and Arizona Catholic/Evangelical Bridges, as posted on the John 17 FB page on 1 November 2016.

Luther on the Hebrew Language

In the 16th century, the founder of the Protestant Reformation Martin Luther said:

"The Hebrew language is the best language of all … If I were younger I would want to learn this language, because no one can really understand the Scriptures without it. For although the New Testament is written in Greek, it is full of hebraisms and Hebrew expressions. It has therefore been aptly said that the Hebrews drink from the spring, the Greeks from the stream that flows from it, and the Latins from a downstream puddle."

Source: Martin Luther - As quoted in A Prayer to Our Father, by Nehemia Gordon & Keith Johnson, pp 83-84