Is There Someone You Should Call?

What about you? Is there someone you should call or go to today to seek reconciliation? A parent, a sister, a brother? A former friend or coworker with whom you had an argument long ago and haven’t spoken to in years?

Someone whom God has brought to mind again and again, but you’ve refused to pursue?

Don’t wait. Do it today. Pick up the phone. Write a letter—not an email and certainly not a text!

Better yet, go and meet face to face, just as Jesus commands (Matt. 5:23-24).

Source: Ken Sande - "Reconcile before it's too late", Relational Wisdom 360 blog post, 2017 Jan 8, https://rw360.org/2017/01/08/reconcile-before-its-too-late/

Mike Bickle's Testimony

Mike Bickle shared his testimony with The Tidings while dodging heavy raindrops by standing under the cover of an outdoor kitchen canopy by the greenroom tent.

“When I was in my 20s I was asked to pastor a church and I never officially went back to the Catholic Church, but I also don’t feel like I intentionally left it either. At the House of Prayer, I encourage people to learn the teachings of the Catholic saints, as the experts on contemplative prayer, such as Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross,” he said.

“In fact, the idea for 24-hour prayer and musical praise comes from the writings of King David; however, it was first done in the Christian church by the Catholics!” Bickle joyously expressed with his famously contagious grin.

Source: Jennifer Wing Atencio - "Christians pack Coliseum for revival: Catholics join thousands of believers to mark 110th anniversary of Pentecostal Azuza revival", Angelus News, 13 April 2016
https://angelusnews.com/news/christians-pack-coliseum-for-revival-catholics-join-thousands-of-believers-to-mark-110th-anniversary-of-pentecostal-azuza-revival

Defusing Hostility

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?” And they challenged him vigorously.

2 But he answered them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.

Source: Samuel - Judges 8:1-3 (NIV)

What does "Where is the music?" mean?

Yet another Christmas event proved to be an eye-opener for me personally. I was asked to be co-director of an ecumenical service. The other director was from Church in the Round, the large Church of God in Christ congregation. We invited all the choirs in town to participate. Those who rallied to the call were St. Titus Roman Catholic Church, Church in the Round, and our folk from Celebration / All Saints [Episcopal]. On the first night of rehearal the Roman Catholics were asking, "So, where is the music?" I was circulating the printed songs as they spoke. The African American folk from Church in the Round were asking, "So, where's the music. Sing us a tune." I realized they could have cared less about what was on a piece [of] paper being passed around. For them, the music was in the air ... Sing it, please. Being all things to all people took on new meaning for me that Christmas. Once again, music seemed to unite where systems failed; people from radically different backgrounds could sing the same song together - to the glory of God. Again NBC showed up to film this ecumenical event.

Source: Betty Pulkingham - "This Is My Story, This Is My Song", Ch. 19, p. 183

To Sign, or Not To Sign?

The administration [of his employer Gordon College] thought [Thomas Howard] couldn’t sign the school’s statement of faith. He thought he could, because he saw his movement into the Church as following to its end the trajectory Evangelicalism had set. He saw himself as a completed Evangelical, while the college saw him as not an Evangelical at all. He eventually came to see that the college had been right, though he never lost his near-reverence for the tradition that formed him and its many great Christians.

Source: David Mills - "RIP Thomas Howard: 1935-2020", Catholic Herald, 15 October 2020
https://catholicherald.co.uk/ch/rip-thomas-howard-1935-2020/

In Jail Together

I heard a story — I'm not sure whether this is literally true or not, but some people say it is — in the early days of the prolife movement, about a dozen Southern Baptists and a dozen Roman Catholics were marching together outside an abortion clinic and they got thrown in jail together (for not observing the bubble zone or something), so they shared a common jail cell, about twenty-four people in the same great big cell. And that night, they didn't sleep; they just prayed and sang hymns together all night. In the morning, the Baptists went home and asked their family, "Why don't we love Mary like the Catholics do?" And the Catholics went home and asked their family, "Do you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior?" Now that's evangelism of the trenches. I love it.

Source: Peter Kreeft - Conversion to Catholicism, Catholic Education Resource Center, http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/religion-and-philosophy/apologetics/dr-peter-kreeft-s-conversion-to-catholicism-part-2.html

Longing ... Deep Sorrow ... Wholehearted Concern

(6) But God, who comforts the discouraged, comforted us by the coming of Titus from Corinth (probably meeting up with Titus in Philippi), (7) and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you in Corinth had given him. He told us about your longing, deep sorrow, and wholehearted concern for me, so that my joy increased all the more.

Source: The Apostle Paul - 2 Corinthians 7:6-7 (IEB)

Cuthbert the Bridge-Builder

The Lindisfarne Gospels were created on Holy Island by Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne, 1300 years ago, to honour the memory of Cuthbert, born the year Aidan settled on Holy Island. As Cuthbert grew up and entered monastic life, Aidan sent the brothers Cedd and Chad on successful apostolic missions to the East Saxons (Essex) and the Mercians (the Midlands). Cuthbert became prior at Lindisfarne in 664, the year of the fateful Synod of Whitby when Rome demanded–and acquired–dominance over the independent and decentralised Celtic church.

Cuthbert the bridge-builder accepted the Whitby ruling. He stressed unity with diversity as he worked to reform the community and gained a widespread reputation as a holy man and worker of miracles. When the island was abandoned in face of the Viking threat, Cuthbert’s body and the Gospels crafted in his memory began an eventful journey ending 120 years later in Durham.

The Gospels richly embody Cuthbert’s emphasis on diversity in unity. Breath-taking in detail, colour and ornate design, the Gospels weave elements of book-making, ornamentation, script, illustration, theme and symbolism not only from the Irish Celtic and Roman traditions that were fused at Whitby, or from the scribe’s Anglo-Saxon roots. Experts have also identified elements from Coptic, Byzantine, Oriental and British Celtic sources.

The story of Lindisfarne and of the Gospels inspire many today to pray and strive towards a weaving together of God-given strands of spirituality which over time have become separated.

Source: Jeff Fountain - "The Book That Made Britain", Weekly Word eNewsletter, 27 July 2020
https://us9.campaign-archive.com/?e=0b86898e11&u=65605d9dbab0a19355284d8df&id=f4d0087745

Lewis on Catholicism

CS Lewis once corresponded with a woman who had converted to Catholicism. What Lewis wrote to her, I would like to say to Francis Beckwith:

“It is a little difficult to explain how I feel that though you have taken a way which is not for me, I nevertheless can congratulate you – I suppose because of your faith and joy which are so obviously increased. Naturally, I do not draw from that the same conclusions as you – but there is no need for us to start a controversial correspondence! I believe we are very dear to one another but not because I am at all on the Rome-ward frontier of my own communion. I believe that in the present divided state of Christendom, those who are at the heart of each division are all closer to one another than those who are at the fringes.”

Source: C.S. Lewis - As quoted in “Evangelicals and the Great Tradition” by Timothy George, First Things, Aug/Sept 2007, p. 21

In France

A miracle of sorts took place in France five years ago. For generations, French denominations were at odds with one another, full of suspicion, bad-talking, and division. This all changed when leading evangelical denominational leaders began to see their sin, publicly repent, and ask for forgiveness.

This dramatic reconciliation paved the way for a new era of deep collaboration. Currently, nine of France’s leading evangelical denominations are sending teams of evangelists and church planters to learn from and encourage one another in a process that will lead to one evangelical church in France for every 10,000 people (currently, there is one church for every 30,000 people).

For evangelism and church planting to move to a higher plane, we must break out of our denominational (and even networkational) silos and collaborate. After all, the Kingdom of God is bigger than any one church or group.


Source: Dr. Dietrich Schindler - As quoted in Christianity Today, Evangelism in Post-Christian Europe, http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2016/august/evangelism-in-post-christian-western-europe-six-insights.html?utm_source=ctdirect-html

Wittenberg 2017 Historical Conclusions

Our Historical Conclusions:

  1. We honor Martin Luther as a prophet sent by God to Luther’s own church, the Roman Catholic Church.

  2. We lament that Luther's prophetic message was not correctly considered or responded to by his apostolic authorities.

  3. We grieve the subsequent shared history of hostility – and ask the Holy Spirit to embolden us to identify with the actions of our forefathers, repent, forgive, and where appropriate make restitution.

  4. We believe that Catholics & Protestants can and should jointly commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

  5. We propose that Catholics & Protestants seize the opportunity to pray John 17 with Jesus on the occasion of this historic anniversary.

  6. We believe that in preparation for Jesus’ return, the Holy Spirit will move again as Malachi prophesied, “turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to their fathers.”


Source: Wittenberg 2017 - Historical Conclusions, http://www.wittenberg2017.us/historical-conclusions.html

Unlimited Patience

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Source: Bible - 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Lamenting in the US

Second, I believe we need to lament our sad state. We may not have a clue how we can mend the wounds between us. That tells us how desperate things are. It acknowledges that we need an intervention from on high. Lamenting takes us into a place where we realize our desperate need for God, and that to go on in the way we have is increasingly intolerable.

Source: Robert C Trube - rtrube54, "The Scandal of the Church in America: Part Two", Bob on Books, 14 Feb 2017, https://bobonbooks.com/2017/02/14/the-scandal-of-the-church-in-america-part-two/

Hanna Miley

It was the start of my healing journey, the way of forgiveness. I tasted mercy, God’s mercy, toward me and the power of Jesus to free me from the effects of the past. And gradually, God took me further into his love. He said, “I am calling you to forgive—to forgive Germany and Germans—to forgive the evil done to you and your parents.”

I asked him for the grace to forgive, and, you know, God delights to answer such a prayer. He led George and me back to the Eifel, and he opened the way to practice forgiveness and reconciliation in the actual physical place of my childhood loss.


Source: Hanna Miley - Speech on July 21, 2016 in Lodz, Poland

Bonhoeffer @ Finkenwalde

Bonhoeffer was clearly charmed by the place, but as a Protestant pastor he was not completely at ease with everything he saw and experienced. “The Catholic Advent seems somewhat strange to me,” he wrote to Bethge. At Finkenwalde, the Lord’s Supper had been celebrated once each week. At Ettal, Bonhoeffer could go to Mass and share in the prayers and readings, but, as he was not a member of the Catholic Church, he could not partake of the bread and wine at communion. “I am longing for the Lord’s Supper,” he said. Still, Bonhoeffer’s presence at what he called “quite a wonderful Mass” did bear witness to a kind of broken unity, a sanctorum communio not yet fully realized in the visible church of the undivided Christ here and now. Several weeks before Bonhoeffer arrived in Ettal, as war raged across Europe, Pope Pius XII had issued a Motu Proprio calling for a “crusade of prayer,” inviting Catholics around the globe to join in a prayer for world peace. In a letter to Bethge, Bonhoeffer referred to the Pope’s decree: “Today the pope has ordered a prayer for peace in the whole church. Could we not also have prayed along with them? I did.”

Source: Timothy George - "Bonhoeffer at Ettal: Advent", First Things, 12 Dec 2016, https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/12/bonhoeffer-at-ettal-advent-1940

Corrie Ten Boom's Hiding Place

May this plaque be an expression of our shame and grief over the serious crime that our German people committed against Holland during World War II. May it also be a token of love and gratitude to the Dutch people, who assisted the Jews while they were being persecuted and who responded to the injustices of our German nation by showing goodness to God's chosen people.. God bless Holland!

Source: Marienschwestern - Plaque on the wall of the "Secret Room" in Corrie Ten Boom's house in Haarlem, The Netherlands (made famous in her book, The Hiding Place)