"You Shouldn't Leave Like This"

A colleague (we’ll call him “Andrew”) told me this story while we were working together on a project.


It was Andrew's first year of marriage.  He was due to leave ~ 10:30 pm to drive to Louisiana and go offshore for a long work assignment.  That evening, he and his wife had an argument.  As Andrew related it, “I didn’t respond as well as I could have” … and he left the house around 10 pm, 30 minutes early, while they were still arguing.  He drove away angry and unresolved with his wife.

As per his usual habit, he first headed to a nearby gas station to fill up the car for the trip.  As he was pumping the gas, another vehicle pulled up on the other side of the pump.  A man got out and started also filling up his car.  Suddenly, the man spoke to Andrew:  “You shouldn’t leave like this.”  “What?” Andrew replied.  The man said again, “I felt led to say to you - you shouldn’t leave like this.”

Wow!  A word from the Lord.

Andrew finished filling up his tank, and instead of heading down the road, returned to the house.  His wife met him at the door, weeping, and they embraced and reconciled before Andrew left the second time for his work assignment.


My friend later said, “That could have been the end of the relationship if I hadn’t come back” - at the very least, it would have caused a wound in the relationship that would have caused strife and tension for months / years, until resolved.  But God saw, God cared, and God intervened!

Source: Thomas Cogdell  -  Personal story

The Question of a Young Calvinist

The first independent idea about religion I ever remember thinking was a question I asked my father, an elder in the church, a good and wise and holy man. I was amazed that he couldn't answer it. "Why do we Calvinists have the whole truth and no one else? We're so few. How could God leave the rest of the world in error? Especially the rest of the Christian churches?" Since no good answer seemed forthcoming, I then came to the explosive conclusion that the truth about God was more mysterious—more wonderfully and uncomfortably mysterious—than anything any of us could ever fully comprehend. (Calvinists would not deny that, but they do not usually teach it either. They are strong on God's "sovereignty," but weak on the richness of God's mystery.) That conviction, that the truth is always infinitely more than anyone can have, has not diminished. Not even all the infallible creeds are a container for all that is God.

Source: Peter Kreeft  -  Hauled aboard the Ark, http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hauled-aboard.htm

Church & State

And frankly, I think the church in the United States, the more it embeds with politics… Europeans understand where that goes. When the church and the state are seen like this [joins hands], and then the state proves what it is - a flawed and sometimes corrupt system -  then the church is judged by this, and rejected. There are countries in Europe where the church is set back for decades and decades, because they have been stained by how they sold their soul for power, I would say. As the United States grows more and more secular, I tell the people there: ‘We are becoming more like the fertile soil in which the early church did best’. Like the Roman Empire, this was a pagan and hostile society in which Christians stood out by being different. When you are in a place like the United States or Europe in its recent past, where the majority will claim to be Christians, but then they look like everyone else, then the people do not understand what the gospel is. But when Christians look radically different from the world around them, then the people can see the difference.

Source: Philip Yancey  -  "Philip Yancey: US evangelicals should learn from Europe’s history of religion and power", Evangelical Focus Newsletter, 23 September 2016, http://evangelicalfocus.com/world/1951/Philip_Yancey_US_evangelicals_should_learn_from_Europes_history_of_religion_and_power_

A New Thing is Coming!

Right now we remain largely a scattered people.  This has been the condition of the Church of Jesus Christ for a good many years.  But a new thing is coming. God is gathering his people once again, creating of them an all-inclusive community of loving persons with Jesus Christ as the community's prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.  This community is breaking forth in multiple ways and varied forms.

Source: Richard Foster  -  Streams of Living Water, p. 273

He Must Become Greater; I Must Become Less

23 At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism. 24 (This was before John was thrown into prison.) 25 A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing. 26 So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”

27 John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. 28 You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ 29 It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. 30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

Source: John  -  John 3:26, 29-30 (NLT)

Cross-Racial Relationships

Morrison’s mission was to enable racial reconciliation within local churches and develop resources for Christians who want to build cross-racial relationships.

Since then, Be the Bridge has exploded in size and now serves the local church by providing curricula and other tools that encourage bridge builders to “[foster and develop] vision, skills, and heart for racial unity.”


Source: 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

Protestants & Catholics & Persecution

The Hungarian government will spend the coming weeks working out the exact duties of the new department, though it will have a primarily humanitarian focus, said Eduard von Habsburg, the Hungarian ambassador to the Holy See.

The decision to launch the new department came after Orban and Balog traveled to Rome in August to meet Pope Francis. Orban and Balog, respectively a Protestant layman and a Calvinist pastor, were the only non-Catholic members of the group whom Pope Francis received in a private audience in August.
Von Habsburg said that government officials’ interactions with leading European churchmen and with the patriarchs of the Middle East contributed to the decision to form the agency.

Part of the reason for going public with the initiative now is to set an example for other European nations.

"Somehow the idea of defending Christians has acquired a bad taste in Europe, as if it means excluding other people," von Habsburg said. The Hungarian initiative is intended to show it doesn’t have to be that way, Catholic news sources reported.

"Our interest not only lies in the Middle East but in forms of discrimination and persecution of Christians all over the world," Balog said. "It is therefore to be expected that we will keep a vigilant eye on the more subtle forms of persecutions within European borders."


Source: Christianity Today  -  "The First Country to Officially Defend Christians Persecuted by ISIS", Christianity Today, Gleanings, 16 Sept 2016, http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/september/first-country-to-officially-defend-christians-persecuted-by.html

Careful not to Criticize

As we were repenting for the sins against the Eucharist, we were very careful not to critize the teachings and beliefs of other Christians.  Our desire was to confess what a treasure this gift of the Eucharist is, and the deep longing of the Lord that we partake of it together.  The problem is not the rules, discipline or practice of any one Church or denomination, but the distortions and deviations in practice that have brought about the present situation.  We believe that confessing these sins with which we identify clears the ground and opens the door to new breakthroughs in the future.

Source: Peter Hocken  -  TJCII Communique, 2016-1

David Sliker, IHOPKC

It’s not enough for me to write the words, “Black Lives Matter in the Kingdom of God.” It’s more than likely that, if you’re reading this, you already agreed with that point. Easy. Simple. However, it’s also likely that it’s been awhile since we’ve hosted a black man, a black couple, or a black family for dinner. It’s even less likely that, if we did, we asked hard questions and listened more than we spoke. We tend to love truth, and yearn for it, but often from a safe distance. The implications of scriptural truth, when mixed together with the love of Christ, are that perfected love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). We need more than right truths from the Word of God when it comes to this subject. We need love perfected in us that makes us fearless, so that we can draw near to one another and listen to one another without defensiveness.

Source: David Sliker, IHOPKC  -  Director, Forerunner School of Ministry, IHOPU, "How Black Lives Matter in the Kingdom of God", blog post in Christian Living, ihopkc.org, http://www.ihopkc.org/resources/blog/black-lives-matter-kingdom-god/

The Servants Of God

Not only will God not reject his promises to his servants, but he will not deny their call and their work.  Just as the Lord always acknowledges the witness of his Old Testament servants, Abaham, Moses and David, so he will always acknowledge the witness of his Christian servants, whether Peter and Paul, Athanasius and Augustine, Francis of Assisi and Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther and John Calvin, John Wesley and Count von Zinzendorf, Dwight Moody and Charles Spurgeon.

Source: Fr. Peter Hocken  -  One Lord One Spirit One Body, pp.67

Exhortation from a Catholic to Evangelicals

So when I encourage my evangelical brethren to extend their ministries among Catholics, I hope to be adding to the number of people who say “Yes” to God. I do hope they say it also to Christ’s Body the Church in all the dimensions Christ intended for his Church; but, above all, I hope that they say it. Many evangelicals are good Christians, many Catholics are bad Christians, and if some bad Christians become better Christians through the influence of evangelical Protestants, Deo gratias . If I pray that there be more workers for the harvest, I shouldn’t mind when they show up, even if they are not exactly what I expected. And, as the animosities between Catholics and evangelicals subside, as Catholics and Protestants come to realize that they are already in communion, however imperfectly, I am confident that many Christians who live in the Marian dimension of the Church will continue to discover the fulness that the Holy Spirit bestows in the ministry of Peter, who is called by the Good Shepherd to feed all the sheep.

Source: Daniel P. Moloney  -  "Evangelicals in the Church of Mary", First Things, December 2000, https://www.firstthings.com/article/2000/12/evangelicals-in-the-church-of-mary

Apologies towards Aboriginal People

Naysayers similarly questioned the sincerity of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd when, in early 2008, he made a public apology to his country's aboriginal peoples for the government's longstanding policies of racial segregation, containment, and de facto abuse.  Others welcomed the Prime Minister's words.  One was Fr. Michael Lapsley of South Africa:  "Of course, an apology does not take away the truth of the worng that was done and teh pain that continues to be felt through the generations of indigenous Australians.  Nevertheless there is no doubt that this representative acknowledgement ... can be balm in the wounds, a major step and a turning point on the long journey towards restorative justice and healing for all. Over the years I have heard many of you speak about your own sense of guilt and shame about what happened in your country's history.  Today I am sure that many of you shed tears of joy that finally the day has come in a dignified way to squarely face the horror of what happened and to travel a new journey." ... He realized that an apology - any apology - is singularly important because if often represents the first crucial step without which dialogue, let alone forgiveness, can never develop.

Source: Johann Christoph Arnold  -  Why Forgive?, pp.211

Qadree Ollison, Professional Football Player

Qadree Ollison, Professional Football Player:

"For some reason, you thought it was right to go and gun down my brother that morning of Oct. 14. You had that choice. My brother, at gunpoint, didn't have a choice to live. It wasn't up to him. He lost the two greatest things God gives us as people: He lost his ability to choose, and he lost his life. Now here I am, and I have this choice to hate you or not. I choose not to. I don't hate you, Denzel. I hate what you did, most certainly. But I still think your life is just as precious as the next person's. No life means more than another's. None of us are perfect."


Source: Vaughn McClure  -  ESPN, 8 May 2019
http://www.espn.com/blog/atlanta-falcons/post/_/id/34204/falcons-rookie-qadree-ollison-keeps-the-faith-through-brothers-murder

How to Help the Apostles

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Source: Bible  -  2 Corinthians 1:8-11

Molly T. Marshall quotes Steven Harmon

A cadre of Baptist scholars has been writing about emerging catholicity, the holy desire for unity among all ecclesial communions. Taking tradition more seriously as a source for theological construction, these Baptists urge usage of the ancient creeds of the apostolic heritage of the whole church to supplement their reading of Scripture. A leading theologian in the movement, Steven Harmon, contends, “Baptists have their own distinctive ecclesial gifts to offer the church catholic, without which even the churches currently in communion with the bishop of Rome are something less than fully catholic themselves.”

Source: Molly T. Marshall  -  "Can a Baptist be a Catholic?", Baptist News Global, 13 September 2016, https://baptistnews.com/article/can-a-baptist-be-a-catholic/

Catholic Cardinal: "Thanks to Luther ..."

Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity from 1969 to 1989, noted that Vatican II accepted many of Luther's demands. Thanks to Luther, he said, many good ideas have been introduced into the Roman Catholic church, such as the use of the vernacular in liturgy; offering of both species in holy Communion; need for constant reform; priesthood of all believers; and more attention to Scripture and preaching. What we have in common is more important than what divides us.

Source: Thomas Ryan  -  National Catholic Reporter, "Lutherans and Catholics chart path to unity", 16 Nov 2016, https://www.ncronline.org/news/theology/lutherans-and-catholics-chart-path-unity

Confess Not Only Personal Sin

The Church needs to learn to confess sin the Bible's way, which is also the Lord's way. We need to learn to confess not only personal sin but also parental, ancestral and national sin. We need to confess parental, ancestral and national sin that the Holy Spirit shows us, so that we do not unwittingly walk in those sins. As the examples of Moses (Exo. 34:9; Num. 14:17-19), Jeremiah (Jer. 14:20), Daniel (Dan. 9:8, 20), and Nehemiah (Neh. 1:6) show us, we can always identify with the roots of any given sin even if we ourselves have not committed it. I may not have committed hate crimes against African Americans, but I can identify with the sinful attitudes at the root of racism--pride, intolerance, fear, control, divisiveness, isolationism, and self-preservation. Moses and Jeremiah were not idolaters, but they confessed the sin of idolatry on behalf of God's people, asking the Lord to forgive their sin (Exo. 34:9; Num. 14:17-19; Jer. 14:20).

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

NPR on the Reformation

The animosity and resentments left by the Reformation only began to heal after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, with the start of an ecumenical dialogue aimed at promoting Christian unity.

Source: NPR  -  National Public Radio, 28 Oct 2016, "The Pope Commemorates The Reformation That Split Western Christianity", http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/10/28/499587801/pope-francis-reaches-out-to-honor-the-man-who-splintered-christianity