Today I finally received a copy of The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius from Paperback Swap. I have been intrigued by the Jesuit Order probably since I first saw a Jesuit missionary portrayed in a movie, and could not be sure if he was a good guy or bad guy. I chose to do a brief study (which I have included below) of the Jesuits and Ignatius for research in the Global Christian History course at Wesley Seminary.
I am cross posting with David Drury today.
The pulpit at Mars Hill Church is once again open. This got me thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of replacing an effective and popular leader.
Scot McKnight has an interesting post over at Jesus Creed on “How the Copts Pick a Pope.” I encourage you to read the article for yourself, but to sum up the process, a group of clergy and some laity get together and whittle down the candidates, who must meet certain minimum requirements, to three. The final choice is one of faith, as the name of the new pope is drawn by lot by an impartial blindfolded child. Continue reading Choices of Faith
The final lesson Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez has for Connor ‘The Highlander‘ MacLeod is to feel what is going on around him. I suppose that is where I am now. As I approach my final week-long intensive course for completing my M.Div. at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University I should process some feelings. Continue reading “And now, the last . . .” I have gotten to read some excellent books during my three years in seminary, but I am also looking forward to having some free time to choose what I will read. I have started building my After Seminary Reading List. Continue reading After Seminary Reading List
When the United States elects a president for a first term, I find the inauguration fascinating. People line the streets and cheer, some because they simply honor the office and this might be their one chance to see the president of the United States of America, while others add to it their hope. The candidate they voted for has won, and this is a celebration of a new era. Those who did not vote for the president still watch the ceremony on television, and wonder what the next four years will bring. We attach symbolism to whether the new president walks or rides in a car down Pennsylvania Avenue, the chosen guest speakers and performers, and the president’s first official act, often signing a piece of legislation or policy.
As we live our lives, every once in a while we find ourselves in these moments of epiphany, where we see more clearly who God is, and in that light, what we can become. I have a great father, but I did not really fully appreciate why God is called “Our Father” in the Bible until I became a father. Through my relationship with my daughter, I see how loving God is, and how loving I can become; both are greater than I previously imagined. Continue reading Call to Worship: What Can We Become
As I was sending off information to the Department of Justice to be included as part of a settlement, where Countrywide (who’s loans are now owned by Bank of America) has to make some reparations because of discriminatory practices against African-Americans and Hispanics, I began to think of how I would have dealt with the mortgage crisis. My simple solution is to let bad businesses go out of business. Continue reading How I would have fixed the mortgage crisis
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last! – from “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr. Aug. 28, 1963
