Connie sent me this great quote by G.K. Chesterton about Francis of Assisi. It says:
“it is utterly useless to study a great thing like the Franciscan movement while remaining in the modern mood that murmurs against gloomy asceticism. The whole point about St. Francis of Assisi is that he certainly was ascetical and he certainly was not gloomy…there was nothing negative about it; it was not a regimen or a stoical simplicity of life. It was not self-denial merely in the sense of self-control. It was …

(Meant to post this Sunday, oh well)
“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” -1 Corinthians 11:1
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” -Ephesians 5:1
“You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 1:6
A new reader, Jamie, mentioned teaching non-violence in church and it got me thinking. There is a definite alternative to this idea of placing armed guards in churches, and that is for …

If you didn’t know, I’m writing this book. Just a fun little project, a fiction piece, an attempt to articulate in a creative form my feelings on how it looks like to live out the faith, following the Gospel.
I’m realizing following the Gospel is dangerous. I’m also realizing that following the Gospel is so obvious. There are some things Jesus says that are confusing and quite stuck in the cultural context, however most of what he said is pretty plain. In the book I’ve set up the characters in a …

I wanted to lend a little more context to this passage that I have seen as we read through the sermon on the mount. The passage I’m talking about is:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Matthew 6:18-21

First of all you …

“If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.”
- 1 Timothy 6:8
 

One of the greatest struggles for a Christian in the consumerist American culture that we are a part of is to be content. You are daily bombarded on all sides by hundreds of advertisements telling you that you need this product or that. Even within the church, Sunday mornings continue to perpetuate word-of-mouth advertising about the new outfit, restaurant or electronics purchase. Is it even possible to step back from that culture, that has been so …

I was listening to Saturday’s with Mark and Tony and Tony Campolo mentioned the quote, which you’ve maybe heard before:
“God created us in his image, and we decided to return the favor.” -George Bernard Shaw
He was acknowledging that we tend to have churches divided by race, socio-economic status, political views, etc. because we each make God in our image. This made me think about another thing someone once said to me when we were talking about politics and I was saying that the best way to vote is to vote …

This won’t be a long post, nor will it be all-inclusive. There are a lot of things to be happy about, my beautiful wife, beautiful community, friends, food, family, the list goes on. Two, though I thought worth of touching on this late evening.

I might be biased, being a married person myself, but there is something very beautiful about weddings. I don’t think it’s the pretty dresses, fancy tux or sparklers, it’s something about the commitment being made. It’s true, are society (Christian and not) doesn’t seem to take the …

I don’t know much about sacraments, I know very little in fact. Some of what I know is basically that sacraments are things that religious folks (particularly some Christian denominations) are into, to varying degrees. Sacraments are ’special’ things and events, stuff like baptism and communion. I wasn’t sure of what I thought about the concept, but I liked one of my profs views back in college, Quakers believe everything is a sacrament.
From Wikipedia on Sacraments:

The Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) do not practice formal sacraments, believing that all activities …