Fr. Greg posted the following quote from Tony Campolo in response to my web post yesterday. It was said on a college campus when he gave a talk there: “I have three things I’d like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. […]
Qur’an burning: a message from the Barnabas Fund
As most of you know by now, there is a congregation in Florida whose pastor is planning a burning of the Qur’an this coming Saturday on the anniversary of September 11. There is no doubt that the pastor has the constitutional right to burn the Qur’an. But, as Saint Paul warns us: All things are […]
Why do you make it so hard to become Orthodox? – part 03
OK, I understand much of what you have been saying, but why must I have a sponsor, or why is a baby expected to have godparents? Well, in the book of Hebrews, it says: For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of […]
Why do you make it so hard to become Orthodox? – part 02
So, why is a catechumen encouraged to take on a “new” name when they are chrismated? What’s in a name? Taking on a new name is not necessary, but it is highly encouraged. The background to a name change goes all the way back to the beginnings of God’s special interactions with Abraham and continued […]
Why do you make it so hard to become Orthodox? – part 01
Last week one of my readers asked me to comment on the year-long process to become Orthodox and be allowed to participate in the sacraments. Let me begin with a bit of contrast. Recently, an evangelical who worked on the Mike Huckabee presidential campaign, and is a blogger, wrote a posting listing ten problems with […]
Why don’t we reach out to the inner city?
A fellow blogger has asked the question as to why non-inner city Christians do not do more inner city work. I was going to answer his question, and then I realized that my answer would be too long for a simple comment, so I decided to put it here. There are a complex of reasons why non-inner city […]
Description of too many Christians
Sometimes, the world of fiction gives us descriptions that are more incisive than many a theological description. Read the following excerpt from a fiction book that I am reading. The book is based in very early 20th century England, before WWI. But, see if the description does not actually fit far too many Christians of […]
Christians behaving goodly
Today the New York Times has a story on the Roman Catholic school system in France providing sanctuary to Muslim students. You can read it here. The schools are still overtly Roman Catholic, with crucifixes in every room. But, they also allow respect the Islam of the students, and, as the article points out, they […]
Christians persecuted in Indonesia
Attack forces Indonesian Christians off campus from Associated Press
Church planting
I was talking to an old friend of mine tonight. — Yes, an old friend, he is retired now and was best man at my wedding 30 years ago. — He happens to be a church growth statistic geek. When he was young, he was involved in a college campus ministry. After that, he spent […]
