Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Packing Heat and Trusting Providence

I still struggle with this.
CTmagazine Packing Heat and Trusting Providence: @LoveLifeLitGod explains why she owns a handgun (@ctwomensblog) ht.ly/cwINWThu, Jul 26 16:02:14 from HootSuite
retweeted by TheCall_Holston

Monday, July 25, 2011

UMC Infant Baptism

I like the idea of infant baptism in the United Methodist Church. It is a commitment by the parents, but also by the church as a whole to raise the child in the faith. The congregational response:
"With God's help, we will so order our lives after the example of Christ that this child, surrounded by steadfast love, may be established in the faith and confirmed and strengthened in the way that leads to life eternal."
What an awesome responsibility and I am glad for the reminder every time we baptize a child.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Lesser of Two Evils

I have written before about my thoughts on guns and self-defense. In response to the celebrations after the announcement of bin Laden's death, Andrew Zirschky wrote an article on Youth Ministry Today. He introduces Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pacifist German Lutheran pastor and theologian, and applies his philosophy to the events surrounding the death of Osama bin Laden.

Bonhoeffer knows that we may find ourselves deciding between evil or evil. In these situations, we must act, depending upon our own limited understanding of world, and knowing that the ultimate judgement will be God's. This same judgement will be applied to those responsible for the elimination of a terrorist like bin Laden and, I believe, to a father protecting his family by shooting an intruder. I need to think about this some more, but it allows for universal truths (murder is a sin) to apply consistently on earth while preserving hope that God will have mercy on one's soul in heaven.

Even this short article has piqued my curiosity about Bonhoeffer. One more for the reading list.

Ethics (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 6)

I'm a sucker for powerful quotes:
"The sword can never bring about the unity of the Church and of faith. Preaching can never govern nations."
“What is worse than doing evil is being evil.”

Friday, February 11, 2011

The Cost of Faith

Powerful faith... I don't know if my faith is that strong. I can't help thinking about my family and not wanting to miss a minute.