The vocation of the church is not to convert the world, but to transform the world, so that every person in it has a better chance to live fully, to love wastefully and to be all that he or she can be
via On Faith Panelists Blog: Faith-Based Initiatives – John Shelby Spong.
IntroducingNT.com is the companion Web site to Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey by Mark Allan Powell. Here you will find a wealth of material designed to enhance your use of the book, whether you are a student or a professor.
Þar sem ég fer á morgun til að greiða utankjörstaða um Icesave lögin, ákvað ég í gær að finna til nokkrar tölur sem setja Icesave skuldina í samhengi við hrunkostnað ríkisins. Continue reading Nokkrar stærðir úr Excel-inu mínu
Matt Kruse shows his brilliance:
“I have to be willing, as a leader, to let God hold the differences that people bring when they come to worship,” said Kruse, whose home congregation is Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Jackson. “I guess I’m going to err on the side of love and welcoming also, and that’s also loving those I disagree with.”He said he was disappointed to see his church defined by the issue of homosexuality.
“From a Lutheran perspective, the only thing necessary for a church to happen is that the word of God be preached and that the sacraments be administered, and we’re free to disagree on lots of other things,” he said. “Ultimately I know there are plenty of people who were hurt by the decision in August, and the way we can respond to people’s hurt isn’t to leave but is to love.”
While I was in Haiti I wrote two short pieces for tru.is, a website of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Iceland.
Both of them are in Icelandic but perhaps Google Translate can be useful in translating them.
Also, for Martin Luther, the real church consisted of people who hear the Gospel and proclaim it, Croghan said. The institutional church arose to aid that mission, “but institutions are not the church.” And, when to ensure their continued existence, such institutions compromise Gospel truth, they can be readily shed, Croghan said.
“The ELCA is not the church, by Luther's definition,” Croghan said.
In an article about congregations in South Dakota leaving ELCA, I came across this quote about ecclesiology. The rest of the article is good too.
via Gay clergy vote splits South Dakota Lutheran churches | argusleader.com | Argus Leader.
I have made almost 8 minutes video with pictures and sounds to describe my experience and feelings in Haiti. In it I use pictures from my travel partners, music and sounds. It is no longer accessible on the web. If you like to help there are many great organizations doing wonderful work in Haiti. One of them is Haiti Timoun Foundation.
Your Best Life Now, which has fueled a TV show that Osteen claims is now seen in 200 million homes worldwide, opens with a story of a man on vacation in Hawaii. He was “a good man who had achieved a modest measure of success, but he was coasting along, thinking that he’d already reached his limits.” While sightseeing, he and his wife admired a gorgeous house on a hill. “I can’t even imagine living in a place like that,” he said. For this bit of self-deprecation and modesty, Osteen pities the man: “His own thoughts and attitudes,” he writes, “were condemning him to mediocrity,” or what is known in the gospel as the “defeated life.”
via Did Christianity Cause the Crash? – The Atlantic (December 2009).
Dr. Brad Binau told his story about the earthquake in Haiti and the aftermath during Sunday School Hour at Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus January 24. It was recorded and published as mp3.
Doug Hill pastor at Abiding Hope Lutheran Church in Littleton tells about his experience in the aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake during Sunday School Hour, January 24. Continue reading The Story According to Pastor Doug
This text might change as I go through the story and continue to remember more and more details of what happened (last edit 2/12). The picture is of my hotel room two days after the earthquake.
It was Tuesday January 12, 2010 at 4:50pm. I stood in the Courtyard of Hotel Florita in Jacmel, Haiti and had just finished writing a response on my Facebook page. Continue reading The Story According to Halldor Elias
Various links to resources and researches about Religious life in US.
… can you be a Christian and think for your self?
Young people today are probably more likely to be confronted by Christianity for the very first time through Ann Rice, Mel Gibson, or the Idiots Guide to the Bible then in a Church Pew, they decided one day to sit in.
The first thing to know is that we will not be able to grow more people like us. If we want to grow we must be prepared for something new, for our own change. (based on Dr. Doubleday)
This is what has to be taken care of, in order of importance:
This is a blog in an emergent fashion focusing on larger to mega churches and their leadership focus. I found this through Hartford Seminary.
He is the founder of the Center for Continuing Education at Emory’s Candler School of Theology. Dr. Callahan is the founder of the National Certification Program in Church Finance and Administration, providing training and certification for pastors and church administrators. He has received many awards and recognitions, including being elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Church Business Administrators.
via Twelve Keys Seminar with Kennon Callahan via Prof. Doubleday
Helping people in a disaster area is not all it is cracked up to be. This is an interesting article from New York Times posted on Michigan Chapter of the Red Cross website.
Another widely circulated blog post, “No One Needs Your Old Shoes: How Not to Help in Haiti,” was written shortly after the earthquake by Alanna Shaikh, an international relief and development expert working in Tajikistan. It suggested giving money, not goods; going to volunteer only if you have medical expertise and are vetted by a reputable organization; and supporting the far less immediate task of rebuilding Haiti.
via Teaching Americans What Haiti Needs: Money « Semtourofduty’s Blog.
Vissulega er auðvelt að álykta að tweet-ið sem ég skrifaði um ástand hótelsins hafi verið vísun í jarðskjálftann en svo var þó alls ekki. Enda skrifað 3 tímum áður en hörmungarnar dundu yfir. Hins vegar er nauðsynlegt að það komi fram að íbúar hér hafa sýnt einstakt æðruleysi og hafa kennt okkur sem hér ferðumst heilmikið um mikilvægi samkenndar, góðvildar og gæsku í ömurlegum aðstæðum.
Skrifað í Jacmel.
