Defining Sin

When Christians talk about sin with people outside the Church (and sometimes inside), they're often perceived as prudish, hypocritical or arrogant. 

When is this an accurate perception and when is it not? When is it appropriate for Christians to protest sin in the larger culture and when is it inappropriate? 

MM

Gwen's Story

What in Gwen's story about her experience in prayer struck you the most? 

Also, most of us know well the external factors that keep us distracted, like Martha doing kitchen work while Mary sat at Jesus' feet (Luke 10). But what are some internal factors that keep us from realizing the active and immediate presence of God? Maybe inner attitudes, or perhaps our secular culture has shaped our thinking in such a way that we've often trained ourselves not to see the supernatural, resulting in a cultivated blindness. 

MM

Passover and Communion

How does knowing God orchestrated the connection between Passover and Easter in such a detailed way over a period of 1,300 years change our perspective on experiences of suffering or confusion in our own lives?

MM

Thinking Allowed Q & A

Several people who attended the Thinking Allowed event on August 12th raised some great questions. I'm posting them and some brief responses on the Bethany UMC website, linked below: 

Thinking Allowed Q&A

If you want to comment on any of the responses I give there, just post you thoughts here. 

MM

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Please feel free to post a comment about the sermon. For this week's blog entry, however, I wanted to hear from some of you about the sign displayed directly across from the Bethany booth at the Red Lion street fair on Saturday. 

I post this with two assumptions: 

1) That we all realize the practice of homosexuality, just like the practice of sexual promiscuity and greed and grudge-holding and gossip, is sinful. 

2) That this sign is NOT a good way to engage people on this issue. (In his defense, the guy who put up the sign said he didn't agree with it either, but was only using it to start conversations--bad judgment in my view)

So, what exactly is wrong with this sign and its approach to the issue? In what ways could this be counter productive to our interests as Christians? 

Any other thoughts?  

MM

Real Life and Life's Real Meaning

This week the focus is on our desire to matter. No one is OK if they don't. Remember Viktor Frankl's observation in the Nazi concentration camp; there were two prisoners, one relatively healthy and robust, the other emaciated and apparently on the verge of death. Yet the the weaker one maintained a strong sense of purpose and lived, and the stronger had stopped believing his life had any significance and died.

This shows the depth of our need for purpose in life. We need to know we count for something, literally more than we need food and air.

The overwhelmingly wonderful thing about following Christ is that in doing so we experience the exact purpose for which we were created, and the complete fulfillment that comes with it.

But this is so frustratingly easy for Christians to lose site of. We are all vulnerable to falling for the idea that we can find real significance in life through some pursuit that's not related to God. And usually this happens without us realizing it.

Why is this so? What makes it so easy for us to anticipate fulfillment from things that won't deliver in the end, and drift away from the only One who will?

MM