I hope the joke would sting...

The Kingdom of Heaven and the world to come

Christianity regards salvation as liberation from the bondage of sin and re-establishing a personal communion with God. Christians hold that Jesus is the source of salvation and faith in his saving power is of particular importance is it determines the ‘way, truth and life’ that leads those who believe Him into communion of God.

The church is the communion of men and women with one another in Christ

Last Sunday I had a very animated discussion about the Church as a picture of the Blessed Trinity, which came about from the introduction to Tertullian that I gave at the church history series on the Sunday School class that I am teaching.

The discussion led me again to reflect upon the nature of God as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures but also of its significance to me as a part of His Body – the Church, which gives us a salient picture of the divine truth of the Trinity.

N.T. Wright's insight on Hell

Following up on J.I. Packer's take on hell I found this good insight from leading New Testament scholar N.T. Wright

Hell is the negation of fellowship with God

I first encountered J.I. Packer when my Sunday School teacher gave his book Knowing God as a prize for getting the highest score in our exams.

James Innell Packer is a British-born Canadian Christian theologian in the low church Anglican tradition. He currently serves as the Board of Governors' Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is considered one of the most influential evangelicals in North America.

In the end there's hope...

Who would have known that a German prisoner of war in a British camp during World War II, would eventually re-orient contemporary understanding of hope and eschatology into something that focuses on the hope that the resurrection brings.

This was the highlight of the theology of Jurgen Moltmann whose theology was formed out of his experience as a prisoner of war. It was also in the camps that Moltmann met Christian chaplains, was given the New Testament and Psalms to read, and had his first introduction to Christian theology. He gradually felt more and more identification with and reliance on the Christian faith. Moltmann later claimed, "I didn't find Christ, he found me."

John’s Gospel as Eschathon

The word Eschatology often invokes fear as it is often associated with the mystic symbolism of John’s apocalyptic visions of the end of the world in the Book of Revelations.

However I would like to suggest a more, well thought-of insight on eschatology that is – not merely looking at it as the doctrine of last things, or the end times, but also as the rebirth of creation as instituted by Jesus and continued by his disciples, a historical phenomenon, based on N.S. Fujita’s observation on the Gospel of John’s distinctive:

Kuya Danny

Last Sunday I attended the morning service and learned that Kuya Danny Asi just passed away...

It only took me now to process the thought of his passing.

Not many in Grace Bible Church remembers him now.

But I do.

Koininia

Bruno Forte was seen as the possible successor to become Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, after Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was elected to become Pope Benedict XVI.

Here is his brilliant definition of the Church as a communion in the Spirit of Christ:

PTL!

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. " - Psalm 100:1

Three of the blogs that I write in are among of the finalists for the Philippine Blog Awards =)

Soli deo gloria!