the space in between: Blogs

Showing posts with label Blogs. Show all posts

Here, there and everywhere

I haven't been up to blogging lately primarily because I find myself stuck in a number of things right now at work and in my studies so I never really had that much free time to write. Anyways every now and then I get the chance to read a blog or watch a video on YouTube and here are some of the things that I think are certainly worth sharing.

Creation spirituality, eco-theology and the quest for equality

I haven't really gotten the chance to blog the past few weeks as I was buried deep in paperwork for our finals at the seminary and not to mention that it also coincided with the Global Work Party on Climate Change that I was given the task of overseeing our work for Greenpeace. A lot has been learned in the past few weeks and I would just like to share some stuff that I've found around the net that I believe might be of interest to those who often visit this blog.

The Earth is Alive - a prose written by Ruel F. Pepa that I stumbled upon via ning.com which I think is a good point of reflection for those engaged in the struggle for ecological justice and environmental equity.

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and its international mission partners last June released a statement entitled: Ecumenical Challenge Statement by International Partners of the Philippines, which is a good document that other Christian bodies might like to see as a reference with regards to its church policy recommendations like:

That UCCP seriously considers its own personal use of bio-degradable containers and packages. (Plastics and Styrofoam are immortal and infinite and cause pollution and pose health hazards. The use of plastics or the combination of plastic and aluminium packages for food and other products should be minimised).

That UCCP encourage the establishment of a nursery for tree seedling or wildlings in home, church yards and places which are made available for tree planting purposes.

That UCCP members consume healthy and locally produced farm products. (It has been observed that food served to General Assembly delegates are characteristic f the scarcity of locally grown vegetables and locally sourced marine products eg. fish and others)

If only Evangelical bodies would also as radical as the UCCP with regards to creation care and stewardship....

Lastly, I've also been busy writing over what I have come to dub as: The Scandal of Partiality in the Epistle of James, which I've been posting as a series over at Fide Quarens Intellecttum if you're keep on issues related to equality within faith communities you might want to read the introduction that I wrote for the series.

Anyways I hope in the coming days I'd get more time to write a decent post...

Aparently its not just about you and Jesus...

"It's not a religion, it's a relationship." This statement is very common among evangelicals, or so-called 'born-again' Christians, and I stumbled upon a good blog post about this and here's a portion of it:

"You don't have to sit around Christian circles for long before some says of Christianity,

"It's not a religion, it's a relationship."

Riiiight...

A relationship that has a certain narrative about the beginnings of all things.

A relationship that has a particular understanding of the goal of all things.

A relationship that brings you into communion with millions of others.

I can't think of the last date I went on that came with its own narrative that encompasses all of reality.

But maybe I just don't date enough.

I understand what this sentiment is trying to say, that Jesus isn't a dusty old book, but is alive and active within the lives of those who follow him. But I think that they say their point very poorly. First, it is an outright lie. Christianity is a religion. Shocking, I know. I'm not even going to argue for that one. Second, to say that all of Christianity can be boiled down to a relationship between you and Christ is errant on so many levels. It is language that is completely foreign from the Bible, not to mention the fathers.

This might come as a disappointment, but Christianity is not about you and Jesus. "

Click the link below to learn more about perichoresis
Read more at Peacable Zealot: Me and Jesus Broke Up

Faith and Theology: How (not) to preach the parables

I have for a long time been reading Ben Meyers' blog Faith and Theology because rarely do I come across Christian blogs that have theological depth, and his blog post today on is one of those posts that gives interesting insight and reflection.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

"It’s a curious thing that pastors often find it so difficult to preach Jesus’ parables. In truth, the only hard thing about the parables is that they are so simple, so straightforward in what they claim and what they demand. They are so simple that we need to make them difficult in order to escape the piercing gaze of Jesus. Or perhaps some pastors feel they need to soften the parables in a way that will protect the congregation from God. After all, it is God himself who bursts through these stories, coming on the scene with the unaccountable strangeness of a seed in the ground, with the disruptive suddenness of a thief in the night."

Read more on this link: Faith and Theology: How (not) to preach the parables