The path to ministry God set before me was indeed mysterious, but now – looking back – clear and obvious. God in his mercy saved me from the dark, uncertain lands of my youth. He offered me his only son, Jesus Christ, and filled me with his Holy Spirit. He nurtured me through his Holy Word and the saints of his Church. The joy in my life is now totally incomprehensible to my old self. Because of what he’s done for me, I totally and completely give my life to the everlasting, triune God of Heaven and Earth.
Read more...The editor of the Alphabetical Collection of the Apophthegmata Patrum intended to record and share sayings ? small vignettes displaying mastery or deep knowledge of a Christian truth ? with fellow Christians living the monastic life. The ancient editor with his or her focus on the practical aspects of Christian mastery, not only the intellectual, shows his or her groundedness in the concerns of lay practitioners of Christianity rather than the more philosophic musings of the clergy. In his or her earthy groundedness, the ancient editor compiled sayings that focused on themes that either showed the way to mastery of ascetic Christian practices or gave a vision of a hopeful and magnificent endpoint; a theosis where the human mind would be one with the mind and will of the Divine. Of the many themes the ancient editor built the Alphabetical Collection around, humility is one of the more prominent. Through his or her focus on humility ? humility in intellect, humility in public stature, and humility in regard to one’s own value ? the ancient editor of the Apophthegmata Patrum wished to display a key aspect of Christ’s nature and provide practical advice to how the monastic followers of Jesus could emulate this divine aspect on the path towards theosis.
Read more...Introduction
Form criticism is a way to approach the biblical text that focuses on finding the pre-written, oral origins of the various stories and episodes within text of the Hebrew Bible. First developed in Germany by Hermann Gunkel before the first World War, form criticism emerged from Gunkel’s realization that there were sections of text within the Hebrew Bible that likely had origins in an oral tradition before being written down. Per the Anchor Bible Dictionary, Gunkel first got his idea for the biblical texts having oral origins by studying the oral traditions of other Near Eastern ancient cultures. From his experiences with other nearby cultures, Gunkel suggested that oral origins for the various genres of text within the Hebrew Bible was a fruitful place for critical biblical analysis and started to formulate his ideas for formally.
Read more...The Articles of Religion of the United Methodist Church were adopted in 1784 at the founding conference of the former Methodist Episcopal Church. John Wesley, the initiator of the Methodist revival within the Church of England, took the original thirty-nine articles establish by the English church and edited them to make them more concise and removed overly Calvinist language. Wesley compiled his revision of the Anglican thirty-nine articles, now pared down to only twenty-five, into his Sunday Service of the Methodist, a book similar to the common prayer book of the English church. This book of prayer, worship, and instruction was adopted by the Methodist Episcopal Church in America as a founding document. The Articles[1] have remained a binding statement for Methodists throughout many splits, unions, and reunions. As a guiding statement within the Methodist church, conversations around the place of the Hebrew Bible within the church must start there.
Read more...Good morning holy, healthy, and happy people of God! If you are visiting today, I welcome you and apologize at the same time. Please do not judge McKendree by today’s sermon. I am but the humble seminary student here. Pastor Stephen will be back preaching as normal next week and I strongly encourage you to come back then.
Today marks the third time I’ve preached from this pulpit. People told me this would get easier over time, and I must say the writing part does get easier with each attempt. Surprisingly once one learns to let go of one’s high thoughts about one’s intellect and humbly falls before God praying only that his thought be expressed, the writing goes much easier. Hmmm, humbleness before the Lord bringing great joy, I seem to remember a book being written about that… Yes, some of us are slow learners. Those of us called to ministry, I’ve found, are often times the slowest of all.
Read more...Wir glauben an die Gemeinschaft der Heiligen und heute Morgen muss ich Dank geben zu einer die mit den Heiligen jetzt ist. Frau Phillips war meine Deutsch Lehrerin. Von ihr hab ich meine Liebe für die deutsche Sprache gelernt. Meine Familie ist nicht Deutsch aber wegen Frau Phillips fühle ich mich immer zuhause mit Deutsch. Ich hab vor fünfzehn Jahren mein erstes deutsches Wort gelernt. Ich kann nicht glauben dass ich jetzt hier stehe. Danke Frau Phillips. Gott weisst schon wie viele Deutschfehler ich bald machen werde. Du hast mich gut gelehrt, Frau Phillips, aber ich hab nicht immer gut zugehört.
Read more...
]
]
]
]