It’s time to take Christianity seriously

I was reading some of Blessed Averky’s material…and I thought…”do we take our faith in Jesus seriously enough?? Like the protestants like to say…”If you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk…” Jesus Himself told us that we cannot be His disciples unless we “actually” do what He said. If we want to know more we need to read the Gospels…the “Good News” about Jesus…

My wife and I struggle daily with our “walk”. It is a “work in progress” One day, I would like to hear Jesus say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Are they not beautiful words???

God bless you in your walk…

Peace…

My Dear Wife and I try to read as much J.H. Yoder as possible. He died in 1997 but his works are still very popular. It is his contention in Christian Attitudes to War, Peace and Revolution that all Christians are called to be pacifist. I like what he had to say and I agree with him!

 

What do you think/say????

Paul’s gospel

Have you ever wondered what Saint Paul called “His gospel”??? I did until I read N.T. Wright. His claim is that Paul preached a gospel that was counter-Roman Empire. “Jesus the Christ is Lord… Therefore, Ceasar is not!!”

I really like it! What say you?????

Do We Mean It??????

I have caught myself quite a number of times during the singing of a hymn asking the question, “Do we really mean what we are singing???
If the hymn is meant to augment the readings then we should mean what we sing.
How many of you feel the same way???

If St. Augustine said, “He who sings worships twice” then maybe we need to get more serious….

Just a thought….

Where is your beard?????

My wife and I are Plain….neoanabaptists and yes we quite often get mistaken as Amish….that’s o.k.

All Christians are called…. as St. Paul says…. Do not be conformed to this world…. to be plain (see also St. Peter)

There is a long tradition in the Orthodox Churches of the former Soviet Union, that both the clergy and laymen wear a full beard…. so gentlemen…. where is your beard????

For more information see the website called Orthodoxinfo…

Best bearded regards,

Nicholas+

The Gospel According to Saint Paul

I am currently reading a”must read” for all Christians called What Saint Paul Really Said by N.T. Wright. In the book Bishop Wright makes the claim that T.S.Eliot posed the following question, “Was our society founded on anything other than compound interest”? That’s a PARAPHRASE of the material on page 155. It’s time for you to weigh in…whether you live in the US of A or Canada, I want to hear from you… What’s our economy and society founded on??? I will blog about this topic once I feel that I have heard from enough of you…

Nicholas+

The Great Commission or the World?

When you`ve had a stroke you have a lot of time to sit back and think. Being back in New Brunswick I had a chance to go back to my old stomping grounds and I realized that my preaching has been ineffective. People still love the world more than they love Jesus. The so-called Great Commission` (this is what we call it)  has been badly misinterpreted. We always forget that Jesus said, `Go and make disciples, teaching them to obey everything I taught you.`Therefore, the teachings of Jesus are very important. How come we don`t take Jesus more seriously? We are more concerned with the accuracy of the Nicene Creed than the Great Commission. Why don`t more Christians DO what Jesus commanded us to do? Why am I always coming up against Christians who think that faith alone is just fine? Even demons have that kind of faith. Being baptized and going to church is not enough. We must take Jesus seriously. Being a Christian means `little Christ.`Therefore we should be Jesus to the world. If what they see, meaning the world, is love of TV, love of worldly affections, then we are not little Christs. Christians need to reflect the values of their Messiah. St. John himself says that to love the world is to hate God. So should we not take Jesus seriously…

Listening in a world of anxiety

Who do we listen to if we don’t listen to Jesus? Jesus preached Leviticus 26 – horrible curses – “and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.”

A world of anxiety, a world of loss and need, when there isn’t enough bread.

Knowing this, the Russian martyrs said to their murderers, “Kill us now, but do not break God’s law further.”

You will eat and not be satisfied – the Russians stood in bread lines following the Revolution.

Jesus preached this, “I shall take away the bread that supports you,” in preaching the Way of the law. Is God not taking away the bread now?

Land lies fallow, the farmers having left for cities, and it becomes wilderness. Crops grown to feed people are replaced with crops to make into non-food. Where will we get bread?

We are not excused from the Law just because we follow Christ. He came to fulfill the Law; the Anglican Church affirmed this in Article VIII of the Articles of Religion.

Modern people are beset by the sin exemplified in Leviticus 25 and 26, yet we pay no attention.

Still Pondering…

…about a new post.

New post coming…

I will be back to posting again soon, as I make my recovery and find the time and energy to do so. Thanks for your prayers. (I had a stroke.)