A couple weeks ago I promised to continue a series of reflections on the theme of “Yearning for Unity and Purity” in the PC(USA), commenting on the state of the church, looking at Ephesians and then a few books on the topic of church unity. This post looks at Ephesians. I’ll pick up on the [...]

Continue reading " Unity and Purity, Humility and Moral Striving: Listening to Ephesians “In Christ” "

Niemoller’s sermon was preached in Berlin in 1934, amidst the rise of Hitler. His words are no doubt partly autobiographical. He expounds on the danger of saying “yes” to the Lordship of Christ without then obeying him. Niemoller and others were forming the Confessing Church Movement, which rejected Nazism. Yet his sermon struck me not because he places himself and the resistance movement on the side of those who truly obey, but because he puts them in the place of those who have said “Yes” to the Lordship of Christ, those who now are in danger of honoring Christ with their lips but not with their lives.

Continue reading " Obedience or Empty Quarrel "

Let me suggest something that may sound a bit dangerous: there is a certain freedom in our present circumstance, a freedom out of which God might end up bringing some good. In some ways the Assembly’s decision on ordination finally admits in theory where we have been in practice for quite some time. And staring reality in the face can be a revelatory experience.

Continue reading " Free To Be Faithful: Covenant Community After the 217th General Assembly "