Lord, Fill me with all hope, joy, and peace in believing You and Your promise of eternal life and good works in Christ Jesus! You have given me a conquering spirit of power and love, not of fear and failure. I remember that past and how You have saved me and healed me. I think of…
I praise you, Father, for by the blood of Your Son shed for me on the cross at Calvary, I am a child of God, forever; I am free to do good and not evil—to follow the path that leads to justice, righteousness, and abundant life; I am filled with Your Holy Spirit to use…
What does the Second Vatican Council, Radical Orthodoxy, and Liberation Theology all have in common? Read Assessing the Relationship Between the Ressourcement of Radical Orthodoxy and the Aggiornamento of Liberation Theology in Hope of Ecumenism to find out.
In Catholic theology, the stations of the cross are a 14-step devotion usually practiced on Good Friday that commemorates our Lord’s last day on earth qua human. I just spent a few days at Prince of Peace Abbey in Oceanside, a Roman Catholic monastery O.S.B. (in the order of Saint Benedict) praying, meditating on God’s…
Negatively speaking, Israel was intended to be an example for us of what not to do (1 Cor 10:6). Their hedonism was spiritual idolatry (v. 7). Christ was their Provision in the desert (otherwise they would have died), yet they tested Him (vv. 4, 9). Christ became the true Vine (John 15:1) replacing the withering…
Kingdom Living By Chester DeLagneau June 7, 2015 OLD TESTAMENT Kingdom Ethics There is only one true kingdom and that is the kingdom of God. Christ came and inaugurated the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is paradoxically both here and not yet. That is, the kingdom has been activated but not fully actualized….
God does not tolerate His children. He values their inherent worth. We are not His pet projects to be fixed. We are His lifelong lovers. God knows us by name and clothes us with His righteousness so we can enjoy an intimate relationship with Him. This is the Good News! Sadly, some christians today do…
As Believers we are called to “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15, ESV). It is easy for us to celebrate with those who are joyful, jealousy and envy aside. But to sympathetically mourn with those who are suffering is to slow down and show love. This suffering love is…
Fear stifles creativity and productivity. When we focus on our fears we unconsciously activate our sympathetic nervous system, which stimulates activities associated with the fight or flight response. This distress signal to our autonomic nervous system takes blood away from our extremities, including our brain, and rushes it to our vital organs. When this happens,…
Happiness is not contrary to character, but complementary to it. Happiness, properly understood, is not merely the thin, shallow concept of an elated emotion that changes minute by minute, but the state of wellbeing (shalom) that one lives virtuously, day by day. This Christian concept of happiness is the result of sanctifying one’s character through…