A Thousand Words

Rob Bell - Everything is Spiritual

2008-01-09T08:03:00.001-06:00

For those of you who don't know about Rob Bell, I suggest you find out. He has been putting out a series of very well done short films under the name Nooma. Each of these is a 10-15 minute teaching or sermon done with impeccable taste, excellent music, and exquisite cinematography. Any of them are well worth checking out.

More recently, however, Rob has turned his attention to doing longer teachings and taking them around the country. The first of these (Everything is Spiritual) has made its way onto a DVD which I just acquired last week.

This is a wonderful piece of Apologetic teaching, very well researched and very accessible at the same time. It is thoroughly grounded in scripture but also makes excellent use of science. Instead of posing science against faith, he integrates the two things and shows how they are compatible. We can't box God out of the realm of science because he created everything and therefore he is the very ground upon which all science stands. I suggest you check it out and buy an extra copy for your favorite scientist.

Switch to Blogspot

2008-01-04T11:30:00.000-06:00

I have decided to switch to blogspot for the hosting of this blog. I am doing this because I have noticed recently that many of the links on the old page didn't work. I would click on the commenting link or one of the archive links and all I would get was a bunch of code. While I have successfully hacked webpage code together in the past, I have no real clue what I am doing. The simplicity of blogspot's hosting was too good to pass up. Having made the transition everything seems to be working much better. If you bookmark this page or subscribe via rss, please redirect your links to chrisklukas.blogspot.com.

Baby on the Way

2008-01-04T11:07:00.000-06:00

I think it is about time for me to announce that Carrie is pregnant with our first child. We recently found out that he is a boy. The due date will be sometime in late April (they have given us some official dates, but how often are those right anyway!). Please pray for Carrie and our new baby.

Jump and Run

2007-08-24T10:03:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Carrie and I decided to take our dogs to the dog run at White Oak Park. If you have never been, you should go and see it sometime. They have taken a very large field and enclosed it with a 5 ½ ft chain link fence. You can let your dogs off-leash and they can run around as much as they want. We had been there many times before, but this time was different.

We noticed Lulu running alongside the fence and jumping, as if to gage how high the fence was. A minute later, I had turned my back and she had jumped clear over that fence. The people all around us were shocked, they had never seen a dog jump that high before (you can see why they are called “springers”).

I grabbed the leash from Carrie, hopped the fence myself, and began to chase after her. I finally picked her up about 300 yards away. Thankfully she had gone to meet another dog, and that dog's master grabbed Lulu's collar until I could catch up.

So why did she jump and run? Because it is in her nature to do so. It very much reminds me of us as God's children and our tendency towards sin (otherwise known as original sin). No matter how much we try, we still find ourselves sinning and running away from God. It is a constant struggle for each one of us. And just as we think we have sin put away forever, the Holy Spirit convicts us again and shows us more ways that we are falling short.

The grace of the matter, however, is that we have a father who will always chase after us, and will always bring us back to the fold. Just like I jumped that fence and ran after Lulu.

It brings to mind the third verse of a hymn by Henry Francis Lyte. “Father-like he tends and spares us; well our feeble frame he knows; in his hand he gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes. Alleluia, Alleluia, widely yet his mercy flows.”

Our New House (Almost)

2007-04-12T08:26:00.000-05:00

Carrie and I are now about two weeks from closing on a house. It is really a pretty amazing story. We had been looking at some other houses, and we even got ourselves into a contract on one before noticing that it was a mess of a house (Thank God for Richard Malin, the best house inspector in the world!). After all of that, Carrie and I decided it was time to take a break for awhile.

That break lasted all of about two weeks. Our friend and real estate agent called us up on a Monday morning and said, "I know you aren't looking for a house anymore, but you've gotta see this!" We reluctantly agreed to see it the next Saturday. From that point on we were in love. Check our these pictures and you will see why.

Our New House

The house has passed the inspection to our satisfaction, and we are just working through a few plumbing issues with the company that owns it (it was a foreclosure). But assuming everything goes well, we will close on the 27th.

Confession

2007-02-24T20:01:00.000-06:00

The Following is taken from an article I wrote for the St. Martin's newsletter. Many found it helpful, so I though more people might find it useful if I posted it on this blog. Enjoy.

Dear People of God,

A few months ago the topic of confession found its way into our discussion in adult education. As we talked together, I realized that very few episcopal priests ever teach on the sacrament of confession. Because of this, many of you may never have confessed your sins to a priest, and you might even be scared to do so. Let me ease your fears.

The classic Anglican teaching on confession is that “All may, none must, and some should.” Sacramental confession is not a requirement in our church as it is in the Roman Catholic Church, but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth doing. You might be saying, “I don't need to confess my sins to a priest, I can confess them directly to God.” If that is you, you are right, you don't need to confess your sins to a priest, and you can confess them directly to God. Be careful, though, because you may be missing out on two important things.

The first is that confessing to a priest requires that you take time to meditate on your sinfulness. For most of my life, I didn't like the idea of confessing to a priest, so I didn't. What I have realized though is that in all of that time, I rarely took time to examine myself and to ask for forgiveness for all of the ways that I had sinned. Thus, I wasn't keeping short accounts with God, and I really lacked in accountability.

The second important thing about the sacrament of confession is that it is a wonderful tool to use against Satan. Have you ever had a sin that you didn't really feel forgiven for? Even if you know in your head that God can forgive anything, you still might have a nagging suspicion that you haven't really been forgiven for that one thing. Satan knows this and he loves to use it against us. When you confess in the presence of a priest, however, you receive a definite assurance of forgiveness. You have conquered your shame by naming your sins to the priest. The priest says, “I absolve you,” and it is done.

That absolution is so final, that the priest can never bring it up ever again. Most of us know that a priest cannot tell the things they hear in a confessional to anyone else, but do you know that the priest cannot even mention your past sins to you? If you want to talk about a sin in your past that has been forgiven, you yourself must bring it up. Once it has been forgiven, it drops away. In fact, God frequently removes even the memory of that confession from the mind of the priest. As far as the east is from the west, that is how far your sins are removed from you.

If you have never before made a confession (or have not done so for a long time), this Lent might be a great time to begin the practice. I would encourage you to set up an appointment with me so that I can help you through the process of your first confession, and this way we can allow as much time as you need to feel comfortable. After that, you can check the Lenten schedule for posted times of confession, or your can always set up an appointment with me if none of those times work for you.

May God give you the grace to keep a holy lent this year.

Blessings
Fr. Chris+

Theodicy or The Problem of Pain

2006-03-13T12:15:00.000-06:00

Pain and suffering are consequences of the fall. If you read through the account of the fall in Genesis, God tells Adam and Eve that life will be much harder for them from that point on. Let's think about the fall theologically for a moment. What exactly was it that Adam and Eve did? They ate of the fruit from the one tree that God expressly told them not to eat of. The fall is really about making choices that are contrary to God's will.

Because the only perfect will is God's, every choice that we make outside of God's will is flawed. God had a choice in creating us. He could have made us as wind-up toys that do exactly what he says, or he could make us creatures with a free will. He chose the latter of these two options. It is easy to get a wind-up toy to love you, but is this really love? God created each one of us hoping that we would turn to him in love and live in accordance with his will.

Think about an orchestra for a moment. Even the best symphony in the world would sound terrible without a conductor and without sheet music. Each person would play whatever note they want in whatever tempo they want. Now imagine the same orchestra with conductor and music...it would sound quite beautiful. I think it is the same thing between God and us. When we are making choices according to our own wills, everyone runs in different directions with different agendas. We end up with pain and suffering because each one of us is trying coerce everyone else into our agendas. We are trying to conduct God's symphony for him.

This is why Jesus came into the world. We needed some outside help to redeem us and to redeem the creation. As more and more people sign on to Jesus' agenda, the world will begin to look like a better place. Of course none of this will be perfect because we are still fallen creatures. Every once in awhile, however, we can get little glimpses of what that might be like.

In the book of Revelation the Apostle John writes that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. He also says that at that time, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.Â” (Rev. 21:4) This is what it was like in the Garden of Eden before the fall, and this is what it will be like in the new heaven and new earth after God's creation has been fully redeemed.

In the mean time, we live in the midst of pain and suffering. This is our problem because we are sinful creatures. Our God keeps calling us back to him, but we are still creatures with free-wills and it is our burden to respond. Some of us do respond and we are allowed to work on God's team as change agents, helping him to redeem the world. Those of us who hear the Gospel are the wheat, but there are still a lot of weeds growing alongside us (Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43). This is why there is still pain and suffering in the world. It is not something God desires. I am sure he sheds tears every day over the pain and sorrow that we cause one another. But until he comes again in power and glory, there will still be multiple agendas causing discord instead of the harmony that God intended.

Generous Orthodoxy

2006-02-09T15:18:00.001-06:00

I have just finished reading Brian McLaren's "A Generous Orthodoxy" along with his "New Kind of Christian" trilogy. Above all, I have to give him credit for being thought provoking and for successfully avoiding being pegged as either a liberal or conservative (he would consider himself to be "post" both of these distinctions along with a long list of others). I mentioned D. A. Carson's book, "Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church" in an earlier post. After reading McLaren first hand, I would have to say that Carson is a bit on the harsh side in the way he evaluates McLaren's work.

Anyway, the thing that I have found most thought provoking are McLaren's ideas about hell, judgment and salvation. I don't know that I whole heartedly agree with him, but he tackles some tough questions. Basically, he feels that evangelicals have equated "judgment" with God condemning people to hell. He rightly asserts that it is not just non-Christians who will be judged, everyone will. Though he never directly quotes it, his judgment looks, to me, a lot like the image in 1 Cor. 3:10-15:

"10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." (ESV)

In other words, we will all stand before God and all that is evil in us will be burned away. The only thing that will remain is that which is good. For some people, this will not leave much.

He then goes on to say that it is not up to us to condemn others to hell. That is a job that should be left to God alone. In the end, I think I agree with this. We have too much evangelism to do to be worrying about who is in and who is out. Our job is simply to faithfully preach the Gospel that has been handed down to us. We can reserve the ultimate judgment for God.

Beyond this, McLaren has an expanded view of salvation that includes not only individual Christians but the entirety of God's creation. He seems to be frustrated with the idea that the entire point of Christianity (and Christ's sacrifice on the Cross) is to keep those who believe in Jesus from going to hell. The motivation for becoming a Christian then boils down to self-interest. McLaren, however, feels that the point of becoming a Christian is to join in the work that God is already doing. For him, this still involves a personal salvation, but it is also so much more than that.

So Mr. McLaren, I don't know if I can agree with everything you have to say, but I most certainly appreciate your ability to get me thinking.

Seattle

2006-01-28T09:05:00.000-06:00

I realize this is a bit late, but I thought I should talk a little about our experience last week in Seattle. As with England, the main purpose of our trip was to look into the emerging church conversation, trying to get a better idea of what the movement is about. Unlike England, this time we were only visiting one Church, Church of the Apostles (COTA) and their Pastor/Abbess, Karen Ward. We had a wonderful time, and I would like to thank Karen and all of the Apostles for their hospitality.

We first became interested in this group through their website, which is fabulous. As we poked around, we realized that this was a group that really understands what it means to be a community. We then discovered the CD, "Ordo," which they put out and we were hooked.

Their weekly worship is fascinating. They have taken the basic Ordo of a mass, and then done some things to make it distinctly contemporary and fitting to their context in Freemont. The service is much less formal than you would find in a traditional Episcopal/Lutheran church, but I think most people from either of these traditions would recognize the basic pattern of worship. Scripture is read and responded to, there is a sermon (followed by interactive stations to engage the message), the community prays for themselves and the world, and then they celebrate the Eucharist.

I am excited to see what the future holds for their ministry!

England

2006-01-20T04:32:00.000-06:00

We just returned from the UK where we had a wonderful 10 days exploring the country and the "fresh expressions" of the church of England. We had the opportunity to meet with many of the big thinkers in Emerging Christianity in the UK. Jonny Baker, Pete Ward, and Ian Adams were all extremely helpful.

Throughout the journey, I was reading a book by D A Carson called "Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church." This is rather interesting because it comes at the Emerging Church from an outsider's perspective, offering both praise and criticism. My biggest concerns are with the missiological aspect of emerging Christianity. Being "missional" is one of the big objects of the movement, but many of the churches I have come in contact with have not been able to reach the unchurched. Thus there is a lot of transfer growth, but not a whole lot of new believers.

Carson also has some interesting points about the difference between modern and postmodern theology. It sometimes makes me wonder if postmodernity and Christianity are compatible? How much should the Church become "postmodern" and at what points do we need to draw the line.

I'm looking forward to asking more questions when we Visit Karen Ward and Church of the Apostles this weekend. Yes, we really did spend only one day in WI between trips to the UK and Seattle!

Canonical Exams

2006-01-20T04:29:00.000-06:00

Ever since the Michaelmas term ended, it seems as though Carrie and I have been running from one thing to the next. I spent the week after Christmas studying for my Canonical Exams (or as Carrie calls them, the "big priest exam") which I then took the following week. I was able to pass in all areas, getting distinction in Liturgy, Pastoral Theology, and History. The only snag was with my sermon which was too much of a blend between teaching and preaching. I will preach another sermon this semester and, God willing, this should resolve the issue!

Five Semesters Down, One to Go!

2005-12-23T14:03:00.000-06:00

I just printed out my last few pieces of work for the semester. I don't know why, but I always seem to take as much time to do work as I possibly can. It is hard to believe that I have only one more semester left in seminary. I think I am going to enjoy not going to school for awhile! Now I can fully sit back, relax, and enjoy the Christmas season ahead.

Facebook

2005-12-23T08:51:00.000-06:00

I don't know how I missed this before. Aparently college students everywhere are setting up profiles with Facebook and it has become the big thing. I was warned when I first signed up that it could turn out to be a big procrastination, time wasting thing. Believe me, it is. I still think that the service is amazing though! It is the best way that I have found to keep contact info fresh with all of your friends. Something like a universal, online yellowpages with pictures. My new favorite feature is hte fact that you can upload picture albums, tag the people in the pictures, and it will automatically link to their facebook page and show up in pictures of them. WOW. It is getting bigger all the time, so look me up and I'll see you there:)

Hope and a Future

2005-11-14T07:01:00.000-06:00

Carrie and I are now back from the "Hope and a Future" conference in Pittsburgh. All that I have to say is that I am feeling very encouraged. The image that I keep getting is that of a water balloon. When you hook it up to a faucet and keep the water running, eventually the balloon will break. I really feel as though we are now moving forward.

It seemed to me that the whole theme of the conference was choice. We have a choice to remain in ECUSA or do something about it. More importantly, however, we have a choice to wallow in our self-pity or to carry on with the mission of the Church and to continue making disciples of Jesus Christ. This later choice is the one that the conference planners seemed to be encouraging us to make.

I realize that many people were frustrated about the conference headline speakers all being evangelicals. These people must not have looked at the schedule very closely, because it was absolutely packed with Anglicans from across the globe. I do have to say, however, that Rick Warren really impressed me. In fact, I think I shed a tear or two as I sat and listened to his vision. People can criticize him all they want about how he is too popular, but he has a simple, and biblical vision and he has a talent for putting it in words that people understand. I too was skeptical, but I am now a big supporter of Rick Warren's ministry. I'm looking forward to reading my free copy of "Purpose Driven Church." Thanks Rick!

All I can say is that I am very excited to be so near to graduation. I am getting anxious to get out there and to start working in the vineyard. The time I spent with my New England friends has really reminded me how desperate they are for pastoral care. They need all of the prayer that they can get. I hope that I will be able to go back and join them soon.

Anglican Diocese of Peru

2005-09-30T07:31:00.000-05:00

This week we have been blessed this week at Nashotah with a visit from The Rt. Rev'd H. William Godfrey from the Diocese of Peru. It is so fascinating and inspiring to hear from people who work on the front lines of world mission. Yesterday he was telling us about his church planting model, "The Spider." He plants 3-4 bigger, nicer church buildings in a city, and from there he sends out priests and catechists to plant 4-5 more satellite churches.

It is amazing how hungry the people in his diocese are for the Gospel. He is always looking for more workers to help out in the vineyard, so if you are looking for a place to go he might be able to find something for you to do!

Enneagram

2005-09-27T17:43:00.000-05:00

One thing that I learned about CPE this summer is that they love to talk about the Enneagram personality profile. Unfortunately, we did not really have time to work with this in my group this summer, so we mostly just alluded to it. Recently, however, I stumbled across a post on my friend Dixon Kinser's blog which brought the enneagram back to my attention.

This is something that many people have been using in spiritual direction, CPE, the office, and a myriad of other places. I am only just starting to look into it, so I may post more in the future. For now I will just leave you with the fact that I tested as a:

CMK Squared

2005-09-06T15:01:00.000-05:00

Carrie and I now have a new family blog which you can check for family news and updates. As a bonus, one of the first posts has links to various pictures from our wedding! See you there.

Married

2005-09-01T17:24:00.000-05:00

For those of you who haven't heard the news, I married Carrie Estridge (now Klukas) on August 20th. All that I can say is that married life is great. I love my wife, and I am very much looking forward to spending the rest of my life with her.

Following the wedding, we decided to fly down to the Domincan Rebublic for a week of all inclusive fun. Aside from some minor dietary issues, we had a great time relaxing in the sun (Carrie) and shade (me).

To all of my family and groomsmen I would like to extend a big thankyou for all of your help and support through this whole wedding/engagement process. It was really something to stand at the front of that church with my new wife and see all of these people supporting us. It was one of the most moving experiences of my whole life.

We will soon post a link to the photographers pictures so that you can see them.

Provision

2005-03-11T07:26:00.000-06:00

I recently heard a missionary speak of his experience in Uganda. He said that one of the things which most stuck with him was a statement that he heard over and over again from Ugandan Christians. "When we pray give us this day our daily bread, we are really praying that God would give us bread to eat today."

As Americans, our understanding of God's provision is limited. While I, as a seminarian, don't like the idea that I need to take student loans to pay for my expenses, I never have to worry about where I will sleep or what I will eat. I feel extremely blessed by this fact, but I do wonder if I am missing out on seeing the ways that Gods provides for me every day. I don't know that there is a solution for this save for praying that God would show me these blessings. By opening our eyes, we become more aware of the ways in which God supports us in all that we do and in every breath we breath. Maybe it is simply the word "Thankyou" that is necessary.

15 Minutes

2005-02-26T22:13:00.000-06:00

Carrie and I were recently featured in an article for the Diocese of Pittsburgh website. If you are interested in reading it, click here. This will also give you a chance to see the MAJOR upgrade to the diocessan website. Great job diocese of PGH media staff!

The Purpose of Sunday Worship

2005-02-22T09:00:00.000-06:00

What is the purpose of the principle Sunday service in a Christian community? I suppose that depends on the specific community, but what should it be. Is it a good idea to make Sunday worship into "seeker" friendly evangelism? Is Sunday worship even a viable option for bringing people into the church. I would like to propose an historical answer to this debate.

In the earliest days of Christianity, the Eucharist was the main weekly service in a Christian community. When this took place, the service happened in two parts; the service of the word and the eucharist itself. This is roughly similar to the service found today in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. Historically, if you were not baptized you were made to leave the room directly after the service of the word where the person leading the service would say, "The doors, the doors." Thus the Eucharist itself was only for the believers in the congregation. This divide became even more pronounced when Christians began to be persecuted for their beliefs. The privacy of community worship became a matter not just of theology and belief but of life and death.

So what makes us think today that we should use the liturgy for the Eucharist in a seeker friendly way. It seems that this would water down the significance of this form of worship for the members of the church while remaining rather cryptic to "seekers". Would it be better to make a point of having "seeker" friendly events during the week so that we could reserve the Eucharist for our baptized members?

Injustice to Social Justice

2005-02-17T09:00:00.000-06:00

I have become more and more aware this year of the injustice that conservative Christians have been doing to social justice. It seems that "social justice" has become a code word for "liberal church." While this may be true now, I certainly don't think it should be. Matthew chapter 25 talks about how at the last day the sheep will be separated from the goats. The main criteria for this separation seems to be based entirely on justice issues (feeding the poor, clothing the naked etc.). This is certainly not the entire message of the Gospel, but we must not forget that it is part of that message. Remember the words of Isaiah as he proclaims the coming of the Messiah:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;*
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;*
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn; (Is 61:1,2, ESV)

I believe the historical root of this problem began in the middle of the 20th century when the more liberal side of the church began to throw out all of the message of the Gospel leaving only the parts about social justice. I, along with many others, would call this the "Social Gospel" and it is not at all what I see as good teaching. It is an injustice to the Gospel as it makes Jesus into a mere moral teacher and not the Christ, the Son of God. As a result of this Social Gospel, conservatives began to distance themselves from work with the poor becasue they saw this work as associated with a liberal agenda.

I believe that it is important for us to return to biblical Christianity for whatever that means. We cannot cease proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the way, the truth, and the life. This also means, however, that we must do those things which he taught us to do. We need not be scared of what the liberals do or don't do, instead we need to concern ourselves with what God calls US to do.

Happy Valentines Day

2005-02-14T16:05:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to remind the world that in six short months I will be marrying the most wonderful, loving, caring, beautiful, Godly woman that I have ever been blessed to know. I love you Carrie and I cannot wait to marry you!

Love,
Chris

Ash Wednesday

2005-02-09T16:07:00.000-06:00

Before you read this post, you might want to check out the following biblical passages:

Isaiah 58:1-12
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Disclaimer: The following post is not intended to condemn the practice of Ash Wednesday observance, it is simply a reflection of something that popped into my head while at church this morning!

If you are wondering what these passages have in common, they are the lectionary texts that we read every year on Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent). The thing that I find somewhat ironic is that both the Isaiah reading and the one from Matthew seem to contradict the main practice of this holy day, the imposition of ashes. The reading from Isaiah talks about how God doesn't desire for people to fast by dressing in sackcloth and ashes, rather it suggests that God would prefer a fast that involves sharing bread with the hungary and clothing those who are naked.

Similarly, the passage from Matthew warns us to, "beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven." It then continues to say that when you fast you should not look like you are fasting, and when you pray you should do so behind closed doors. The Ash Wednesday practice, however, is to wear ashes on your forehead all day.

Again, I am not saying that we should abandon the practice of the imposition of Ashes, in fact, I think it is one of the better things that we observe each year. I am saying, however, that we need to think critically about what it is that we are doing. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of 40 days of introspection and reflection. The idea is that we need to look at those places in our spiritual life that are the most dirty and to ask for forgiveness. I would argue that the imposistion of ashes could be a valuable tool in that process. However, I think it would be wise to pay attention to the words of Isaiah. Maybe we should end our Ash Wednesday service by going out into the world and doing something for the cause of social justice!

I pray that you would have a holy Ash Wednesday wherever you are!

Community

2005-02-06T21:55:00.000-06:00

It is just about impossible to be a Christian without doing so in the context of a community of believers. I know that the darkest times in my life have been those during which I was not actively connected with a church. I think that much of my difficulty with last semester had to do with the fact that Carrie and I had not yet found a consistent place to worship each Sunday. Now that we have started to settle into Christ Chruch in White Fish Bay, I am feeling much more at ease.

So much of what Jesus did in his ministry on earth had to do with building communities that worshiped together and that loved and cared for one another. I suppose I have always known this, but recently it seems to be jumping out at me from all kinds of different angles. I have been thinking a lot about various ways that one might go about planting a church. I am starting to think that the best way to reach unchurched people would be through small Christian communities that demonstrate the love of Christ. These don't even have to look like churches, in fact it might be better if they didn't!

You can preach the need for a relationship with Jesus all day long, but I think more people would respond to a small, loving group of Christians who demonstrate that love. St. Francis said that we should preach the gospel always but that we should only use words when necessary. I think there is a lot of value in this assertion. No one can be the body of Christ by themself, this is too large a burden. If we carry the burden together, however, we can be much more effective.

Blog Stability

2005-02-06T21:52:00.000-06:00

OK, I think I may be done making changes for awhile. This is the new blog, and I think I will leave it right here, the template may continue to change, but this is where it should be located.

A New Beginning

2005-02-05T16:12:00.000-06:00

Well folks, I have gotten entirely too fed up with comment spam. It is for this reason that I have decided to join the thousands of other people who already use blogger. I am already impressed, the ease of use it amazing! Also anything that keeps comment spam out of my blog is fine by me!

With this new beginning will also, I hope, come a new zeal for posting. I know I have said this before, but I really mean it this time:)