EkklesiaBeautiful

Ross, been thinking and praying for you and your w...

2010-03-09T22:00:38.851-06:00

Ross, been thinking and praying for you and your wife during this hard time of waiting. My prayer is that God would put you where he wants. Know that he has plans for a "hope and a future" for you. It's been exciting to see your faith and passion for Christ reinvigorated in the past few weeks. God bless.

Jesus was rejected by His own people and look how ...

2010-02-23T13:39:44.392-06:00

Jesus was rejected by His own people and look how he played into the mission of God. As long as you are His servant He will use you to redeem the world according to His Gospel. Love you sweetie.

Thank you, Ross! Your words answer my prayers and...

2010-02-16T14:07:41.345-06:00

Thank you, Ross! Your words answer my prayers and help begin the healing! Much love to you and your beautiful wife!

Ross! I like your ideas and I think that many peo...

2008-12-19T16:55:06.703-06:00

Ross! I like your ideas and I think that many people don't know how to think through the options or feel they are confined to support only one party as a Christian.

Eric

Hey Nick, Thanks for pointing me to that blog arti...

2008-11-18T10:59:17.089-06:00

Hey Nick,

Thanks for pointing me to that blog article. That is the kind of intelligent and non-slanderous dialogue (though his comment about Obama being ‘anti-life’ was a bit slanderous) which Christians ought to be engaging. It was great to here the politically conservative perspective from an African-American view.

The thrust of his argument lay in his support of anti-abortion legislation. I do support anti-abortion legislation. However, that is virtually the only component of the Republican platform with which I agree.

Redmond argued that this issue is so important that it is worth single issue voting. That is a position with which I do not agree. Redmond formed his argument from a desire for righteousness. I too form my argument from righteousness. The democratic platform (Obama included) strongly tends to favor the oppressed in society. Mercy for the born is no less righteous than mercy for the unborn.

On a note about race, which Redmond deals with from his perspective as an African-American, I can certainly respect and admire his position. I however, come from a different perspective. I am a Euro-American male from an upper middle class family. By nature of my skin color I receive privilege in this world at the expense and pain of Africa-Americans, probably to an extent of which I cannot fathom. Since this culture gives me power based on my race I find myself compelled to surrender that power as best I can. That is the model of the cross and I believe it is a significant message of scripture.

I would not have voted for Obama had I not thought he was qualified. Had he been completely Euro-American, I probably would have still voted for him. However, his blackness gave me a chance to surrender my power as Christ did. It was a step towards racial reconciliation – a righteous value that is far too under-valued in white evangelical circles. It was a chance for me to tell African-Americans that I love them and want to hear their voice. I feel my vote for Obama was no less motivated from a desire for righteousness and a love for my neighbor than Eric Redmond's vote against Obama.

Hey Ross,I continue to read your blog. Unfortunate...

2008-11-18T09:53:42.208-06:00

Hey Ross,

I continue to read your blog. Unfortunately mine was very short-lived, but I'm content to continue reading yours. This comment is pretty late, but I found this blog post on the election to be very helpful. It's titled "Living soli Deo gloria under Obama". Hope you get a chance to read it and respond.

http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/11/eric-redmond-living-soli-deo-gloria.html

Thank you, brother. We have a first allegiance to...

2008-11-05T11:32:30.215-06:00

Thank you, brother. We have a first allegiance to our King, and I think you have put it beautifully.
I sent a link to Megan about Derek Webb's new album - I highly recommend it. He's giving it away for free during this week of the election only. His album addresses many of these issues that rear their head during the election and how we as Christians are called to react.
(PS: I had a similar experience of hearing hateful things...I blogged it).

Well said! I am an old friend of Megan's from Eau...

2008-11-04T16:37:01.628-06:00

Well said! I am an old friend of Megan's from Eau Claire and am so glad she passed on your blogsite. Too bad more people can't be as reasonable and understanding as you when it comes to politics/this election.

a friend sent me a link to your blog and i just re...

2008-11-04T16:34:32.280-06:00

a friend sent me a link to your blog and i just read today's post. THANK YOU! this is exactly what i've been thinking for months, but haven't been able to verbalize. well-said! and amen.

Thanks for the post Ross. Whenever I hear or watch...

2008-09-08T22:55:54.892-05:00

Thanks for the post Ross. Whenever I hear or watch Bell speak, this seems to be his forte. He loves to take a historical "fact" and use that to interpret the scripture rather than simply looking at the passage. It must feel more hip to be able to put a new spin on a passage that hasn't ever been thought of in 2000 years. Plus, your average reader is not going to look up those scriptures for themselves. They'll just assume Bell must be right because he wrote a book and claims to know what Jesus "really" meant. Anyways, you should tell me what some of the good stuff was sometime.

I do think that the passage concerning Peter is still debated amongst many Catholics and Protestants. The Protestants (at least some that I've read) argue that Jesus was affirming Peter's statement of faith and that upon that His church would be built; not literally upon Peter the man (aka the first Pope). But you're in seminary, so I guess we'll have to take your word on that one : )

One of the tough parts for me (and I imagine for C...

2008-08-07T15:27:09.123-05:00

One of the tough parts for me (and I imagine for Christian youth also) is taking the discipline and time to make ourselves available to God to experience those profound moments while acknowledging that most of the times we sit with God no profundity will show-up.

It's like trouncing through the wilderness looking for wildlife. The ratio between time spent in the woods and time spent seeing interesting wildlife is not a very even one. How many trips do you make, how many hours do you hike, how many ticks do you accumulate before you actually see something really cool?

Ross, well said. This is a challenge Heidi and I ...

2008-08-07T12:10:33.983-05:00

Ross, well said. This is a challenge Heidi and I have with our High School Youth Group Kids who have grown up in the "Instant Gratification"/"God is my Cosmic Vending Machine" type of world. The notion of listening, quieting everything around us, finding God in the margins of our daily life and bringing him in are lost in the, as you call it, On Demand culture we live in. I'll have to tell you about the Backpacking Trip I just got back from where Heidi and I took 7 Calvary kids to the Colorado Mountains. Some very interesting observations were had out there in "The Wild"

Thanks for the contribution (and the compliments o...

2008-08-07T09:38:41.623-05:00

Thanks for the contribution (and the compliments on my blog), Nick! I totally agree with you that we cannot manufacture those profound moments. I wonder if that desire and false notion that we should be able to produce those moments whenever we desire is in someway connected to our ability to have on demand experiences through readily accessible entertainment (Movies, Ipods, TiVo, etc.). If I want to experience thrill I can pop in the latest installment of the Freddy movies (or would that be humor?). If I want to experience romantic emotions I can bring-up Sinatra, or Fergie for some I suppose, on my Ipod. Spiritual experiences of joy just aren’t the same though. Just like any human relationship (marriages come to my mind as a good example), we cannot expect those profound and beautiful Kodak moments to arise on demand.

I have to include the caveat that I think we can and should make ourselves available to experience those profound moments with God (through things like what you mentioned - prayer, solitude, silence, etc.). But we cannot be consumer spiritualists expecting to produce profoundness on our terms. I am of course guilty myself of this consumer spirituality.

Ross your Blog is Awesome! I totally agree with y...

2008-08-06T23:05:35.424-05:00

Ross your Blog is Awesome! I totally agree with you in regards to spritual discipline regarding prayer and how improtant it is to maintain in those Dark nights of the Soul.
In C.S. Lewis's autobiography, 'Surprised by Joy' he describes moments he has in his life that he calls brief but profound spiritual connections to God. He defines those moments simply as "Joy." It's the desire for the numenous something that is always just beyond our grasp.
I think a big challenge for Christians today (including myself) is the feeling that we need to hold on to and define those moments of "Joy" as an end in itself. What I mean is that we try to merely embrace the feeling of "Joy" instead of drinkning in and drawing close to the cause/source of "Joy". I also think that a challenge I personally face is to try to (greedily) reproduce that feeling of "Joy" only to never find it. The Irony is that whenever I am not looking for it, perhaps in those Dark nights of the Soul, I always seem to find it in the distance returning to me and drawing me in. I cannot Manufacture those moments I must allow them to happen, usually I find them in my moments of prayer, solitude, silence, or in the wilderness. Apologies if this got too long, but I just found your blog and figured a bit of Lewis can always contrubute. Love!

Yes, I have heard of it, but only read the first p...

2008-07-31T18:57:06.302-05:00

Yes, I have heard of it, but only read the first portion. What are your thougths onthe document?

Have you heard of the EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS T...

2008-07-31T14:38:51.450-05:00

Have you heard of the EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS TOGETHER document? You might find that interesting, as it sort of relates to this issue.

This was a good post, Ross. You clarified some thi...

2008-07-31T14:24:56.589-05:00

This was a good post, Ross. You clarified some things for me. I'd never heard the reference made to the Bereans before. That was good.