Safe Haven

It all began when a friend asked me to look at a book (nice phrase, 'look at a book') for his class--what Mizzou was calling Religious Studies 104 at the time--"The Many Faces of Christology" (the study of interpreting Christ and His work). The introduction struck me, because the author said that he had wrestled through doubt in his twenties, proclaiming himself a Marxist. Yet, he continued to receive Holy Communion, saying that it eventually became a confirmation of his identity. The discovery was union with Christ, and it had never been broken truly. (Marxism in truest form is openly hostile to the gospel; incidentally, so is the humanistic basis of some forms of libertarianism, e.g. Objectivism) As I realize that the plain offer of the gospel is manifest in the bread and cup, it is also apparent that the eucharistic celebration is the confirmation of my identity, of my place in the body of Christ, and the heart of our mission. We cannot make disciples if we do not...

The dumbest rap song I've heard in the last hour: "I'm in Love with a Stripper," by some guy. The best one: "When I'm Gone," by Eminem. If Christians stop moralizing for five seconds and actually listen to what people say, we'd love them like Jesus does. There's real life and real pain in this guy's songs. I want to preach to him and hug him every time I hear one of them. My advice is to listen past the bad words, and remember that a real person wrote this whole thing. (And in this case, they tend to be very autobiographical.)

What is inerrancy? What do people mean when they say the word? Does it mean the Bible is an instruction manual? What can we say about a specific text’s application to our lives? Does submitting to the Bible as the only authority lead to an unreasonable doctrinal subjectivism? Do we all become our own popes? Is it good to have one authority (a pope)? Why do we trust the Scripture? Why should we? Is it possible to believe in a Great Tradition of Christian Orthodoxy while holding Scripture paramount? Is there healthy, responsible non-Catholicism out there, or should we all just submit to the Vicar of Christ, and repent for following the man who ‘trampled the Lord’s vineyard’? Am I scaring anyone yet? Am I scaring myself? Yes. Why do “restorationist” (or New Testament) churches scare me more than the Roman Catholic? Why do I feel as though I will never preach or teach anything good that hasn’t already been said? Am I OK with that? Absolutely. Why do I love authority, legitimately constitut...