Vol XVII. No. 21
Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019
Current archives listed on this page
GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net
This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns,
write to me personally at - waholst@telus.net
*****
Dear Friends:
I hope you will enjoy my comments, below, on teaching
bible study as part of my ministry at St. David's.
The rest of this letter contains the usual up-to-date items
that constitute a regular Colleagues List mailing.
PLEASE NOTE - If a link below, seems to be dead, cut and
paste it into the address bar at the top of your web page
and it should work.
Wayne
*****
SPECIAL ITEM
ADULT BIBLE STUDY CAN BE EXCITING
I share these reflections after spending the morning with
a group of 15 Zoom members as we begin a ten-week study
series on the New Testament book of First Corinthians -
and I am feeling quite elated as I really enjoy this class!
In the paragraphs below I would like to suggest some
reasons why teaching a weekly gathering like this (total
group of about 18 if all were present) is so invigorating
for me. Perhaps I might add that I have been teaching
a bible study series of ten classes for eighteen years -
twice a year. That's 350 classes. Members come and go
but the more recent groups have increased in size and
in stability. Perhaps the virus has a good side to it!
God Does Not Change But We Do
One of the discoveries we make again and again is that
while we may be studying the Hebrew prophets or the
early Christian church, the basic issues people have to
deal with are much the same today. This is true, even
though thousands of years and great distances might
separate us from the story we happen to be studying.
We need to be wise in making the connections, and - when
we do - we discover that the challenges faced by Isaiah
are often little different from what we face now. Some
of his solutions can be our solutions too.
God remains faithful to God's people, in spite of the fact
that we may fail God time after time.
We do not know the answers to many of our questions,
but trust that a changeless God - described in holy writ -
will see us through.
--
Truth Evolves for Serious Seekers
Some people may find it hard to believe that the truth
about life develops over time and as we are able to
understand it.
God does not change. It is we who can grow in understanding
over time.
It is hard for some to come to terms with how the scriptures
deal with an issue like, say, slavery. There is no doubt
that - in some places - the Bible seems to condone slavery.
As we develop our understanding however, many humans
have come to see slavery in modernity as profoundly wrong.
If we study the Bible today, we may well discover that
planted in the heart of scripture more mature insights
can be found. That does not mean God, or the Bible has
changed. Rather, it is we who have come to understand
truth in a new way. I'm glad to have a God that "grows"
with me.
The same could be said about the relationship between
male and female, the gay issue, or you name it.
Some people are locked into a traditional rendering of
scripture, but others discover, with much struggle, that
truth in scripture evolves.
--
Churches Need Groups Like Our's
More conservative churches may tend to be more biblically
centered than do liberal ones. I find it quite sad that
many of our congregations do not have a bible study class
in their program. This is most unfortunate and needs to
change.
Many of the members of my bible study groups are eager
to learn but, in the past, they have not been fed with the
scriptures as they should. It may also be that the opportunity
has not been taken until now.
I find that a number of our people might well join a group
like our's but they may be afraid that they don't know enough
and feel embarrassed. Those who venture into these
biblical studies usually seem to find that their attempts are
well worth the effort.
--
Finally, I re-iterate the enthusiasm I feel about our bible
studies at St. David's. I can't think of a more satisfying
activity with which to be engaged at this time in my life.
Wayne
*****
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.
Sermons and Blog
January 22nd, 2022
"Thin Places"
--
Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC
Personal Web Log,
January 20th, 2022
"A Constant Process of Renewal"
--
Isabel Gibson,
Ottawa, ON.
Traditional Iconoclast
January 23rd, 2022
"G -- is for"
--
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site
January 24th, 2022
"Making Love With the Divine"
*****
NET NOTES
WHO BETRAYED ANNE FRANK?
The Debate Continues
Religion News Service,
January 17th, 2022
***
THE WITNESS OF TREES
IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
Trees Can Tell Us Things
Christian Century,
January 18th, 2022
***
THE COLONIZATION OF SPACE
IS PROBABLY INEVITABLE
Exploring the Universe Ethically
Sojourners,
February 2022
***
GROWING OLD
WITH GRACE AND KINDNESS -
THE LIFE AND LIVES OF
SIDNEY POITIER
He Changed the Film World
and the Larger World
Religion News Service,
January 11th, 2022
***
LUTHERAN CHURCH IN FINLAND
TO APOLOGIZE TO THE SAMI PEOPLE
Historic Apology to Indigenous People
La Croix International
January 20th, 2022
***
POPE FRANCIS DECLARES ST. IRENAEUS
A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH
Catholic News Service
January 21st, 2022
***
CHRISTIANS ARE GOING BACK TO CHURCH
BUT MAYBE NOT THE SAME ONE
Many Congregations Experience Turnover
Christianity Today
January 18th, 2022
***
THE CHURCH MAY NEVER REGAIN
THE POWER IT ONCE HAD
But That May Be a Good Thing
CBC.ca
January 16th, 2022
***
FOR AMERICA, WE HOPE THE CHOICE
IS GOOD OVER EVIL
Editorial
Catholic Register,
January 12th, 2022
***
THICH NHAT HANH ZEN MASTER
PREACHER OF COMPASSION, DIES
Religion News Service,
January 21st, 2022
*****
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:
Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
- Pema Chödrön
--
Grace shows up in all of us asking the hard questions to break new ground. Grace is generous and, when we lean into it, we can’t help but extend it to others.
- Candice Marie Benbow
--
Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.
- Teilhard de Chardin
--
Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important, wonderful. If you want to be recognized, wonderful. If you want to be great, wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s your new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing that I like about it, by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great. Because everybody can serve.
Martin Luther King Jr.
--
Humanly speaking, we could understand and interpret the Sermon on the Mount in a thousand different ways. Jesus knows only one possibility: simple surrender and obedience, not interpreting it or applying it, but doing and obeying it. That is the only way to hear his word. He does not mean that it is to be discussed as an ideal; he really means us to get on with it.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
--
If the world has not approached its end, it has reached a major watershed in history, equal in importance to the turn from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. It will demand from us a spiritual blaze; we shall have to rise to a new height of vision, to a new level of life where our physical nature will not be cursed as in the Middle Ages, but even more importantly, our spiritual being will not be trampled upon as in the Modern Era.
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
--
The earliest community that formed in Jerusalem after Jesus’ execution was composed of the original disciples and pilgrims who had traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the holy days. United by the conviction that Jesus’ resurrection was a sign of covenant renewal and the new creation, these Jews marched through the Red Sea of baptism into a radically new way of life, one in which all possessions were held in common, there were no needy persons, and all members were “of one heart and mind.”
- Alden Bass
--
In life there are moments of darkness. There are periods of discouragement. There are times when we lose sight of the beauty of the sky for all the clouds. You may have to bear severe sickness, or deal with tremendous pain, or you may be disappointed in this or that. But remember, whatever difficulty you have to face, it will not last. It is only a cloud. For God has made each of us with a purpose.
We are made for joy.
- Alice von Hildebrand
--
God does not come to us by way of anything less than love for our enemy. God does not ask about good and evil, because even my good is not good before him. God’s love seeks the enemy and is perfected in the enemy. If it were not for this, none of us could talk about God’s love at all. Apart from this, none of us becomes the child of this God. This is the way Jesus, in his life and death, brought God to us. God’s children are enemies who have been overcome.
- Jergen Moltmann
(end)
*****
For Those Interested -
ACTS MINISTRY WINTER STUDIES AT ST.DAVID'S UNITED:
Monday Night Book Study - Jan. 17th - Mar. 28th 7-8:30 PM Zoom (10 weeks)
Book Theme: "On the Brink of Everything" by Parker Palmer
**
Thursday Morning Bible Study - Jan. 20th - Mar. 31st 10-11 AM
Zoom (10 weeks)
Bible Theme - Biblical book(s) to be studied this term will be
selected at the first gathering of the class, January 20th.
If you have questions, contact me at waholst@telus.net
******
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