GroshLink

This provoking piece was forwarded to me by Arlene, retired from the Department of Nursing at Messiah College, member of Elizabethtown Brethren-in-Christ, and co-author of InterVarsity Press' Called to Care. I'm still processing how to apply the article to conversations about religion on campus, but it contains a lot of good material, particularly for those from liturgical and/or intentionally culture making traditions. FYI: noticed a comment by Gene Chase, Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Messiah College. Looks like person I should get to know, so many new people to meet :-)

P.S. Celebrated Communion this morning, informed by Psalm 100, Isaiah 53:4-6, John 3:16-21, and a number of hymns including O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing, Glory to God, How Deep the Father's Love for Us, He Has Wounded for our Transgressions, And Can It Be That I Should Gain. As Pastor Hall shared from Romans 3:21-6:

God Himself has done for us what we can never do for ourselves . . . the Gospel is not about us, the Gospel is about the character and purposes of God. Yes, we are a part, but its most of all about God . . . God's offer, act of savlvation is so wonderful that spurning it is equally, negatively atrocious . . . if story doesn't rest on a foundation it is a fairytale . . . redemption (God paid the price which bought us), propitiation (God provided the death which judged us), faith (the attitude we are to have for what God has done) . . . God has chosen to act, we are to live in the reality that He has done it . . . One look at Jesus Christ on the cross demonstrates God's justice in judging sin and the love of God in saving us at the same time . . . only 1 [unforgiveable] sin, an attitude which rejects what God has done . . . faith is not just a mental ascent to a historical event, but embracing God's desire for a holy people, grasping Jesus as a rope when we're drowning . . . when we come to commmunion, we find the gift keeps on giving. God is just. He justifies us through His Son.

PPS. Looking forward to reading N.T. Wright's new InterVarsity Press (IVP) title Evil and the Justice of God