In 998, a ruthless Viking army raided the Dorset countryside in southwest England near the rural Cernel monastery. Forty-something-year-old Aelfric, a monk at Cernel, responded to this national—and, to him, universal—crisis by creating three homiletic collections (about 120 sermons), the first English translations of passages from several Old Testament books, pastoral letters and other literary works. Aelfric explained his purpose in writing and preaching:

“People especially need good teaching at this time, which is the ending of this world.”

In 1005, Aelfric moved 85 miles northeast to Eynsham, where he served as abbot until his death around 1014. When Viking invaders burned neighboring Oxford in 1009, Aelfric may have even stood in the monastery yard and witnessed Oxford’s smoke.

So …

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From philosophy professor James Spiegel:
1. Augustine (5th century): Remember that you are a citizen of another kingdom.
2. Martin Luther (16th century): Expect politicians to be corrupt.
3. Thomas Aquinas (13th century): God has made himself known in nature.
4. John Calvin (16th century): God is sovereign over all, including our suffering.
5. Jonathan Edwards (18th century): God is beautiful, and all beauty is divine.
6. Thomas a’Kempis (15th century): Practice self-denial with a passion.
7. John Wesley (18th century): Be disciplined and make the best use of your time.
8. Fyodor Dostoevsky (19th century): God’s grace can reach anyone.
…

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The other day I was thinking of how the world system of greed is ingrained in the American culture (sometimes called the “American Dream”) through the use of the tenets of capitalism. Think about it, if it wasn’t for greed capitalism wouldn’t work nearly as good as it has for over 250 years. Yet, capitalism, for a Christian, can be extremely toxic to one’s faith of trusting in Christ alone. Fast forward… I then saw the video posted below from a Mr. Friedman on the Donahue show from some years ago. I found his analysis penetrating and convincing in regard to the system we have is the best thus far in the history of the world. …

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We had a recent graceTALK question…

I recently visited another church with a friend who wanted to start going to church again. They (husband and wife) wanted a church that was big so that they could “ease” into the whole church thing. So, I went along to encourage them. We went to a “mega” church in the area and I was blown away. It was like a rock concert! The message was good (in a creative sense) but seemed very shallow. I didn’t even need to use my Bible. So, now I am in a pickle. I want my friend to go to church, but I fear that they will see Christianity is a warped way by going to this …

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10. “Yappy”, the Shunned Wise Man”

9. “Finding God’s Facebook: A Teen’s Christmas Journey”

8. “My 30 Year Post Traumatic Stress: A Shepherd’s Story after the Announcement of the Birth”

7. “Either take the Room by the ice machine, or it’s the Stable. That’s all I got: The Innkeeper’s story”

6. “You Pick the Right Manger!” Interactive dinner theater

5. “King Herod’s Kid’s Christmas Cantata”

4. “Biblical Billy Bass tells the story of Christmas”

3. “A pregnant stranger, her husband, a blizzard, car trouble, a kindly old couple, a baby boy born, house foreclosure averted Christmas!

2. “Mimes Keeping their Flocks by Night”

1. “The Night the Animals Texted”

Copyright 2008 Dave Tippett (djtippHA@yahoo.com).

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Chelsea Schilling of WorldNetDaily is reporting that a certain Hindu extremist groups are seeking to blot out Christianity from the state of Orissa in India. The extremist groups are offering money, food and alcohol to anyone who murders Christians and destroys their homes. Faiz Rahman, chairman of Good News India, said Hindu militants are targeting Christian leaders and “The going price to kill a pastor is $250.”

Questions
How do you approach this as a Christian living thousands of miles away? Do you feel good that you don’t have to face treatment like this? Do you wonder why God would allow this? Do you get angry?

In I Peter 3:9-16 we find help in sorting through …

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A number of questions regarding the current teaching was submitted last week. I’d like to address one here:

Does the Roman Catholic church today believe in taking money to in exchange for forgiveness of sins?

In my understanding, this is not an overt doctrine of the RCC. However, given their system of salvation (process justification—as Dan has pointed out), almsgiving is seen as one of many “bricks” in one’s road toward justification. Whereas we believe that the Bible teaches that one’s forgiveness of sins is a one-time event (forensic justification), we would hold that giving money to the church or to the poor would be as a RESPONSE to forgiveness. Not as a means of forgiveness.

To make it more simple, the …

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On Saturday I saw this spotlight on the Richt family on ESPN’s Gameday. Mark Richt, Georgia’s head football coach for those of you not in the “Dog-Nation,” and his wife adopted two children from the Ukraine–one of whom has a facial deformity. It is a stirring piece. This reminds me of the grace God has shown to me through my adoption into His family, deformities and all. God is good!

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I was going to forward this talk on to the Adult Ministry Team (AMT), but I think this would be a good listen for anyone interested in why we teach within the church. It features Pastor Rob Paris, of Wellspring Anglican Church, preaching a message on a Christian view of education in the church. I found it helpful and encouraging.

He closes with what seems to be Wellspring’s vision for education….

We envision multitudes of children and adults delighting themselves in God’s Word and God’s world because they have discovered the life-giving power of His truth and grace. We long to be a learning culture where people study hard to excel in all that they do for the glory of God,

…

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Listen as J.I. Packer draws to a tight focus the central issue in regard to homosexuality, the Gospel itself. Dr. Packer makes a very lucid argument for why it is the very Gospel of Christ that is at stake when it comes to the issue of same-sex relationships.

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