“Today I have one concern and one concern only — to bring before you the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. How can we not love him with every fiber of our being? We were unworthy, but he counted us worthy. We deserved judgment, but he gave us mercy. We were slaves to sin and death, but he gave himself to release us into life and righteousness. He is remaking us into his image and likeness. The advent of divine judgment means that we do indeed find ourselves in urgent need of a complete overhaul, but the final act of the drama is resurrection and a passage into eternal life.” — Fleming Rutledge, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ
Author: Dan
The season of darkness and longing
Advent begins in darkness. Advent calls us to examination and to remember the coming judgments of Christ. We don’t like darkness. We don’t like waiting. We’ve misinterpreted “judgment” so we don’t like that, either. So, in the process, we’ve diminished a season that is very much needed in the Church.
Continue reading “The season of darkness and longing”We need our peace disturbed
Some thoughts from Fleming Rutledge’s great work, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ:
“Advent begins in the dark.”
Continue reading “We need our peace disturbed”What have I offered today?
Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. — Henri Nouwen
Smallness of Soul
Your ten dollar word for the day is: pusillanimity.
Continue reading “Smallness of Soul”The darkness of Advent and communal lament
“Unlike American Christianity, the Bible is not individualistic, but thoroughly social in its orientation. When the Church groans with Isaiah, ‘Thou hast hid they face far from us,’ it speaks as a corporate body with a common lot. If one suffers, all suffer.” — Fleming Rutledge, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Christ
Why Pentecostals Should Observe Advent
I am a slow learner. Over the past decade I have worked to understand the liturgical year more and incorporate key elements into my Pentecostal ministry. I am still learning. (The upside of that is I will probably die while I’m still learning something.)
Continue reading “Why Pentecostals Should Observe Advent”