becoming

With such strong arguments, I have to agree — that men should not be ordained as priest.

I think all mothers has experienced this at one point or another.

Happy Mother’s Day.

I asked for strength
That I may achieve
I was made weak
That I might learn to humbly obey
I asked for health
That I might do greater things
I was given infirmity
That I might do better things
I asked for riches
That I might be happy
I was given poverty
That I may be wise
I asked for power
That I might have the praise of men
I was given weakness
That I might feel the need of God
I asked for all things
That I might enjoy life
I was given life
That I may enjoy all things
I got nothing that I had asked for-
But everything that I had hoped for
Almost despite myself,
My unspoken prayers were answered
I am . . . most richly blessed

-by a Confederate soldier

拉布，正如李怡說，就是以自殘的手段，進行抗爭。

Eric Metaxas takes on Dan Savage in today’s Breakpoint commentary. You can listen to it here.

Here’s a snippet:

Tolerance used to be defined as a willingness to put up with the beliefs or practices of those with whom we disagree. Today, tolerance means we must accept the beliefs and practices of others as correct — or risk being called a bigot. It’s interesting that this redefinition of tolerance almost always involves debates over homosexuality — and it always seems to be people on just one side of the debate calling those with whom they disagree “intolerant.”

I mean, when was the last time you heard a Christian accusing a gay-rights activist of intolerance because he refused to acknowledge that biblical teachings about homosexuality are correct?

And now we’re seeing the same kind of redefinition going on regarding the word bullying. If you so much as whisper that you believe that true marriage can take place only between one man and one woman, you’re accused of bullying.

In a way, this is the reason we should embrace the good-will of the anti-bullying bill 13, but not the bill itself.

[link: breakpoint.org via euangelion]

Okay, when I read Luke’s gospel, I was also curious about what happened to Jesus and how he escaped at the cliff of Nazareth.

But when I learned Bruce Longenecker was able to write a whole book on just that… now I am in awe.

Oh, it is only 152 pages.

Hearing the Silence
Jesus on the Edge and God in the Gap—Luke 4 in Narrative Perspective

——–

Update: Nijay K Gupta just wrote a short review of the book.

Listening to Tim Chester again:

God has placed you together with the people in your congregation. You did not chose them; God chose them. And that diversity of personalities, backgrounds, social class, ethnicities is used by God to make you grow in Christ and to display the unifying power of the cross.

But in cyberspace you are god. You chose who will be in community with you. You create your own communities of convenience that mean you are never challenged. Or if you are challenged or relationships become costly you can just scuttle off to new relationships. As a result we never grow. We are permanently immature.

[link: Tim Chester]

昨晚上過林教授「二十世紀華人神學風雲」的第一課，主要梳理十九世紀教士在中國的宣教事業。

當然，一句鐘的課，要說一百年的事，是必有取捨的，但林教授的功力果然厲害，不慌不忙的點出重點，引人入勝。

會後，我追問林教授有關李提摩太(Timothy Richard)的宣教進路，並問及李氏的工作成敗的見解。

今天，當我們積極鼓勵信徒參與政治，甚至要進入政府，影响決策，然後又看見那些在香港的所謂高官和議員的不堪表現，實在有必須重溫這段歷史，細心研究反省早於百多年前的前例。