Kingdom of God | MINISTRY FROM TWO POLES

Posts Tagged ‘Kingdom of God

Mar

I Will Be Your God, and You My People

Categories: Liberation theology and Sermons & Studies
Tags: biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, Faith, God, Jesus, Kingdom of God, PC(USA), Progressive, reconciliation, Theology

Following an oracle about a new ethic of personal responsibility, we find in Jeremiah 31 the announcement of a new covenant: a new picture of the relationship between God and God’s people. Something ‘new’ is not a frequent theme in the Hebrew Bible until it emerges with the prophets. Parallel to the new covenant of Jeremiah, two other significant references are the ‘new thing’ and ‘the new creation’ in Isaiah 43 and 65, and the ‘new heart’ and ‘new spirit’ of Ezekiel 18.

The style of Jeremiah varies – sometimes it reads like poetry, sometimes like prose. Jeremiah was a prophet – a preacher – and he had a scribe, Baruch, who took notes for posterity. We don’t know if they intended their work to end up being part of a timeless international best-seller, but that’s what happened. Continue reading ‘I Will Be Your God, and You My People’

Mar

The Scandal of Jesus Christ – Three Perspectives

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Feminist theology and Liberation theology
Tags: biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, Faith, Feminist theology, God, history, IMAGE OF GOD, inclusive, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Liberation theology, Progressive, Theology, writing

For much of the last two thousand years there have been scandals associated with, or hindrances to, belief in Jesus Christ as savior. What is so outrageous about the claim of salvation in Jesus that offends the moral or rational sensibilities of at least certain segments of society? In examining this question, three authors – Jan Milic Lochman, Elizabeth A. Johnson and Justo L. González – discussed the traditional orthodox views of salvation through faith in Christ in light of modern interests. The authors had particular agendas, openly declared in each of their works, around which they developed their arguments. These various arguments were in close agreement at some points and in discord at others but, when viewed collectively, created an interesting sampling of some of the opinions that make up modern Christian thought. Continue reading ‘The Scandal of Jesus Christ – Three Perspectives’

Feb

Swimming Upstream – an Autobiography (Part 4)

By Rev Andy Little 2 Comments

Categories: Personal Stories
Tags: Christian, Church, Ethics, Faith, initiatives, Kingdom of God, memories, PC(USA), poverty, reflections, remembrance, Theology, writing

Continued from LEARNING TO THRIVE. Or return to INDEX.

LEARNING TO SWIM – I was in the big pool now.

In the week prior to starting at seminary, I had moved into an apartment on campus – completely furnished and outfitted from the generosity of my Liberty Church supporters – and I had finished up a six-month, 10-hour per week consulting gig at Sterling Commerce, a division of the telecom giant, SBC. I had hated the thought of returning to the business world, but the opportunity had cropped up within hours of deciding to go back to school. Continue reading ‘Swimming Upstream – an Autobiography (Part 4)’

Feb

Brooding on Beatitudes

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Ethics and Sermons & Studies
Tags: biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, Ethics, Faith, initiatives, Kingdom of God, PC(USA), reflections, Theology

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The meaning of the word “poor” in Greek means one who has nothing and is completely empty. Was Jesus saying the economically poor are blessed? No, for there is no inherent spirituality in poverty. Poverty in itself is not blessed, because the poor can be as arrogant and as ungodly and as lost as the wealthy and powerful. So what does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means that the poor are those who realize that they can never achieve salvation on their own and instead put their complete faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

The poor in spirit are those who are not self-assertive, self-reliant, self-confident, self-centered, self-righteous or self-sufficient. The poor in spirit are not baptized in the waters of self-aggrandizement. Continue reading ‘Brooding on Beatitudes’

Feb

A Worthy Woman

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Feminist theology and Sermons & Studies
Tags: bias, biblical authority, Christian, Church, cultural competence, Equity, Ethics, Faith, Feminist theology, IMAGE OF GOD, inclusive, Kingdom of God, PC(USA), poverty, Progressive, reconciliation, Theology

Jesus didn’t invent the parable – he may have perfected it, but he didn’t invent it. The book of Ruth is, in its entirety, an Old Testament parable as critical of Jewish culture as Jesus was in his day. The Book of Ruth isn’t just a story with a nice moral, but is just as “in your face” to the Jewish culture as the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Ruth, as a Moabite, was unacceptable in Jewish society. Racism was alive and well back then, too. Deuteronomy, Ezra and Nehemiah all tell how Moabites were ostracized – barred from being part of Jewish society. And it all went back to the time of Moses, when the men of Israel blamed their promiscuity on the women of Moab. Sound familiar – well, if they weren’t here, we wouldn’t have sinned. They’re the problem.

How is this story critical of that attitude?

Continue reading ‘A Worthy Woman’

Feb

But, How Do I Know I Will Possess It?

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Economic Theology, Ethics, Liberation theology and Sermons & Studies
Tags: bias, biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, cultural competence, Ethics, Faith, God, history, Kingdom of God, Liberation theology, PC(USA), poverty, Progressive, reconciliation, Theology

The Reading: Genesis 15:1-12,17-18

Setting The Theme:

God cut a covenant with Abram. While I realize much can be made of the nature of this covenant, I also know that I am addressing people who have already wrestled with these implications. Some have expounded on the unilateral nature of this covenant – that God is the only participant. Some have gone further and said that God has taken all the risk of the penalty – an utterly humiliating death – for both parties in the contract. From there it is not difficult to see the trail being blazed to Christ on the cross.

If I had the definitive answer to this conundrum, I think I would still be unlikely to change the minds of many people. Since I don’t have the answer, I am not even going to try.

The reason for the covenant is rather more interesting. What prompted it? Continue reading ‘But, How Do I Know I Will Possess It?’

Feb

The Nature of God and Salvation in Mormon Tradition

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Sermons & Studies
Tags: biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, Faith, GLBT issues, God, history, Holy Spirit, IMAGE OF GOD, Jesus, Kingdom of God, marriage equality, Theology

With the LDS church being under some fire for their role in California’s Prop 8, I thought it might be useful to examine some of the theology behind LDS. I am now curious as to how evangelical Christians and Catholics reconcile the theological differences to form an alliance of the kind it took to wage the war. See what you think.

OVERARCHING QUESTION

“The questions that arose for me are hardly easy ones to ask or to address. The Mormons’ concept of the nature of God seems problematic, as does the relationship between God and humanity. Ultimately, however, the question that repeatedly surfaced was whether the Fall of humankind was integral to God’s plan of salvation – in the Mormon understanding, did God intentionally engineer and/or participate in the Fall and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? If so, what does this say about the nature of God?”

Continue reading ‘The Nature of God and Salvation in Mormon Tradition’

Feb

Two Poles are Better than One

By Rev Andy Little 2 Comments

In response to some inquiries that have been made about my rather cryptic title for this blog, I am going to unveil at least some of my thoughts behind the choice, and ponder further on the possibilities.

Gestalt – The obvious and, of course, most pedestrian assumption would be that it is based purely and simply on the fact that I am Bipolar. While, admittedly, that gave some impetous to choosing the moniker “Ministry From Two Poles”, it does not explain the rest of the name, “… or Preaching From Both Ends”, or the choice of header art. Continue reading ‘Two Poles are Better than One’

Feb

The Baby in the Bath Water

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

In colonial America, as in other places where water was fetched and heated only with great effort, ablutions were a family process. One by one, beginning with the father, then the mother and continuing through the youngest child, all would bath in the same tub of water. Both parents, as well all the oldest kids, worked the fields and tended the livestock. Of course, children also played outside. Saturday, in order to be clean for Sunday church service, was the proverbial bath night. The old German proverb, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater” had a very real meaning for early American settlers. Admittedly, even though the water was so tepid and dirty by the time the youngest of perhaps a dozen or more children were finished bathing that it would have been easy, it would have been ridiculously rare, if it ever happened at all, to loose a child in the muck. Rather than literal, the saying came to represent a frontier dweller’s value for resources similar to that expressed in the adage, “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” Continue reading ‘The Baby in the Bath Water’

Feb

The Myth or Reality of American Civil Religion

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Economic Theology, Ethics, Liberation theology and Sermons & Studies
Tags: bias, Christian, conflict resolution, cultural competence, Economy, Equity, Ethics, Faith, history, Kingdom of God, Liberation theology, oppression, PC(USA), poverty, Progressive, reconciliation, society, Theology

The term “civil religion” was first used by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an eighteenth century philosopher and writer, and refers to “the religious dimension of the polity“, or the intertwining of religious presuppositions with the political and social aspects of life. It is easy to understand why Rousseau would be critical of religion, since in 1717 he was born and subsequently raised in Geneva, at that time a still flourishing theocracy – in other words, a civil society under the rulership of God and scripture. His cynicism gave Rousseau a keen perception of the role of the power of suggestion in social life, which is illustrated in this famous quote, “The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said, “This is mine,” and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society.” Continue reading ‘The Myth or Reality of American Civil Religion’

Feb

Salvation Through “Faith In” or “Faith of” Christ

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Sermons & Studies
Tags: biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, Faith, inclusive, Jesus, Kingdom of God, PC(USA), Progressive, reflections, Theology

…RIGHTEOUSNESS EVEN OF GOD THROUGH FAITH[FULNESS] OF JESUS CHRIST TOWARDS ALL AND UPON ALL THOSE THAT BELIEVE FOR THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE… Romans 3:22 (Interlinear Greek NT – edited to separate Greek and literal English)

…the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction,… Romans 3:22 (NRSV)

The word, pisteos, or different forms of it, is found throughout Paul’s writings in the Greek, but is translated in various ways in the different versions of the Bible. The Interlinear Greek version, for example, translates the same word as faith, of faith and faith of, while the NRSV uses faith, faith in or faith of. Adding to the discussion is the inclusion of another translation of the word as meaning faithfulness of. Now, as a student of Greek, I can certainly argue that pisteos, the word that occurs more often than pisteo in ancient manuscripts, is a genitive noun meaning “faith of”. I am resigned to interpret Paul’s theology of salvation by comparing this passage with other tracts from the epistles, however, because the old manuscripts do not agree and it is impossible to know with certainty those that are correct. Do I argue that Paul had a theology based purely on salvation through our own faith in Christ or, as a Presbyterian, do I take the loyal Calvinist stance that Paul believed in salvation solely through God’s election and initiative? Continue reading ‘Salvation Through “Faith In” or “Faith of” Christ’

Feb

Wisdom Distilled from the Daily – a study guide

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Sermons & Studies
Tags: Christian, Church, Faith, God, Holy Spirit, IMAGE OF GOD, inclusive, Kingdom of God, reflections, Theology, writing

Benedictine Spirituality

Small Group Study Based on

Wisdom Distilled from the Daily

By Joan Chittister, OSB

Statement of Purpose:

This small group is to help those curious about Christian spirituality come to a more personal understanding of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and how God works in our everyday lives. We will use the Rule of St. Benedict, a guide to spirituality used since the sixth century, to find ways to “fill up the emptiness and heal the brokenness in which most of us live in ways that are sensible, humane, whole, and accessible to an overworked, overstimulated, overscheduled human race”.[1] Continue reading ‘Wisdom Distilled from the Daily – a study guide’

Feb

Testing the Waters on a Virtual Church

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, conflict resolution, Ethics, Faith, Feminist theology, GLBT issues, God, group dynamics, Holy Spirit, IMAGE OF GOD, inclusive, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Liberation theology, PC(USA), Progressive, Theology

In another post, I described my ongoing interest in a virtual church – not simply a digital reporduction of a physical church or a place to pick and choose prayers and sermons, but a real and actual church meeting at predetermined (oops, there’s that Presbyterian word) time.

I envision a church gathering in cyberspace for communal worship and praise, as well as having a physical presence in each of the towns, cities and countries in which the “members” live. A church that enlivens mission, both individually and collectively, and promotes the notion of the “priesthood of all believers” actively engaged in the physical world as well as the cyber-sphere. It would be a church which has the same range of theological perspectives as any “real-world” church, but would have a space in which, unlike most churches today, those differences can be discussed respectfully and reverently. Continue reading ‘Testing the Waters on a Virtual Church’

Feb

Growing Beyond Numbers – a continuing project

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Economic Theology, Ethics, Feminist theology and Liberation theology
Tags: bias, biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, conflict resolution, Equity, Ethics, Faith, God, group dynamics, history, Holy Spirit, IMAGE OF GOD, inclusive, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Liberation theology, oppression, Progressive, reconciliation, Theology

This is a project I was involved with several years ago, while in seminary. I have threatened numerous times to revisit this and continue to work at the basic premise. It was good, just not complete. If you feel inclined to help, I would appreciate any suggestions. I will no doubt make sure that the revisions can be seen apart from the original, which is owned collectively by all the authors. Each gave their permission years ago to work with this, as long as attribution was given.

Be prepared: This is a small book. It is, at least I think, interesting and challenging – especially for churches in flux and those trying to redefine their identity – but it is not a quick read.

Continue reading ‘Growing Beyond Numbers – a continuing project’

Feb

DOING THEOLOGY – A Series on Practical Theology

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Ethics, Feminist theology and Liberation theology
Tags: biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, Ethics, Faith, God, Holy Spirit, IMAGE OF GOD, inclusive, Kingdom of God, PC(USA), Progressive, reconciliation, reflections, Theology

A 7-part series about praxis – the way we treat theology as an active word, rather than just something we think about if we have to.

Excerpts:

“Theology is a word that seems to bring terror to some people’s hearts, cause others to roll their eyes back in their head and, at the very least, make some folks think of a deranged, reclusive, scholarly pastor sitting amid a room full of books reading under candlelight. … Theology as something we think can be important, but theology as something we do – well, now, that’s just plain powerful. ”

“What I hoped to show is that developing theology is based on a process – a continuous process, at that – in which we actually have to contend with what we believe, and consider how the consequences play out in our reality (”our” meaning human reality, as opposed to God’s reality). Un unexamined theology risks becoming an idolatry, with that which is idolized being our own rigid dogma.”

Continue reading ‘DOING THEOLOGY – A Series on Practical Theology’

... or, preaching from both ends

Rev Andy Little

WELL, HELLO! YOU’RE HERE.

That's too bad - I'm so sorry. Oh, well, just try to make the best of it. What you'll find here is a variety of essays and ramblings to do with things theological, social, whimsical and, sometimes, all three. I don't write to get famous - trust me, I've been told how futile that would be - but to express myself. I love to communicate and browbeat - ummm, I mean dialogue - about the things I find intriguing. Since you're here, and the door's locked, why don't you stay a while. There's a page bar under the header with links to information about us - I mean me. Don't forget to tell me what you think - in a nice way, I mean.