Evangelical Ecumenical

"That’s ecumenism that takes seriously that the gospel makes us one family, but also takes doctrine seriously enough that we know that we can’t just pretend differences don’t exist (www.christianitytoday.com)."

The foregoing comment is by Ed Stetzer from an article for Christianity Today titled: I'm an Evangelical Ecumenist? What Does That Even Mean? Working with other believers on common issues. Believe it or not, Mr. Stetzer considers himself to be, in his own words, an "Evangelical ecumenist." Read the full article at the link below to understand his reasoning.




http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2017/december/evangelical-ecumenist-what-does-that-even-mean.html









Reference:

www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2017/december/evangelical-ecumenist-what-does-that-even-mean.html

Merry Christmas to everyone!

The Sisters of Mary

The Sisters of Mary are/is a Coptic convent in Egypt. The following is an excerpt from an article about them.

"The Sisters of Mary in Beni Suef (Egypt) manage kindergartens, hospitals, schools and retirement homes. They take care of orphans, old and disabled people. So they build bridges to the Muslim majority society, which are more needed than ever (WCC)."

Read the full article at the following link.

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/praying-and-building-bridges

Source:

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/praying-and-building-bridges

Arango's Apologetics Page Turns Nine

Happy Birthday to the sibling blog!

https://arangoapologeticspage.blogspot.com/2017/11/this-blog-turns-nine-today.html?m=0

A Follow-up on the Previous Post about Why Unity is Perhaps Difficult

Imagine if we could/would treat others and other denominations as if their members were better than us. And, we could do this. But, it is sort of like the old Smokey the Bear commercial which said: "only you can prevent forest fires,” since it really is our individual responsibility. This doesn't mean you're going to be doing like what Steven Wright used to say in his comedy routine: oh my God, bringing out buckets of water every night non-stop. The reality is that this idea is not farfetched.  Saint Paul had something to say about how we should treat others in his Epistle to the Philippians. Philippians 2: 3-5 reads as follows:

“3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was[a] in Christ Jesus … (NRSV).”

                                                                 

Obviously, if we actually regard others as better than ourselves and other do the same towards us, we might get this ecumenism thing nipped in the bud very quickly. Of course,  I don't have the older manuscripts for Philippians, but I'm sure even looking at things from  the political spectrum it doesn't say in this verse to treat others, except Trump or Hillary, it just says treat others (everybody else's besides ourselves). I hope we get the idea correct. I think I will stop here. I simply wanted to expand a little more on the previous post to sort of hit the nail on the head. Blessings!

Reference:

NRSV Bible

A Thought on Why Unity is Perhaps Difficult

Have you ever been wrong about something, I mean completely wrong? Sometimes we believe something is true only based on theories with no empirical evidence to back that our belief is factual. I don't know about you, but it has happened to me. Of course, faith is a little bit like that. In the Book of Hebrews 11:1, the author wrote: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We can probably spend our entire lives’ trying to explain how we can have a conviction something that is invisible is real. However, the fact is that many of us that believe in what this verse says disagree on many doctrinal levels, even though we really cannot prove anything we believe, but still somehow we have the conviction that we believe. If you ask me, the whole thing sounds a little crazy. If we can have faith, we can certainly have enough faith in the fact that we can be one, as Jesus prayed in John 17:21.  Maybe we should start asking ourselves why is it that we cannot have ecumenism when it is so easy for us to believe in other things.

My hope is that everyone simply gets along. Alienation and isolation is usually not a good thing. And, many times unity doesn't happen because of our imperfect humanity. Regardless, I often think about what it is that prevents unity. For instance, is it possible to be silently critical without being confrontational with others when we make the assumption that we are on the correct side of the fence. The foregoing may be a social instigator behavior. One can make the assumption that one is more tolerant, even if it is not implied or intended to be perceived as such, it can be interpreted or perceived as such on the other side of the fence. And, this can be divisive. In other words, another Christian can think something like; wow…this guy thinks he is holier than God. Human interaction or no interaction can bring out subtle misunderstandings that are often mistaken for understanding. The bottom line is that we are very complex beings with even more complex minds on the social level. Even on social media such as Facebook people disagree, and unfriend each other for perhaps some really dumb things when they probably agree on 99% of many other issues. Miscommunication is perhaps what often is happening when people disagree. If we sometimes just take a little extra time to ask the other what they meant, we might reach an understanding quicker that we might know. I know that not all matters are the same, and the foundations for why we believe them are perhaps a little different, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible to reach an understanding. We Cubans often use the phrase “no es fácil” which translated into English means “it’s not easy.” The other day I was speaking in Spanish to a friend, and I remember using the phrase. My friend responded by saying “yes, it’s not easy, but I don’t think it is that difficult either." He was right, we can perceive that some things are difficult, but it doesn’t mean that they really are until we try. Hopefully, you understand what I am trying to say, and if not feel free to ask questions. Blessings and I hope you enjoyed reading!

Reference:

NRSV Bible

Ecumenism is a Journey

Hello everyone! I hope you are doing well. Summer is officially over in the northern hemisphere of our planet, and fall has begun. In this post I just wanted to share an article titled: Ecumenism is a common journey, not a lab experiment, pope says. The article was written by Junno Arocho Esteves for Catholic News Service earlier this year. The following is an excerpt from it:

'"The path toward Christian unity can't be found isolated in a laboratory hashing out theological differences, but rather by walking together on a common journey, Pope Francis said.

While theological dialogue is necessary, Catholics and Anglicans can continue to "help each other in our needs, in our lives and help each other spiritually," the pope said Feb. 26 while answering questions from parishioners of All Saints' Anglican Church in Rome.

"This cannot be done in a laboratory; it must be done walking together along the way. We are on a journey and while we walk, we can have these (theological) discussions," he said."'

Read the full article at the link below. Blessings…enjoy!

Ecumenism is a common journey, not a lab experiment, pope says

Reference:

http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/ecumenism-is-a-common-journey-not-a-lab-experiment-pope-says.cfm

Speech by Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit

In this post, I simply wanted to share a most recent speech on ecumenism given by Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC General Secretary. In his closing thought, he said: "...we do have an extraordinary ecumenical chance at this point in history. Let us pray that we don’t miss it." I for one agree! Read the entire speech at the link below. Blessings!

The ecumenical chance of the year 2017 - review - proposals - perspectives — World Council of Churches














Source:

https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/general-secretary/speeches/the-ecumenical-chance-of-the-year-2017-review-proposals-perspectives/view

Children and HIV

I want to share an article from the WCC. The following is an excerpt from it.


"In 2016 alone there were 160,000 new child infections, and every day 330 children died of AIDS-related diseases.

The shocking fact is that only 43 percent of all children living with HIV were on lifesaving antiretroviral therapy. To make matters worse, the report says that the rate of increase in the number on treatment has slowed in recent years...(http://www.oikoumene.org)."


Click on the link below for the full article. Blessings!


Treatment target for children living with HIV may not be reached by 2018 — World Council of Churches






Source:

http://www.oikoumene.org

Happy Fourth Birthday!

Four years ago yesterday, I created this blog and wrote the very first article or post for it. Today, I still have the same goals and intentions with relevance to the subject of Ecumenism. The status of ecumenical thought in our world has perhaps changed somewhat for the better; however, we still fall short of the intentions that Christ seemingly had. In short, there is still plenty of work ahead of us. To close, I hope everyone reading this joins the cause and becomes one with us in spreading the Word. Blessings!

Pray to End Famine

"As more people face famine today than any time in modern history, the World Council of Churches (WCC) together with the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and a range of faith-based partners and networks invite a Global Day of Prayer to End Famine on 21 May 2017, in response to the hunger crisis."

Source:

https://www.oikoumene.org/en

Feeling Sad about Syria Today

I know that Christianity today has many ecumenical problems; however, when I look at Islam, I gather that the ecumenical problems are far worse. Sure, I understand the political and theological differences between Sunnis and Shiites, but this seems to go beyond denominational disagreement, just observe what has happened in Syria these past few years...beyond sad. This needs to be resolved. The following are basically verses from the Qur'an on the Golden Rule.

“Serve God, and join not any partners with Him; and do good- to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess [the slave]: For God loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious” (Q:4:36)"

My conclusions are that I have heard some say things such as why is it that if Islam is so great that Muslims always seem to want to migrate to countries that are mostly Christian or have a Christian history? I don't have an answer to the question, but I do know that we all have to start loving each other instead of killing each other if we really want a better future. Blessings! As-salamu alaykum to all!

Catholics and Copts Recognize Shared Baptisms

 The following agreement is definitely good ecumenical news!

"Today we, Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros II, in order to please the heart of the Lord Jesus, as well as that of our sons and daughters in the faith, mutually declare that we, with one mind and heart, will seek sincerely not to repeat the baptism that has been administered in either of our churches...."

Find out more at the link below on Vatican Radio.

Pope in Egypt: Catholics and Copts recognise shared baptism - Vatican Radio

Happy Easter to all! Christ is risen!

Egeria

Holy Week begins tomorrow. I just wanted to share some really good relevant  reading. Blessings!

http://www.ccel.org/m/mcclure/etheria/etheria.htm

Pope Francis’s Contribution to Ecumenism (WCC)

"As Pope Francis marks the fourth anniversary of his election, the latest issue of The Ecumenical Review, the quarterly journal of the World Council of Churches (WCC), opens with an article discussing the ecumenical gestures that have marked his pontificate, one of the most striking being his presence at the joint Catholic–Lutheran Reformation commemoration in Lund in 2016 (http://www.oikoumene.org)."

The previous texts are an excerpt taken from an article from March 22, 2017 on the World Council of Churches website which is titled: Ecumenical Review discusses Pope Francis’s contribution to ecumenical dialogue. The article is a review of an article on latest issue of The Ecumenical Review titled: “Ecumenical Recognition, Ecumenical Utopia.” Learn more at the link below, and to read and get all the insight from the article, we must get a copy of the latest Ecumenical Review. Blessings!

Ecumenical Review discusses Pope Francis’s contribution to ecumenical dialogue — World Council of Churches







Source:

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/ecumenical-review-discusses-pope-francis2019s-contribution-to-ecumenical-dialogue

A Message from Archbishop Justin Welby

Join the global wave of prayer

25th May - 4th June!

https://www.thykingdomcome.global

Source:

https://www.thykingdomcome.global/

Repost of the 7th Post on this Blog

http://unifyingthefaith.blogspot.com/2013/06/shifts-in-worldviews.html?m=0

Repost of the First Post on this Blog

http://unifyingthefaith.blogspot.com/2013/06/why-i-decided-to-start-this-blog.html?m=0

Happy 2017!

Wishing all have a wonderful new year! May 2017 be filled with many blessings.