They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.They do all their deeds to be seen by others....
Source:
Matthew 23: 4 and 5, NRSVUE
This blog seeks to promote and establish ecumenism among all groups and denominations of the Christian Faith via expressions in written language, and through any means of communication. We seek the promotion of others that are working towards the same common goal, as well. The prayer of Jesus in John 17: 21 was: "I pray that they may all be one…." Ultimately and eternally, the creation of unity among all believers and followers of Christ is sought desiring harmony with and for all of humanity.
They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.They do all their deeds to be seen by others....
The LORD looked forth from heaven upon the children of men,
I hope everyone is doing well. This post will be brief. It
is based on some things I have been dwelling on recently. Mainly, some things
Jesus is credited to saying in Scriptures that may seem contradictory. I don’t
claim to understand what he meant fully, but I also do not think he did not
make any sense. I am not going to provide entire verses; however, I will give
the citation to allow all to verify. Anyhow, here we go.
Possibly Jesus said, “if anyone strikes you on the right
cheek, turn the other also” He also said, “walk a second mile if someone
asks you to walk one.” Hence: he never said to walk three miles. See Matthew
5:39.
Supposedly, Jesus said “one who has no sword must sell
his cloak and buy one.” Basically, one needs to have a sword and can’t afford
to be without one. Obviously, he didn't seem to believe in not defending
oneself. Consequently, this seems to contrast the cheek turning thing a bit, if
things escalated perhaps. See Luke 22:36.
Lastly, Jesus said, “be
wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” I think this one is self-explanatory…don’t
be fools, but also don’t be an arrogant a**hole. See Matthew 10:16.
In closing, I think all-around, Jesus was more about having
balance. If we focus on one area of his teachings but neglect another, we get
out of balance. Therefore, we should focus on all instead of one thing.
Blessings!
References:
Matthew 5:39
Luke 22: 36
Matthew 10:16
In a unique sign of ecumenicism, a Catholic abbey and a Baptist university are exchanging property so the abbey can receive historically significant land that once was home to the abbey’s university.
I try to share some of the latest ecumenism news on this blog as often as possible, especially when it is something that catches my attention. The introductory excerpt is from an article for CNA by Kate Quiñones titled: Catholic abbey and Baptist university exchange land ‘to build up the kingdom.’ I enjoyed reading the article and hearing about the property exchange. Read the full article at the link below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I.
The video being shared is described on YouTube as follows:
IRD President Mark Tooley chats
with author Daniel G. Hummel on his book The Rise and Fall of
Dispensationalism: How the Evangelical Battle Over the End Times Shaped a
Nation. Hummel offers a fascinating history of dispensationalism and its
influence on popular culture, politics, and religion.
Watch below:
Reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WkQ628NoH0
Normally when I share an article on here, I usually include
an excerpt from it to give a basic idea of what the author said. I personally
enjoy getting a glimpse of the subject when other writers do similarly. Unfortunately,
that is not going to happen in this post. However, I really believe the author
answers the question I ask in the title which is can ecumenism be a heretical thing?
In this post I am sharing an article by Paul Ladouceur from 2016 titled: On Ecumenoclasm: Who Is a Heretic? I hope you enjoy reading it. The article is found at the link below.
In this post I am sharing an article by Peter Kenney from a couple of weeks ago published in ECUMENICAL NEWS, ecunews.com which is titled: New UK extremism definition could drive communities apart, Anglican archbishops warn.
The article in
reference ends by stating the following:
According to the CIA Factbook
Christians make up 59.5 percent of Britain's 68 million population, while
Muslim account for 4.4 percent, and Hindus 1.3 percent.
I find the usage of facts with relevance to demographics at the end rather interesting. I have yet to read the new definition of extremism by the UK government as I share this, but plan on doing so. I recommend reading this article and the definition, as well. Read the full article at the link below.
Alexei Navalny's cause of death has not yet been determined. As of today, that is…. Perhaps, we will know soon.
Epstein's death was supposedly a suicide. Although, guards
were asleep. And cameras malfunctioned….
Ashli Babbitt was shot by the United States inside the capitol
building on January 6th. Supposedly she was a threat. However, she
had a long honorable military career. I have read different versions of the
incident, but they seem to be contrary to actual video footage that has been
released.
Five members of Congress were injured, one seriously in 1954
during the shooting at the United States Capitol. Please read the following
excerpt.
Those on the House floor quickly
moved into action. Congressional pages carried the wounded to safety. As the
shooters attempted to escape, three of them were overpowered by visitors,
police, House staff, and Congressman James Van Zandt of Pennsylvania, who
personally apprehended Rafael Miranda. The fourth shooter, Irvin Flores,
escaped, but was captured later that day. The four gunmen were tried and
sentenced to more than 49 years in federal prison (https://blogs.loc.gov/).
Back to Alexei Navalny, his cause of death hasn't yet been
determined, as I said originally. However, Russia is a sovereign nation just
like the United States. I do know that Alexei was serving a 19-year prison
sentence. I hear a lot of criticism and speculation that Putin had him killed.
Regardless of this being true or not, who are we to point fingers? The United
States seemingly killed an innocent Ashli Babbitt and locked up many who were
innocent of crimes on January 6th, 2020. Was an insurrection really taking
place on January 6th? Was one taking place in the 1954 capitol shooting?
Jesus supposedly said the following:
3 Why do you see the speck in
your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you
say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is
in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye (Matthew
7:3-5, NRSVUE).
Reference:
https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2020/05/1954-shooting-at-the-u-s-capitol/
Matthew 7:3-5, NRSVUE, Bible
I have two other blogs, in addition to this one. What I have noticed over the years from reading the statistics on my blogs is that ecumenism doesn’t seem to be popular. If true, one should ask why? I recently wrote a piece elsewhere about community, and I wonder if many people feel like I do. The following paragraph is extracted from it.
Any argument stating that we have a collective need for
community doesn't convince me at all. Perhaps, having a desire for it, but
that's a whole different thing. Personally, I don't have a need, nor a desire.
The masses and communities very often seem to get things wrong and go in a bad
direction. The problem with that is that a substantial amount of time often
goes by before awareness of the mistake begins to take place. And when I say
time, I mean many years can go by. My advice to most is learn to think and
decide independently. Learning to think and analyze is vital.
Jesus said,
"Love your neighbor, as yourself." The collective is important, but
in equivalence to the individual. Meaning, perhaps we should know the
independent self well before attempting the collective community thing.
Blessings and I hope you enjoyed reading this brief thought.