Reformation Day

"Pope Francis has taken part in events to commemorate the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation during his trip to Sweden.

The Pope appealed to Catholics and Lutherans to "mend" history and look with honesty at the past, "recognising error and seeking forgiveness"(BBC)."

https://www.google.com/amp/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/37827736

Source:

https://www.google.com/amp/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/37827736

Eight Faiths Under One Roof

"The Haus der Religionen (House of Religions) in Bern houses a Christian church, Hindu temple, Buddhist centre, Alevi cemevi and soon, a mosque.

The five private religious spaces open into a shared “dialogue room” where members of different faiths eat, meet and hold events for the community (www.independent.co.uk)."

The foregoing is an excerpt from an article by Lizzie Dearden that was written for the Independent which is titled: 'House of Religions' bringing eight faiths together under one roof in Bern There are separate churches, mosques and temples for five faiths. The article is from 2015, and I have not seen a follow up, so I hope the idea is working out. Either way, this is definitely a brilliant idea. If something is about bringing people together, you can always count me in. Read more about it at the link below.

'House of Religions' bringing eight faiths together under one roof in Bern | The Independent

Source:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/house-of-religions-bringing-eight-faiths-together-under-one-roof-in-bern-10036654.html

Pray for Creation

As human beings, we should all understand that we need to be good stewards of our planet whether we believe in or belong to any religion. Below is a video message from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"September 1 was proclaimed as the World Day of Prayer for Creation by the Orthodox Church in 1989, and many other Christian churches have joined since then, with Pope Francis most recently in 2015. It was then extended to be a month-long Season of Creation, ending on October 4 (Feast of St. Francis)(http://seasonofcreation.org/)."

Season of Creation

References:

http://seasonofcreation.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5pHlymfjDk&feature=youtu.be

Arango's Apologetics Page: Low Church, High Church!

I hope everyone is doing well! Happy Labor Day! I just wanted to share this post from the sibling blog. Thinking about it, this is probably a perfect ecumenism article. I hope you enjoy reading it to find out why I said this. The link is below.



Arango's Apologetics Page: Low Church, High Church!

Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula

I hope everyone is doing well. I just wanted to share this article from the WCC. I am just letting everyone know that it is "Sunday of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula." Read more about it at the link below...blessings!

Prayer and advocacy for Korean peace and reunification — World Council of Churches









Source:

http://www.oikoumene.org/

Condemnation of Attack at Istanbul Airport

I hope all are doing well. I simply wanted to share an article from the WCC with relevance to the attack at Istanbul airport.

"The World Council of Churches' (WCC) general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has condemned as an “odious crime” the lethal attack by gunmen at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport (oikoumene.org)...."

"...“We pray for the victims and their families,” said Tveit, “and we hope and pray there can be a redoubling of efforts to bring peace to the region to end the conflicts which are fueling such odious criminal acts (oikoumene.org)...."

The full article is at the link below.

WCC strongly condemns lethal terror attack at Istanbul airport — World Council of Churches







Source:

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/wcc-strongly-condemns-lethal-terror-attack-at-istanbul-airport.

My Thoughts on the Orlando Mass Shooting

We sing in church a hymn that says: "There's wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea." For me some days require much faith to believe this to be true, but who am I to question God's capabilities? Also, when I read 2 Samuel 12:14 and how God decided to kill David's son with Uriah's widow when the child had no fault, I have a hard time understanding God and doubt increases in me for brief a moment. However, I really believe that doubt is part of faith and not the opposite, as some claim.

Now, we look at the news of the Orlando shooting today which is the biggest mass shooting in US history, and I wonder where God’s mercy is? Of course, Texas Lt. Governor, Dan Patrick decided to tweet Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows,” as soon as the Orlando shooting news broke. This verse came across his mind before anything else because perhaps in Sola Scriptura Evangelicalism the belief is that the Scriptures can be fully understood by the reader, and perhaps he believed this event was God's judgment to all the victims and their families. The tweet was later deleted and a Psalm 37:39 tweet basically replaced it, apparently.

Of course, I don't know how Dan Patrick would apply this reaping what you sow concept to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting back on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut when Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 innocent children, including 6 adults and his own mother. I think about all the killings, and realize that humans are killing humans, and not God. Evil exists and it is manifested by humans, just ask all the Holocaust survivors that were victims of the Nazis during WWII? But, what can we do to stop evil? Well, I think Jesus had the solution when he said: "love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.” St. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:13: "So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."My thoughts on the answer to all the things happening today and how we should respond is that we need to just love, and show love to all increasingly. The Beatles were even saying it in a song years ago: “All you need is love….” Jesus said: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out (Luke 19:40).” Don't be silent, speak out and manifest love, I don't think that rocks need to replace us in speaking the truth. I think I am done for now. Thank you for reading. Blessings!

Reference:

RSV Bible