Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon wrote Resident Aliens in 1989. Their analysis of both Christian and secular culture continues to be insightful and useful. If the situations appear to have changed in the thirty something years that have passed, it is only that they have increased and strengthened, not that courses have altered. Here they …
A ritual, by its nature is a set of common actions – performed in a common circumstance. Intrinsic in the shared actions are a recognition that they are carried out due to a shared experience. They serve as a recognition and response of communal experience. Thomas Long observes that attempting to fully personalise the elements …
The central motif of Palm Sunday, of Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem in the week before his crucifixion, is humility. While the circumstances change, Jesus is the same at either ends of the week: humble. This provides compelling insight into the character of our lives as Christians: we are humble in every circumstance. We are not …
The prevalent nature of handling dead bodies and conducting funerals in the west is not to handle them at all, nor to view them. Those who view dead bodies observe that they look different. Funerals used to centre on the respectful treatment of a dead body. Part of that focus is the loving respect people …
mgpcpastor's blog 