Pastor Craig's ConSpiritu Blog

(Note: I owe my reflections today in part to an Easter blog posted by Crystal St. Marie Lewis: " Resurrrection: A Scandalous Reading of a Scandalous Gospel."  ) Luke 24:13-35 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles  from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad.  Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth,  who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief...

John 20:19-30  When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ Jesus and Thomas  But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’  A week later his disciples were ...

Here it is Wednesday of Holy week, and Good Friday is only two days away. Holy Week is all about this world we’ve created with our own choosing. It is about a crowd that follows Jesus into town crying hosanna and waving palm branches, only to be yelling “Crucify him!” at the end of the week. Holy week reminds us that we live in a world in need of redemption, in need of saving. We are reminded that this is a world of crucifiers. The crucifiers are those forces in our world that make you think that there is someone out there who is going to take away your job, or take away your freedom, or take away your land or your possessions or your family, or take away your way of life, or take away your religion and so you better get them first before they get you. The crucifiers rule by fear. The crucifiers rule the imagination by painting a picture of a world of scarcity wherein the goal of life is to be “on top” with others under your thumb, or to have more land or goods than your neig...

This week for Christians around the world is Holy Week. Yesterday we celebrated Palm Sunday, commemorating the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem amid the laud and jubilation of the people gathered there in anticipation of Passover. At our church, we also observe it as Passion Sunday as well, in preparation for Easter. During this week we will also gather on Thursday to celebrate the Last Supper Jesus celebrated with his disciples, and on Friday will celebrate Good Friday with a Tenebrae Service of Shadows. All these prepare us for the central celebration of the Christian faith – the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection is one of those doctrines of Christian teaching that seems to be central to the Christian faith. But for many contemporary people, it is hard to square with our everyday experience. I once had an extended Facebook conversation with a friend about whether the actual physical resurrection of Jesus was necessary to the Christian faith. Is it centra...

Yesterday I ran a list of questions, and posted a link with the questions on Facebook. I have had a long running dialogue with someone concerning the last question, “Does Christianity make sense, or is it just the hiding place of right-wing fascists who want to run everybody else’s lives?” My dialogue partner has raised very serious questions concerning the use of Christianity to justify heinous crimes, genocide and murder over the centuries. I actually concur with the concerns of my interlocutor. It is why I ask the question. He has serious doubts about the efficacy of belief in a divine figure when belief in that figure can be so easily misused and abused to justify despicable acts. Right now there is legislation appearing in every state that cuts education, imposes strict standards on what decisions women can make concerning their bodies, forces certain invasive procedures on all women seeking abortions. These are all sponsored by legislators parading their Christian credent...

I begin this week’s blogspot ruminations toward a sermon with the following very serious questions: How should I live my life?   Is a meaningful life possible? In the midst of a world that thrives and runs on senselessness, filled with acts of random violence, hypocritical posturing, and gross injustice, is there any viable alternative? Is religion and spirituality related to any other aspect of my life? Did Jesus really mean what he said as a real possibility in life, or was he just an idealistic dreamer? If I pattern my life after Jesus, will it get me crucified as well? Does Christianity make sense, or is it just the hiding place of right-wing fascists who want to run everybody else’s lives? These questions arise for me as I struggle with presenting the Christian faith to a world that is increasingly characterized by violent antagonism between religions, the abuse of religion for political gain, the subjugation and political oppression of entire classes of people...

co·her·ent     (k -hîr nt, -h r -) adj. 1.  Sticking together; cohering. 2.  Marked by an orderly, logical, and aesthetically consistent relation of parts:  a coherent essay. 3.  Physics  Of, relating to, or having waves with similar direction, amplitude, and phase that are capable of exhibiting interference. 4.  Of or relating to a system of units of measurement in which a small number of basic units are defined from which all others in the system are derived by multiplication or division only. 5.  Botany  Sticking to but not fused with a part or an organ of the same kind. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by  Houghton Mifflin Company . All rights reserved. coherent   [kəʊˈhɪərənt] adj 1.  capable of logical and consistent speech, thought, etc. 2.  logical; consis...