I took a required ethics class when I was first in seminary in 1974/75. The professor gave us an ethics exercise during the class quarter. I no longer remember whether it was at the beginning or during the latter part of the quarter. We were … [Continue reading]
Dracula, irresistible grace, and reprobation
It has long been noted that Dracula has strong Anglican religious overtones, from its use of sacraments in a High Anglican way to its persistent use of consecrated objects to hold back the tides of Dracula. ((See … [Continue reading]
Salvation without transformation is damnation.®
Salvation without transformation is damnation.®The Rev. Michael Elmore, D.Min., Ashland Theological Seminary The Rev. Dr. Elmore is a friend of mine. He is a graduate of a two-year C.P.E. residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics … [Continue reading]
St. Moses the Black and Prison Ministry
Below is a short article that I wrote for our parish's newsletter. “Moses the Black, sometimes called the Ethiopian, was a slave of a government official in Egypt who dismissed him for theft and suspected murder. He became the leader of a gang of … [Continue reading]
Drug abuse in the USA and misleading stories
As you can see from the chart above, drug deaths have come near to quintupling in the 20 years between 1999 and 2020. Partially published reports from 2021 show that the curve continues upward. Anecdotal reports from 2022 show the same. Notice how … [Continue reading]
Karens and the damage to women’s rights
Being a Karen (or Ken) has become a memé. One only needs to go to YouTube® and type in the name "Karen" to receive multiple results in which people are shown to be behaving not merely badly but also ignorantly and criminally. Unlike the memé above, … [Continue reading]
Training our children in the Church
The photograph above is of one of our grandchildren. This is his first day as an altar server. Notice how concentrated he is on going things right. Notice also that there is an adult altar server standing next to him who is his mentor this particular … [Continue reading]
Coca-Cola®, rusty nails, and bad analogies
Many of us have heard or been told about, the experiment in which supposedly Coca-Cola was used to dissolve a nail in four days. I know that I first heard of it as a teenager. This experiment was supposed to show us that Coca-Cola was bad for us to … [Continue reading]
Moderation in all political things
There is a good article on the Renew Democracy Initiative website regarding moderation in all things political. If you click on the image above, it will take you to the article. It is called "Defining Democracy: Moderation" and it is a much-needed … [Continue reading]
Coming to know who you really are
“Abba Abraham told of a man of Scetis who was a scribe and did not eat bread. A brother came to beg him to copy a book. The old man whose spirit was engaged in contemplation, wrote, omitting some phrases and with no punctuation. The brother, taking … [Continue reading]