If the key to effective Christian persuasiveness is the presence of Christ in the life of the believer, then, the next question would have to be, “how can we appropriate and fully participate in that divine presence. Contrary to our natural inclination toward individual activism, this presence is not primarily a result of our own efforts, as if we could somehow acquire or earn it by simply following certain rules. It is…

As you must know, Christ has commanded his followers to communicate to the world the truth of His victory over sin, the possibility of living according to those truths in the hope of life eternal (Mt 28:19-20). However, because of humanity’s rebellion against God, many, if not most of the individuals we encounter are not easily persuaded, are not naturally inclined to accept the veracity of the Gospel and, for that matter,…

  Picking up where we left off last time… 3. What can it mean then to perceive God (Christ)? As I mentioned, the introduction of persons into our discussion has raised a number of significant challenges rooted in the composite, that is, finite/infinite nature of human beings and the personal, infinite character of God. So in order to be complete, our perception of humans has to somehow include that infinite dimension and…

In recent posts we have been considering the need for gathering a remnant of committed believers in order to recover some of the spiritual treasures that have been lost to the prevailing moral darkness. Once gathered, the remnant’s primary task will be remembering, that is, deliberately relearning elements of the faith lost to neglect or supplanted by other interests. This will be done, in large part, by intentionally and systematically reviewing and…

Seeking the Light. Having spoken of a darkness descending on our society and the Church. That being the case, we quite naturally ask, “Who can help us find a way forward?” Can one expect to find hope from those now caught up in such darkness? Probably not. But, looking back over history, we do find remarkable examples of hope-in-darkness. Those most effective in rekindling hope all followed essentially the same roadmap to…

I caught the darkness. I was drinking from your cup. I caught the darkness drinking from your cup I said is this contagious? You said just drink it up.[1] For some time now, I have been talking about a darkness descending on our society and our Church. I have, as have many others, variously called it a new Dark Age, which is being caused by radical individualism and which, like its medieval…

I ended my last post by asking “Who can help us find a way out of the darkness that threatens to engulf us?” Looking back over history, we discover remarkable echoes of hope-in-darkness that often followed a similar path of recovery, a roadmap to re-illumination: re-grouping, remembering, re-igniting.  During times of danger and darkness believers faithful to Christ have repeatedly responded to descending darkness by coalescing into small groups in order to…