Calvin Synod Herald, 2017 (118. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2017-01-01 / 1-2. szám
8 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD come of age is more god-less and perhaps just because just because of that closer to God than the world not yet come of age.......one only learns to have faith by living in the full this-worldliness of life.”16 I call you dear reader to stop for a moment and mediate on this powerful message. Rev. Viktor Toth 1 Phyllis Tickle, The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2008, 2012). 2 The crisis of relevance and a crisis of identity (see in previous article). 3 There are many excellent works on Augustine, his time, and his theology. My favorite, and the one I rely on in this article, is Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. New ed. with an Epilogue (Berkeley and California: University of California Press, 1967,2000). 4 On this issue see Brown, 215ff. 5 “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer 29:7; NRSV). 6 “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul” (IPe 2:11 NRSV). 7 de perf. just. 18, 35 quoted in Brown, 338. 8 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, vol. 8, Letters and Papers from Prison, ed. John W. De Gruchy, trans. Isabell Best, Lise E. Dahill, Reinhard Krauss, Nancy Lukens (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2010). 9 Europe is afore the US in this regard. But we are catching up with increasing speed. 10 Bonhoeffer, 425-26. 11 The fact is that, thanks to visionary church leaders (e.g., Augustine), the church was not just able to preserve most of the achievements of the Greco-Roman world, but also provide the monetary and organizational means for the European culture (and science within) to strive. 12 Toward the end of his life he also plainly rejected many aspects of Bart’s theology. 13 Bonhoeffer, 430. 14 Ibid., 389 15 Ibid., 501. 16 Ibid., 482 and 486 (respectively). Some Things to Consider for the New Year Jeremiah 29:11-29:13 There is someone I know that loves going on trips, but it’s not necessarily the going that he likes the most. No, there are other things that he likes to do before he even gets in the car and starts it up. He likes looking over the maps. He likes gathering the information about his destinations, and the researching and the planning that should go into a long trip. He figures mileage and gas consumption and costs, where he might spend the night in a motel. He loves the scheduling, and the packing that goes along with all of it, too. Now, you may think that is a little weird, especially if you’ve never done any of those things before any of the big trips that you’ve made, but, in your heart you are telling yourself that some of them are necessary, aren’t you? Every trip you take, every excursion you make, every walk out the door needs some type of planning, doesn’t it? A trip to the store, or even a trip to a restaurant has varied amounts of planning involved. If not, you’ll either not take enough money, or you’ll spend too much. Now, I’m sure there are probably some of you thinking that planning for the New Year doesn’t seem like a big deal. There may even be one or two of you here thinking that the year is going to happen no matter how you plan for it. Well, it will happen, but, let me give you an analogy about other things that will just happen if you don’t’ do anything... If you never plan to check the engine oil in your car, the engine will bum up and stop. Here’s another...if you never exercise for 40 years and only eat what you like during that time... what happens when you’re 80 years old? Do you see the thought process? Do you see where we’re going with this? If you just let your life or your year run its course and never make any plans, or never formulate short term and long term goals, then, when you’re three quarters of the way through the year, you’ll look back and say, “Wow, I haven’t really accomplished anything this year and the year’s almost over...” What’s worse, you’ll look back when you’re three quarters of the way through your life and say, “Wow, I haven’t really accomplished anything, have I?” Christians that don’t plan out their lives ultimately work themselves into a ’busyness comer.’ ((say it like ’business’ and explain the spelling)) They’re always running around, but never really accomplishing anything. There is a favorite saying of mine to those people that come running up to me trying to get me to do something for them really quick, when they should have done something a
