Comments on: What exactly is ecumenicism?

By: chrisgale

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 09:12:00 +0000

While I am putting Hillsong stuff up, The song below, BF, was written by Scott Ligertwood who needed help from his wife Brooke (Fraser) Ligertwood to get the bridge done. The woman can write, and is successful outside Christian circles. But this is an older worship song she wrote

Just because

]]>

By: chrisgale

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 09:01:00 +0000

Your phrasing there — random outside element — has a definite ring of truth. The idea that there is a second baptism (of the spirit) misses the point of what baptism does: we die in it and then we live but by the spirit of God. I think much of this is instead chasing a high. Interestingly, the more sensible Pentecostal churches are moving much more to an orthodox position on this.

I am sure I have put this up before, but this song was written specifically for Baptism — at Hillsong.

]]>

By: Butterfly Flower

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 06:59:00 +0000

The strong Pentecostal-influences are what drove me away from Catholicism. The weird thing is, it comes across as a random outside element to fuse with Catholic teachings.

]]>

By: Butterfly Flower

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 06:52:00 +0000

Ecumenicism is not letting your hatred/rivalry of other denominations make Jesus look bad (or at least that’s my definition of it).

Constantly being told all the reasons why certain denominations are wrong and “not really” Christian can make the gospel, as well as belief in Christ seem, well, irrelevant. Most of my non-Christian friends in Japan have a terrible understanding of Christianity, mostly because of their experiences with the various missionaries that ring doorbells in apartment complexes. Baptists say the Mormons are wrong, 7th Day Adventists say the Jehovah’s Witnesses are full of it.

“Because there are antichrists in every church….”

Well, there’s that old saying “The nearer the Church, the further from God”. That’s why I like old-fashioned reformed theology; it doesn’t attempt to portray clergy or churchgoers as shining paragons of holiness. Its honest.

]]>

By: Julian

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 06:12:00 +0000

I am glad I encourage you, Chris. I hope I do more good than harm. But I am not really Tridentine these days. I am trying to avoid factionalism. Catholic will do, and becoming more understanding of Protestants. I quite like Francis and “the cut of his jib”, although he is a bit random sometimes.

]]>

By: chrisgale

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 03:22:00 +0000

Brendan, there has been a neocatholic and mystic influence in Protestantism: some of which is good (Thomas a Kempis, for instance) and some less good (Thomas Merton). On the other side, the Quakers preach a spirituality (Richard Foster, for instance).

One can take good from both. But there is a tradition of contemplation of God and meditation on his words and work within Protestantism. It’s just as fervent, but requires that one composes one’s own prayers, plain-ness preferred.

]]>

By: Wiless

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 02:49:00 +0000

And yet, some Catholics, for instance, have embraced the charismatic element of Pentecostalism. It’s as though those particular ones felt something was missing, that Pentecostalism had. (I’m neither charismatic/Pentecostal nor Catholic, and I don’t get that, but it’s a real phenomenon.)

]]>

By: Hearthrose

Sun, 19 Jan 2014 18:35:00 +0000

Accountability – absolutely. I hope that inspiration can be shared ’round about, though!

]]>

By: Brendan

Sat, 18 Jan 2014 22:26:00 +0000

The thing is that Orthodox and Catholics have a huge wellspring of spirituality such that we don’t need to go looking for it outside our tradition. We have the “exotica” in ourselves. Contemplative prayer in the East (Jesus Prayer spirituality and all that goes with it), Lectio Divina in the West. It’s there. Seek and ye shall find. The door is always open.

]]>

By: chrisgale

Sat, 18 Jan 2014 20:34:00 +0000

But the accountability has to be women-to-women, and woman-to-husband.

]]>