On How to Achieve True Treasure in Heaven

Hearing Sunday's Gospel lesson, I was struck by the hard simplicity of the demand of the gospel. It was the story of the rich young man (Luke 18:18-27) who had kept all the commandments from his youth (at least he claimed he did and Jesus didn't contradict his claim): "What shall I do to inherit …

Those Coals of Fire Upon My Head

A few of us from St. Thomas go to lunch most every week. Occasionally someone will buy the group lunch. Of course we all keep a bit of a score card so that no one person gets stuck with the bill all the time. In the end pretty much everyone pays their fare share. Of …

Cheap Stuff

Mike Elgan, tech journalist (who also writes the quirky little newsletter called "Mike's List") recently wrote an article at ComputerWorld.com wondering if gadgets have become too small and cheap to be realistically useful. (My source was Cranky Geeks, by the way.) Cheap is good, right? Not necessarily, Elgan opines. "The problem with such low prices …

You Will Be Assimilated. Resistance Is Futile.

Part 2: A critique of the Orthodox Church. Of course reality isn't quite as simple as I made it sound in the previous essay. Orthodoxy has an internally consistent, scripturally based, theologically sound, empirically verifiable claim: The unity Christians seek is a God-given unity which has never been lost, and, as a Divine gift and …

You Will Be Assimilated. Resistance Is Futile.

Part 1: A critique of George Hunsinger I recently finished reading George Hunsinger's book, Eucharist and Ministry: Let Us Keep the Feast, as part of a discussion group of Lutheran and Orthodox clergy, pre-clergy, and post-clergy folk (the last category being me, of course). Hunsinger brings a handful of specific proposals to the discussion table; …

A Preamble, before you are Assimilated

The next essay, divided into two posts, will sound familiar to those of you who have been reading the blog. It deals with the same thorny issue that a previous series of six essays dealt with. In the discussion related to the previous series of essays I was criticized for not having a concrete solution …

The Manhattan Declaration

Here is a link to a worthy document. It's called "The Manhattan Declaration: A Call to Christian Conscience." It is not so much a pro-life declaration as it is a declaration that the signers are willing to face the consequences of refusing to participate in government mandated program that promotes the ending of life. Here's …

Land of the Less Free and Home of the “Whatever”

Anecdotal evidence indicates Americans who are able are leaving the country in droves. Among those that are leaving, a significant percentage are also expatriating (that is, giving up the U.S. citizenship). The eastern Caribbean country of St. Kitts/Nevis, which has for years had an economic citizenship program (ie, a way in which a person can …

Fast Food

Just in time for the Nativity Fast (which starts Nov. 15), Sioux City is getting a new fast food restaurant that has been a favorite of ours ever since Chris was stationed at Minot AFB in north central North Dakota. Today is the grand opening of the Pita Pit, an oh-soooo trendy sandwich place that …

Three Amazing Things

Three amazing things happened yesterday: I found out the Very Reverend Father Archdeacon (VRFA) James actually reads my blog on occasion. I found out he doesn't make beaucoup bucks as a VRFA (see this post, if you've forgotten). (Which raises the question: if you can't make beaucoup bucks as a volunteer, what's the point?) In …