Volume 1 Issue 9

Greetings to all who are seeking to grow in their experience of the Christ in their lives! Our mission is to create an environment for theological thought and reflection, and to provide an opportunity to respond to and interact with the others who comprise this virtual community of faith.
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Since the last issue, my mother suffered a heart attack which significantly affected the course of her recovery from the knee surgery which, as reported, went well. The good news is that the episode was classified as “mild,” and her doctors are predicting a full and complete recovery. Mom has yet to plunge into the world of computers, but I know that she will be encouraged by any “snail-mail” you address to her: Laura Hanna, 2517 Beth Dr, Billings MT 59102-1401.
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This brings us to GiC’s announcement that we are Luddite-friendly! Hard copies of the weekly newsletter and sermon are being mailed to those (including Mom) who don’t have the capability to access the website. If you know of someone who would also benefit from this approach, please send their mailing address to: RevMAH@aol.com
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A reasonable question has been put to our readership; see “Voice of Reason?” on the Bulletin Board. C’mon folks! Let’s get the dialogue going. Simply click on the “subject” to view the posting in its entirety, and then click on “reply to this message” to share your response. Clicking on “post a new message” will enable you to do just that. As our range of points-of-view broadens it brings us that much nearer to our goal of serving as an inclusive theological forum.
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Quote of the week: “If the loss of civilian lives is reprehensible in New York and at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, how is it not equally reprehensible when it happens in Iraq or in Iran or in Afghanistan?” -- Bishop Desmond Tutu
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Until next week…….Shalom!

Volume 1 Issue 8

Welcome to Growing in Christ! Thank you for inviting us into your life for a time of prayerful theological reflection. Our hope is that by employing the mustard seed principle, the message of God’s love, of the Christ’s peace and of the Spirit’s power will spread one to another until all the world is infected by this Good News!
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It is truly a joy to report that both Mom and Dad came through their respective surgeries this past week successfully, and that complete recovery is the prognosis for each. Thank you to all who lifted them up in thought and prayer.
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PBS’ “NOW with Bill Moyers” continues to be “must see TV” (even if it’s not NBC). Anyone hearing Harvard Visiting Professor of Psychiatry Robert Jay Lifton’s analysis of the flawed reasoning that is behind our government’s intention to engage Iraq in war has to lift praises to God that there are voices of reason in this troubled time. Now, who’s listening?
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This week’s word: eschatology—1. the doctrine of the last or final things, as death, the judgment, the future state, etc. 2. the branch of theology dealing with them. (The American College Dictionary)
M. Eugene Boring refers to Matthew 5:17-7:12 as the portion of the Sermon on the Mount that deals with “Life in the Eschatological Community.” Today’s sermon deals specifically with Matthew 5:17-48.
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Today’s sermon makes reference to “The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth” by Thomas Jefferson (1989, Beacon Press). This book is the fascinating product of the statesman’s, writer’s, architect’s and U.S. president’s personal struggle to make sense of the life of Jesus. It is available from www.amazon.com for $11.20.
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Your comments are always welcome! Feel free to post them to the Bulletin Board for others to read and reply to. It is our mission to help engage your spirit in a dynamic relationship with the God of all creation that finds expression in and through this virtual community of faith.
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Until next week…….Shalom!

Volume 1 Issue 7

As the government prepares to plunge our nation into the hell of preemptory war, welcome to an oasis of alternative thought which contends that such is not the only way. Indeed, this website testifies to the glory of the living God who through the resurrected Christ proclaims “the way, and the truth, and the life.” May your time spent here provide a point of light in a sea of darkness.
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Congratulations! to former President Jimmy Carter for being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2002. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9 NRSV)
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Make yourself at home and spend some time viewing our various pages, the newest of which is the Bulletin Board dedicated to encouraging theological discussion and debate amongst our GiC participants.
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Harvey Potthoff, longtime professor at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, theorized that to the degree that a society feels that it is losing control will its theology become increasingly irrational. This issue is dedicated to his memory with the hope of promoting a rational, progressive theology that grounds itself in the realization that the intimate relationship with the Divine to which we are all invited restores stability and sanity to a seemingly mad world.
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The sniper shootings of the past week add to the list of reasons that every day of life should be regarded as precious. Our most profound sympathy is extended to the victims’ families and loved ones, and to all those who are being traumatized by the gift turned evil. In so many ways we need to pray with new sincerity and conviction, “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” As in the lines penned by Harry Emerson Fosdick, may God grant us with the wisdom and the courage necessary for the living of these days.
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Until next week…….Shalom!

Volume 1 Issue 6

Greetings to our GiC readership! Thanks to the hard work of Matt Piper the first and foremost announcement this week is the initiation of our Bulletin Board. This is a great step forward in the effort to make GiC a truly interactive theological forum for our participants. No longer will you be forced to suffer in silence my ranting and raving, because now you have the means to share with every visitor to the site your opinion of how my thinking could/should be corrected. I suppose this also gives you the opportunity to express your agreement with my thoughts, but that won’t be nearly as much fun.

Matt has designed the Bulletin Board in such a way that others will be able to respond to your thoughts, as well. This has all the potential for some really lively interaction, because I happen to know that we have some highly opinionated people on “the list.” You are invited to have fun with this feature, and to post anything that you want to share with the two regular visitors to the site (this would be Matt and me). I had been saving the contributions that many of you sent me via my e-mail without realizing that they had a “shelf-life” that eventually made them irretrievable, and so I would really appreciate it if you would “re-post” them directly to the Bulletin Board.

Matt has given me absolute editorial control over the Bulletin Board, but I promise to be liberal in my censorship. The only things that I will not allow to be posted are those which are literally immoral as we have defined that concept since the inception of this site. Beyond that, my hope is for a broad range of theological perspectives to be included. I haven’t yet discussed with Matt what kind of a “shelf-life” to give to entries, but it will make sense to leave them on the board for as long as they are generating interest and response.

Also starting this week is the first installment on the Philosophy page. As you will see, this is an ongoing “essay” providing an explanation of what the word “Christ” means to me, and of why I believe “growing in Christ” is the ultimate purpose of every human being. The “Growing in Christ Philosophy” is my humble contribution to a cure for insomnia, so be sure to tell any of your friends who suffer from this condition how to find the page.

Congratulations to Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX 14th) for his willingness to take a stand against the growing momentum within our government to preemptively strike against Iraq. Many of you may have seen Rep. Paul on PBS’ “NOW with Bill Moyers” this week. Even though he is going against the tide of his own political party when up for re-election, Rep. Paul is an articulate voice for those of us who can find no justification for initiating a war with Iraq at this time. Those who would like to offer words of encouragement and support to Rep. Paul may e-mail him at: rep.paul@mail.house.gov

The word for this week is “ecumenical” – 1. general; universal. 2. pertaining to the whole Christian church. (American College Dictionary)

The text to which I refer in this week’s sermon is “World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts”, which is available in paperback for $16.07 from: www.amazon.com

In closing, each of my parents is scheduled for surgery within the next two weeks, I have been informed of the recurrence of cancer within a dear friend, and I have learned of health issues challenging several others in our growing GiC “audience.” I am forever grateful for having been exposed to my father’s understanding of prayer as more of a matter of alignment than of manipulation, and would simply encourage us to adopt John Cobb’s similar understanding of prayer as an exercise of our faith in the unknowable as opposed to trying to tell God what God should be doing. The world is in need of our prayer, but that can be personalized as we focus our prayers upon the ones we know and love. Let it be our universal prayer that all of creation shall know the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Until next week…….Shalom!