It All Started in the Garden

Soul Searching: What Makes a Person and a Country Great?

Leave a Comment / Citizenship, Current Events, Evangelicals and Politics, It All Started in the Garden, Leadership and Spirituality / By /

Part 6 (last) in a series of reflections on the Capitol insurrection and Christians’ participation People must make choices every day about what they will do and how they will act. This is a fact of life ever since Adam and Eve left Eden and became time bound and subject to physical death. We are limited in our capacity and limited in our potential, despite what we may have been taught by affirming parents and teachers. But the truth is, every one has only so much energy and the same amount of time to work with. Perhaps I feel this […]

Soul Searching: What Makes a Person and a Country Great? Read More »

Soul Searching: I Follow a Leader, but Not That One

Leave a Comment / Citizenship, Current Events, Evangelicals and Politics, It All Started in the Garden / By /

Part 5 in a series of reflections on the Capitol insurrection and Christians’ participation In the waning days of Mr. Trump’s presidency, I am waiting to see what kind of strings he is going to attach to the Republican Party and his supporters around the country. The author of The Art of the Deal is a transactionalist, very pragmatic in his relationships, expecting to get something from anyone who hopes to gain a favor from him. My curiosity extends to two areas, pardons and a possible 2024 candidacy. If he pardons family members or associates this week, I will be

Soul Searching: I Follow a Leader, but Not That One Read More »

The God of Self Must Stand Down

6 Comments / Current Events, God, It All Started in the Garden, Moral Authority, PCUSA, The Property Clause, Theological Reflection / By /

The human lust for power is a natural outflow of Adam and Eve’s resistance to God’s authority. When a person, a group, or a nation believes itself to be any equivalent of “the center of the universe,” bad things begin to happen. Adam and Eve’s choice may seem innocent enough to modern eyes, but within a generation, murder had entered human experience. The desire of one to dominate another comes out of the irreconcilable demands of two adjacent egos vying for the center of the universe. If a culture adopts the philosophy that all people are free to do whatever

The God of Self Must Stand Down Read More »

Allegiance to the Wrong God

2 Comments / God, It All Started in the Garden, Theological Reflection / By /

Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Seminary, recounts the story that took place when he was pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley (California). A very brief report of the story appears in his book The Dangerous Act of Worship (p. 64), but he shared an expanded version in a talk a few years ago: A gentleman came to him a bit confused and befuddled, because his wife had just become a Christian. His purpose for the visit was to get the Cliff Notes rendition of the faith—“just bullet points, please”—so he could hold his own in the nightly conversation he

Allegiance to the Wrong God Read More »

Colossians 3:22–4:1: Lessons for Workers and Employers

Leave a Comment / Church, Colossians, It All Started in the Garden, Uncategorized / By /

A few years ago, in response to the drought conditions then (a chronic problem in California), we re-landscaped our front yard. It involved replacing our driveway and putting in a new walkway directly from the street to our front door. Things were torn up for weeks, but on concrete pouring day everybody’s spirits lifted. A crew of skilled laborers congregated in the middle of the now excavated dirt pathway for the 7 a.m. briefing. With water and tools at the ready, the team turned to welcome the big cement truck of your dreams, and an amazing procedure unfolded. Given wet

Colossians 3:22–4:1: Lessons for Workers and Employers Read More »

Colossians 3:18: Marriage Lessons, for Wives

5 Comments / Church, Colossians, It All Started in the Garden, Marriage Curriculum / By /

As we come to the Apostle Paul’s very brief instruction on marriage, there is one point to be made in general. Whatever Paul has been teaching up to this point has direct application at home as well as the church. In one sense, the household is a mini-church, a community of believers centered on Jesus Christ. I picture this centeredness with the following analogy: Imagine a Chinese acrobat who spins a plate on the tip of a pole. Imagine that pole extending all the way through the plate to become the axis around which it spins. Think about your plate—your

Colossians 3:18: Marriage Lessons, for Wives Read More »

Colossians 3:17: Whatever You Do . . . .

3 Comments / Colossians, It All Started in the Garden, Spiritual Disciplines / By /

A few years ago, my plans changed at the last minute, preventing me from accompanying my husband to Yosemite National Park for the annual Spring Forum. My ticket was prepaid, and I had registered for some interesting seminars. So rather than let all that go to waste, Andy decided to invite his friend Ron to accompany him for the long day-trip. Upon arrival, Ron claimed my nametag, but whited out the tail on the Y to make the nametag say “Marv Naegeli.” For the day, “Marv” lived in my name. I told him before they left, “Make me proud. Don’t

Colossians 3:17: Whatever You Do . . . . Read More »

Colossians 2:8–10: Just One Word

4 Comments / Church, Colossians, It All Started in the Garden, Teaching, The Church in Exile, Uncategorized / By /

Many years ago I saw a regional theater production of the Stephen Schwartz musical Children of Eden. A theatric rendition of the first few chapters of Genesis is certainly enough to bring me out on a Friday night! It was a fascinating interpretation of Eden, Adam and Eve, the snake, and the tragic human choice to sin against God’s will. What I remember most vividly is the form the temptation took: The Garden on stage was fenced off around the edges, defining its parameters and focusing attention on God’s realm. But soon the snake starts talking to Eve, and introduces

Colossians 2:8–10: Just One Word Read More »

Is It Big Brother or God Who Is Watching?

2 Comments / Citizenship, Current Events, It All Started in the Garden, Spiritual Disciplines / By /

The multi-layered tragedy of Ferguson, Missouri, has caused some soul-searching in America. It is not the first such debacle to do so, nor will it, sadly, be the last. We seem to be a particularly blind and stiff-necked people when it comes to facing our racial history, cultural misunderstandings, and impoverished view of humanity. My prayer is that compassion and understanding would overtake anger, frustration, injustice, and violence. It will take a transforming act of God to help us become much better listeners, more patient citizens, and seekers of truth and justice. The soul-searching that is necessary, however, must get

Is It Big Brother or God Who Is Watching? Read More »

Discipline for Our Own Good

1 Comment / GAPJC Decisions, It All Started in the Garden, PCUSA, Personal, Spiritual Disciplines / By /

Quite often I find myself asking the question, “How did things get this way?” particularly in reference to my tribe, the PC(USA), but also to the culture developing around us all. It is safe to say that we are shaped over time, individually and corporately. The way things are now is the result of decades of shaping mechanisms at work in and among us. You could say the same for any culture anywhere in the world, but my experience limits my thinking to American culture. This weekend I had a chance to air my brains out as I breathed in

Discipline for Our Own Good Read More »

Scroll to Top