THE TWENTIETH DAY OF JULY IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. SCHOLARLY SEMINARS--FOR EVERYONE For the past five years, the Lanier Theological Library in Houston, Texas has provided, without charge to the public, a series of seminars featuring professors, scientists, and expert practitioners on current events, topics of special interest, and biblical subjects in the news. Following are the titles of seminars conducted in 2015 and 2016, and the participants in those seminars. For infomation regarding seminars from 2012-2014, or to view videos of any of these seminars at … [Read more...]
Archives for 2016
Peace not of this world
THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF JULY IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. Guest Writer Sara Faye Fudge Sara Faye writes a devo-newsletter called "Love-Notes" for the women's Bible study group at our home congregation in Houston. The following was in the issue for last week. When she read it aloud to me, I told her I needed to have that for a gracEmail. After some modest demurral, she consented, and we are in her debt. -- Edward. As [Jeff Christian, our preacher] is leading us into deeper appreciation of the gift of peace, I find that the word seems to pop up quite often on … [Read more...]
Family Notes 13/07/2016
THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF JULY IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. DON'T SAY IT! Oh, how we love to express our opinions, prejudices, and fancies--especially on religion and politics! The power of words is deceptive. They are so easy to utter! But they can unleash hell, war, and murder. In a culture where we can speak to the whole world through the media at our finger tips, allow me to say it again: “Please, please don’t say everything you think!” Don’t say it yourself, and don’t “like” or “share” any words you would not say yourself. Liking or sharing or forwarding anything is … [Read more...]
TRADITION, TRUTH, AND TREASON
THE TENTH DAY OF JULY IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. Our preacher and my good friend Jeff Christian talked about Stephen last Sunday, and invited us all to prayerfully read Acts 6-7 afresh, listening for God's word to us today. That is always a godly enterprise which I am happy to undertake, and the following is the message I "heard" from this important extended text. Once the first generation of Christian believers had passed, each succesive church generation shares much in common. For starters, each new generation must make its peace with Tradition. Tradition is … [Read more...]
TWO RABBINIC PARABLES UNCOVERED
THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY OF JUNE IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. The tale of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 has long been a magnet for controversy. Does it report actual events or is it a parable? Should we read it literally or does it convey truth in symbols? What is the backdrop before which this drama unfolds? Does it picture some state between death and resurrection--or does it provide a glimpse into an everlasting hell? It is widely thought that Jesus did not originate this story but rather adapted it, taking for his own use a rabbinic parable with a … [Read more...]
GRACE GOES FULL CIRCLE
THE TWENTY-SIXTH DAY OF JUNE IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. Jesus-people are generous by nature. Most of them regularly support with gifts of time, talent, and treasure a wide variety of workers and works that they desire to perpetuate, enable and encourage. They give because they love God and in gratitude for his mercy and kindness. Many of us serve God as both givers and receivers. It is possible for us to become so accustomed to this cycle of giving and receiving that we either take it for granted or attempt to explain the process in purely human terms. In fact, it … [Read more...]
Forty-niners tomorrow
THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY OF JUNE IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. Tomorrow, June 23, 2016 marks the completion of 49 years in the marriage of Sara Faye Locke and Edward William Fudge. It is customary to make a grand celebration on a couple's fiftieth matrimonial anniversary. However, there is no magic in numbers, our lives are like a fleeting shadow, and today I wish to pay special honor to tomorrow's bride of 49 years. The 90,000 adventurers who traveled to California in 1849 in search of gold were given the nickname "Forty-niners," a term that spread to include all the … [Read more...]
How my father taught me to forgive
THE NINETEENTH DAY OF JUNE IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. Today is Father's Day in the United States, and since neither the biological offspring (the child) nor the generating parent (the father) chooses the other, a positive father-child relationship is the product of both divine grace and human effort. I had a good but imperfect father by the name of Bennie Lee Fudge, who, with my mother Sybil Short Fudge (later Dewhirst) raised their six children in Christian instruction and practice. The following recollections describe a memorable lesson by my father in … [Read more...]
Family Notes 15/06/2016
THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF JUNE IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. SIMPLE, GODLY, MOVING Thumbing through my local Houston Chronicle this weekend, I came upon the "Beliefs" section of the newspaper, which happened to feature a sermon by Dodie Osteen, mother of PastorJoel Osteen of Lakewood Church. As I read the sermon, I was both touched and again impressed with the sweetness and simplicity of our Christian message. I also gained some insight into a major formative influence on the spirituality of Brother Joel, who addresses 40,000 living souls each week at the largest Christian … [Read more...]
THOROUGHLY GUILTY — NOW RECONCILED
THE TWELFTH DAY OF JUNE IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. A graceEmail subscriber asks what Paul means when he says in Ephesians 2 that once we all were children of wrath. Likewise David in Psalm 51 when confessing that he was conceived in sin. * * * Some believers suggest that both David and Paul are deliberately overstating the matter to make a point. But there is more to these pronouncements than that. Sin is not only a specific wrong deed. It is also a malignant force, thoroughly imbedded in our fallen nature making us predisposed to sin. That was one result of … [Read more...]