Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Flip-flopping

We hear them all the time, statements flowing out from the mouths of politicians eager to win over a group of special-interest voters:

Nominalism 3

In two previous Changepoint articles I gave the historical background to nominalism, a school of thought that came to receive widespread acceptance in Europe on the eve of the Protestant reformation. In opposition to the Aristotelian/Thomistic synthesis, which asserted that God’s will for the world corresponds to the nature of how reality actually is, William of Ockham and other medieval nominalists asserted that there is no independent rational order guiding God’s decisions.

Ockham was not even comfortable acknowledging that God’s own character formed the basis of His will-acts. Indeed, for God to be totally ultimate, Ockham taught, His decisions must be unconstrained by any criteria whatsoever. Ockham’s God was thus capricious, arbitrary and unpredictable.

The ancient fortresses of the pagans,/to which title had been gained by long habitation,/are empty and without worship/like the place where Lugaid dwelt. - Oengus mac Oengobann, Feilire Oengusso (Irish, 9th century)

The Celtic revival
The revival of Christian faith which began with Patrick (fl. 450 AD) and spread, within two generations to win virtually the whole of Ireland to Christ was, in its initial phases, a movement based in monasteries.

Renewing the Church (15)

Healthy or sick?
I once had a close Christian friend and business partner, a strong, energetic and hardworking song leader for a travelling evangelist. One the side, Paul farmed, and together he and I built and operated a greenhouse which sold tomato plants. Paul also operated a saw mill cutting down trees and changing them into cedar posts which he sold throughout East Tennessee. Paul appeared to be a very healthy individual who seemed to function constantly at full capacity. But unbeknown to him, a melanoma lurked within his vital organs and when its effects were finally discovered, nothing could be done to save his life.

Renewing the Church (14)

The Seventh Letter
Water is a commodity we in America take for granted, but in many parts of the world, clean drinking water is precious. Laodicea, unlike many ancient cities whose water supplies came via aqueducts from cool mountain lakes, possessed tepid water; its water source did come through an aqueduct but one fed from nearby springs, and as it travelled through the aqueduct it became tepid. One city close to Laodicea, Hieropolis, was noted for the medicinal properties of its hot waters and another city close to it, Colossae, was noted for its cold drinking water.

...[You] will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:32

The benefits of Facebook
I’ve been a fan of Facebook since I first joined its ranks several years ago, mostly because Facebook makes it easy to keep in touch with my friends – wishing them a happy birthday, complying with their requests for prayer, commiserating when they are having a rough day, celebrating their successes, and simply acknowledging our shared life experiences.