John Louk

During our discussion last night about N.T. Wright’s book, Simply Christian , there was concern that some Christians feel superior to people of other faiths (or no faith). One woman had the uncomfortable experience of being with another Christian who matter-of-factly uttered that non-Christians are condemned to hell. No one in our discussion wanted to believe that was true. What a heartless and arrogant attitude! And yet, while it seems loving (or American), we do not believe that there are many different paths to God and that they are all equally good. Rather, we believe in the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NRSV ) . Being a Christian doesn’t mean feeling superior to people of other faith traditions or believing that they are condemned. While many people know John 3:16 , very few seem to know the next verse: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn...

Because of the major winter storm bearing down upon us, all worship services of First Church are being canceled for tomorrow, February 17, 2008. Please be safe!

The Bible Discussion Group begins again tonight and will meet every other Wednesday evening. We are reading the Gospel of Matthew and Lent is a great time to join the discussion. The discussion group will meet at 6:45 p.m. on February 13, February 27, and March 12 in the chapel on the second floor. Here is our reading schedule so you can prepare for each week: 2/13 - Matthew 10: The Sending 2/27 - Matthew 11-12: Are You the One? 3/12 - Matthew 13: The Parable of the Kingdom On the Wednesday nights opposite the Bible Discussion Group (February 20, March 5, and March19 at 6:45 p.m. in Fellowship Hall), I will lead a discussion about why Christianity makes sense. Have you ever wondered why humans in all places and times have yearned for beauty, truth, spirituality, and justice? Bishop N.T. Wright, author of Simply Christian , contends that it is because we hear the echoes of God’s voice. You are invited to join us each Wednesday, beginning with supper at 6:00 pm in Fellowship Hall (there ...

I returned to work today after my four-week leave of absence. For the last month I have been reading, thinking, and writing. I had fun with my family, read more books, watched some movies, set up this blog, went to the Van Halen concert, hung out with friends, visited the first church I served (and three others), got organized, and slept in a lot. Oh, I celebrated a birthday too. Did I get done with my dissertation? No. My hope was to write the first three chapters of the dissertation. I did not meet that goal but I did accomplish much. As I said, I have done quite a lot of reading and taking notes and writing out thoughts. I have the three chapters outlined and formatted appropriately. (That might sound silly, but the dissertation layout has to be in a very specific format). The writing now is somewhat like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. I take what I know and have learned and put it into the specific format. So I’m a little sad to be done with the four-week leave. It was gr...