Chris Currie, Author at The Presbyterian Outlook

What does God have to do with us? God refuses to be without us

April 29, 2020 by Chris Currie Leave a Comment

Who is God, really? Who are we, honestly? And what does God have to do with us? I realize our attention should now be on the third question in this series, but I wonder if we can really understand who God is or who we are without first being confronted by a God who persistently, demandingly and unwaveringly refuses to be God without us. To paraphrase Karl Barth, we may choose to live without God and humanity may prefer a godless existence (indeed, we often do), but God never chooses to live without us. Perhaps the central identity and characteristic of the triune God is this refusal to ever be without humanity. For the Christian, there is no such thing as a humanity-less God, even when we talk about the infinitely mysterious God whom we cannot completely fathom or fully grasp. Even at the heart of the divine identity of that God who remains elusive, beyond us and greater than the sum of all our thoughts, is a divine choice, a divine will and a divine decision to never be separated … [Read more...]

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Circle back: Sustained by Reformed theology during COVID-19

April 21, 2020 by Chris Currie Leave a Comment

It is a privilege to work from home. Healthcare workers, grocery store clerks, those still able to work in food service, police officers, fire fighters and sanitation workers do not have that privilege. Perhaps our first order of business and our daily prayer during all this is to remember them and those who cannot shelter-at-home. We pray that the God whose eye is on the sparrow keeps a watch on each and all of them as they labor faithfully in this time. I am grateful for technology, but having to use so much of it each day is draining. As great as it is to be able to “do church” in many and various ways in this time, in-person encounters and showing up in each other’s lives is what being Easter people is all about. The church is sustained by in-person encounters. The disciples on the road to Emmaus, Mary and the disciples at the empty tomb, the disciples who are found by Jesus even when their locked door is barred, the disciples on the shoreline who encounter Jesus as they share … [Read more...]

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Dispatches from the (COVID-19) front

March 24, 2020 by Chris Currie Leave a Comment

Everything is the same. I walked outside and pollen covered my car, birds were chirping and I noticed all the yardwork that needs to be done. Azaleas are blooming. Spring has sprung. It is a beautiful time of year. Not too cold and not too hot yet. Everything has changed. I walked from my pollen-covered car into a Saturday morning session meeting (my first ever) and 24 hours later we were holding a church service in the sanctuary void of any congregation members while everybody participated online from home. Everything was the same. We used the bulletins as they had been prepared. We had a prayer of confession, we sang the hymns and responses we had planned, we had an offering, and prayers for the people and our world. We had flowers given without the thought of them being primarily for an online service. Everything has changed. We didn’t have time to distribute the words of all the hymns. We had limited music leadership. No one had much time to prepare. We had to cancel … [Read more...]

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Sometimes a light surprises

February 10, 2020 by Chris Currie Leave a Comment

How did it happen that I became so dependent on church hymns to function, to flourish, to live the Christian life, to worship, even to get through the day? I have never been much of a musician. I play no instruments, but can peck out a tune if necessary. I have a somewhat musical ear, but those close to me jab me in the ribs when I try to sing harmony on hymns. I have no extraordinary gifts in this area of church life is all I am trying to say, and yet the more hymns I encounter, the harder it is to live without them. Like my collection of books, they have become a part of me, they have found a place in my heart, they have helped me sing my faith when other things, the right prayer, a lousy sermon, a pastoral crisis, could not find the right words. I used to have a list of 5-10 hymns I’d carry in my virtual back pocket that I regarded as non-negotiables in my hymn pantheon, but my problem now is my list keeps expanding. Depending on the day or the mood, I cannot live … [Read more...]

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Believer on Sunday, Atheist by Thursday: Is Faith Still Possible?

December 10, 2019 by Chris Currie Leave a Comment

Ronald P. Byars Cascade Books, 146 pages Reviewed by Chris Currie The point of church and worship together is not to remain in church forever, but to live the Christian faith in our homes, jobs, carpool lines and traffic jams. As we reenter the world the other six days of the week, Ron Byars reminds us that we do so in a world that has been “demystified” of talk about God. Outside of Sunday, whether on the news or in the office or on our morning drive, God is rarely mentioned other than by a curse or a hope for a prime parking spot. While faith may make a difference on Sunday, by Thursday we are on our own in a world ruled by cause-and-effect, religious skepticism, the 40-day work week and travel soccer. In “Believer on Sunday, Atheist by Thursday” (a title inspired by a sermon preached by a Lutheran pastor), Ron Byars asks if faith is still possible in a time in which faith is not reinforced by the larger culture, often reduced to the easy Jesus-talk of religious pundits or … [Read more...]

Holding Faith: A Practical Introduction to Christian Doctrine

June 13, 2019 by Chris Currie Leave a Comment

Cynthia L. Rigby Abingdon Press, 408 pages There is no one teaching theology and preparing students for ministry better than Cynthia Rigby right now. Thankfully, “Holding Faith” is an invitation to many outside her classroom at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary to join with her in the joyful task of doing theology together in a robust, engaging and winsome way. This publication is both a creative and faithful primer in Reformed theology in the context of current trends of “dechristianization” and the rapid digital transformation of our culture. She begins by reminding us why theology matters and questioning the caricatures and characterizations of those who claim that theology is not necessary for faith (which is itself a theological claim), by reminding us why theological doctrines matter to our everyday lives of faith. With engaging illustrations, conversational writing and clear explanations, she helps us see that ours is a dynamic and thinking faith rather than a museum … [Read more...]

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