The Presbyterian Outlook

News and Articles from the The Presbyterian Outlook

Top Search/Contact Area

Covenant community

by Leave a Comment

New Year’s resolutions come and go, but for Christians – especially Reformed Christians – the notion of covenant is our most enduring symbol, and it’s one worth pondering as we begin a new year. John Wesley encouraged the practice of covenant renewal; to this day our United Methodist friends celebrate a meaningful covenant renewal service on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, publicly reaffirming their commitment to God. Presbyterians would do well to do the same, for the notion of “covenant” is an alien one for most modern folk, who tend to prefer limited commitments rather than deep and binding engagements. The notion of “covenant” summons us to clarify our ultimate allegiance and to put away idolatry, for in biblical perspective, as creatures we are always subject to some lordship (if not to divine lordship, then to other, unworthy lordships) — or other “principalities and powers,” as the Apostle Paul put it. Bob Dylan captured this dynamic succinctly in a classic song: “It may be … [Read more...]

Tagged With: covenant

Can I suggest an exorcism?

by Leave a Comment

The new year promises to be one of the most challenging in our lifetimes. A relentless, devastating virus has cost us hundreds of thousands of lives and sent economies into freefall. A racial reckoning calls for personal and societal transformation. To date, a constructive response to all these overwhelming realities has been sabotaged by political turmoil and paralysis. These interrelated challenges are the burdens we bear — and the tasks we have been given in this historical moment. Clarity about what we are facing seems critical, and I have found sobering wisdom in Eddie Glaude’s powerful book, “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own.” He says, “Ours is a cold Civil War.” Some are “desperately holding on to a vision of the United States that has never really made sense.” Others are “fighting for the birth of a new America. But, even in the fight, the divisions in the country feel old and worn. Today feels like we are fighting old ghosts that have the … [Read more...]

Tagged With: baptism

With thanksgiving

by Leave a Comment

As I write my last editorial, I feel overwhelmed with gratitude. What a privilege, honor and joy it has been to occupy this office and work with such extraordinary people. Experiencing the church from this vantage point affords me nothing but hope. Jesus said that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church and having seen so many expressions of the Body of Christ I trust this promise with utter certainty. I leave this role confident not in our abilities but in the will and power of God to work through us even in our sin and finitude. What better gift could I receive than that? While challenges abound, some of historic proportions, God indeed provides. The Presbyterian Outlook in its 200-plus-one years weathered many storms, came to the brink of extinction more than once, sometimes spoke truth to power and other times proclaimed false teachings — and yet it remains, reinvented time and time again. This stalwart institution will change again with a new editor with different … [Read more...]

Getting social for the sake of the gospel

by Leave a Comment

What is your relationship to social media? What about the congregation’s use of social media? I confess to having a love/hate relationship with it. In exasperation after one too many hurtful comments, I deleted my Facebook account and felt utter relief as a result. While I occasionally miss seeing pictures of friends and their families, never once have I wanted to reengage with the platform. I do, however, have Instagram and Twitter accounts. I suppose I am more than ambivalent but less than enthusiastic about social media. However, I do recognize the importance of using every medium available to us to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. I also recognize that digital forms of communication are here to stay. I am utterly convinced that we need to use these channels with intention and skill and not cede them to those who wish to spread false, sinister or hate-filled narratives. To that end I try to educate myself and seek out people not in my normal spheres of influence. I listen … [Read more...]

Tagged With: technology

For all the saints

by Leave a Comment

All Saints’ Day feels especially important this year. Perhaps the loss of so many lives to the coronavirus makes remembering those who entered the Church Triumphant particularly meaningful. Maybe I want a robust All Saints’ Day because so many memorial services and funerals could not take place in the full ways those departed children of God deserved and we needed. I know I need space to both mourn and rejoice with abandon, lamenting death but also celebrating the gift of life. All of these yearnings surface this year, but what I long for the most is a sense of perspective, a reminder of the long arc of history, the witness of people who came before me and kept the faith even under extraordinary circumstances. I need to hear the stories of disciples who weathered storms, made mistakes, took risks, failed or succeeded, but in all of it attempted to run the course set before them. I want to hear that passage from Hebrews again, that litany of “by faith” that includes Moses and Rahab, … [Read more...]

Tagged With: resilience

Repair first

by Leave a Comment

Christ gave us the ministry of reconciliation. The Bible tells us so. The word “reconciliation” is found only four times in the New Testament. Frankly, this fact surprised me. I often name the truth that we are united in Christ, noting further that such union is God’s doing, not ours. Ours is to make manifest, with the help of the Spirit, the truth of that bond. But the word “reconciliation” is found a meager four times: twice in Romans and twice in 2 Corinthians. Further, only one of those instances has humans as actors rather than recipients. “Reconciled” appears six times, these instances emphasizing yet again God’s doing. Reconciliation is about divine agency, not human activity. My trusty Greek-English lexicon defines katallage (reconciliation) as the “reestablishment of an interrupted or broken relationship.” A digital resource I like to use adds that reconciliation is an “exchange — especially of money.” Hence, our understanding of redeemed, the price paid for us by Jesus in … [Read more...]

Tagged With: race relations • reparations

CONTACT US: