Is there a difference between "Christian marriage" and "Civil marriage"?

Two Anglican theologians have published an article containing their conviction that there is a significant difference between
what the State defines "Civil Marriage" to be, and that which Christian theology defines as a "Christian marriage".

After years of wrestling on this topic, you might be surprised to hear their conclusion, and the reasons for it: they propose a Marriage pledge - "in which they undertake to refrain from serving as agents of the state in marriage by, e.g., signing government-provided marriage certificates. Couples will be asked to contract civil marriage separately from “weddings that seek to establish a Christian marriage in accord with the principles articulated and lived out from the beginning of the Church’s life.”

See what you think of their conclusion and the reasons for their arriving at a whole new way of understanding the relationship between Christian churches and the State.

Read more.

Thanksgiving: Now Thank we all our God -

Fabulous German choir - and great words, too.

Click here.

Lyrics: Now thank we all our God,
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom this world rejoices;
who from our mothers' arms
has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us;
and keep us still in grace,
and guide us when perplexed;
and free us from all ills,
in this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given;
the Son, and him who reigns
with them in highest heaven;
the one eternal God,
whom earth and heaven adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.

Thanksgiving: O Clap your hands, by Orland Gibbons 1583-1625

Thanksgiving as it sounded four hundred years ago!

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Wild Gorillas: What do you do if you get kissed by a wild gorrilla?

 Here's a great video - one unbelievable story.

This story doesn't need words - the pictures speak for themselves.

Click here.

As Fall colors blaze out their glorious Display

By Pearl (Phillips) Thomas

 

Stunningly beautiful!!  Nothing like it , as the colors blaze out their glorious display!  

A brief moment of glory shown only by the flora of all regions, but the memories can

Be locked into the depths of our beings

To be accessed at any time or place, to warm the heart, and cheer the soul 

In the long, dark, dismal, colourless and cold

Days and nights of the winter ahead.

 

 

 

 Such a brief space of time to silently offer their best

To eyes that will to see

To hearts that will to cherish.

Golden trees today, letting their gold fall at the feet of travellers

Barren trees tomorrow;  silently, stoically making bare their limbs

Assured of the memories of the forward March of the Seasons

That even as it was, it will be now, and forever.

 

 

Trees that are silent in every season, -tree-like knowledge internalized

Within their branches and trunks. 

Bearing up bravely during the massive storms they must endure

Storing up strength, and great beauty within the tree-like soul

Preparing for the next season's display.

First of new birth, of leafy waving greens,

Concealing the secrets that will be displayed

When the bitter cold blasts their inner beings.

 

 

 

And the trees loving, peace-making responses 

To rise to the occasion of their highest calling

To once more show forth their splendours;

Calling out their art form in silent, gentle strains to all travellers passing by 

Who will to look, see,

Capture the moments of beauty on display.

 

For such a brief moment of time.

 

 

 

 

Truly, time is golden!  Silence too, is golden here!

I take up the challenge to love, and appreciate,

 To honour nature's beauties, hiding the treasures

Deep within my own heart and soul

For all the cold, bare winters' days ahead.

 

A  briefly known Beauty, -

Yielding everlasting joyful, golden memories for my heart's delight.

Gold! Hidden in plain sight!

Treasures to be had by all who will!

Three Unexpected Kinds of People the World Really Needs.

From A Holy Experience:

"I spent some time with an unlikely spokesman for religion and the arts, a Japanese-American by the name of Makoto Fujimura.

Mako's paintings hang in almost every major museum in Japan and in the U.S., too, his work commands respect and high prices. He was honored with a career retrospective in Tokyo before he turned forty, and as a Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts, Fujimura served as an international ambassador for the arts.

A thoughtful Christian, Fujimura was also named the 2014 recipient of the Religion and the Arts Award given annually by American Academy of Religion.

One thing about Mako impresses me more than his many accomplishments: In the wider artistic community he lives out his faith with grace and compassion.

On September 11, 2001, Mako was residing a few blocks from Ground Zero in an area popular with artists. After the World Trade Center disaster, with many of these artists shut out of their homes and studios, Mako opened a communal studio to allow them to continue working.   He called it his tea house, and dedicated it as "an oasis of collaboration by Ground Zero artists."

Read more.

 

"No Fixed Address" - ministry in an impoverished Toronto neighborhood

Most people in Parkdale would love to be able to stand in line.

 Jesus, during his ministry  was often walking around Palestine under the hot Mediterranean sun. He talked  with lepers and leaders. How many times was he dehydrated, hungry, exhausted and without the prospect of the creature comforts of home?

Park Dale, in Toronto, also has more than its share of people with no fixed address. A once wealthy area, Park Dale has long been associated with urban decline, homelessness and mental illness.

Ministry here involves very special heroes of the faith. Read more.