Presbyonline

As we celebrate Christmas* season, it is necessary to remember and reflect on what all of this is about. Christmas is not about lights and songs and food and presents. Christmas is about the incarnation , God's act of becoming one of us, God doing the unimaginable, God leaving the realm of "heaven" and dwelling among our earthly struggles. To that effect, Gustavo Gutiérrez reminds us that: "The Lord is not intimidated by the darkness or by the rejection of his own. His light is stronger than all the shadows. If we are to dwell in the tent the Son has pitched in our midst, we must enter into our own history here and now, and nourish our hope on the will to life that the poor of our continent are demonstrating. If we do so, we shall experience in our flesh the encounter with the Word who proclaims the kingdom of life."** Christ is not some abstract philosophy. Christ is not a once-a-week "worship" gathering. Christ is not a series of meaningless rit...

Tomorrow (July 10, 2016), many of my clergy friends and colleagues' sermons will seek to approach recent events pastorally.  The deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille, as well as the deaths of five Dallas Police officers, are bleeding wounds in our national history.  Prejudice, racism, justice, and white privilege will be certain themes addressed from the pulpits. If you're preaching from the Revised Common Lectionary, I have a word of advice on the Gospel reading.  Be careful on how you call the parable contained in Luke 10:25-37 .  Traditionally the parable is called "The Good Samaritan."  The language we use tends to frame our collective thoughts, attitudes, and actions.  If we refer to the man that helps the wounded as "the good Samaritan" , instead as "a Samaritan" (v. 33), we are reinforcing a prejudice that appears to be embedded in Jesus' audience: Samaritans are bad or evil people. Try this exercise.  Imagine someone t...

"The Scream of Nature", Edvard Munch, 1893 I have a confession to make. Maybe it’s not the type of admission you would expect from an ordained minister. Nevertheless, as I grow old, more unconstrained I feel to express my thoughts and feelings outside the usual expectations for a "man of God."  We (clergy in particular, and religious people in general) have complicated so much the Christian faith, even though Jesus Christ used to simplify religion.  But that is not my confession.  My confession is that I have had a love-hate relationship with the book of Psalms through the years. When I was a kid at church I was taught that Psalms was a book written by King David: that shepherd turned hero that eventually became king of Israel.  As a child, I was fascinated by the usual “superheroes” like Superman, Spiderman, and Batman.  But I also was fascinated by a hero that wasn’t part of the Marvel/DC universe: King David. So to know that my hero King David also wrot...

An open letter to Presbyterian Church (USA) [ruling and teaching] elders voting on the inclusion of The Belhar Confession in «The Book of Confessions» At First Spanish Presbyterian Church in Miami we devoted seven weeks of Bible Study to analyze and discuss the Belhar Confession . At first it looked like a history class about something that happened far away from us , in South Africa, decades ago. Then, as we examined the document more closely, we began to see how pertinent the theological content of the Confession is to our context. While we were engaged in the study of the Confession the Ferguson tragedy exploded uncovering century-old wounds that have not healed in our society. As we continued our investigation and dialogue, lots of testimonies made evident that the evil of racism is alive and well among us... I was born in the USA --not in the continental USA, but in a piece of land that the USA owns in the Caribbean sea . Therefore, I am an American, not an Eur...

An Affirmation of Interreligious Commitment* We believe the Bible proclaims God’s love for all people, that Christ’s Great Commandment sets the standard for all of our relationships: “… ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,’” and, empowered by the Holy Spirit, “… ‘love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mt. 22:37, 39). We confess that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has sought to live up to its commitment to love people of other religious traditions, but many times we have not; with God’s help we resolve to do better; that self-serving theologies and goals and triumphalistic attitudes pull us apart; with God’s help we resolve to do better; that some of our confessions and the dated perspectives of our religious heritage have resulted in patterns of unhealthy relationships with people of other religions; with God’s help we resolve to do better. We resolve to do better and not perpetuate divisive relationships amo...

This is one of my favorites Christmas songs, from the album «Peace on earth» by Casting Crowns . I found this video on YouTube and want to share it as a reminder of what Christmas is about... Enjoy!

Protect your health.  Bottled water is less regulated than tap water, and toxic chemicals like Bisphenol-A (BPA) can be leached from plastic bottles. Protect the environment.  Nearly three quarters of all plastic bottles are burned or put into landfills. Reduce carbon footprints.  Production, transportation, packaging and disposal of plastic water bottles hurt the environment and contribute to global warming. Save money. Bottled water costs thousands of times more than tap water. Support human rights to water.  One in six people on earth does not have access to enough water.  For a fraction of the $100 billion that consumers spend on bottled water everyone on the planet could have safe water. It just makes sense. For everyone now and for future generations. Source: 2012 Daily Horizons, Issue 2, page 3.

I feel sorry for those couples who wait to celebrate once a year what can be celebrated and enjoyed every day of their life together... +    +    + The icon of true love is not an angel with with arrows... but a cross stained in red by the blood of the One who still love us.

Hope For The PCUSA teaser from Landon Whitsitt on Vimeo . For the full video, following this LINK . Hope for the PC(USA) letter (English). CARTA DE ESPERANZA PARA LA IP(EUA) (en Español)

(Spanish version bellow / Versión en Español al fondo) I love this Christian denomination known as the Presbyterian Church (USA) . I haven't always agreed with its decisions and/or actions, but I don't leave my family when we have disagreements. We are still family, even when we have different points of view. For many years we have been immersed in a debate about the ordination of homosexual members. Even when the current Book of Order removes from ordination standards the specific language about sexuality, we are still debating a one-size-fits-all solution to the issue. Ordination is much more than issues of sexuality. It's about gifts, abilities, “strong faith, dedicated discipleship and love of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord” (G-2.0104a). Ordination is not about adopting left/right worldviews, it is about learning by Jesus' example and following it. Ordination is about joyful submission “to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life” (G-2.0104b), yet w...

[Excerpted from God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer] God travels wonderful ways with human beings, but he does not comply with the views and opinions of people. God does not go the way that people want to prescribe for him; rather, his way is beyond all comprehension, free and self-determined beyond all proof. Where reason is indignant, where our nature rebels, where our piety anxiously keeps us away: that is precisely where God loves to be. There he confounds the reason of the reasonable; there he aggravates our nature, our piety--that is where he wants to be, and no one can keep him from it. Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly...God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses peopl...

"Gracious Father, we, Thy children, so often confused, live at cross-purposes in our central aims, and hence we are at cross-purposes with each other. Take us by the hand and help us to see things from Thy viewpoint, that we may see them as they really are. We come to choices and decisions with a prayer upon our lips, for our wisdom fails us. Give us Thine, that we may do Thy will. In Jesus' name. Amen." Peter Marshall , 1947 (quoted by James H. Smylie, in A Brief History of The Presbyterians , 1996, Louisville KY: Geneva Press, p.119)

1st Corinthians 12.11-31 NIV Some Christians idealize the life of the primitive church. Some even say that the contemporary church should be more like the Christian churches of the first century. I believe that we should study the life of the first congregations, but this should be done with a careful and critical approach. We should consider the strengths of the first century church in order to follow its virtues and we should consider its weaknesses to avoid them. The New Testament epistles provide an excellent witness of the life of the first century churches. Today's reading invites us to reflect on the life of the Corinthian congregation founded by the Apostle Paul.   It should be noted that the Corinthian church was abundant in spiritual gifts – manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the life of its members. However, their abundance of spiritual gifts was matched only by an equal abundance of problems. A brief overview of the letter, may help us understand t...

"Sometimes we Christians can engage in boasting that contradicts the basis of our relationship with God. We can get puffed up about our access to God. You’ll see this kind of arrogance in the public square, and it surely turns people away from the Lord. It also contradicts the very basis of our Christianity. The more we remember that we have been made right with God through his grace, the more we will put aside pride and boastfulness. Our testimony in the world will come with genuine humility." -Mark D. Roberts (from High Calling )

(Cited on Facebook by Pastor Manny Santiago, as published by Pilgrim United Church of Christ, Port Charlotte, FL) ================================================== Living churches always have a parking problem; dying churches don’t. Living churches are constantly changing their methods; dying churches don’t have to. Living churches have lots of noisy kids; dying churches are quiet. Living churches’ expenses always exceed their income; dying churches take in more than they ever dream of spending. Living churches are constantly improving and planning for the future; dying churches worship the past. Living churches grow so fast you forget people’s names; dying churches you’ve known everyone’s names for years. Living churches move forward and out in faith; dying churches operate totally by sight. Living churches support community work heavily; dying churches keep it all at home. Living churches are f...

Recientemente escuché una definición de "reconciliación" que cautivó mi atención y la comparto con ustedes: «Reconciliación es cuando dejo de ver lo que yo quiero y empiezo a ver lo que conviene a todos(as) » - Anc. Zulma Corchado // Recently I heard the following definition of "reconciliation": «Reconciliation is when I stop to see what I want and start to see what is convenient for all »  - Elder Zulma Corchado

Amig@s y compañer@s de ministerio,  //  Dear friends and colleagues in ministry, Échenle una mirada cuidadosa a estos enlaces.  Ciértamente tienen mucho que decirnos a las congregaciones, no solo en Estados Unidos sino acá en la Isla. Please take a serious look to the links bellow.  Surely those letters have much to say to our congregations... http://mentanna.blogspot.com/ 2010/10/my-letter.html http://mentanna.blogspot.com/ 2011/01/another-letter.html Bendiciones y paz,  // Blessings and peace, José Manuel