Random Spiritualities from a Doctor's Chair: Blog-links

Showing posts with label Blog-links. Show all posts

Monday, August 10, 2009

Spiritual Formation Reflection on Church Website

The Trinity Methodist Church in Kuching, Sarawak has posted one of my reflections on their website.

Spiritual Formation by Alex Tang

Tuesday, 11 August 2009 07:10 Dr Alex Tang (permission given&posted by Dr Simon wong ck)

Spiritual Formation on the Run by Dr Alex Tang(see last para)

Dr Alex Tang has kindly consented the Editor to post his sharing on Spiritual Formation (extracted) on our site. He is also the author of this book Spiritual Formation on the Run, which is available in our Library( donated by him). Read more of him in the websites below

www.kairos2.com

www.draltang01.blogspot.com

Now read on and you may print it to read in your quiet time. This may be what each and everyone of us badly needs.

By Dr Alex Tang

The Call

A Call to Spiritual Formation

San Antonio, 2009

Christian spiritual formation is the process of being shaped by the Spirit into the likeness of Christ, filled with love for God and the world.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Christian eBooks Online

The community of Christian etext redactors is very active, and transcriptions of public domain books on the topic are abundant. The following are archives of public domain etexts about Christianity and related topics.

Some of these are: Christian Classics Ethereal Library This is probably the largest general purpose archive of Christian texts.

Additional Early Church Fathers at the Tertullian Project website. This dovetails with the 'Early Church Fathers' collection at CCEL.

The Unbound Bible has the best collection of downloadable Bible data files anywhere. Highly recommended.

Digital Christian Library and related topics, with many unique items, by a very active scanner.

The Gnostic Society A collection of shorter texts on Gnosticism. Also has a collection of Dead Sea Scroll translations.

The Catholic Encyclopeda This is a project to put online this huge work from 1913.

Project Wittenberg A comprehensive archive of Lutheran texts, of general interest for the study of Protestantism.

Quaker Heritage Press publishes etexts of rare and out-of-print Quaker documents.

Restoration Movement Texts. Primary texts of a 19th century American religious movement, predecessor of Churches of Christ, the Christian Churches, and the Disciples of Christ, among other groups.

Christian eBooks Online

Friday, March 6, 2009

Open Courseware Links

I love people who share their resources online FREE. Here is a wonderful list by Christian Colleges.

Top 100 Open Coursware Links on Theology and Philosophy

You don’t have to be enrolled in a college program to study theology, religious history and philosophy. Whether you want to learn more about your culture or understand how different religions and societies have evolved, this list of 100 open courseware links will help you consider theology and philosophy in a completely new way. For lectures and study materials on Darwin, Catholicism, Judaism, the Enlightenment and more, read more

.

Open Courseware Links

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Useful Blogs Links

Jessica Merritt from ChristianColleges.com posted the

Top 100 Theology Blogs
which includes Tony Siew's Revelation is Real: This blog is about reflections on Christianity and often the book of Revelation.

Congratulations, Tony. An honour well deserved.

Also check out her useful lists of...
100 Free and Useful Online Tools to Study the Scripture

100+ Great Social Sites Especially for Christians

50 Awe-inspiring, Free, High-Res Collections of Religious Imagery

.
Happy clicking :)

Useful Blogs Links

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Websites about Church History

Christianity Today liveblog August 11, 2008 3:55PM

The List: HistoryWatch
Chris Armstrong's favorite websites about church history.
Chris Armstrong

An associate professor of church history at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and senior editor of Christian History & Biography, Armstrong chooses his favorite websites about church history.

Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL)
This is the mother lode of church-history-related books by some of the most brilliant and inspiring of our foreparents. In a wide array of digital formats, you’ll find G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, and Augustine’s Confessions; volumes of the church fathers; an archive of hymn tunes; and much more.

Christian History & Biography
At this site, you’ll find articles from current and past issues of the CT sister publication, a slew of online-only newsletters, and such goodies as This Week in Christian History, Person of the Week, and Quote of the Week. Also, I hear that its editors are working on some major improvements for the site that are coming soon, so stay tuned!

Early Church Online Encyclopedia
Though no longer maintained, ECOLE is a worthy archive. The glossary provides short definitions of early Christian people, groups, events, and ideas from Abelard to Zosimus. The longer articles address such topics as “Sadducees,” “Stoicism,” and “the Arian Controversy.” The accompanying chronology pulls it all together.

Internet Medieval Sourcebook
This chronologically organized trove of primary documents is accompanied by pithy explanations of some of the important interpretive themes and arguments in medieval studies today. Check out, for instance, the material on feudalism: you think you know what this term means, but scholars today are changing their minds about it!

Met Museum: Timeline of Art History
This site links timelines to maps, providing a synoptic view of world art and architecture through history. The resources after A.D. 1, especially in the West, include a rich mine of material related to the history of Christianity. For example, see the essay on “Private Devotion in Medieval Christianity,” linked in the timeline at “1400–1500, Europe.”

read more

Websites about Church History

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Ancient Future Evangelicalism

In tribute to Dr. Webber, this week's Christian History & Biography newsletter contains excerpts from a few of his books and statements from those who knew him or were influenced by him.

Looking backward, moving forward"Classical Christianity was shaped in a pagan and relativistic society much like our own. Classical Christianity was not an accommodation to paganism but an alternative practice of life. Christians in a postmodern world will succeed, not by watering down the faith, but by being a countercultural community that invites people to be shaped by the story of Israel and Jesus.

"We now live in a transitional time in which the modern worldview of the Enlightenment is crumbling and a new worldview is beginning to take shape. Some leaders will insist on preserving the Christian faith in its modern form; others will run headlong into the sweeping changes that accommodate Christianity to postmodern forms; and a third group will carefully and cautiously seek to interface historic Christian truths in the dawning of a new era.

"My argument has been that evangelicals will do well to affirm a Christianity that has a deep kinship with the faith of the early church. … For here is a faith that, like a tapestry, weaves everything in and out of the main thread—Christ. … Here, I believe, is a faith for our time, a faith that finds in the ancient Christian tradition a power to speak to the postmodern world."

—From Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Baker: 1999)

***

"The concern of this writing is to go back to the earliest convictions of Christian spirituality. Why go back? Because the Roman culture in which Christianity first emerged is very similar to the culture of today's world. It was a culture of political unrest, a world of numerous religious options, a time of moral confusion and poverty. The religions of the day made no demands on believing, behaving, or belonging. In this context the Christian message was not presented as one more spirituality among the spiritualities but as Alan Kreider points out, Christians proclaimed, "We believe, we behave, we belong." One would think that the clarity of union with God in the context of the plurality of religions would doom it to failure. But it was that very union with God—lived out in belief, behavior, and belonging—that resulted in the rapid spread of the Christian faith throughout the Roman Empire."

—From The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Baker, 2006)

***

"How do you deliver the authentic faith and great wisdom of the past into the new cultural situation of the twenty-first century? The way into the future, I argue, is not an innovative new start for the church; rather, the road to the future runs through the past. These three matters—roots, connection, and authenticity in a changing world—will help us to maintain continuity with historic Christianity as the church moves forward."

—From Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality Through the Christian Year (Baker, 2004)

Ancient Future Evangelicalism

Friday, April 13, 2007

Exegeting Proverbs

Ben Witherington posted this interesting item on his blog.

Match the proverbs with the photos

1) "Train a child in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not stop going that way." Prov. 22.6

2) "Sluggards bury their hands in the dish and will not even bring them back to their mouths." Prov. 19.24

3) "How long will you lie there O sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man." Prov. 6.9-11

Exegeting Proverbs

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Reflections on Triuum

Some wonderful reflections from Lilian's blog

On Good Friday

To a Broken God

Didn't see You there, didn't know You were weeping too
I thought of tears as a human wound
Though of course You care, You have shown You were human too
They say You cried at Lazarus' tomb
I was unaware how it is with a broken God
I thought of You as above my pain
Lost in my despair, so it is with a broken heart
I never dreamed You could feel the same
Once in a magazine I saw a face
Wrinkled up in grief and travailed grace
I kept looking to that face,
some sad refugee in some sad place
And in his eyes the sorrow of our race
Then I saw it was the face of God, the face of God,
Your face, dear God.
Some say You're not there, just a myth for a lazy life
An artifact from an ancient scroll
But I have known You there in the gift of a weary sigh
Lord of the lost and lonesome soul
I was unaware how it is with a broken God
I never dreamed You could feel the same

more...

On Holy Saturday

The resurrection happens when we respond to trials with patient trust knowing that our God loves us more than we can imagine. The resurrection happens when we allow compassion for the world to be birthed from our wounded hearts. The resurrection happens among God's people when the strong learn to embrace those who are weak.
In the waiting time this dark Saturday, let the darkness bring to fullness within us what God dearly desires for his beloved ones. And let us patiently await the birth of joy in our lives.

more...

On Easter Sunday

Let us raise our voices to the cross of Christ
Where the earth and heaven unite
God has wed creation on the tree of hope
Where the darkness becomes our light
Let us join in the dance of heaven and earth
Give thanks for the goodness of God

more...

Reflections on Triuum

Thursday, April 5, 2007

To be a Great Physician

We physicians all have heroes during our training. We all remember the great physicians.

I contend that the great physicians differ from the good physicians because they understand the entire story. Only when we understand the complete story do we make consistent diagnoses.

Each patient represents a story. That story includes their diseases, their new problem, their social situation, and their beliefs.

How do we understand the story? We must develop excellent communication skills and gather the history in appropriate depth. We must perform a targeted physical examination based on the historical clues. We must order the correct diagnostic tests, and interpret them in the context of the history and physical exam. Once we collect the appropriate data, we then should construct that patient's story.

The story includes making the correct diagnosis or diagnoses. The story must describe the patient's context. Who is this patient? What are the patient's goals? How might the patient's personal situation impact our treatment options?

Sir William Osler said, "The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease." The great physician understands the patient and the context of that patient's illness.

For you physician readers, take Osler's challenge. Be a great physician. Understand the full story. Make correct diagnoses. Consult the patient in designing the treatment plans that best fit that patient.

Follow the results with consistency and compassion. By so doing, you will not only be providing the highest quality medical care; you will also be living up to the ideals of William Osler and those of Tinsley Randolph Harrison -- the greatest of physician role models.

That's my opinion. I'm Dr. Robert Centor, Professor of Medicine at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Watch videocast here

To be a Great Physician

We physicians all have heroes during our training. We all remember the great physicians.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Which Soldier Type Are You?

Did an interesting test at QuizFarm.

Which soldier type are you? by rebelranger

You scored as Special Ops. Special ops. You're sneaky, tactful, and a loner. You prefer to do your jobs alone, working where you don't come into contact with people. But everyonce in a while you hit it big and are noticed and given fame. Your given the more sensitive problems. You get things done, and do what has to be done.

"VULCAN NECK PINCH!!!"
"owww.......(slump)"

Officer

100%

Special Ops

100%

Support Gunner

63%

Engineer

38%

Artillery/Armor

25%

Medic

Combat Infantry

Civilian

Which soldier type are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

Is that me?

Which Soldier Type Are You?

Officer

100%

Special Ops

100%

Support Gunner

63%

Engineer

38%

Artillery/Armor

25%

Medic

Combat Infantry

Civilian

Which soldier type are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

Is that me?

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The Contemplative Christian

AS kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came.

Í say móre: the just man justices;
Kéeps gráce: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is—
Chríst—for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

‘As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme’
by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89). Poems. 1918.

The vivid sonnet says that living beings were created to have Christ come alive in them. Eugene Peterson said. "Hopkins doesn't talk about achieving this congruence, but how it is achieved in us, when Christ lives in us." Peterson describes congruence as the alignment of who you are and what you do, the harmony of the ends you seek and the means you use to achieve them.

Nathan Bierma writes,

This is not the triumphal self-motivated march toward sanctification in which many American Christians are caught up. "It's easier to talk about what Christians do—life as performance," Peterson said. But the three pieces of Jesus' fundamental declaration that he is the way, the truth, and the life, must be in perfect correspondence. "Only when we live Jesus' truth in Jesus' way do we get Jesus' life," Peterson said. Not his truth in our way for the sake of our life. Peterson speculated that America's current hunger for "spirituality"—which he earlier told the (Christian) Century often "degenerates into a sloppy subjectivism"—may have been brought on by Christian leaders who say the right things but lack this coherent identity—"a life lived whole, with integrity, the inside and outside organic to one another."

The deeper problem, Peterson said, is that two things that are basic to the Christian life run counter to the American ethos. First, the Christian life is not about us, but about God. It is not like giving ourselves a makeover. "We're in on it, but we're not the subject or the action," Peterson said. Ever notice how in the Bible, we always come in after a preposition? God with us, in us, for us. In an individualistic, commercial culture, where the self is the center of everything, an autonomous agent of transformation, we have lost this grammar of shalom—what Peterson called "prepositional participation."

The second principle of the Christian life that runs against the grain of American culture, Peterson said, is that the ways and means must be appropriate to the ends. "We can't participate in God's work if we insist on doing it our own way." He cited two examples of "doing the right thing the wrong way": congregation and Scripture. We consider both to be our matters, not God's. Instead of forming communities that embody self-denial, sacrifice, and patience for God to become present in them, we form "consumer churches," using commercial methods to attract people and cater to their wants. And rather than reading Scripture as a way of "listening to God revealing God," we treat it as information for us to process to become more successful and enlightened people. In both cases, the ways and means—bowing to the gods of salesmanship and efficiency—are out of sync with the ends—forming a community of believers submitting to God's work within them.

Read more here

photo source