user avatar
Fleming Rutledge
@flemingrut
Radical & Reformed biblical theologian. Romans 11:12. Seriously questioning the AI future, but not the unique role of the human being whom we call Lord.
Rye Brook, NY
Joined April 2010
  • Pinned
    user avatar
    It is a terrible misunderstanding of the Gospel to think that it offers us salvation while relieving us of responsibility for the life of the world, for the sin and sorrow and pain with which our human life and that of our fellow men and women are so deeply interwoven. --Newbigin
  • user avatar
    I can't help noticing that when I Tweet about social justice, my "likes" drop precipitously. They shoot up when I write something "spiritual," aka non-political. This is not the way I want to spend my final years of service to the gospel.
  • user avatar
    This is Alexei Navalny writing from Putin's Arctic prison where he died. Put this with Bonhoeffer's letters.
  • user avatar
    Can we retire "thoughts & prayers"? The phrase is shallow, dismissive, false. Real emotional support requires imagination and effort.
  • user avatar
    The problem with liberal Xnity: Well-meant letter to the editor at NYTimes today begins, "If Jesus were alive today..." Once again, Jesus as (dead) moral exemplar. The gospel is based in Christology first, then ethical empowerment by the living Spirit of the living Christ.
  • user avatar
    I'm Reformed to the center of my soul, but I am more grieved for the Roman Catholic church than I can find words to say, particularly for the faithful priests and bishops who love Christ and the church, who have played no part in the scandals and who must be in great pain.
  • user avatar
    Advent thought: I am bothered by the constant refrain "This is not who I am" or "This is not who we are." People and nations alike are "a mingled yarn, good and ill together" (S'peare). Better to say "this is not who we can be," or "not what I hope to be, by the grace of God."
  • user avatar
    Rachel Held Evans: She is planted in the house of the Lord, and flourishes in the courts of our God (Psalm 92) but the laments of those left behind rise to the heavens. May the household of God arise to be a strong protector of her family. GoFundMe for Rachel.
  • user avatar
    Tolkien's world of Middle-earth continues to be pertinent to our current predicament. There is no earthly power that can overcome the Power of evil that infects every human motive. The small faithful acting in obscurity are watched over by unseen powers of self-sacrificing love.
  • user avatar
    Problem with "journey" language: It puts the emphasis on our progress toward God. The emphasis needs to be the other way round: God's journey to us, unfailing in its power, new every morning. It's not just God's initiative. He acts in our responses also, directing them to himself
  • user avatar
    Various people are recommending readings for Advent, but they are mostly Christmas-y. I recommend *The Road* and *Blood Meridian* by Cormac McCarthy. Advent is not for sissies.
  • user avatar
    I can't think of anything more important for the post-Trump mainline churches than rethinking our program of promoting causes instead of preaching a radical Christology. People do not like other people presenting themselves as morally superior. That should not be our message.
  • user avatar
    When your congregation trusts you and knows your heart, and if you have been showing enough of your heart in your expository preaching for years, your people should not be surprised if you speak boldly on controversial issues. They may not agree, but they will respect you.
  • user avatar
    I call attention to the words of Pope Francis in his exraordinary homily regarding-COVID 19. “In the midst of isolation...we experience the loss of so many things,” he said, “let us once again listen to the proclamation that saves us: He is risen and is living by our side.”