When it comes to the Christian faith, don’t be afraid to improvise. That does not mean to make it up as we go along, but to join in with the symphony of Scripture and to find your place in interpreting and becoming part of the composition.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Despite the many obstacles and false paths we take, Jesus says he is the way, the truth, and the life. Follow him and find community with God.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Might we be living in times where what we have known as church and culture are falling apart and beginning to disintegrate? And if so, where are we going to turn to find renewal and hope? If Western culture and church are to be revived, fervent prayer and the power of the Spirit will be essential. Further, I believe that one of the crucial elements of recovery will have to be a deep commitment to the reading, study, and appropriation of Scripture. Living the practices embedded in the biblical text is central to Christian existence and having an impact on church and culture for the sake of Christ.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Lamentably, the founding stories of our faith are so often entombed in church buildings that lack the presence of God, or in electronic boxes that perpetrate a mindless faith in consumerism. By contrast, the subversive and radical power of the mission, ministry, and person of Jesus illumines the path towards authenticity. Cherish the Gospels, read them diligently, appreciate their relation and distinction, and above all, live their truth in love.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
The times are mystifying. Everyone is searching for a spiritual life. One person goes this way, another that. So many trends and options are available today. In the midst of the driving enthusiasm and obsessive quest for a spiritual life, spirituality has come to mean everything, yet nothing. Christians have to help lead the way out of the maze by embracing and living the truths of the faith. We should embody and demonstrate the existence of God, the redemption of Christ, and the power of the Spirit.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
There is nothing more spiritual, no other way of having the fullness of life, than following the crucified and risen One, which is both a joy and a task.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Remember we’re not alone. As we celebrate Pentecost we can be thankful that the Holy Spirit was poured out and that he guides and directs our lives as Christ’s presence with us until the end of the age.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Impoverished spirituality separates sacred and secular into ironclad compartments. Living spirituality resists this unfortunate framing, stressing that it is crucial to realize that Christ is Lord of all of life and to live in the light of that truth.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
The “present” is never complete because it’s always a present for me, and as it’s for me, it will always be too small to be complete. Don’t fight being finite and limited, but embrace it and it will bring you closer to the truth.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
The Bible is not God. In many circles of Christianity, I fear, there is a growing bibliolatry that assumes that having and reading the Bible is enough. This ignores the truth that the Bible itself points us past itself to an encounter with the living God, who invites us into community with him. Text and encounter are essential to a vibrant and living spirituality.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
When we experience oppression, suffering and a sense of the absence of God in the Christian life, these experiences are not to be left unconnected or unrelated as if they stand on their own. Rather, we are to integrate these difficulties into the cross of Christ, which provides community and mediation. Christ shares our plight and reconciles our sorrows, and this is the lens through which we are to see our lives.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
We who are Christians need not look to the consummation of God’s rule in fear and trepidation. We too can shout, “Hallelujah!” for our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
The crucified and risen One is alive. Christ is raised. Celebrate the victory of life over death. Joyous Easter!
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Throne theophanies in Scripture are visions of God enthroned. God is holy, almighty, and who was, is, and is to come. He lives forever and ever. He is worthy for he has created all things. Revelation 5 captures one of these awesome scenes. In this majestic scene there is assurance that those facing dire circumstances and life-threatening persecution can trust God. In a world that may seem to be out of control, in a world of suffering and death, God is there, moving history to its cataclysmic consummation.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
In Revelation 3:14-22 Christ wishes that the Christians in Laodicea were either hot or cold. It is often assumed that hot means ‘on fire for the Lord’ or a full commitment, while cold means, ‘no fire for the Lord’ or no commitment. If this is the case, the question we’re faced with is why Christ would approve of no commitment at all? This doesn’t make sense. Hot and cold are not to be taken as positive and negative descriptions, but both are positive in regard to what the church’s actions should be. Problem is being lukewarm, which seems identify all too many churches. We, as the Laodiceans, proclaim we’re rich, but Christ says we’re impoverished. True riches are spiritual, not found in material possessions, but in Christ himself.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Christ stands at the door and calls, awaiting a response from anyone who hears his voice. The crucified and risen One standing at the door is not a threat, but a promise. There he is calling out. No doubt this imagery should jolt and challenge us. Whenever we hear his voice, it is time to open the door. He assures us that our hospitality will not be deceptively abused.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Have you ever reflected on the silence in heaven in Revelation 8? This occurs just after the opening of the seventh seal and before the sounding of the seven trumpets. A dramatic scene if there ever was one. Then an angel is given a massive amount of incense to offer with the prayers of the saints, which both arise to God. The prayers of the saints are important enough to God that there is silence, an awaiting the arrival of these prayers, and then action in response to them. After this the angel unleashes a series of natural warnings to highlight God’s coming judgment. Prayer is important—vital —and does not take place in vain. God has created a world in which our prayers make a difference in the total outcome of his involvement in the world.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Welcoming strangers into homes and churches is a lost art of hospitality. This loss strikes at the heart of Christianity, which all too often these days is seen to be inverted and self-serving. Jesus was concerned with hospitality and providing shelter to those who were outcasts. As his followers, we dare not at least do the same.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Christians all too often become inoculated against the real. Plagued by inauthentic churches peddling illusions and the deception of unreal images that manifest themselves in misplaced expectations and extravagant regimes, which are given an illegitimate authority and unwarranted priority, Christians fade from the scene of the real world. We have become all too clever at making it up as we go along, propagating reveries and imagining life to be as it is not. There are many attempts, for a variety of reasons, to live in imaginary worlds of our own making, rather than living imagination from and to the world as it is: vive l’imagination.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
One reason for a lack of reality and excitement about the Christian life is due to a lack of imagination. When our imaginations are not engaged or fall dormant, our faith will begin to die. God is there, and this is not a mere matter of analysis or feeling and neither are the goal. Being in community with God, as unfolding through imagination, should be the end of the pursuit of truth.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Like shafts of light piercing into the depths of darkness, God illumines the world in creation and through Christ. Catch the spherical shaping and seminal configurations.
Memories
Darkness shrouds that long lost valley
Billowing grey blinds vision of fleeting sky
Crevices and curvatures
Swallowing contours of obscurity
Dreams of hoping, seeing
To the Heavens cries earth
Open a deep and lasting illumination
Remembering, forgetting
Moon songs glowing at dawn
Following a cherished sun gone
Losing recollection of the night
Waiting for light
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
It’s all too easy, and in spite of best intentions, to control and dominate Scripture to the degree that it loses its voice for us. In reading Scripture, let’s be open to transformation and new ways of seeing. Monologues demand and change nothing. Dialogue is a risk and requires courage. Be risky and courageous. Hear the text well, perform it in a fitting manner, and live.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Happy New Year. In the year to come let’s remember this. When love has no basis or personal referent outside of ourselves—notably the Infinite One who is love—we are left to make it up as we go along. And as we attempt this, there will be serious consequences. Love, when not anchored in and referring to the personal God, has limited significance and meaning. Love is not whatever we make it to be. Idealism and utopias will be unsustainable, and a journey for the sake of the journey is a dead end – we need a destination and the loving God provides that for us in Christ
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
May be boundless love of Christ be with us all, as we more intensely focus on the celebration of his birth during this time of year.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Those who follow the crucified and risen One are to grow increasingly aware that love is engraved on them and it is etched into the depths of their souls. It should be the imprint that produces Christian unity and identifies us to the watching world. When people look at us, they are to see our love for each other and the unity that results from this.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Paul’s rhetoric of equality in 1 Corinthians 7 is astounding. Not only do the bodies of wives belong to their husbands, but the bodies of husbands belong to their wives. Marriage partners are not free to do what they please with their bodies. Spirituality is an earthly-bodily phenomenon. Liberty , asceticism and idolatry are three false emblems of an overly already-focused spirituality that leads us astray. Misunderstandings abound today. Bodies are worshipped (idolatry), devalued (liberty), or seen as having nothing to do with the spiritual, which is entirely cut off from the physical world (asceticism). The body - both what it is and what it does are key parts of living spirituality.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
The life, death, and resurrection of Christ are the imprint for redemption, which stamps itself upon us in living spirituality. These events are the key markers on the map for our journey and they open up the path to life. To obey from the heart is to live a new life, understanding the double-edged truth that grace reigns and that sin is no longer our master.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Take some time this week to read and study Romans 6. This is an amazing chapter. Of course, if you’re able to, reading chapters 5, 7, and 8 would be helpful in order to understand chapter 6 in its wider context. Here are a few highlights for us from beginning to end in this wonderful chapter: grace reigns and sin matters; being baptized into Christ’s death to live a new life; unity with Christ; freed from sin; Christ dies to sin once for all and lives to God; consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God; sin shall not be your master; under grace not law; free from sin and slaves to righteousness; free from sin and slaves to God; grace reigns and sin matters; grace leads to life and sin to death.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
God is not out to turn us into zeroes or zombies. He addresses and calls us through grace to respond to his offer of salvation and to being in community with him. This means we have to show up, be accounted for, be responsible, use what we have, and appreciate and enjoy the freedom that God gives.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
The perpetual cycle of sin can diminish in our lives. By the grace of God, the revelation of his word, the gift of the Holy Spirit and our own sanctified and redemptive being and becoming like Christ, there can be a renewal in every present situation - self to God, self to self, self to other and self to world.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Sometimes we sense a loss of contact with God. We grope around in darkness longing for light and wander through the wilderness thirsting for a cup of water. When this happens we need to cling to God and his promises, to the truth that we are not on our own, and to the reality that we have a destiny of being transformed into the image of Christ.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Praise God for who he is and for what he has done, is doing and will do - for his mission through creation, Israel and the Christ to renew and redeem humanity and the world.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
In the theater of life let’s aim for a focus on mission, living spirituality, truth, honesty, community with God and each other, concern for the poor, the environment, culture, the arts, and the authenticity of redemption. A fitting performance counts, and we all have an important role to play.
Dr Gregory J. Laughery
There are plenty of ungracious attitudes around and we all make mistakes, sin, and are in need of redemption. Thank God for Christ. Embrace grace and then give it away today in generosity. God’s grace comes to us superabundantly and freely. Let’s offer it to others in overflowing joy.
Dr Gregory J. Laughery
Going to work this week or staying at home? Whatever you’re doing in these next moments, hours and days, remember this: God is on a mission. Through the work of Christ in the power of the Spirit, and your acceptance of this, you are in community with the living God and your brothers and sisters from every tribe, nation and tongue. Now that’s awesome.
>>>> Dr Gregory J. Laughery
Disconnected and reoriented. Unplugged is not just a term for an MTV acoustic concert, but it can be a metaphor for a life connected to people. When we’re constantly plugged in we deprive others, and the possibility of a two way interaction is broken. We don’t receive from them, nor can we give to them. We’ve lost the way. Unplug, at least for a good part of your life.
>>>> Dr Gregory J. Laughery
“I desire the joy of the Lord.” Hear it all the time. Problem? Everybody wants it, but the statement is often nebulous as it tends to be rooted in personal experience or a feeling of the moment. While these are no doubt sometimes valid indicators of joy, they fall fleetingly short, and this is because they usually lack the theological force of the conviction. That is, the origin and source of the joy of the Lord, is the Lord, and what he has done, is doing and will do to redeem humanity and restore all things. When joy is rooted in the Lord, it then can become more our own.
>>>> Dr Gregory J. Laughery
A traumatic encounter with the living God leaves us shaken with awe and wonder. Come, oh Lord, and awaken us from our slumber. Create in us clean hearts, engraved with love and a peace that passes understanding.
>>>> Dr Gregory J. Laughery
Thinking about the mundane; the hum-drum of daily living. Life is not less than this, but always more. Seems to me though that most of the time our lives are made up of the not less, and not the more. There should be both a level of acceptance and dissatisfaction with this. Accepting that this is daily life and dissatisfied that we don't yet see God face to face. All the while hoping that God injects the more in what we do. We shouldn't be consumed with the not less as the injections of the more also need to be in evidence. If not, I start scouting around for ways to escape where God has called me to live.
>>>> Dr Gregory J. Laughery
There is a central and wonderful tension in living spirituality: grace reigns and sin matters. Now, let’s live this truth in community with God and each other.
Dr Gregory J. Laughery
What’s your fragrance? To those entrusted with the gospel, mission is spreading the fragrance of Christ, both to those being saved and to those who are perishing – the fragrance of life and death. The aroma of the former is like a scent that gets better and better, while the scent of the latter is like a stench that gets worse and worse.
>>>> Dr Gregory J. Laughery
photo by Michael D. Shivers
We are in a triumphal procession and let’s be grateful for the polyvalence of the imagery. It stands for, I believe, both victory and humiliation, which are both part of the gospel mission and ministry. Humiliations can abound and result in rejection, yet God in Christ accepts us and this leads us on to victory.
Dr Gregory J. Laughery
Confidence without humility is arrogance. Humility without confidence is relativism.
Dr Gregory J. Laughery
The poetry of the Psalms is a lens through which we may see much of our lives. There are creational promises and covenant shattering. Light and darkness engage in warfare, and while darkness seems to pervade the landscape, God illuminates a path and the light is captured again. Oh Lord, keep us on the way to light.
Dr Gregory J. Laughery