The Threshold of Joy – Eric H Janzen
The Threshold of Joy
It was night, but they dared not sleep In the starlit darkness, they watched The wind caught the sound of their sheep Resting as though the world were at peace
These soul-weary shepherds all wondered Would the blind ever see once more? Would the deaf ear ever open? Would a broken body ever leap with joy? Would the mute ever sing a song?
We wait like shepherds for heralds Watching for bright angels in the dark Whose voices our despair destroy We stand in the threshold of joy
—eric h Janzen
In Matthew 11, John the Baptist sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the One. John is part of a long tradition of prophets who have carried the burden of waiting for the Messiah’s arrival. It has been so long, and so agonizing, that while hopeful, Jesus is the One, he can’t allow himself the joy of fully believing it lest his heart be broken. Jesus, a fellow prophet, does not answer straightforwardly, such as: “Yep, tell him I am indeed the One.” That’s not the way prophets talk to each other.Instead, Jesus gives John a far more profound confirmation: he sends the message that he is the long-awaited One because he is fulfilling prophecy. read more…
Deconstructing Deconstruction – Felicia Murrell (w/ Bradley Jersak)
Deconstructing Deconstruction – Felicia Murrell (w/Brad Jersak) Editor’s Note: The following interview is a partial transcript of one for four forthcoming podcast interviews on “deconstruction” at Stephen Backhouse’s Tent Theology Podcast. Bradley Jersak will be...
Ron Dart – Myth and Meaning and the Inklings
Ron Dart – Scrutinizing Scruton: Canadian High Toryism & Scrutonia
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“Out of the Embers: Faith after the Great Deconstruction” – Ron Dart interview with Bradley Jersak
Grounding: My Operational Realities – Ken Hood
Ken Hood OPERATIONAL REALITIES We all live by, and within, our own realities. Most of the time, we all share these realities. We all act as if the chair we sit in is real, and will hold us. We believe, and in this case, it’s “true” based on empirical...
“I can only get to Alyosha via Ivan”: Confessions of a Grumpy Universalist – Adrian Lovegrove w/ Bradley Jersak
The following was a conversation via email between Adrian Lovegrove and Bradley Jersak over the final weeks of 2022. ADRIAN LOVEGROVE I began formal theological study back in 2011. I could no longer buy the evangelical package deal, but I hoped there...
Christmas Begins in the Quiet – C.E.W. Green
Ecce Homo by CEW Green Christmas Begins in the QuietLk. 2:1-14 * Thursday, Christmas Eve eve, as Julie and the kids and I drove down to my parents’ house, I found myself thinking about the Holy Family. (I have been doing a lot of that over the last few months and...
C.S. Lewis, Atonement & Universal Salvation – Bradley Jersak
UNIVERSAL SALVATION While I am convinced of the NT promise of ultimate redemption, I continue to be reluctant to identify myself personally with the label 'universalism.' That is mainly because its opponents typically assume they know what that word means, and...
Christmas Is What God Does – Fr. Kenneth Tanner
Icon by by Ivanka Demchuk UBP The story of the world—the story we just heard read in the church as our gospel for Christmas, the world’s true story from which all true stories are told—happened in a world exactly like our world.It was as is ours a world of...
We Should Be Unimpressed – Christmas Eve Sermon by Allen Doerksen
Isaiah 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-20 Recounting his visit to Bethlehem Fr. Allen unpacks what he saw that day in light of Isaiah's majestic prophecy and the familiar scene painted by Luke. Audio version HERE ISAIAH 9:2-7 The people who walked in...