Rocco Maiolo's Ramblings and Musings

Over the course of a few days, I heard/read inquiries/comments like this:  At our church, we don't apologize for what we believe . And,  I'm new to the area: can someone please recommend a church that follows and teaches the Bible?       A few years ago when our teaching pastor dealt with the question of biblical authority, interpretation and how to read the Bible, one of the results was that some people left the church. It wasn't so much what he taught during this series -- although some took exception to that as well -- it was his approach and attitude. Which was one of:  I can't possibly be right 100% of the time about 100% of all things theological, therefore... humility?  It deserves to be noted that said teaching pastor who advocates humility is currently working on his Phd in theology.  Some didn't like,to be reminded for example, that within any biblical tradition -- even the particular strand of, say, evangelicalism to which you be...

My wife and I have this tradition: we like to watch a movie at the theatre when we're on vacation in the southern states. If memory serves, in the last few years, we've seen Ten Years a Slave, American Sniper and Silver Linings Playbook . On our most recent trip, after having spent several days visiting family in Georgia and Florida, we eventually landed in North Myrtle Beach. We checked out the movie listing and, after consulting the ratings (a lot of 6.somithings), my wife wanted to watch... wait for it... Logan !? You know: X-Men, Wolverine? It was rated at 8.5. Being the excellent husband that I am, I asked, "Are you sure? You know it's a superhero movie, don't you? It's gonna have a bunch of that crazy action you hate. Are you sure you don't want to watch The Shack ?" She said, "No, it got bad ratings." "Yeah, but your friends watched it and they really liked it." "No, let's see Logan ." "Oh well, ...

True Religion vs Tribal Religion Last night on CBC news, a very impassioned journalist editorialized regarding Trump’s win and blamed the American bible belt. She said she was shocked that evangelical Christians obviously voted for Trump, a man who has proven to be racist, sexist, xenophobic, 3X divorced, allegedly abusive to women and the list goes on. She went on to say that America’s version of Christianity is a farce. This morning someone I know posted on Facebook that a win for Donald Trump is a victory for Jesus. I can’t totally agree with the first assessment above. Things are way more complex than that. And I certainly can’t agree with the second statement. When I was a kid I always wondered what adults meant when they said stuff like “religion and politics don’t mix.” And “there should be no talk of religion or politics at the dinner table.” Now I get it. I can see how this could totally separate friends and families. I see evidence of this as I track with Fac...

Richard Rohr's devotional, Love is One Body, is quite likely the most beautiful defence of church -- the expression of faith in Christ in a community of albeit flawed believers --  I've ever read.