“When the cause is just, nothing other than the inflated rhetoric of the prophets, it seems, can shock us out of our complacency and shove before our eyes in all their starkness the alternatives we need to face. It forces us to confront them and to take a stand one way or the other, no …
Praying when life is unfair
A sermon by Rod Benson Luke 18:1-8 Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat. He had an important meeting to attend, and he was running late, and he was having great difficulty finding a parking spot. Looking up to heaven, he said, “Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking …
The common good
An occasional article by Rod Benson published on EthicsDaily, 18 Dec 2014 The principle of the common good is prominent in Catholic social teaching and applicable to a wide range of social and ethical issues but is not often articulated in Baptist ethical thought and praxis. The notion of the common good appears to have …
Ethics and prayer (part 2 of 2)
Together, the seven petitions in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) express our restless discontent with the way things are in the world, in our communities, and in our hearts. They offer a daily rhythm, challenging us to refocus on what matters most, calling us to remember the unfailing goodness and mercy of God. As German …
Ethics and conversion
Conversion is the central ethical message of Jesus and lies at the heart of evangelical faith and experience. For some, conversion is a slow, lifelong movement of the heart and will toward God. For others, it is a single dramatic experience, a sudden realignment of the self as the Apostle Paul experienced on the Damascus …
All Told 