Author: David Ellis

Don: The third pillar of community is found in Matthew 18:7-11: “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it…

Don: In Matthew 18 we have what we are calling the “pillars” of community. Last week we discussed the pillar of Innocence, dependency, freedom from fear, the death of ego. The second pillar comes in verse 5: And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; Then in verse 6 he says: …but…

Don: In recent weeks we have been discussing the subject of Innocence, which came out of a discussion of what are the characteristics of “childlikeness” essential to entry to the kingdom of heaven. We have looked for insight to the social science and psychology and child development literature. But Jesus goes further than “childlikeness” in…

Jay led the meeting. Don joined via Skype from Saudi Arabia. Jay: We will continue our study of innocence, starting with a reminder of some relevant scriptural passages: Matthew 18:1-6 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to…

Innocence and Community Don: From start to finish, Matthew chapter 18 is really all about community. Using parable and declarative statements, Jesus makes the pillars of community come alive. Matthew 18 is a kind of a handbook addressing those pillars. In coming weeks, we will examine them one by one. In the beginning of the…

There will be a sort-of life after death, initially for a select few but eventually for just about everyone, thanks to the digitization of everything. This fascinating BBC video clip (just 2 or 3 minutes long) starts by talking about how good we are getting at making digital actors for movies, but ends with a…

Robin led the meeting in Don’s absence on vacation. [Editor’s note: I have taken the liberty of expanding and clarifying my remarks here. Droit d’éditeur!—David]   Robin: The Greek word koinonia is commonly used to mean “community” but it is really a specialized form of community that involves intimacy and identifies the idealized state of…

Don: Last week we began to note the “terrifying” type of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13. It is a “fear-full” love, because it is so demanding, so radical. It demands a release of our ideas and prejudices, of supposed truths and knowledge and expectations. It seems as if love is being contrasted with…

Don: Beginning with the parable of the lost sheep, over the past few months we have discussed the concept of community, and the stages through which it grows. The first phase, “pseudo” community, is based on fear. How do we get beyond this and into the next phase, Chaos? We can see God himself introducing…