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Investing in Being Human - Dr. Colin Archer
Colin Archer: Rationale For Establishing a Spirit of Christ (SOC) Gathering - Aug 10, 2014 - 1:33:04 PM
 “To be God’s child
means to be in holy conversation with the heavenly Father, to walk
holding His hand, and to rest in His Heart for all eternity. This is the
greatest miracle that can be granted to a soul: to accept Christ and
let Him reign in one’s life. Who possesses my heart?” And a prayer: My
Lord and Savior, may everything I do and everything I possess be
consecrated to You. Help me so that I may always behave as a child of
God.
The
earliest days of my ministry and theological formation found me
struggling not with questions about: Why are we here? What is the
meaning of life? I believe these questions to be practically insolvable
and way above my metaphorical pay-grade. Instead, here are the questions
that much engaged me...
Columns :
Investing in Being Human - Dr. Colin Archer
Colin Archer: Towards Greater Christian and Political Accountability - Jun 18, 2014 - 11:31:47 PM
Clergymen representing
a diversity of denominational backgrounds have been meeting weekly for a
number of months for fellowship and to share views about a number of
pressing social, religious and moral issues. We speak today as ministers
of the Christian Church. We are bound together by love for our Country,
the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Members of a community may
differ on the role of the clergy in civic and social life. In some
Communions (denominations) ministers are expressly forbidden to become
actively involved in politics on a partisan basis; for instance, they
are told to “stick to preaching”. In other Communions the minister is
discouraged, though not strictly forbidden. In yet others, the matter is
left to the individual minister...
Columns :
Investing in Being Human - Dr. Colin Archer
The Best of all is God with Us - Dec 6, 2013 - 11:50:35 AM
Our small-knit family
drew inspiration and encouragement last year, savoring the readings of
Jay Cormier, in his: Daily Reflections for Advent & Christmas:
Waiting in Joyful Hope. One of the earliest texts is that of the
centurion to Jesus in Matt. 8:8: Lord, I am not worthy the have you
enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.
Cromier
says that anyone who has lived with cancer, or has survived a cardiac
event or has conquered some debilitating disease will tell you the same
thing: every tick of your watch, every second that flashes by on your
desk clock, every hour of every day is precious.
Columns :
Investing in Being Human - Dr. Colin Archer
Males and Females in Un-communication - Nov 2, 2013 - 12:15:39 PM
You’ve probably heard
it many times. "He never seems to listen to me. She’s always changing the
subject. Why does he always turn away when I’m speaking to him? Why
does she repeat the same thing over and over again, nagging - I’m not
deaf, I am listening! He’s always interrupting me, asking for simple
instructions. It doesn’t mean that because we don’t go into every single
detail of a conversation that I don’t care, I am interested… How many
times have I told you that?"
These are classic examples of males and
females, men and women in non-communication; in what I prefer to call,
un-communication.
It’s a truism; for the most part, men and women
talk straight pass one another, with much noise but little effective
communication/common-union whatsoever. Maybe we ought to resort to the
adage which runs: To say more, talk less...
Columns :
Investing in Being Human - Dr. Colin Archer
The Nerve Gas Controversy: An Emancipation-Like Event In The Commonwealth of the Bahamas [August, 15 – 18, 1970] - Aug 7, 2013 - 7:32:54 PM
An extraordinary
thing happened to me personally, professionally and nationally,
forty-three years ago, in the land of my birth, four days in August,
1970, ending on the 18th. Looking back reflectively, I now realize that
something extraordinary happened too at the international level. It was
an emancipation-like event.
Back then, I was a twentyish-year old
Methodist minister, married with a young son - another child on the way
- pastoring seven rural congregations in the parish of St Thomas,
Jamaica; back home, in Nassau, on vacation.
Columns :
Investing in Being Human - Dr. Colin Archer
You’re Not the Problem, I Am - Jul 11, 2013 - 2:42:39 PM
Working on the
assumption that
the problem is me, not you, can literally save your life
– mentally, emotionally, physically even spiritually. I know this to be
true, because it has given me the most effective way to live my own
life - on a practical level - the past thirty and more years.
If
we don’t have a tried and tested formula by which to live our lives on a
day to day basis, we’ll probably not make it; or, at best, we’ll get
thrown way off track. So I offer here a workable ‘to make it’ plan, for
living.
Columns :
Investing in Being Human - Dr. Colin Archer
Diversions, Distractions, Interruptions - May 17, 2013 - 1:03:34 PM
I didn’t think it at
the time, and it certainly didn’t feel like it, but looking back over
the years, all the diversions, distractions and so-called interruptions
I’ve experienced with consistent regularity throughout life, have, on
the whole, proven to be more blessing than bane.
Slowly but
surely, I have come to regard unplanned experiences as some of life’s
most important, productive ingredients. Unforeseen diversions,
distractions and interruptions seem to have a way of freeing me from my
overly anxious, ambitious and unrealistic plans, and provide instead
fresh opportunities to see, hear, feel and come to know myself and
others in new, unexpected even exciting ways...
Columns :
Investing in Being Human - Dr. Colin Archer
If the Resurrection was a Hoax - May 2, 2013 - 8:21:06 PM
Even if
it could be proved that Jesus was not raised from the dead, I would
still believe wholeheartedly in Him as the Christ, One with God
Almighty.
Resurrection is, for me, something that takes place today, in the here
and now, or it doesn’t take place at all; it is more a state of mind
and being than it is historic fact. In reality, I’ve often seen, felt
and touched the resurrection of Christ in the lives and relationships of
believers and sometimes, even would-be believers.
May it be known that I do recite and entirely believe words of the
historic Apostles’ Creed extoling The Holy Spirit; The holy Catholic
[Universal] Church...
Columns :
Investing in Being Human - Dr. Colin Archer
Depression and Suicide in the News - Apr 18, 2013 - 12:57:42 AM
Of the thousands of
pieces I’ve written for my program Investing in Being Human, few have
been produced with more passion and fervor than those dealing with
depression and suicide.
The suicidal death of popular US
evangelist Rick Warren’s 27-year-old son, Matthew Warren, who killed
himself last week, presumably with a firearm, brings to the fore once
again, the relationship between mental illness, depression and suicide.
Reports
indicate that Matthew took his life after a lifelong battle with mental
illness. Over the years he had been treated by America’s best doctors
and counsellors. His father, Rick, describes his son as incredibly
kind, gentle and compassionate...
Columns
Colin Archer: Poverty 2.0 Is Back - Apr 7, 2013 - 1:43:33 PM
Much talk about
poverty and the poor is once again in vogue. It has been a topic of
conversation since the dawn of time. It was certainly topical in
biblical times, with talk of fair play, justice and all that. It was
even the topic of my first book, Poverty: The Church’s Abandoned
Revolution [a scientific, biblical and theological commentary],
published in 1980, 33 years ago. It’s deja vu all over again; we’ve seen
this movie before, haven’t we? I call it, Poverty 2.0.
I
started to write that book, fresh out of post-graduate school in St.
Louis (1977),, inspired in the first instance by my singular allegiance
to the poor Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth the human life of God, and by
those still arresting words of Frederick Herzog, professor of systematic
theology at Duke University (1925-1995), who said: ‘Theology that..."
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