Connected Christianity

One thing is for sure: there is a lot of love going on in 1 John. Chapter 4 is filled with love. I counted twenty-six times that a form of the word love is used in 1 John 4:7-21. There’s love coming to us from God, love going to God from us, and love going […]

There was an interesting article this weekend that examined the recent trend among young males to postpone adulthood and prolong adolescence. The article, “The Child-Man” by Kay Hymowitz, discussed how, because the average age of marriage has increased, males now indulge longer in adolescent behaviors and concerns, existing in a “hormonal limbo” and acquiring […]

Just like the original readers of 1 John 3, we have heard the message “love one another” from the beginning (v. 11) as well–but I don’t think we’ve been listening to it.
Had Christians been taking this message to heart since the beginning, the world would look a lot different. Sadly, we don’t seem to have […]

The second chapter of 1 John continues the discussion about light. Just like people who walk in the light of God spread that light wherever they go, I also think people who walk in darkness spread that darkness wherever they go too. And it seems like there are a lot of people walking around in […]

I heard some interesting interviews with two pastors who have different views on the tradition of tithing. The tradition has roots in the Old Testament, with the likes of Abraham (Ge 14) and Jacob (Ge 28) giving a tenth of their belongings as offerings of thanks, but the two pastors in the interview have evolved […]

I finished reading the Gospel of John and thought I might jump to a non-Gospel New Testament book (although I guess they’re all sort of “gospel”), so I picked a short one: 1 John. Probably not the same John from the Gospel of John (if so he probably would have pointed that out), just the […]

I’m almost done in my reading the Gospel of John, and I’ve reached chapter 20, which tells the story of Jesus’ resurrection. I know it’s more of an Easter chapter, but it can’t hurt to read through it now, right?
As far as the resurrection accounts go in the Gospels, I really like the one in […]

Most of the time I tolerate consumerism as the inescapable mire that, as an American, I’m surrounded by. It doesn’t usually bother me, although this holiday season it was more frustrating than most. Especially when I was expected to wake up early the day after Thanksgiving (what should have been a relaxing day of rest) […]

Vines, remaining, and love—that’s what this chapter is all about.
The vines and branches metaphor tells us what we are. It also sheds light on our relationship with Jesus and God. God’s the gardener; he plants and nurtures everything–helps it grow. Jesus is the vine that the gardener tends. The vine channels the energy that gives […]