Posted in Questions on February 28th, 2008 6 Comments »
A recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that over a fourth of adult Americans have left the faith of their childhood to join a different one or stop affiliating with a church. If you count the people that change denominations within Protestantism, the number jumps to 44% of adults. […]
Posted in Bible thoughts on February 28th, 2008 No Comments »
From the middle of Revelation 21 to chapter 22, John is finally shown the heavenly new Jerusalem. Carried away in the Spirit, an angel gives him a guided tour. The appearance of the heavenly city does not impress me as much as its mood does. The feel of this heavenly description instills in me a […]
Posted in Bible thoughts on February 26th, 2008 No Comments »
There’s no getting around it: most of Revelation is strange (see chapters 6-20). However, the vision John is shown beginning in chapter 21 fills me with comfort, anticipation, and encouragement. Since the main goal of Revelation is to convey those feelings on to its readers, job well done. This second-to-last chapter begins the final things […]
Posted in Questions on February 22nd, 2008 4 Comments »
I recently read an article about how often people present false selves. Psychologists call this the “impostor phenomenon.” It is a secret sense that we are not as capable as others think we are. Apparently, impostorism is running rampant these days.
Psychologists devised a questionnaire that gauges how much we present false selves. Men who scored […]
Posted in Bible thoughts on February 21st, 2008 No Comments »
I decided to skim past the middle part of Revelation and not bother with all the crazy stuff going on there with beasts, whores, dragons, creatures, and the like. I think the last three chapters are more worth spending time in.
I noticed while reading Revelation 19 that there is a lot of shouting in heaven. […]
Posted in Bible thoughts on February 19th, 2008 No Comments »
Revelation 7 contains the phrase “the blood of the Lamb” in verse 14. This phrase only appears in the Bible here and in Revelation 12:11. Every time I read it, the song “There Is Power in the Blood” always pops into my head and stays there for a while. Not only do I end up […]
Posted in Connectivity on February 15th, 2008 5 Comments »
There’s a reoccurring segment on the radio that I catch every now and then. It’s called “This I Believe” and features essays from (semi well-known) people about how they see life. Recently there’s been some very inspiring ones:
Sister Helen Prejean (who wrote the true book that became the movie Dead Man Walking) says, “I watch […]
Posted in Bible thoughts on February 13th, 2008 No Comments »
At the beginning of Revelation 5, God is holding a scroll. (And remember: this is all one big metaphor here, so let’s just jump in and enjoy it.) A mighty angel shouts the question, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” (5:2). Apparently no one is, verse 3 points out. What […]
Posted in Bible thoughts on February 11th, 2008 No Comments »
I’m done with 1 John, and, continuing my theme of reading Bible books attributed to guys named John, I decided to dive into Revelation. I don’t want to spend too much time on all the weird stuff, in fact I’m just going to read through them and let the imagery stand on its own since […]
Posted in Questions on February 6th, 2008 5 Comments »
Why can’t Christians get along? Our main message involves love, peace, reconciliation, redemption…. you know, really good things. So why do we have a hard time following our own advice?
I read that over Christmas, a fight broke out between priests at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. You’d think if anyone could be understanding, […]