I believe that affirming our potential is more important than condemning our brokenness. Many churches I have attended put a very strong I would even say an overwhelming emphasis on our brokenness. Their creeds which are chanted every Sunday point out that we are nothing but poor miserable sinners and are capable of absolutely nothing [...]
Archive for the ‘Christianity’ Category
Affirming our Potential
Posted in Christianity, I believe on September 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A New Beginning….
Posted in Christianity on August 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I am back from my seven week hiatus and with some fresh insights. During this time I have stopped thinking about theology. It just became too troublesome for me to continue the way I was going. But, I have now come to some foundational conclusions. I was just getting too drained worrying about all the [...]
Some Time Away….
Posted in Christianity on July 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I have come to the point where I need some time away from theology things. So I will stop blogging on RLL starting today. How long my hiatus will be I don’t know right now. Thanks to all of you who read me on occasions. I am humbled that you think my words are worth [...]
Go and sin no more…
Posted in A Question for Discussion, Christianity, tagged sin no more, sinning on June 28, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Let’s look at some more red letters today: John 8:3-11 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such [...]
Jesus and Forgiveness … Part 2.
Posted in Christianity, Red Letters, tagged Forgiveness, Forgiving others on June 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Let’s continue on with our study of Jesus’ words about forgiveness. Last time we concentrated on Jesus’ forgiveness of our sins. This time we will look at what Jesus says about us forgiving others who sin against us. Let’s jump right into the red letters. Mark 11:22-25 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell [...]
Jesus and Forgiveness… (Part 1)
Posted in Christianity, tagged forgiving sins, judgment day on June 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Let’s spend a couple of posts talking about Jesus and forgiveness. Many Christians frequently point to the words from St. Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can [...]
10% Tithe??
Posted in A Question for Discussion, Christianity, Historical on June 17, 2010 | 2 Comments »
I know the Old Testament talks about a 10% thithe in several places but is this also applicable to Christians in the New Testament age? Some say yes and some say no. It always impressed me when I read in the book of acts how Early Christians sold everything they had and gave the money [...]
The Church Clubhouse?
Posted in Christianity on June 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Is there anything wrong with having a church be the social center for members’ families as well as a place to worship God? Many churches believe this configuration is totally wrong but in reality most, if not all, churches are to one degree or another clubhouses as well as churches. Some believe the church/clubhouse is [...]
Parallel Gospel Verses … Part 3 (The Last Supper)
Posted in Christianity on June 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I will let the last post represent those parallel verses that are very similar to each other. In my studies those were somewhat typical of the conflicts of words. I know there are many places in the Old Testament that people report conflicting verses. I did not attempt to cover any of these but instead [...]
Parallel Gospel Verses…. Part 2.
Posted in Christianity on June 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Before we look at a few of the parallel verses in the Gospel accounts let’s see where there are no parallel accounts. John Chapters 1 through 4 have many of Jesus’ words that are not reported anywhere else. I don’t know if part of that is because John’s Gospel was written several years after the [...]
Parallel Gospel Verses… (Part 1)
Posted in Christianity on June 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Due to having frequent discussions with my “inerrant and literal” bible friend lately the Gospel messages have been on my mind. I know there are several places in the bible that supposedly report on the same event. If, as my friend, believes, every word in the bible is literally true and directly from God’s mouth [...]
Remembering Memorial Day…
Posted in Christianity, Politics on May 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Today being Memorial Day here in the U.S. I thought I would spend this post mourning all the children of God who have died in the world’s wars. This includes both the soldiers and those innocent civilians called “collateral damage” by the military complexes. Unfortunately wars and killing have been a fact of life for [...]
Red Letter Messages….
Posted in Christianity on May 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Ok, I have probably spent too much time lately looking at the differences between us Christians and not enough time with personal revelation around the red letters. To ameliorate this condition I will try to spend more time reflecting on particular words of Jesus and what they mean to me. Of course along the way [...]
Pentecost on my mind…
Posted in A Question for Discussion, Christianity, tagged Baptism, Holy Spirit, Pentecost on May 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday being Pentecost, and the fact that I just finished posting a series on the Holy Spirit, it is on my mind. After again reading the dramatic account of the Holy Spirit coming to the apostles and others in that closed and hidden room I had a serious question suddenly pop into my mind. Are we ignoring [...]
Give them Jesus
Posted in Christianity, tagged Christians, GIve them Jesus, Living the Word on May 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
There are thousands of different concepts and ideas floating around in Christianity and most of them have followers who have split from others over their specific views. Of course the biggest split started when a lowly monk decided he knew better than the Pope what God was really about. There are those who have split [...]
The Holy Spirit – Part 7 – Some Concluding Thoughts
Posted in Christianity on May 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In doing this study on the Holy Spirit I am not convinced that I really know how to envision him even now. To me it sounds like he dwells in each of us and always has but came into the theological forefront after Jesus bodily left us to go back to the Father. There are [...]
The Holy Spirit – Part 6 – The messages from the Holy Spirit
Posted in Christianity, tagged Holy Spirit on May 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This time we will be looking at the method and means the Holy Spirit uses to convey messages to us. Acts 13:1-4 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping [...]
The Holy Spirit – Part 5 – Baptism and the Holy Spirit (con’t)
Posted in Christianity on May 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Lets continue with our study of the relationship between the Holy Spirit and baptism. Acts 11:15-17 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the [...]
The Holy Spirit – Part 4 – Baptism and the Holy Spirit
Posted in Christianity, tagged Baptism, Holy Spirit on May 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This time we will look at the relationship between the Holy Spirit and Baptism. Are they one and the same? Let’s start with Peter in Samaria. Acts 8:14-19 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for [...]
The Holy Spirit – Part 3 – Dramatic Events
Posted in Christianity, tagged Holy Spirit on May 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Let’s look at the book of Acts to try and understand just who the Holy Spirit is and what his purpose is. In our previous study, along with some confusion, we learned that the Holy Spirit is a being who Jesus referred to a “him” is not purely a spiritual presence. Ok, let’s go through [...]
The Holy Spirit – Part 2 Jesus’ words
Posted in A Question for Discussion, Christianity, tagged Holy Spirit, Jesus' words on April 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The 16th Chapter of the John comes to mind most frequently when we think of Jesus giving us the Holy Spirit. Here it is: John 16:12-15 NIV “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all [...]
The Holy Spirit – Part 1
Posted in Christianity, tagged Holy Spirit on April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Having just finished up an extensive set of posts on Quakers, the Holy Spirit is on my mind. So I am now going to concentrate on what the Gospels and book of Acts say about the Holy Spirit. This is going to be a seven part post so please bear with me. I find myself [...]
If God is Love Where Does Hate Come From?
Posted in Christianity on April 22, 2010 | 2 Comments »
My wife and I watched a DVR copy of the recent TV movie entitled “Amish Grace” last night. This is the movie about the man who shot ten girls in an Amish school house a few years back and then took his own life. Six of the girls died. The main theme of the movie [...]
The Bible is like….
Posted in Christian Diversity, Christian Tolerance, Christianity on April 19, 2010 | 3 Comments »
The last post I attempted to report the basic differences between the two major views of the Bible. This time I am going get a little artsy and make a meager attempt to try to compare these views to the concept of the “Bread of Life”. The Literal and Inerrant View see the Bible as [...]
Biblical Views…
Posted in Christianity on April 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Given the recent blog discussions between myself and a person who takes the literal inerrant view of the Bible I want to spend a few minutes on that subject. There are basically two views on how to interpret Biblical text: Literal and Inerrant Approach – People who espouse this view believe that absolutely every word [...]
