Since we are into the beginning of the Christmas season the above title came to mind. Although I was not fortunate enough to be a parent I certainly sympathize with those who are when it comes to having to assemble things like bicycles and such for their kids for Christmas. I imagine to many parents the words “No Assembly Required” is a much sought after … Continue reading Assembly Required….
Maybe someone can help me out with this question. Were all the Apostles baptized with water? I don’t recall seeing this in the Bible. If water baptism was so important then surely Jesus insisted that all his immediate disciples be baptized. If they were baptized this surely would have been a major event in their lives and someone would have reported it. If I change … Continue reading Were the Apostles Baptized??
A close member of my extended family died yesterday after a long and agonizing downward spiral. For the last two years she was no longer of her own mind and became a very spiteful person. It was totally sad to see her in that state for so long. It is not that she was a superhuman before that but she was not unlike many today … Continue reading A Long and Agonizing Death…
How much of an agenda did the original Biblical authors have when they were writing their words? Were the differing parallel verses found in the Gospel text simple misinterpretations or remembrances or were they intentionally different because of the differing views of the authors. How much different did Matthew and Luke view Jesus’ messages. Looking at the differing parallel verses of the Beatitudes found in … Continue reading Differing Parallel Verses and Theological Agendas…
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 women. So what do you say?” This they said to … Continue reading Go and sin no more…
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 to the Apostles for the community good. Here are those … Continue reading 10% Tithe??
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 our small messages from the Holy Spirit and therefore also … Continue reading Pentecost on my mind…
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 truth. He will not speak on his own; he will … Continue reading The Holy Spirit – Part 2 Jesus’ words
I don’t know how many times I have heard the words in the title of this post when it comes to the Bible. The pastor of my church even says them rather frequently. It also seems to be a major theme of some of the blogs I occasionally frequent. They seem to say that if you just read the original text it will be … Continue reading If you just read it in the original language…..
This is going to be one of those difficult and probably controversial posts. Is Jesus Plan “B” whereas Adam was Plan “A” that failed? In other words did God really plan on Adam being the benevolent seed of mankind and when that didn’t happen he changed gears and came Himself (via Jesus) to do the job of fixing things? This concept has some pretty serious … Continue reading Plan “B”?
We seem to constantly fragment ourselves in order to make us unique. We are not satisfied with just being one of many in a common boiling pot. We have to think of ourselves as someone like no one else. My father’s generation was not like we are. Many, if not most of them, took pride in the fact that America was a fabulous “melting pot” … Continue reading Finding our niche…..
This post is more or less a follow up of the previous post discussing the differences between Christian sects. I have been thinking lately about why there are so many versions of God and in particular Jesus’ Church. The more I study theology the more versions of Jesus I seem to come across. There are more than 35,000 different Christian sects out there now and … Continue reading Why So Many Versions of Christianity?
This is a continuation of my personal reflections on the world and where I might fit into it. Is doing “church” separate from doing discipleship? Let’s investigate that question. I have always assumed that the two were actually the same but recently I have come across a couple of definitions of church that seem to separate the two practices. Here is a definition of “church” … Continue reading Doing church vs. Doing Discipleship
Jesus clearly told us to be our brother’s keeper but somewhere along the way we Christians unapologetically shunned that responsibility. During the first three centuries Christians were very much their brother’s keeper. They often pooled their resources so that those most needy were taken care of. They not only cared for their own there is even documented evidence showing that they took care of those … Continue reading When we Christians shun our responsibilities….
I am going to take on a hard one here. The big “A”. I have been in a conversation with some Christian friends of mine about the current healthcare reform now being debated in congress and around the country. Some of my friends said the following: “I can’t support this reform as it might allow some to have abortions funded”! I, certainly am also against … Continue reading Sanctity of Life??
I am going to keep this post very short but I would like to hear anyone’s views on whether being a Christian and a social conservative are compatible. I am only talking about social conservatives not fiscal or conservatism in general. If Jesus were here today would He be labeled a social conservative? I personally can’t begin to imagine that but would like to hear … Continue reading Being a political “Social Conservative” and a Christian??
RedLetterLiving 