Tag: Bible
Don’t Forget (Parentally), Pt. IV
Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. – Deuteronomy 32:7 Part I Part II Part III Over the past few weeks, I’ve used Deuteronomy to help guide our thinking about how important it is for us to teach our contemporaries and the generations that come after us about the reality, truthfulness and wonder of God and the story He’s written about Himself and His Creation. → Read more...
Intentional Christianity
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking more and more about living life intentionally. I will admit that the prospect of having a child to take care of in the next few months has been a major catalyst in me pursuing this line of thinking. I have been thinking about how to be a proactive parent rather than a reactive one. For example, if there are experiences that we want to give our children, we will actively pursue that opportunity rather than just wait and hope it will happen. → Read more...
Our Children and Our Children’s Children
I know I’ve said this before and I will probably say it again and again: It is amazing how the Bible is truly a Living Word because it changes with us. There is always something new that speaks to us or suddenly is revealed in a profound way, even when we’ve read the same words over and over. Right now, my Bible studies have taken me to the Book of Exodus once again. This familiar story of the release of the Hebrews from the hardship of Egypt through miraculous signs and wonders, I’ve read almost constantly from grade school and onward. → Read more...
Obedience
For my recent Bible time, I have been reading the book of Genesis. I just finished the story arc of Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish and the Christian faith. Abraham, to me, is an amazing model of faithfulness and obedience. You have to remember that he lived a life without Scripture, without the Bible, without anything written. There was no guidance, but the voice of God. Indeed, many New Testament writers uphold Abraham as an example of this trait. → Read more...
In Medias Res
Frequent readers of this eLetter will know that I love movies and serial television shows, especially ones that attempt to tell a grand story over a period of time. Some of them employ a literary technique called in medias res, which is Latin for “into the midst of affairs.” This refers to where the narrative starts in the middle of the story instead of its beginning. The characters, setting, and conflict are often introduced through a series of flashbacks or through characters relating past events to each other. → Read more...
A Leap of Faith
One of my favorite scenes in all of the cinema I’ve seen in my life is in 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In it, Indy, played by Harrison Ford, is on the quest for the Holy Grail. In order to get to the room that houses the grail, Indy has to pass three separate tests. The first two he passes just fine, but on the third, he pauses. The third test is called “The Leap of Faith” where he has to cross a chasm that has no apparent bridge. → Read more...
Do As I Say, Not As I Do… Right?
Relativism. I’m sure most of you know that word. A quick and dirty definition of the word can be said as thus, “A theory, especially in ethics or aesthetics, that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them.” I borrowed that definition from Answers.com. The unfolding story of the Eliot Spitzer scandal (Google it if you have been living under a rock lately) is interesting not because it has shades of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, but rather because Spitzer, the governor of New York, was exposed as a client of a prostitution ring despite being publicly well-known as a man who had serious morals and ethics. → Read more...
A Slice of Truth: Being Good
January 21, 2015
A Slice of Truth, Devotionals
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