Faith

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Doorway to other worlds

TENNYSON ON RESTLESS HEARTS AND NEW BEGINNINGS

“The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep  Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends, ​ ‘T is not too late to seek a newer world. ​ Push off, and sitting well in order smite  The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths ​ Of all the western stars, until I die. ​ It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:  It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great...

Pentecost Sunday title

TONGUES OF FIRE

“On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of...

Has your faith become a spectator sport? Watching from afar

HAS YOUR FAITH BECOME A SPECTATOR SPORT?

There are a lot of things that most—though not all–Christians in America are vocal about. Many of us have no trouble telling people what our favorite football team is.  Very few of us would hide the news that our son was accepted into Harvard, our daughter had married into a wealthy family, or that we had received a prestigious promotion at work.  If you meet a famous athlete, television star or singer, you tend to drop their name to your friends repeatedly,...

My Journey with Cancer Part 2. Cancer cells dividing.

MY JOURNEY WITH CANCER (PT 2)

To jump to the most current post, click HERE Welcome to Part 2 of my blog post My Journey With Cancer. I’m blogging daily with no understanding of when or how my journey will end. It might be ten years from now or it may be much sooner. But then, again, does anyone know the measure of time they been apportioned on Earth? And what is time? And what happens to us when that time runs out? The reason I...

Infant being baptized

A BRIEF COMMENT ON INFANT BAPTISM

  • February 5, 2021
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  • Faith

What a long, strange trip it’s been I typically try to avoid discussions on issues that divide Christians (such as who can receive communion and the meaning and mode of baptism), because individual denominations have taken stands one way or another and the debate can be heated, tiring, and totally unpersuasive.  So, rather than go into the subject of infant baptism root and branch, let me explain in general terms how I evolved from disdaining infant baptism to embracing, or at...

Girl looking out a window with gentle rain falling

THE QUALITY OF MERCY

  • February 3, 2021
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  • Faith

PORTIA:  “The quality of mercy is not strained:it drops on to the world as the gentle rain does – from heaven.It’s doubly blessed. It blesses both the giver and the receiver.It’s most powerful when granted by those who hold power over othersIt’s more important to a monarch than his crown.His sceptre shows the level of his temporal power –The symbol of awe and majesty in which lies the source of the dreadand fear that kings command.But mercy is above that sceptered power.It’s enthroned in the hearts of kings.It...

SALT AS A NEW TESTAMENT METAPHOR

  • February 1, 2021
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  • Faith

If you ask twenty-five people what single thing they’d like to have with them if stranded on a desert island, the chances are at least one person will say “salt.”  Personally, this mineral (commonly called Halite and symbolized as NaCl) would be at the top of my list, because I often crave salt or salted snacks much like other people crave sugar, chocolate, and other sweets. Salt has always been important to civilization.  Our word “salary” comes from the Latin word salis, which...

CT Scan

MY JOURNEY WITH CANCER

Jump to most recent post The new year is barely two weeks old, and I’m already finding out what 2023 will bring. While some people will be coping with war and peace, poverty, inflation and unemployment, love and marriage, happiness and sadness, I (and my loving wife, Deena) will find ourselves meeting new people, visiting new places, experiencing new things and the common denominator is cancer. Our plans to travel to my homeland in Germany next winter may not occur...

General Surgery for Cancer

MY JOURNEY WITH CANCER (PT 3)

This is the third installation of my journal from the day I was first diagnosed with cancer of the bladder. These are my thoughts, my prayers, my observations and my journey as I navigate this brave new world. Read more about it in this post called “My Journey with Cancer (Pt 3.)” To jump to today’s entry, click HERE To jump back to part two, click HERE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2023 (C DAY +29) My journey with cancer (Part 3)....