Faith

Category

Catskill Mountains

OF THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE

This is not the view from my front door, but it’s close. However, what you actually see depends on the time of day and the atmospherics, because sometimes you see rows of mountains as in this photo, and some times you see nothing at all except a fairly flat horizon bordered on the upper margin by clouds or fog (most recently, smoke from the wildfires in California, 3,000 miles away.) But regardless of whether the mountains are visible or whether...

Second coming of the Bronco and Jesus

SECOND COMINGS

The second coming of the Bronco and the second coming of Jesus. A week or two ago as my wife and I were planning our move to a mountain house where we’d live for the next twelve months, she casually mentioned to me that it would be nice—and fun—to have a Jeep or four-wheel drive OTR/GOAT vehicle (in case I wind up in the ditch again, if not in traction.)  But she was actually thinking about the snow we’d encounter next...

Sin, like a strangler fig, can choke the life out of a host

WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT SIN

[Sometimes, I believe I have valuable insight on sin and how the Devil can trip you up. Other times, I think I’ve learned absolutely nothing about sin at all.] The world in which we live is not the world that God created for us. Unless we’re at a tropical resort on a sandy beach, in the mountains, or at some other breath-taking destination, few of us would call our world a paradise. Forces of nature and the destructiveness of people...

Viola signifying the voice of God.

HEARING GOD’S VOICE

One of the “life hacks” I want to leave behind has to do with hearing God’s voice.  Is it possible that God still speaks to us, and how can we know it if He does?  Psychotic patients firmly believe He speaks to them and hearing such a voice is a hallmark of some diseases. Are Christians psychotic if they believe God has communicated with them? It is my belief that God does on occasion speak to us in some way or fashion,...

Jesus loves you, bruh

JESUS LOVES YOU, BRUH!

One of the most frequently quoted Bible verses is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The Greek word for “perish” is apollumi, and it refers to the loss of well-being in the next life (the hereafter.) The words “eternal life” (aiōnion) refer to the condition of joy and well-being in the life in Heaven which is endless in terms...

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
  • /
  • 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...

Verified by MonsterInsights