Daniel & the Life of Faith

A few thoughts on the Book of Daniel that emerged from reflecting early this morning ...Every person who has been baptized into Christ has been born again by God's grace. Christians, therefore, exist in what may be called a state of grace or a state of salvation. Because we believe the testimony of God's Spirit through Scripture and his witness to our spirit, we know we are his.Yet every person who is, by grace, in Christ also knows that Satan has...

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Paul the Jew, His Nazirite Vow and Restorationist Response to It

The episode recorded by Luke in Acts 21.17-26 is one of his most fascinating vignettes. It certainly is a “bump” in any patternistic hermeneutic. The thought of Paul (James and the Jerusalem church does not usually bother anyone but perhaps would if we actually understood it) actually taking a vow, offering a sacrifice in the temple {with instruments} and undergoing purification causes no little stress! That the text is meddlesome is evident by...

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Fiddler, Tradition, & God's Word

Tradition. It is something each one of us values and shares. We have national traditions and we have family traditions. It is a national tradition to celebrate Independence Day with fireworks and cookouts. It is a national tradition, for many, to place flowers on the graves of soldiers on Memorial Day. With these traditions we pass on certain values to our children that we want them to have. We want them to value freedom and recognize the cost of...

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Sabbath: Bridge Between the Commandments (Deut 5.12-15)

Introductory Thoughts“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey, or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do....

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Rage Against the Storm: Jeremiah, Prayer & Honest Faith (Jer 20.7-18)

Meet JeremiahOver the years Jeremiah has become one of my favorite places in the Story to meditate, ruminate and munch scripture. He is one of the few biblical characters I've ever taken the time to read a novel about, Thom Lemmons wonderful Jeremiah: He Who Wept. (See How Jeremiah Was Made) Last night I was up laaatttteeeee as I skimmed Jeremiah and settled on chapter 20 for some lectio divina time. I have written down some reflections that emerged...

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