-
3 Ps OF THE BIBLE
Speaking of poetry in the Bible… Recently I heard a teacher* caution students of the Bible against reading too literally any of the three Ps of the Bible: Poetry Prophecy Parables This teacher especially urged believers not to build doctrine on any of the 3 Ps. That feels like good advice. (It also feels like another strike against the doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell of all unbelievers. The core verses you will find people using to support that particular doctrine are found in Revelation’s prophecies and in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.) * I wish…
-
LITERALLY 2
I suppose one of the comforts of reading every last line of Scripture as literally as possible is that it simplifies everything. “God said it. I believe it. That’s good enough for me.” We like things black and white. Cut and dry. But I would maintain that some words are meant to be read literally and some words are not. The words of a history book are meant to be read literally. But how does one read a poem literally? (Did Emily Dickinson really believe that hope is “a thing with feathers that perches in the soul”? Literally?) As for…
-
LITERALLY
Jesus: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” Disciples: “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” (John 11:11-12) ****** The more I think about it, the funnier this exchange gets. Is this the first recorded incident of believers assuming every word spoken by God must be taken absolutely literally – and thus completely misunderstanding the message? This reminds me of a friend I had in seminary who had a simple litmus test for who among us were “true believers”: And that’s all there was to it. (I said it was a…
-
BETTER YET
Max Roser at ourworldindata.org writes: “The world is awful. The world is much better. The world can be much better. All three statements are true at the same time.” He illustrates this truth by looking at statistics on child mortality. Currently, worldwide, 4.3% of children die before their 15th birthday. “This means that 5.9 million children die every year – 16,000 children on any average day, and 11 children every minute.” This is tragic. It is worth every effort to improve upon this situation. But historical perspective is helpful. And it may save us from despondency and hopelessness. Historians estimate…
-
THE LONG GOODBYE
Today was a long day. Caleb’s graduation program began at 8:00 am – a beautiful ceremony on a beautiful summer morning.
-
FORT KNOX
Melissa, Hannah, Sarah, Grandma Trudy and I had the privilege of spending the afternoon with our oldest, Caleb, as he is finishing up his time at Advanced Camp. His graduation is tomorrow and today was “Family Day”. I don’t know that I have ever been on a military base before – Fort Knox is an impressive operation. We weren’t on the base too long, though – Caleb was anxious to get outside the gates and get some non-MRE food. Melissa thinks he has lost at least 10 pounds. Ruck marching in the summer heat for a month will do that…
-
EMMAUS
I had the privilege of preaching this morning at the sweetest country church an hour and a half away from home. We had 6 for Sunday school and the same 6 for worship. (At least we didn’t lose anybody in between!) Their pastor moved to a different church a few weeks ago and they are uncertain of what the future holds for them. Please pray for them as they seek God’s will. They have some great things going for them. They’ve got a well-kept building on the edge of town. Everybody was willing to pray out loud during the prayer…
-
A BADGE OF DISCIPLESHIP?
In a sermon entitled “Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse the Third”, John Wesley has this to say about Christians and persecution: “The persecution which attends all the children of God is that our Lord describes in the following words: ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.’ This cannot fail: it is the very badge of our discipleship; it is one of the seals of our calling. It is a sure portion entailed on all the children of God; if we have…
-
22 YEARS
22 years ago today Melissa and I got married. Tonight, I should be writing sweet and thoughtful things about my wife and how much I enjoy being married to her. But I am fighting yet another sinus infection and every thought has to fight its way through a brain clogged with molasses. So I know I can’t do Melissa – or my love for her – any justice at the moment. We will have to settle for a couple of cute recent photos of the two of us together in Nashville, Tennessee a few weekends ago for my nephew’s wedding:
-
TUNING OUT
Are you among those consuming less “news” in 2022? Axios published this headline recently: “News engagement plummets as Americans tune out“. Those are some serious drops in a year’s time – fewer eyes on both internet and cable! Online interactions cut in half. Axios concludes: “Survey data shows Americans have grown weary amid what feels like a never-ending cycle of bad news.” I don’t know, though. Haven’t the lead stories always been “the sky is falling”? For me, it is not weariness about bad news. I have tuned out more and more because I have concluded so much of the…
