Hallowe’en is a contraction derived from “All hallows even,” and marks the beginning of All Saints Day on November 1st. All Saints is a time of commemorating those who have died in the faith. Martin Luther chose to post his 95 theses on Hallowe’en, possibly evoking the “great cloud of witnesses” that preceded him in…
Category: Discipleship
Head in the Clouds, Feet on the Ground
Image from http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/head-in-the-clouds-feet-on-the-ground/422221.article But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ (Eph. 4:15). There is a tension in the Christian’s walk that Jesus described this way: “An hour is coming, and is now here….” Jesus said this specifically about resurrection and worshiping God in spirit and…
St. Francis Wasn’t a Sissie
Francis of Assisi Francis of Assisi is known for giving it all. His father, a wealthy merchant, demanded Francis relax his zeal for Christ or renounce all claims to his inheritance. Francis answered by removing his clothes and returning them to his astonished father. This attitude marked the rest of Francis’s life. I have always…
What Poppins Preached to Her Parrot
Mary Poppins, Disney 1964 Something I wrote in my journal in November 2010: At the end of Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins watches from the front step of the Banks family home as they walk down the street to fly kites together. During her time with them, Mary has wrought an amazing transformation in the family, and especially…
Compass, Cross, Bungee, and Buddha
My freshman year of college I became deeply troubled by questions: “Why do I exist?” “What is true?” One night, I stayed up late talking philosophy with a friend. My distress was reaching critical mass. I spent the rest of the night and the whole next day awake, wrestling with my lack of answers. I…
The MAN in the ComMANdments
In my booklet, Wonderful Things in Your Law, I argue that the moral laws (i.e. the Ten Commandments) are not merely rules to be obeyed or principles to live by. Instead, they provide a picture of Christ in you (Col. 1:27). Let’s take just a few of the Ten Commandments as examples. “You shall…
Fallen Away (Part 2)
Image from My Safety Sign “For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions with the Holy spirit, tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, and who have fallen away, because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of…
Fallen Away (Part 1)
http://www.explodingdog.com/title/fallingdown.html “For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions with the Holy Spirit, tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, and who have fallen away, because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding Him up…
If Jesus Lives in Me: Guest Post by Mallory Patrick
Sketch by Patrick Murphy: http://inspiredsketch.blogspot.com/?wref=bif Believers who have not seen Christ as the Lamb, who have not known Christ in His humiliation, will treat other believers who are conformed to that image as Jesus was treated by people when He walked the earth. No harm is intended by these believers; Jesus is so different from flesh…
I Need Thee Every Hour
My mother-in-law posted an arrangement of this hymn on my Facebook page. I had never heard it before. Besides being a gorgeous arrangement, it struck a nerve (no pun intended) because I have been recovering from ankle surgery. The Holy Spirit reduced me to tears as I listened. That is saying something because I’m definitely…
The Voice of One 