With Christmas just past, I’ve been thinking about one of the names by which Jesus was announced: Immanuel, “God with us.” “God with us” was a prophetic name first uttered by Isaiah in a prophecy (Isaiah 7:14). Matthew tells us Jesus fulfilled this prophetic appellation when he was born (Matt. 1:23). Jesus’s birth as a…
Category: Theology
Becoming Small
http://www.designspectre.com/photography/sequence-photography/ I decided to repost this. Merry Christmas! *** Becoming small, a bird folding wings, He drew Himself down into the earth. The One with no beginning knew the birth of flesh and blood and felt its slow wringing. By dying He became a scales fixed in place to judge—every valley raised and mountain planed…
Ever Change from Carbon to Chlorine-Based?
I had the following article published in the religion column of our local paper. You’ll notice they re-titled the article. But I’m not the first author to differ with an editor 😉 *** Each year, a change comes over our house the day after Thanksgiving. A tree grows in the living room bearing brightly colored,…
Pickled in the Spirit?
Our pastor started a sermon series on topics that can be controversial among Christians. The first was baptism in the Holy Spirit, which the pastor asked me to teach on. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is something I, admittedly, haven’t spent much time thinking about. I believe the Spirit would rather focus us on Jesus…
Disciples and Division
Recently, I read Christian History magazine, issue 120: “Calvin, Councils, and Confessions–How the Church became the Churches.” Church history is a hobby. I identify less with a particular tradition than with anyone in Christ. I love church history because I see it as my history–Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant. Issue 120 discusses the spread of Reformed…
Clyde’s Interesting Habit
Clyde the ghost from Atari’s “Pac-Man“. Clyde usually wandered off on his own. One of my children (let’s call her Clyde) has an interesting habit. As in any parent/child relationship, I often ask Clyde to do something when she’s in the middle of doing something she’d rather do. Clyde’s interesting habit is this: instead of…
An Atheistic Fly
There’s something I’ve observed about Christians: at times our beliefs are based on what we haven’t experienced. Now, the atheist would say our entire faith is based on what we haven’t experienced. Since the atheist hasn’t had spiritual experiences (or won’t admit he has) then no one has really had such experiences. We might shake…
Doctrine Himself
Lately, I’ve been meditating on a line from Psalm 73: “God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). I’ve known God is my portion for years. But for those same years I have lived with dissatisfaction. The truth I knew didn’t make up for the grief I felt about what I…
The Son the Father Loves
My son and me Genesis 27 finds Isaac old and blind. Unsure when he’ll die, he asks Esau to hunt and cook wild game so he can eat and give Esau his blessing. Rebekah overhears this, has Jacob kill a couple goats, and cooks them for Isaac. She covers Jacob with the goat skins and…
Eight Days a Week
I had the following article published in our local paper last week *** Most of us work Monday through Friday. Then the weekend. We take a break from regular employment. Many also worship on Saturday or Sunday, depending on their faith. Individually, socially and culturally we find ourselves moving to this weekly rhythm. But why?…
The Voice of One 