Our pastor used an unexpected and effective twist in his teaching yesterday. He started out saying that, while reading the book, Radical, by author David Platt, he began thinking about how much money would be coming into the church this week in the form of engagement rings on the fingers of women of the church. […]
According to the Bible, some of the last words of Christ were spoken through his angel to the Apostle John, exiled to the Aegean Island of Patmos. But what are we to make of Jesus’ message when he says in 22:14, ‘Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the […]
Perfectionism can be a wonderful gift, a guiding star, a brutal club, or self-absorbed agony. The option we identify with may depend on how we are reading the Bible. For example, some of the language of the book of Revelation can be disturbingly confusing, because it seems to require “perfectionistic” faithfulness. As indicated in our […]
The 18th and 19th verses of Revelation 22 describe severe consequences to anyone who either takes away or adds to the words of the prophecy. Apocalyptic plagues are promised to those who add to the book. Even worse, the Tree of Life and City of God are to be taken from those who subtract from […]
So how does the Big Picture and Story of the Bible help us to understand a quote as difficult as we find in Revelation 22:11? “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is […]
I woke up this morning thinking that I need to move the conversation along to something else, as promised, because of the frustration that erupted over our last discussion. Then I read the comments posted overnight, and heard the heart and reasonableness of friends who expressed that they felt I was just making the Bible […]
Let’s talk about what’s happening in the conversation following my last couple of posts. By using the literature model of author intention, plot, subplot, character development, mood, setting, conflict, resolution etc., I’ve left some of you with the impression that I’m being disrespectful of the sacred page. That’s what I don’t want to do. I […]
In screenwriter Robert McKee’s book, Story, he says that the question of whether plot or character is more important to a story is as old as Aristotle. He went on to say that Aristotle weighed each and concluded that story is primary, character secondary. McKee goes on to explain that this perspective on storytelling held […]
I find it so necessary to keep in mind that the 66 books of the Bible have one all-encompassing, underlying storyline that gives perspective to all of the individual subplots, proverbs, predictions, laws, and letters. From Genesis to Revelation, the Author behind the authors tells us the most important parts of his story and ours. […]
I have some questions about how book reading clubs work and am hoping that some of our friends may have had experiences in them that might throw some light on how we read the Bible. If you’ve ever participated in a book club that has gotten together to discuss books (not a Bible study), I […]
