The news of Harry Potter author, JK Rowlings, showing up as the surprise author of a murder mystery— under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith, has stirred up interest among book lovers. Am thinking, it might also give us an excuse to think together about what it could mean to read the Bible as a good […]
An article of the BBC Online Magazine asks whether science can explain why some people see “the glass as half empty” while others see it as “half full”. The answer offered by medical journalist, Michael Mosley, explains additional research on genetic discoveries that we alluded to in a recent post, “God only Knows.” According to […]
Writing from Normandy France for the BBC News magazine, journalist Natasha Breed writes of her reaction at seeing a caged King of the jungle—as a traveling circus rolls into town. “I have spent years working with wildlife film crews following lions in Africa, and I have learned to read the big cats’ moods in their […]
On a California beach, young surfers use the word righteous to describe a big wave, a drug-induced high, or a sexual adventure. In a nearby church, members of a prayer circle use the same word to talk about behavior that complies with the moral laws of the Bible. I’m guessing the beach crowd knows they […]
Do you ever find yourself feeling like your mind is going to unravel over some of the most obvious and mysterious questions of life like: Why does anything exist? Me? You? Us? Now? Here? In a conscious state that cannot be explained? Above all why, would there be an eternal self-existent God? Why can’t science […]
The 84th of the Bible’s book of songs is full of thoughts about a safe place. Verses 8 and 9 though have caught my attention today. The songwriter, prays and sings, In two sets of parallel thoughts in which the second line of each couplet brings clarity to the first. Hear my prayer, Lord God […]
In Old Testament times, innocent people could find temporary shelter by running to “cities of refuge” or by getting to and hanging on the “the horns the altar” of sacrifice. But that was for those who i.e. unintentionally harmed others. What about those who were guilty? Only with the Cross of Christ do we see […]
Over the years, I’ve dreamed of being part of a “safe place” where hurting people could feel welcome and feel free to be themselves while trying to make sense out of their lives. In the process I’ve imagined finding a group of like-minded people who could hang out a shingle and an honest invitation that […]
Is tolerance of wrongs a sin? Could intolerance be even worse? In asking such questions, it seems to make sense to wonder why some of us believe that God cannot tolerate sin? Am guessing we might say something like, “Don’t all followers of the Bible believe that? Could anything be more obvious? Isn’t God too […]
David , the shepherd, musician, soldier king of Israel wrote a song with 175 verses that celebrated the teaching of his God–in the words of Moses. In his last verse he sang with words that must have been more lyrical than our English, “I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I […]
