As we look forward once again to the turning of the calendar, many of us have come to the threshold of 2010 carrying heavy concerns either for ourselves– or for others. So it might be worth thinking together about a statement that the Apostle Paul wrote in the middle of his own problems and concerns […]
Is it possible that some of us are so committed to defending “absolute truth” that we forget how “relative” our understanding can be? Admittedly, those who say “all things are relative” often mean that one opinion is as good as another—especially when they want their own opinion to be as good, or better, than anyone […]
If the Bible is full of “studies in contrast” and “truth in tension” rather than “self-contradictions and discrepancies,” another example is what the Scriptures variously say about forgiveness. Some passages indicate that one mark of a follower of Christ is to forgive those who harm us (Matt 6:14-15; Col 3:13). Other texts make it clear […]
Sometimes the apparent contradictions of the Bible happen in such quick succession that it is apparent that they are intentional devices to provoke thought. For example, in Proverbs 26:4, the person of wisdom says, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.” The very next proverb in vs […]
It was raining and 43 degrees yesterday when I stopped to look up into this tree. Its trunk and branches are strong. Yet by its appearance, it is joining the rest of us in acknowledging that we have no power to resist the seasons of life. Solomon, struggled for a while to make sense of […]
In “How the Mighty Fall,” author Jim Collins analyzes how once successful corporations cycle through predictable patterns of decline. In his analysis, problems begin when companies take their success for granted and begin to stray from what worked for them in the past. Collins goes on to say the tendency is for managers to overextend […]
While thinking lately not only about some bloody 15th and 16th century periods of church history, but also about the way church people continue to bitterly divide over theological and political differences, I’m reminded how important it is to try to attach authority to no more and no less than what the Bible says. In […]
Don Richardson, author of Peace Child and Eternity in their Hearts, is known for a discovery that he and his wife, Carol, made among the Sawi people of Dutch New Guinea. At the time (1960s) the Sawi people were headhunters, at war with rival tribes, and absorbed in a culture of aggressive self-protection. To the […]
According to Buddhist folklore. Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other […]
Do we associate wisdom with Confucius or Buddha rather than with Jesus and Paul? If so, we might miss the significance of what Solomon recommends when he writes, “Happy is the person who finds wisdom and gains understanding. For the profit of wisdom is better than silver, and her wages are better than gold. Wisdom […]
