Do you ever practice living a Christian life of faith? Huh? Practice? What’s to practice? Doesn’t the Holy Spirit just kind of come in and take over? Why do I need to practice anything? I’m too busy practicing for my career to worry about this kind of thing!
We move on to the seventh and final letter in Revelation. The end of the road, as far as the delivery of the Revelation given to John along the path of these seven churches. This time the letter is to the lukewarm church in Laodicea. Jesus has no good things to say to this church. Therefore, the examination will obviously be about what’s going wrong here. What did they do, or not do? How might they have achieved no good news from Jesus? And what can we learn for us today, both for our churches and for us as individuals?
The letter to the lukewarm church in Laodicea – Revelation More
We move on to the second of the seven letters in Revelation. This time the letter to the persecuted church in Smyrna. Jesus has good things to say about the church in Smyrna. It’s a bit harder to determine whether there’s any bad news in here – at least the kind of bad news that the church in Ephesus received. There were certainly warnings. But whether things would actually turn out “badly” was dependent on how well the people in that church listened to and carried out what Jesus said.
The letter to the persecuted church in Smyrna in Revelation More
It’s Advent season. But do we know what it is? What is Advent about? For instance, do we realize that the first Advent has come and gone, and now we’re waiting for the second Advent? And after we do know, are we really ready for the second coming of Jesus? It will come. And whether we’re still alive for it or not, it matters to all of us.
Do you know – what is Advent about? More
“The LORD Said. I Think. Oops! That Was Me!” Yeah, that really happens. I do wish I could take credit for my title, but I can’t. It’s from a book by T. F. Tenney, titled The Lord Said– Or Was That Me: Some More Advice Unasked For And Seldom Heeded. I’ll hopefully write about it (the book) some day, but for now it’s just the title I’m borrowing.
It’s hard to admit even to ourselves when we do something because we thought it’s what God wanted, but then find out it wasn’t. Worse yet, it’s what we wanted.
The LORD Said. I Think. Oops! That Was Me! More
After you have suffered a little while. Who are we talking about? And what is a little while? Not to mention, what happens after the suffering? And maybe, what is the suffering? How about why will this suffering take place? But first, where does this even come from?
After you have suffered a little while More
Donald Trump or John Lewis – who is poor in spirit? That surely depends on what I mean by spirit. In one regard, I can think of no one in his position that’s ever had more spirit. However, in another way, I find spirit pretty much absent. So which one am I asking about? Well, this site is about religion, specifically Christianity. Which “spirit” do you think I’m talking about?
The image at the right kind of gives a clue.
Donald Trump or John Lewis – who is poor in spirit? More
120,000 more children will die of malnutrition. Not 120,000 will die. 120,000 additional children will die of severe malnutrition this year, due to the effects of COVID on the food supplies for children around the world. Who will mourn? Someone once said, “Blessed are those who mourn …” But who is mourning when they read the headline: “Rising child malnutrition rates to lead to 120,000 excess deaths during pandemic”? Even more than that, who is doing something about it?
Not “just” donating money, although money is needed and is important. My question is, who is in a position of power that has the ability to do something about the root cause of this? And what are they doing? Even more to the point, my question is for Christians in those positions do do something, and yet do nothing. Where are you? Are you mourning?
120,000 more children will die of malnutrition. Who will mourn? More
Blessed are those who are persecuted. Huh? Persecuted for what? And why? Why is it a blessing to be persecuted? And what is the blessing that’s received? If you don’t know what this is about, it probably sounds like someone’s really into being dumped on. But then, if you’re a regular here, you know what this is about. It’s the conclusion to our series on the Beatitudes.
Blessed are those who are persecuted More
Blessed are the peacemakers. But who / what are peacemakers? Some of you will think of a Colt handgun. Or a strategic bomber. Or maybe even an MX Missile. If you’re Christian, or think you’re Christian, hopefully those aren’t the first things that come to mind. Why not? Because Blessed are the peacemakers is something Jesus said. It’s one of the Beatitudes, from the Sermon on the Mount.
Blessed are the peacemakers More
