The Seven Woes » God versus religion

Revelation - The letter to the loveless church in Ephesus

The letter to the loveless church in Ephesus in Revelation

Revelation, Seven Letters to Seven Churches

And so it begins. The first of the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation. The Letter to the church in Ephesus. Jesus had some good things to say to them. And some bad things. But then another positive statement. The Ephesian church certainly wasn’t in the worst condition of the seven. But then, it wasn’t the best either. So there’s plenty to look at. Both for the church in Ephesus at the time and for us today.

The letter to the loveless church in Ephesus in Revelation More

Blessed are the merciful

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Very much like the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Except in this case, the one doing unto us is God. So if we show mercy to other people, then God will show mercy to us.

Like faith and believing is Jesus, action is an integral part of mercy. We’ll see that just saying, “God have mercy on you”, isn’t what Jesus is talking about. Nor is praying for someone and walking away.
It’s about doing something. Helping. kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.

Blessed are the merciful More

What happens when there’s a failure in church leadership?

A look at ourselves

What happens when there’s a failure in church leadership? Actually, the better question is what should happen when there’s a failure in church leadership? The example we’ll look at is real. It happened. And it’s sure tempting to blame the Bishop. In fact, that’s pretty much what the New York Times article does. But there are deeper issues. Larger questions. One of them – how did this situation ever get to the point where $2.3 million dollars was spent on a home for a retiring Bishop?

What happens when there’s a failure in church leadership? More