Author: LAH

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A Bible Quiz, Again

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving, and that your heart is overflowing with gratitude for all God’s abundant blessings! Now that we’re all sitting around munching leftovers and perhaps taking a day off, I thought that it might be time for a bit of fun.

A little over a year ago I posted a little quiz asking, “How well do you know your Bible?” Since then I’ve continued to collect interesting quotes, and it’s time for Bible Quiz, Part 2. I admit, this one is a bit harder than the last quiz. Still, I have the utmost confidence in the Biblical expertise of my readers.

As with my last quiz, the answers are at the end, but no peeking until you’ve finished the test.

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Giving Thanks

A friend of mine recently commented about how, with Thanksgiving coming, she is trying to learn to thank God even for “the hard stuff.” She’s basing her belief on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which says “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

There’s no doubt that Christians are supposed to be a grateful people. There is so much to thank God for—his love, mercy, righteousness and goodness, our salvation, one another, his coming reign on earth, answered prayers, not to mention the endless blessings he bestows on us day by day, often ones we hadn’t even thought to ask for. For example, when’s the last time we thanked God for the air that we breathe? We hardly ever think about air, unless we’re in danger of suffocation or drowning!

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Words and Works 3

This is my final (for now) post on science and Scripture. For the others, see “Words and Works 1” and “Words and Works 2”.

In Part 1, I mentioned that when science and Scripture do not agree, either our scientific theories are wrong, or our interpretation of Scripture is faulty… or both. We are limited human beings trying to understand the words and works of an omniscient God. Of course we fall short.

Part of my ability to eliminate conflict between scientific discoveries and the Bible comes from how I view Scripture. I alluded to this last time when I mentioned the presence of metaphors, such as Jesus being the vine and we being the branches.

Far more important, to my understanding, is the fact that the Bible was written over thousands of years ago, by people with a far different worldview, living in a culture that bears little resemblance to mine. If I simple read it at face value, I’m going to miss a lot.

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Words and Works 2

This is Part 2 of my thoughts on science and Scripture (see Part 1).

Last time I mentioned that the Bible has been used to “prove” scientific “facts” that we now know to be false. For example, Psalm 104:5 states, “He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.” Yet, of course we now know that the earth rotates on its axis, revolves around the sun, and the entire solar system revolves around the center of the galaxy which is itself hurtling through space.

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We Voted—Now What?

So did your candidate win? Or are you horrified at the results of the election? Either way, we’re probably stuck with this person as president for the next four years. But whether we are celebrating or in mourning, it’s time to move on. As believers, we have an important assignment. It’s our job to:

Pray for those in authority.
We’re pretty familiar with the verse in 1 Timothy 2, where Paul urges:

… that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior,  who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

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Lord of the Election

Today is election day. First, if you haven’t yet voted, please do so—now. Voting is important, even more important than reading my blog. Really.

Now, where was I? Oh yeah…

Today is election day. By tonight, or tomorrow morning, the voting will be over and we’ll know who is president. (Hopefully, a clear winner will be decided, and this won’t drag on any longer than it has to.) We may or may not like the result. Still, no matter which candidate wins, I’m going to get up tomorrow with a smile on my face. Here’s why.

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Keep On Growing

Last month, I whined about discussed the dearth of churches that disciple believers to maturity and then keep them well fed on spiritual meat.  It’s good to point out problems, but more helpful to put forward suggestions on how to fix those problems. So, what do we do when we’re hungry for more of God, and church is only offering Happy Meals?

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Happy All Saint’s Day

Ghosts are dangling from neighborhood porches. Scarecrows and pumpkins litter lawns, assorted witches fly their brooms into sturdy tree trunks, and costume stores have sprung up all over town. Love it or hate it, it’s almost Halloween.

When it comes to celebrating Halloween, Christians are incredibly polarized. Some (such as the Church of England) consider Halloween to be a “religious festival just like Christmas Eve.” Others condemn the holiday as pagan and satanic.

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The Communion of Saints

With all the hype about Halloween, we often forget that the name is a contraction of All Hallow’s Eve—the night before All Saint’s Day. Realizing that I know next to nothing about the idea of sainthood, I did some research. In the process, I found a very helpful site that explained a lot:

The Church, East and West, has always distinguished between worship (latria), given to God alone, and veneration (dulia), which may be given to the saints. The highest form of veneration (hyperdulia) is due to the Blessed Virgin Mary. If someone is treating a saint as one should treat God, then yes, that is idolatry. That being said, Catholics believe that the saints have a role in our lives, as intercessors on our behalf, because we are all united by our communion in Christ. The saints are continually praying for us and interceding on our behalf, on account of their closeness to Christ. This is because God is the God of the living, not of the dead. As such, asking a saint for intercession is no more idolatrous than asking a holy friend or pastor to pray for you.

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Expecting More

Some friends of ours recently moved to northern Colorado and are in the process of looking for a church home. They want a church that focuses on God. That prays. That listens to His voice. That wants to go deep. They expect to serve. They expect to live out their faith in community. They expect miracles.

They want meat, and all they can find is milk.

Their disappointment makes me wonder: is the American church so focused on being seeker friendly that we ignore mature believers? And is that a problem? Should these seeker-friendly churches hang on to their members indefinitely? Or should they tell their members to move on to other, more “advanced” churches after a few years (as one church in South Korea does). Are there churches that offer spiritual meat?

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