“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
John 3:16 is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. It’s written on hand-held signs at sporting events, emblazoned on clothing, and plastered on billboards. And we all assume that we know what this verse means: If you “believe in Jesus,” you’ll be saved.
As a Christian, when I’m faced with a decision, I pray for guidance. Sometimes God answers quickly and clearly—a decisive “Do this!” or “Go there!” That was the type of answer we received 26 years ago, when we God told us to move from California to Colorado. Wanting to make sure we were hearing correctly, we asked for Him to confirm his direction at least three times in the next week or so. We received six signs in three days. With that kind of verification, all we could do was obey!
Sometimes He tells me no. That’s helpful too. Should I accept this job offer? No. Should I eat that brownie? No! (Darn.) I may not always like being told no, but at least there’s no confusion about it.
The pastor at the church I was visiting was adamant. “God only speaks through the Bible.” He went on to explain that while God spoke through dreams, prophets, angels, and a “still, small voice” in the Old Testament, now that we have the completed Bible, Scripture is the only way God still communicates with us.
A while later, I was reading through a new blog I had just discovered. For the most part, I loved what the writer had to say. But then I came across this troubling passage: Continue reading
Do you want to rent an apartment? Buy an airline ticket? Get a date? If you do—and you’re a citizen of China—you’d better have a good social credit score.
Four years ago, the Chinese government announced a new system with the goal of “raising the awareness for integrities and the level of credibility within society.” In other words, the government wants more control of the economy and the population. What a surprise.
Ever since John recorded his apocalyptic vision as the book of Revelation, people have been trying to figure it out. We’ve got “pre-trib,” “mid-trib,” and “post-trib” views. Some scholars believe that most of the prophesies described have already happened. Some are expecting the rapture; others expect the church to remain on earth until Jesus comes.
It seems as if every generation has its favorite interpretation. When I was in high school, Hal Lindsey was drawing parallels with current events in his book The Late, Great Planet Earth. More recently, we read the Left Behind series, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.
How would I describe the perfect novel? It would have to be a page-turner, one that would keep me up past my bedtime. I’d want a creative, twisty plot—nothing predictable, please. The characters should three-dimensional, with complex, imperfect personalities—I don’t have to like them all, but they should be people I can relate to. The book would have to be well-written (the curse of being an editor), the events significant. Finally, there should be enough romance to make me smile.
I guess you could call me a “highly selective” reader.
The internet is chock full of “valuable” advice. It’s a good thing, too. How else would I know that for the past half-century, I’ve been showering all wrong? And apparently, many of the activities I enjoy are included in the list of atrocious faux pas that baby boomers are guilty of. (Not that this is surprising—after all, I am a baby boomer). If I didn’t have the internet, how would I know how to scramble eggs, how to vote, or how to decorate my home?
I think we’d all agree—the world is not doing so well. Read the headlines, listen to the news, and we aren’t surprised to find that people lie and cheat and murder, innocent people suffer, and loving kindness is in very short supply. How did we get into this mess?
If you’re a Christian, you probably blame it all on Satan, who enticed Eve into eating that forbidden fruit. The story in Genesis 3 is very familiar; we’ve read it many times. And whether you take it literally or symbolically, the end result is the same. Mankind fell for the lie and the results are all around us.
It was Sunday morning, and we were at church listening to a guest speaker. I appreciate that our pastor brings in speakers from other churches; one person can’t possibly cover every topic with excellence. However, in this case, the speaker was preaching popular psychology rather than Biblical truth. And I was getting agitated.
I tried to pinpoint exactly what the speaker was saying that was bothering me. I finally realized—instead of being centered on loving Jesus, the sermon was all about loving ourselves. And while I’m sure some people put themselves down, the solution isn’t to focus more on ourselves, but rather to get our eyes off ourselves and onto the God who loves us unconditionally.
As I may have mentioned once or twice, part of my job includes editing books and articles. As a result, I edit everything. Even when I don’t want to be editing, I find it very difficult to turn off my editing brain. I’ve learned not to correct my friends, and usually I can manage to seal my lips even for Pete, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking, “No, that’s wrong. Why can’t people (spell correctly / use correct grammar / use the right words)!?!?!?! Unfortunately, that tendency even carries over into church. Yeah, I know.
There are a number of worship songs I struggle through merely because of the wording. The music is lovely. The meaning is Biblical. The song expresses my heart. But I get hung up on the grammar or the word choices.
Compost 