Bible

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Foolish and Stupid Arguments

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you interpret the Bible correctly.”

“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to convince everyone that your way of reading the Bible is the only correct one, as he commanded us.”

The news has been full of last Tuesday’s debate between Bill Nye (the Science Guy) and Answers in Genesis President Ken Ham, founder of the Creation Museum. No matter what your take on the outcome, or where you fall on the creation-evolution continuum, (and it isn’t as black and white as some would have us believe), the whole scenario bothered me. No one was seeking common ground. Rather, it was designed to polarize the audience.

“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.” (2 Timothy 2:23)

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Happy New Year

“… but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Amen!

Philippians 3:13b-14

I’ll be taking this next week off for some serious R&R.
See you January 7 with a new post.

Happy New Year!

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Am I a Biblical Woman?

A-year-of-biblical-womanhood-bookI should have read this book sooner.

I’ve enjoyed Rachel Held Evans’ blog in the past, and I knew she was a talented writer. I care deeply about the issue of women in the church—to the point where I’ve read dozens of books and articles on the subject. So why did I wait nearly a year to pick up a copy of Evans’ book A Year of Biblical Womanhood, even after it made the N.Y. Times bestseller list and was recommended by a couple of friends, both of whom are exceptionally good at picking out worthwhile books? I guess I was too cheap to buy a copy.

Turns out that not only did our library have it available, I was able to download it to my phone in three minutes. Now I’m buying copies as gifts for my friends (shhh, don’t tell them—it’s a surprise). It’s that kind of book.

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Love Letters

Pete's lettersI’m pretty consistent about reading my Bible. Not perfect, mind you. Sometimes life gets in the way, sometimes I get distracted. For the most part, though, I try to read at least a chapter (or more, if they’re short or in Numbers) every morning. I always imagine it as God and I sitting down over a cup of tea, having our own little tête-à-tête.

Recently I’ve been rereading the gospels, first Matthew, then John. Pen and straight edge in hand (I’m a bit compulsive about neat annotations), I was underlining verses that particularly spoke to me, inscribing comments in the margin to remind myself later of what I was learning.

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Rocking the (Gender) Boat

Let Her LeadOne of the most controversial subjects in the church today is the role of women. Should they be senior pastors? Are they allowed to teach adult Sunday School? What about teaching boys? Are women only allowed to work in the kitchen, change diapers, and knit baby blankets? Was Paul a misogynist? What does the Bible really say?

I’ve avoided this issue until now, but not because I don’t have an opinion. I do. I have a very strong opinion! But being of a personality type that abhors conflict, I just didn’t want to open a can of worms, female or otherwise. I’ve felt a lot like Moses at the burning bush—sure, I’ll have an opinion about this topic, but please get someone else to do the writing!

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A Mother’s Day for Everyone

Karin Teri Leslie in kitchen 081_filteredThis Sunday we’re all supposed to celebrate mothers. On the surface it seems like a great idea. After all, we all have or had a mother. When you think about the daily sacrifice that goes into raising a child, setting aside one day a year to express our appreciation and thankfulness seems inadequate, the very least we can do.

But for many of us, the idea of motherhood isn’t that simple. As Facebook recognizes, relationships are sometimes complicated. Life is messy.

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Context

I used to think the Bible was pretty easy to read. That was when I was young and thought I knew it all. Now I’m older, and I realize I’m pretty clueless!

Take prophesy, for example. As I read through books such as Hosea, Micah and Amos, the prophesies seem pretty clear cut: the Israelites have history with God. They’re messing up. God is distraught. God is warning them to return to him before the bad guys get them. And then he warns the bad guys that he’s going to judge them, too.

Granted, other prophetic books—Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelation—are totally mystifying, but that’s because they haven’t all happened yet. When the time comes, it will all make sense. Isn’t that how prophesy works?

Apparently not.

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Love (on) Cynthia’s Blog

2heartsIn honor of Valentine’s Day, I was all set to write an interesting, well-reasoned,  and relevant post about love. Then my friend Cynthia went and beat me to it, and she did a much better job than I would have done.

Since I’m out of town and on vacation (and working on spoiling my granddaughter), I’m sending you over to Cynthia’s blog, Let’s Talk. I hope your find her thoughts on “Love with Knowledge and Discernment“ as helpful as I did. Happy Valentine’s Day.

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Are You a Bible-Believing Christian?

Which parts of the Bible do you believe?

As good Evangelicals, we like to say, “All of it!” We believe the Bible to be the inerrant, holy word of God, and we “take it literally”—it means what it says. How often do we hear someone say something along the lines of,  “We can’t be picking and choosing which verses God really meant.”

Yet, we do that all the time.

You’ve probably heard of A.J. Jacobs’ book, The Year of Living Biblically.  (If you haven’t read it, please do—it’s a fun book and I recommend it.) Then there’s Rachel Held Evans’ A Year of Biblical Womanhood. I have not yet read that one yet, although I intend to. Both of these authors point out that we don’t really do everything God says to do in the Bible. Most of the time, we don’t even try.

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On Wings As Eagles

Bald Eagle_BosquedelApacheNWR-NM_LAH_9465-002The bird was soaring far over our heads, so high that I could barely identify it, but its sturdy, broad wings and dark body sandwiched between a white head and tail gave it away. I watched the Bald Eagle as it moved effortlessly across the sky. I knew its “eagle eyes” were scanning the ground for prey—an unwary gopher perhaps, although it would prefer a fish. How could it stay up there so long? Didn’t it ever get tired?

The Bible talks about eagles—they’re mentioned 29 times. Of course, the eagles in the Bible aren’t Bald Eagles. Israel is currently home to nine species of birds in the “true eagles” genus Aquila, and two more hawks have “Eagle” in their common name. Who knows which bird the authors of the Bible had in mind?

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