This is a text version of the story I told at the opening worship this past week's Arts, Recreation and Worship Conference. You can find video at the bottom of the post. The whole story--our story, our faith story--begins and ends with water It all begins with the spirit of almighty God hovering over the water—an inky, black, watery abyss. Water left to its own devices will create chaos and wreak ...
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If you're not familiar with the story of Jacob and Esau, you can listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3BLexsGYvmW2cASToRpzvQ?si=zhy0P92PTwmAazGIVtBd2Q&dl_branch=1 To recap: Jacob has been fighting to be the first-born or at least receive the benefits of the first-born since he and his brother were in the womb. Finding his brother in a weak moment, Jacob trades Esau a bowl of stew for Esau’s birthright. Knowing that this not really kosher, Jacob and mom, Rebekah, concoct a ...
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Regular followers of Doubting Believer know that I'm not really one to cherry pick Bible verses and toss them out as easy answers or rules for life. Individual scripture passages should be read in context to the whole and always in light of the words, work and witness of Jesus. That being said, there are, of course, some real gems contained in our scriptures that may be just what ...
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There are plenty of verses in the Bible that celebrate wine. Psalm 104 says that wine is a gift from God to "gladden our hearts." Proverbs 3:9-10 claims wine is a blessing for honoring the Lord with our gifts and tithes. Our vats will "overflow with new wine." Jesus turned water into wine (John 2:6-10) , and, of course, Jesus himself instituted one of our holiest rituals using wine to represent his own ...
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How we view God very much affects our own reading and understanding of holy scripture. https://youtu.be/p8SwQcCEBCQ Learn More About That's Not in the Bible
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Those in our Bible on Location Bible study have just finished our first week. The location and reflection on Day 3 generated the most discussion and seemed to really resonate with people, so I wanted to share it with you all. The title of this post did not come from me, but from one of our study group who remarked, "I've never thought of God as a laundry woman, but ...
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Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.James 1:22 (KJV) Generally the King James is not my go-to translation, but I like the way this verse trips off the tongue in the King's English. We can read and study and discuss and Tweet and even create lovely Instagram graphics of scripture, but we're missing something if we stay only hearers (and even sharers), and fail to be do-ers. One ...
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I find that it's a good idea to check myself from time to time to make sure that my theology is staying faithful to scripture and not just to what I want to believe...or what is convenient to believe...or what is self-serving to believe. So before I go making assertions or sharing opinions on certain subjects, I ask myself these six questions. 1. Is it based on something that is actually ...
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I love the Bible and strongly agree that more people should be biblically literate, but I don’t believe that literacy should be obtained in a public school setting. Aside from the fact that our constitution separates church and state, there are a number of reasons why it's just a bad idea--no matter what your faith is or isn't. Biblical Literacy has no agreed-upon definition. Is it just about teaching kids ...
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One of the statements that some Christians like to throw out whenever they want to exclude or limit the participation and acceptance of women, LGBTQ people, people of color or any group they deem threatening or unacceptable is, "the Bible doesn't change." Meaning that there are verses in the Bible they can point to that say these folks are not okay and that stands for now and all time. There is ...
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