Hopewit

Once upon a garden path II Corinthians 6:16-18, NIV (Paul writing to the Corinthian Church.) "What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.' [Leviticus 12: 26] Therefore, 'Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you,' [Isaiah 52:11] And, 'I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.'" [II Samuel 7:14] Sometimes we're faced with the struggle of reconciling apparently opposed "truths." Like finding a way both to keep our children close and safe while releasing them so they learn to survive and thrive without us. The Christian life includes any number of such paradoxes i as, for instance, in "love your enemies," or "whoever seeks to save his

Truth, facts, principles. You could say they're just words: truths, facts, understandings, laws, insights, principles . . .. But nothing is “just a word,” is it? I just read an interview with Abdu Murray in Bible Gateway in which he says: "Logically, truth is inescapable. The moment someone makes a claim, they’re invoking the truth. If, for example, someone claims there’s no truth, one can simply challenge that by asking “Is it true that there’s no truth?” If it’s true, then truth does exist. If it isn’t true, then the claim is meaningless. We simply can’t live in a culture that denies objective truth or subordinates the truth to feelings and preferences." Murray, some would argue, isn't talking about truth here, but about fact. Or maybe truth here is meant to mean (pun unintended) an indisputable , immutable i , undeniable principle . As is far from uncommon, Murray is using the truth word loosely. He's not alone in

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? So begins the hymn we call Psalm 27 , a wonderful hymn of both despair and regained confidence. Elemental Earth - Prairie Grasslands I'm always a little uneasy about selecting a discrete passage and enlarging on it, but that's exactly what many sermons, meditations, blog posts do. Alternately, to pick a topic and scrounge around in scripture for affirmation in a supporting reference(s) has its own issues: it's called “ proof texting .” A manifestation of the latter is “ confirmation bias ,” or picking out passages or commentaries that seem to support what we've already decided is “right,” bypassing anything that seems to lean in another direction. What we apparently like best are the things that don't challenge —but rather support —that about which our minds are already convinced. Every preacher, teacher, writer can find corroboration supporting his/her viewpoint, even in the Bible

Living persistence (Religions officialdom says to Jesus) “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’(Psalm 82:6)? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside—what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘ I am God’s Son ’? (John 10:33-37, NIV) ******* “. . . I know the truth of what my people say: that we are all spirit, we are all energy, joined to everything that is everywhere, all things coming true together.” (Wagamese, Richard, Embers) ******* The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God . . . (Romans 8:16) “ We are all sons of God,” some have said. And others have replied, “Oh, no we're not! God has only one so