Kingdom Matters

I have been studying the book of Romans for several months.    I am taking a class with Bible Study Fellowship.    (Check out  https://www.bsfinternational.org/  and learn about this group which has offered classes for children and adults for some 65 years.    They are based in San Antonio and I only learned about them last Summer.)    The material for each class has been used for many years and is very, very good.    I highly recommend that you find a class near you and get involved. I have also been taking a online class offered by Udemy.    ( www.udemy.com ).    The class is taught by N.T. Wright and source material includes the new  Paul For Everyone  commentary written by N.T. Wright and the new translation of the New Testament,  The Kingdom New Testament , again written by N.T. Wright.    I find the Bible Study Fellowship study guides and lectures to be a good and necessary balance to N.T. Wright’s lectures and material.    I also have been leaning heavily on the NIV, NET an

Trust in God I join millions of people who have gone before in the following convictions: “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.  I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our LORD, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again!  He ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic (universal) church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”   (These words are from the Apostle's Creed.  I believe they are true because I find evidence of their truth in the Bible.  I appreciate the effort made by the many believers who worked to summarize "what we believe" centuries ago so it could be more easily taught

These words by Frederick Buechner seem even more timely today then when he first published them in 1988. "ENEMY Cain hated Abel for standing higher in God's esteem than he felt he himself did, so he killed him. King Saul hated David for stealing the hearts of the people with his winning ways and  tried to kill him every chance he got. Saul of Tarsus hated the followers of Jesus because he thought they were blasphemers and heretics and made a career of rounding them up so they could be stoned to death like Stephen. By and large most of us don't have enemies like that anymore, and in a way it's a pity. It would be pleasant to think it's because we're more civilized nowadays, but maybe it's only because we're less honest, open, brave. We tend to avoid fiery outbursts for fear of what they may touch off both in ourselves and the ones we burst out at. We smolder instead. If people hurt us or cheat us or stand for things we abominate, we're less a

This is one of the best books I have ever read.  Our congregation is spending 31 weeks reading "The Story" and concentrating on the overall story of God's dealing with mankind.  This book is a wonderful, brief, easy to read explanation of what God had planned for us from the beginning of time.  The author uses a unique technique to provide additional understanding:  At the end of each chapter he responds to questions raised by an imaginary couple who are "reading" along with you. Click on this link to go to the book in Amazon:     God's Shalom Project You will be blessed by reading this book.

The statement, "Human beings are only animals."  does not and has never rung with TRUTH.  But why not?  How can we describe that which makes us different from the animals? Walker Percy wrote this observation:  "Chickens have no myths, but man always knows or thinks he knows what is under the earth and above the earth, and what is holding the earth up."  This quote is actually from an introduction Percy wrote to a manual for Louisiana State University's mental-health services.  His subject had to do with mental-health therapy.  The Chicken analogy shines the spotlight of thought on how ridiculous it would be to imagine using therapy on Chickens, or fish, or animals of any kind.  They have no language by which they could understand "story" or "myths" or any other similar concepts which we humans take for granted. From earliest times humans have been able to communicate in symbols representing concepts.  Words, pictures and objects repr

Charles Kingsley wrote:  "One good man, one man who does not put on his religion once a week with his Sunday coat, but wears it for his working dress, and lets the thought of God grow into him, and through him, till everything he says and does becomes religious, that man is worth a thousand sermons -- he is a living Gospel -- he comes in the spirit and power of Elias -- he is the image of God. And men see his good works, and admire them in spite of themselves, and see that they are God-like, and that God's grace is no dream, but that the Holy Spirit is still among men, and that all nobleness and manliness is His gift, His stamp, His picture: and so they get a glimpse of God again in His saints and heroes, and glorify their Father who is in heaven."  He must have known Dave Simpson. I have known no better man.