Who am I Trying to Please?
Note: I’m cross-posting this from my wife’s devotional list. I’ve been writing a number of devotionals for her during a season when she’s often too busy to write them. This one I thought might apply rather broadly right now, especially during the elections. 10So is it people that I’m trusting now, or God? Do I…
The Beautiful Gate
I’ve been meditating a bit on Acts 3:1-10, the story of the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful gate of the temple. Often we look at stories like this and just think it’s a nice story of miraculous healing. But I believe that miracles are intended to communicate a message, and when they…
Philophronos Blogging
Laura (Pursuing Holiness) and I started discussing civility in debate about politics in a couple of comment exchanges and have continued via e-mail. As a result she proposed the idea of a blogroll and aggregator to support civil debate. In particular, we are challenging Christians to follow Christian principles in speaking the truth in love….
Scripture Index
I have created an index of major Bible passages for all my blogs and sites. It is not complete as yet, but I will continue to add all new blog entries and essays to it and to catch up with old ones. It does not include all scripture references but just those passages that are…
Server Problems/Lost Comments #2
This is the second try. Everything collapsed again immediately after my last post. The server folks say they’re “working on it.” It seems to be up right now, so let’s just hope this will keep up! I can restore comments and will try to do so over the next couple of days.
Christian Carnival CXLIV
Christian Carnival CXLIV has been posted over at The Buzz Blog. It’s another group of interesting posts and I intend to comment on some this week. Hopefully this week will be less busy than the last one! 🙂 Unless I’ve misread my calendar, I’m hosting the next carnival, so I’ll be sending out notices on…
My Dad’s Bible
You’ve probably heard the saying, “A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” Little proverbs like this can be misleading. I know some folks who are not believers in any sense of the word, and whose main purpose in studying is to find new ways to attack the faith of those who…
Reading 12 Times
One of the things that I recommend for Bible study is reading a passage 12 times before you start examining the details. This is, of course, intended for serious study of a passage. I discuss various types of reading here. This is easily my most ignored recommendation. In fact, I have yet to find anyone…
Back in Town
I am back in town after a week near Niagara Falls, NY. I’ll be returning to posting in a hurry. For an explanation, look here.
Christian Carnival CXLIII Posted
Christian Carnival CXLIII has been posted at the Romans 15:4 project. It again looks like some fun stuff and I will try to post some particular gems over on my Threads blog. Thanks to Mick for an excellent carnival post!
Family Time
Family time is a phrase that means many different things to each of us. The words recall memories and regrets. When I ask my children about family time, it shouldn’t be surprising that it is the time when their parents gave them undivided attention that they recall most vividly. Concerts, meets, and ball games are…
Introducing Jody Neufeld
I’ve occasionally posted copies of my wife’s devotionals or links to them, but she will not be a contributor to this blog. It’s still not really a “group blog” but I do have a couple of guests posting, and now my wife. Jody is the author of Daily Devotions of Ordinary People – Extraordinary God,…
Prepare, then Vote!
Since the Foley scandal broke I’ve read and heard a number of commentators talk about the danger of evangelical Christians staying home on election day. The suggestion is that especially the conservative “family values” voters will be so put off by the Foley scandal and the apparent lack of action by the leadership to deal…
Dr. Ray Neufeld Obituary
I’m appending my dad’s obituary to this post in its fully expanded version. Various papers published various portions. I greatly appreciate the expressions of sympathy and support from the comments here. I’m still in Niagara Falls until Saturday, though a good portion of my business happens on the internet so I’m back to working some….
Christian Carnival CXLIII Posted
Christian Carnival CXLIII has been posted at the Romans 15:4 project. It again looks like some fun stuff and as usual my submission was from my Participatory Bible Study Blog, but I will try to post links to some particular gems here. Thanks to Mick for an excellent carnival post!
Out of Town Again
I’m out of town again, this time unplanned. My father passed away early this morning, and I was just able to make it in time to be with him while he still could recognize me. The funeral will be on Tuesday, and I doubt I will be blogging much until then. I will certainly blog…
Ephesians 6:18: Always Pray in the Spirit
Today as I was driving I noticed a church sign with a message that went something like this: “As a child of God, prayer is like phoning home every day.” Perhaps I’m being too tense about it, but it seems to me that prayer is very much unlike phoning home every day. In fact, to…
Looking for Moral High Ground
I’ve been watching the Foley scandal in congress, though not as closely as I might. While Foley represented a portion of Florida, that portion is a long ways from the panhandle where I live. Our congressional race isn’t even close. At the same time moral standards are extremely important to me. I will tend to…
Christian Carnival CXLII Posted
Christian Carnival CXLII has been posted at Nerd Family. It looks like a pretty rich source of good posts. As usual, I’ll be posting some of my favorites here some time during the week before the next carnival. Thanks to Nerd Family for hosting and for an excellent post.
Christian Carnival CXLII Posted
Christian Carnival CXLII has been posted at Nerd Family. It looks like a pretty rich source of good posts. As usual, I’ll be posting some of my favorites over on Threads from Henry’s Web. Thanks to Nerd Family for hosting and for an excellent post.
Understanding and Acting
There are many on the right who complain whenever someone tries to understand evildoers, or to explain the reason for their actions. They assume, not always incorrectly, that the person who is explaining also intends to excuse, that finding a reason, other than that certain people are evil, must remove any justification for reprisal or…
Secondary Spirituality
When writing research papers students are frequently warned against using secondary sources. If one must use a secondary source, one must be certain that it’s reliable, and indicate the actual source. Scholars get in the habit of using primary sources as often as possible. But in spirituality, I notice that many people tend toward the…
Charisma Books Expo Reports
My wife Jody and I will be doing some reports and impressions from the Charisma Book Expo in Atlanta, September 27-30, 2006. I believe some readers of this blog will be interesting. The reports will be on our Energion Publications Announcements Blog, and in addition I will be reviewing some materials that I found at…
Gender Roles as Essential
Peter Kirk has written an excellent post about the essentials of the Christian faith. I’ll let you go to his blog for the many references he has used in his discussion, and the reason for this post at this moment. My reason for commenting on it is simply that Peter has highlighted a number of…