Is perfection possible? It’s the question I’ve been asking and exploring starting here. Why perfection? It seems like an easy question to answer when we look around the world today, and at ourselves. Perfection seems impossible, and even potentially damaging as a goal, because of the often destructive nature of perfectionism. I’ve been asking theContinue reading “Why we shouldn’t sweep Christian Perfection into the dustbin of history – Colossians 1:24-2:5, Part 5”
Tag Archives: bible
Is rejoicing in suffering a bad idea? – Colossians 1:24-2:5, Part 1
How should we respond to suffering? Maybe you’re suffering somehow, and you’re sick of it. I’ve had heel pain for the last few months, and though I will admit to being very inconsistent in treating it, I’m frustrated with it. I want it to be healed. I am not rejoicing in this suffering. Rejoicing? IfContinue reading “Is rejoicing in suffering a bad idea? – Colossians 1:24-2:5, Part 1”
Current Events – (How to Avoid) The Failure of Ravi Zacharias, Part 5
This week on the blog, I’ve been talking about the recent news of the awful failure of Ravi Zacharias. He is one in a long line of abusive leaders, and started with the first post here I’ve attempted to tell his story and how we might respond to it. As I mentioned in some ofContinue reading “Current Events – (How to Avoid) The Failure of Ravi Zacharias, Part 5”
Current Events – The Failure of Ravi Zacharias, Part 4
This week its Current Events week on the blog, and I’ve been been writing a five-part series about the failure of Ravi Zacharias (so far you can read part one, part two, part three, and this is part four). How do we respond to such a grievous failure? It seems to me the primary responseContinue reading “Current Events – The Failure of Ravi Zacharias, Part 4”
Worship services are not enough – Colossians 1:20-23, Part 5
I recently saw a conversation between two people on social media. One is often outspoken about their Christian beliefs. That person began the conversation by writing a post angrily condemning people who are of a different political persuasion. Many people responded with supportive comments, but one person disagreed, confronting the Christian writer. I don’t knowContinue reading “Worship services are not enough – Colossians 1:20-23, Part 5”
Is it possible to be an enemy of God and not know it? – Colossians 1:20-23, Part 3
Are you an enemy of God? Are you and God strangers? Neither of those? How are you and God doing? How would your friends and family answer that question about you? About themselves and their relationship with God? Do people think of themselves as Paul put it in Colossians 1:21, that they are alienated fromContinue reading “Is it possible to be an enemy of God and not know it? – Colossians 1:20-23, Part 3”
You can be in a close relationship with God – Colossians 1:20-23, Part 1
What is broken in your life? I hate to start off this week’s blog posts on such a dark note, but so many of us have broken relationships, broken situations, and they really concern us, taking loads of emotional energy, time and sometimes money. How do we heal what is broken? I think about ourContinue reading “You can be in a close relationship with God – Colossians 1:20-23, Part 1”
How God wants to fix our broken world – Colossians 1:15-20
All things are in need of reconciliation. True or False? Just for the sake of argument, assume that statement is true. Why do all things need reconciliation? Because things are broken. You reconcile when you have a broken relationship. Something happened. Relationships break apart in all sorts of ways, right? From small slights to massiveContinue reading “How God wants to fix our broken world – Colossians 1:15-20”
Jesus was God or was filled by God? (and other humans can be filled by God too?) – Colossians 1:15-20, Part 4
Through the ages, one hotly debated topic in theology is how much of God is in Jesus, and how much of Jesus is in God? Paul talks about this. As we continue studying Colossians 1:15-20, Paul shifts the focus to the church, using body imagery. Jesus is the head of the church. We are hisContinue reading “Jesus was God or was filled by God? (and other humans can be filled by God too?) – Colossians 1:15-20, Part 4”
Is Jesus creator or created? – Colossians 1:15-20
Paul says that Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. What does Paul mean? It is a bit of a strange statement. Firstborn over all creation? Turn to Colossians 1:15-20, which we have been studying in a five-part series this week, starting here. If the statement “firstborn over creation” isn’t already strange enough, based onContinue reading “Is Jesus creator or created? – Colossians 1:15-20”
Engaging Scripture 