Faith And Trust

June 20, 2018

Year 3, Day 171 | No Comments

Section of The Taking of Christ, Caravaggio, 1602

It is warming for the soul and settlement for the mind to give attention to faith in its principles and applications. We remember that basic to the understanding of Christianity is that God does exist and that he communicates. Hebrews 11:6 – Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is [exists], and that he is a rewarder [communicator] of them that diligently seek him. Without those presuppositions we will not proceed to embrace Christianity in its primary meaning – for God to do a spiritual work in a person that is life changing, with the promise of immortality (hope) as end consequence. The initial experience of that new life… Read more

Life Memory Game

June 19, 2018

Year 3, Day 170 | No Comments

Section of Noli me Tangere by Hans Holbein the Younger

Christian society is greatly influenced by an army of persons, young and old, who take their stand on the personal evaluation of Scripture. Perhaps something ought to be done that is special to break the current habit of what amounts to hypocrisy, avoidance, growing secularity and claims of neutrality about spiritual life. That little dramatic gesture might well be that each day persons find a nugget of Scripture. Write it down, and put it in an open place for reference. Refer to it along the way, or until another nugget emerges and write it down to replace or accompany others in a list. The following is a starter kit for the first week. All verses for the week may be… Read more

Science and God

June 18, 2018

Year 3, Day 169 | No Comments

If I were not a Christian, in my primary thought/belief context, I would want to be a scientist as my primary orientation in a humanistic account for that which has been, is and will be. This is to say that I have a high opinion of science, and that which is truly verifiable in science is accepted by me. In my orientation, there is no conflict between pure science and pure Christian faith. Whatever is found to exist, in my view, is accommodated for in extensions of the creativity of God, but may be distorted in the present circumstances by the infusion of factors that violate God. Why an omnipotent God would permit sin is beyond human evidences, understandings, and… Read more

Father’s Day

June 17, 2018

Year 3, Day 168 | No Comments

Section of The Infant Jesus and St. John the Baptist, Guido Reni, n.d.

Today in the year, 2012, is Father’s Day, and Sunday, so hinting that there is a break in common daily life to give special attention to Dad, to Papa, to Father. Presumably the thoughts and good wishes of the day relate to the positives in the family. I have not seen articles or heard programs, on this day, that disparage one’s father, or even refer to his faults. Being an election year in 2012, I have heard or read of the extolling of his father by Mitt Romney the aspirant for the presidency of the United States, of even the father of Barack Obama, the sitting president, who evades critique of his father, though that father was absent from family… Read more

Atheism and Theism

June 16, 2018

Year 3, Day 167 | No Comments

Section of Adoration of the Magi, artist unknown

We must pick up with the zero concept introduced on this date for the Sophomore page. One of the great, life changing concepts of mathematics was the discovery of the zero. For centuries addition and subtraction were skewed by the failure to know, to recognize, the zero. The discovery informs about life that was not deciphered before the order of the zero. Much has been learned about life and meaning from the accidents of attentive persons to the obvious – that a falling apple may indicate a law of gravity, that a melted chocolate bar in a shirt pocket may indicate microwave ovens, and a plus one, or minus one, may indicate a zero as a starting point. There was… Read more

Honor and Dishonor

June 15, 2018

Year 3, Day 166 | No Comments

Section of The Crucifixion, Pedro Orrente, ca. 1625–30

We may take this interesting observation to Timothy by the Apostle Paul to interpretation in two ways. One is: God appoints persons to be leaders (in positions of higher honor), or followers so as to be in positions of lesser honor (servant status). We may use the analogy of the honored receiving mansions as the place of honor, and the toilet rooms of servants as places of dishonor. One is less impressed by the second pattern than the first. God knows that when a person needs the place of physical relief and human requirement, the reception hall for eminent guests is not the desired context. Our services to mankind are not limited to honored places. Whatever is needed for the… Read more

Speed and Status

June 14, 2018

Year 3, Day 165 | No Comments

It is folly to believe that everyone can move along in life successfully at the same level or speed. Life has speeded up for those who live in developed countries, and has inevitably spilled over to some degrees in underdeveloped countries. The matter is much too large for a Page, but we can venture into it for some influence for our lives, identified in the American context. In this context we have noted that information has increased several fold in the last century, species have been lost in the changes, survival requires more resources and labor, especially to police the faster working patterns that people adapt to change, what they want to keep, and the symptoms/causes of speed-up influence related… Read more

Mystery In Relief

June 13, 2018

Year 3, Day 164 | No Comments

Section of Christ and the Woman of Samaria, Benedetto Luti, 1715-20

What is a person to believe? There are so many concepts of God, of mankind, of the cosmos, of what to wear at a party or church that we sometimes throw up our intellectual hands and stumble on in life with whatever falls to us. Who has the truth, or falsity, or perception, or half-way house to the clarity and conclusion of matters that matter most to us? The world is so much with us, with its garbled context, that we may be lulled away from seeking to know adequately what is right, and how to apply it to ourselves as individuals and society. This Page will outline some of the factors that may help us along the way. If… Read more

Celebrity Religion

June 12, 2018

Year 3, Day 163 | No Comments

Section of Christ and the Adulteress, Lucas Cranach the Younger and Workshop, ca. 1545–50

Any reader following these Pages is aware that there is an emphasis on understanding both Common Grace and Divine Grace. Common Grace is best understood as that found by all persons in the order of human beings in nature that God assists in nature’s context, without the necessity of acknowledging the redemptive plan of God, or even that God exists. It is likely that the most common context is that there is God somewhere, but that God is not usually taken as personal and identifiable. Following available literature, we feel that most persons believe in a generic god. By reason of his creation gesture, God is involved in the functioning of that creation no matter how prodigal it is or… Read more

Responsibility

June 11, 2018

Year 3, Day 162 | No Comments

During the Christmas Season of one year, the newspaper ran a series of articles that in particular ways reflected the spirit of the Season. Each one was countered by other articles contradicting what appeared in the affirmative articles. For example, The Minneapolis newspaper ran an article on the front page (A Section) entitled: Yes, Virginia, Minnesota really is nice. It began with the following paragraph: Researchers not only have proven that Minnesota Nice exists, they’ve quantified it. When it comes to behaviors that lead to successful communities, we consistently finish near the top. The implication is that decency and good will offer hope for society. I agree with that statement, but we have diluted some of it. On the front… Read more

Monthly Archives: June 2018