If you could have lunch with ANY character from the Bible who would it be?
2 Peter 3:15-16 (ESV) #verseOfReflection #d-shedRmx
15...just as our beloved brother Paul...wrote
...according to the wisdom given him,
16...in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters.
There are some things in them that are hard to understand...
Going back to our question of the day. Many of us would probably say Jesus and for very good reason. For me though, as much as I love Jesus and it'd be an awesome opportunity, I'd have to go with Paul (the Apostle). Why? Because he knows what it's like to experience new levels of wisdom having previously been blinded to what's always been there. I believe this is akin to gaining sight or being able to hear for the first time; everything's different, yet everything is the same.
This will be brief...
When we last left off there was some crazed fanatic talking about homosexuality, an adversary, church failure, and being on meds. What was that about!?
Throughout the Bible there are many instances where supernatural things occur. Supernatural just means it's beyond what is natural to us as humans, NOT that it doesn't happen all the time and/or hasn't existed throughout (or before) time (existed). One way that supernatural things occur is by the power of the Holy Spirit. I've mentioned him a lot but haven't explained who he is (as the third person of the Trinity; yes, a literal person as we would think of a person). That explanation can be expected next season along with an overview of "The Gospel". Anyways, the Holy Spirit essentially gives believers access to stuff they wouldn't normally have access to or know is there. From a vocational standpoint as a computer person that would be like giving someone additional permission, which (as it sounds) essentially allows one to do more than they could previously. Spiritually and biblically speaking this might include the ability to receive/interpret dreams (those spiritual in nature), speak in languages not formally studied/learned, see and hear beyond the spiritual realm, perform miracles, etc.
Sounds crazy, farfetched, or otherworldly? Well, it's true and happens all the time. I and many others can attest to this. My attestation includes first-person experience. Remember back in grade school when you had primary and secondary sources for papers and such? The Bible is a primary source, as well as I'm able to serve as a primary source (regarding my experience).
In looking over our verse of reflection for today we notice that the Apostle Peter (who's writing this letter) mentions that there are things his brother, the Apostle Paul has relayed to the church in his letters which are hard to understand. Why is that? Given the explanation I just gave for the Holy Spirit and some of the operations of said person, couldn't you imagine a number of people who would gawk in hearing these things being possible, let alone you who are reading this?
SN: The letters were often read aloud among the group of those being written to.
Two Things:
- I know the last entry may have been hard to understand and somewhat confusing.
- Paul as a human went through similar things which is why I'd want to meet him.
I had a conversation with someone who helped me to understand how "foggy" my explanation of things could be at times. That was one of the reasons I waited over a week before presenting the last entry so that I could present the thoughts "coherently". In addition, we know that when the Spirit (Holy Spirit) moves, he moves and people must choose to respond. Sometimes this means there won't be an understandable (from an intellect / natural mindset) flow to what's being said and/or the current flow might be interrupted before being returned to (as I understand it based on some readings I've done around this topic).
I received an email with some questions from a reader which I gladly will answer. I encourage you to email me at the address listed at the bottom of the page. The comment box is also always available for questions and comments (of course). If it's somewhat lengthy you can just email it.
Questions on CORE Part 1
- What makes you a Roman expatriate?
- How many P-words were there?
- Did the church fail?
- Is homosexuality really that important?
As a kid I loved interlocking my fingers and cracking my knuckles, it was almost as if some serious work was about to be done.
The Book of Romans, one of my favorite in the Bible covers a broad range of topics and gives what I believe to be somewhat of a decent introduction to theology, as far as what God expects from us and how we are to live given his grace and benefiting from his mercy. My given name (as stated in the video) has historical ties to ancient Rome, there's a link below which talks about it's use in a pre-Christian Rome (before Christianity became a part of the imperialistic force known as the Roman Empire). The ex-pat part deals with one who no longer identifies with their country especially via citizenry. To some degree given my experience as detailed in the video (and the lack thereof), I went back to a place that had become home to me, I left realizing I was really just a foreigner in a strange land. Lastly, there's the contextual piece related to war (think Roman Soldier).
Sometimes portions of these writings are more metaphorical/figurative. Plus, we know that a provocative title increases readership ;-) ...today's title CORE (Impact) has to do with a tool used in the arena of computer security (my area of study) and the demidstifying is an attempt to (begin to) clear up what may be misunderstood, yet not telling the whole story (b/c there's more). In my area of study often times the term cyberwar comes up. There's a play on words at work here; having spent years studying computer security, it is easier to put this notion of "spiritual warfare" in a context which is familiar to me (and think nothing of it). Yet, I also understand that it is not familiar to everyone.
The P-Words were used to give a structure to the talk. They are in order of appearance:
- POTUS, Predjudice, PRIDE, Polity, and Pluralism
Did the church fail / has the church failed? Quick answer: No (because it's never too late). I believe that at times throughout our history those identified with Christianity have not taken the best (and most gracious/merciful approaches) to dealing with issues in culture. So when it comes to homosexuality (and this might be due to what I perceive as a media bias, one particularly liberal leaning) the church could've done a much better job in preventing the big brouhaha from being/seeming as bad as it was. Of course (which I'll detail in the next entry) this brouhaha and division was probably part of a "bigger" plan from the jump.
In season 4 (if not before then) I may drop additional posts to touch on these supernatural aspects of Christianity. There are additional happenings we can look at to have a more complete understanding of how God works and why these supernatural occurrences are important.
Next up will be the actual framework, really getting to the premise behind all of this. You'll come away fully understanding the fundamentals of what's been happening in the midst of it all. #stayTuned
Sumthn2Ponder (s2p):
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