Unpacking #39 – God Set Me Free With the Eulogy

Lookahead: As my last post indicated, immediately after I prayed for my best friend's healing, they passed away.  And yet 5:16 - 18 speak of the indefatigable and "fail-proof" power of prayer.  One man's fervent prayer was extremely effective, to the extent that he changed weather patterns--millennia in advance of Accuweather's predictive algorithms. Confess your … Continue reading Unpacking #39 – God Set Me Free With the Eulogy

Unpacking #38 – We Kidded Around & Suddenly They Were in Heaven

Lookahead:  And the judgement that swearing a vow would incur is also implied in the option descriptions:  1.  You will be considered a hypocrite–and we know how Jesus felt about hypocrites;  2. You risk a reaping-what-you-sow backlash (losing your precious and only child, or your own life and limbs. Judges 11:34/12:7);  or 3. You risk someone … Continue reading Unpacking #38 – We Kidded Around & Suddenly They Were in Heaven

Unpacking #37 – The Coming of the LORD is at hand?

Lookahead:  Today we might see inter-denominational divisions resulting from grumbling. Even though the grumbling may not be highly overt…(e.g., as in the case of rival-denomination monks physically fighting at a religious site, or the case of one Christian doing a scathing Podcast on a “fundamentalist” book about baptism, or the case of a YouTube video in … Continue reading Unpacking #37 – The Coming of the LORD is at hand?

Unpacking #36 – Affliction Sent by God NOT

Lookahead:  One of Strong's definitions of the "suffering" word, kakopátheia = Cognate: 2552 kakopátheia – to experience affliction that seems bad (miserable) from an earthly perspective but in actuality is sent by God to accomplish His greater (eternal) purpose.  Just wondering where this cognate or derived definition originated from.  Strong's gives insight on the origin of … Continue reading Unpacking #36 – Affliction Sent by God NOT

Unpacking #34 – Arrogance = Pride With An Attitude

Lookahead: But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. The problem with arrogance is that it's the purview of the devil and evil.  The devil is, in reality, the very template for arrogance itself.  When we lapse into arrogant behavior, we are knowingly or unknowingly serving his purposes instead of God's.  Why would anyone … Continue reading Unpacking #34 – Arrogance = Pride With An Attitude