Energion.com Blogger Highlights

“Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude”

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0500

Here are my thoughts for the 24th Sunday after Pentecost. The Scriptures for this Sunday are 1 Samuel 1: 4 – 20; Hebrews 10: 11 – 14 (15 – 18) 19 – 25; and Mark 13: 1- 8.

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I had several things cross my desk this week as I was preparing these thoughts. First, my wife sent me some pictures of a church that had been converted into a personal home. (http://forwardon.com/view.php?e=Id12473ba76d0865e8&type=latest&time=all) [Read more at Thoughts from the Heart on the Left]

On Translating to be Understood

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:05:00 -0500

One of the experiences that shaped my approach to Biblical languages and Biblical studies occurred late in my first year of Greek. The teacher was Lucille Knapp at Walla Walla College (now Walla Walla University), and she really enjoyed Greek and was quite expressive. She kept us on our toes. I was translating a verse for the class and used the word “propitiation.”

“Henry!” she exclaimed. “I am not teaching you to translate Greek into Latin!”

An argument amongst the [Read more at Participatory Bible Study Blog]

Why The Dems Health Care Plan Is Doomed To Fail

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:29:00 -0500

Henry Neufeld’s post today touched on Health care and spurred me to write something I have been thinking about for several days. While it is true that so much of the Democratic health care plan is based on guesses, as serious a flaw as that is, that is not the biggest problem. The real problem is that it is doomed to fail regardless of the guesses about it.

This is not to say that it will not pass. It very well may. Democrats, not Republicans will determine this as Republicans do not [Read more at Elgin Hushbeck: Politics and Religion]

My Lord AND My Friend

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Henry Neufeld

11Moses tried to appease YHWH his God. He said, “Why are you getting so angry with your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great strength and a mighty hand? 12Why would you let the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out here into these mountains for an evil purpose, to kill them and to wipe them from the face of the ground. Repent from your furious anger and rethink the disaster you are bringing against your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel [Read more at Jody's Devotionals]

Why Democracy Fails

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:19:00 -0500

In Preserving Democracy, Elgin Hushbeck quotes Alexander Fraser Tytler:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. (quoted on pp. 26-27)

I [Read more at Threads from Henry's Web]

The Seeker

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Henry Neufeld

1He entered and was passing through Jericho. 2There was a man named Zaccheus, a supervisor of tax collectors, and he was rich. 3He tried to see who Jesus was, but he couldn’t since he was too short to see over the crowd. 4He ran ahead and climbed into a sycamore so he could see when Jesus passed by. 5And as Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus! Hurry down! Because I must stay at your house today.” 6Zaccheus hurried down and received Jesus [Read more at Jody's Devotionals]

What Should We Be Doing Today?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:02:00 -0500

I begin this piece by asking what you plan to do at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Will you stop to pause and remember the significance of that time some ninety years ago? Will you stop to pause and perhaps hear the bells of the church tolling in remembrance of those who have fallen in wars long ago and perhaps even recently? Or perhaps you will stop to pause and wonder why the bells are not ringing or why the people are more interested in the sales taking place and [Read more at Thoughts from the Heart on the Left]

Can a Man Write Offline?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:49:00 -0500

Writers enjoy instant gratification on the internet. We expect feedback within minutes of posting an idea. Without it, we feel crippled and dis-empowered unlike our fathers who secluded themselves for years, wrote only to God, and never had any assurance that anyone else would read what they were writing.

I wonder if they hit dry spells in the desert?

If you are a writer and you don't write much for a while, you have to struggle with a certain measure of guilt mingled with fear. You feel [Read more at The Dream Factory]

The One in the Storm with Me

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest.

Behold, then I would wander far off. I would lodge in the wilderness.

Selah.

I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm.” Psalm 55:6-8 (WEB)

God has faithfully brought us through yet another storm. Thank You, Lord! God is also faithfully bringing me and many of those that I love through personal storms.

As I [Read more at Jody's Devotionals]

Basic Needs

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:59:00 -0500

Here are my thoughts for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost. The Scriptures for this Sunday are Ruth 3: 1 – 5, 4: 13 – 17; Hebrews 9: 24 – 28; and Mark 12: 38 – 44.

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There was an interesting article in Christian Century this past week about biblical literacy (see http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=7927). It does repeat some information that I have used in the past from a 1997 Barna Survey [Read more at Thoughts from the Heart on the Left]