There are some words or phrases that just don’t go together. “Jumbo Shrimp,” “New Antiques,” “kind of pregnant,” or “sort of married” are some that come to my mind. Other phrases can become part of our standard english, like “virtual reality” or “Icy Hot.” In the English language we call them “oxymorons,” a funny sounding word in and of itself. That word has a greek origin, and could be translated as “pointedly foolish.” Another way to say it is that it’s a statement that makes a self-contradiction. All that intelligence I got from Wikipedia. (And that sentence is another oxymoron.) We all slip up in our speech sometime, but the Bible often uses these pointed phrases to drive home a point. The Bible often takes words that don’t go together, and puts them together, to grab our attention and help us see the point more clearly. For example, Paul writes “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live” in Galatians 2:20. The Gospels tell of “Virgin birth,” and Jesus
At our church a few weeks ago, Sara shared her heart with our pastor about what she is passionate about. What God has given her a desire to do. I was there and watched her talk and saw the pastor's response. It was more or less a brush off. Sara has a degree in Family and Child Development and is passionate about helping families. So many churches want children and have VBS and huge kids ministries, but don't do anything for their parents. This kids might hear the word at church, but go home to the bad environment. Sara believes it's important to reach the parents as well as the kids, and God has given here a great passion for that. To give families tools to function, to help parents love their kids and build them up. It is well documented that our church has a "need" for people to work with children. They want to start things on Wednesday nights, and a choir/worship service for Sunday nights, as well as maybe a kids church. But we were told that our church wasn&
I am always perusing used book stores every where I go for things that interest me. A nerdy hobby, but mine nonetheless. I came across this book somewhere, I don't remember where. It peaked my interest as it was a book about revival, by Southern Baptists. In fact, it quotes Dr. E.M Dodd, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, as comparing it to the Welsh Revival, and other famous revivals through out history. It was put out by the Home Mission Board, of the Southern Baptist Convention, in 1971. It is account by fomer missionary to China Dr. C.L. Culpepper. He recounts the tale of the revival that spread through China in the 1930's. Amazing stories of God at work. Dr. Culpepper was challenged by a Miss Monsen, a "Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran", whatever that means, as they prayed for his wife's eyesight, even at the Culpeppers hesitance, as "prayer for healing seemed unorthodox for Baptist people." There are varying accounts
Comments