The Bible Archive

She could see the threatening glow gathering above the flat horizon in the East. The Hammer was rising.

Everyone else in the village had hidden themselves away- just as The Boundaries stipulated. The young mother was trying, but raising two young children alone was not easy, and getting them to move without violating the writings seemed impossible. They were always in danger of transgressing, and so, often in danger of dying. Every morning’s Heatrise was one of those times.

“Come on. Come on… but don’t hurry. Don’t….,” her voice grew loud in exasperation, but she caught herself and glanced around. Little children wanted to run. It seemed a perverse joke to give them desires that would only kill them.

I’ve tried to highlight certain assumptions: (1) the Church is made up of people; (2)that the Church could only come about after certain historical requirements were in place; and (3) that the Church’s leadership  is divine (in other words: God is the church’s leader). Following those assumptions (and an unmentioned fourth) I progressed to highlighting the Goal of the Church summed up in glorifying God by glorifying Christ. Such a broad definition leaves the most vague of us floating helplessly through a foamy sky of ambiguous vapor. Therefore, I want to spend some time looking at how that purpose is evidenced by the overarching Work of the Church.

This all is a radical difference from our previous lives and Paul makes a point to set up the truly transforming nature of his gospel. We’re not to simply fall into the habits of this world around us by doing those things we previous did—we must be transformed in our minds.

Here some Christians will raise a banner that we need new thinking, chaste thinking: Christian Thinking. And in so doing a plethora of marketing merchandise comes out like wrist bands asking us What Jesus Would Do or fish bumper icons or a crown of thorn tattoo with the words.

I say the stupidest things. I realize that every time I think I?m saying the right thing and suddenly note the recipient?s reaction. Sometimes I don?t finish what I?m saying automatically assuming the person gets where I?m heading. Other times I don?t bother saying things because I feel it?s so obvious that it shouldn?t need verbal stating (how dumb).

Steve Hulshizer

What comes to mind when we think of the word holy? Dictionaries
have great difficulty attempting to define it. Usually it is associated with divinity, but
never really defined. Of course the religious world makes great use of the word, but as
with many Biblical words they are but part of their jargon and empty ritual.

by Bob Gessner

In these last days we see so many evidences of the natural man and so few of the spiritual
man It is likely in our generation that the marks of a spiritual man are not clearly
understood. Let us examine a few general characteristics and then take a closer look at
some specific marks of a spiritual man.