Aaron Simms's Blog, page 13

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).

I’m sure everyone is familiar with the concept of a resume.  In Europe and other places, it’s also called a “curriculum vitae,” which is Latin for basically “the course of my life.”  A resume details the course of your life: where you went to school, what you studied, where you’ve worked, what skills you have.  The idea is that prospective employers can look at your resume – the course of your life – t...

Why Republish Old Christian Writings?

Over the last couple years, under the auspices of St. Polycarp Publishing House I’ve been working on new editions of various classic Christian writings from the first few centuries of the New Testament Church.  So far, I’ve published versions of Justin Martyr’s “First and Second Apologies”, Tertullian’s “Defense of the Christian Faith”, and St. Polycarp’s “Epistle to the Philippians” and the “Martyrdom of Polycarp.”  Each of these includes the English-translated texts as well as my own notes...

Trinity Sunday and the Athanasian Creed

Today is Trinity Sunday when the Church focuses on the Triune nature of our God.  It’s also the one day that most of the Western Church uses the Athanasian Creed to confess her faith.  So, it’s worth looking into this Creed more closely.

First, though, the Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed form what are called the Three Ecumenical Creeds, which simply means that most of the Western Church uses these Creeds, particularly Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Anglicans/Episcopalians,...

Throwback Thursday #TBT – Travels in China

I wrote the following post in July 2013 about my trip to China in November 2011.

A few years ago (Nov. 2011) I had the opportunity to go to China for about a week for work.  My itinerary was to spend a couple days in Shanghai, followed by a few days in Beijing, and then return home.  I flew out there by myself, but then met up with a couple other guys from work (two Brits and a Swede) as well as our host from Hong Kong.

In order to cut down on the cost to get to China, I ended up flying from...

Pentecost – “Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”

“Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29).

What is a prophet?  We usually think of a prophet as someone who foretells the future.  However, the Biblical meaning of a prophet and of prophecy is broader than this.  A prophet is someone who speaks forth the Word of the Lord; this is what it means to prophesy.

In the Old Testament, the Lord sent many prophets to speak His Word to His people.  Moses is the prophet through whom the...

Prometheus and Alien: Covenant

Over the weekend, my wife and I went to see Alien: Covenant in the theater for our anniversary (I’m a lucky man, I know).  The initial reviews on IMDB were pretty bad, so my hopes weren’t very high.  Some of the reviews said that Covenant made Prometheus look good (a movie which also received bad reviews when it was first released).

However, after seeing Covenant, we came home and re-watched Prometheus.  Taken together, these two movies make a lot more sense and are actually very thought-prov...

God Himself is For You

Sometimes life and its complications can get to be too much, can’t they?  There are so many trials and tribulations in this life that they can become overwhelming, and life itself can come to seem like a burden.  We have mortgages to pay, debts to settle, things to plan, kids to raise – and then on top of all that the devil comes in to cause trouble wherever he can, because we still live in a fallen world as fallen people and are constantly tempted and tried.

And we are told to bring our care...

Music and Vocation

I enjoy music, as I suspect most (all?) people do.  Music has the ability to not only convey emotions, but actually to conjure them up along with the memories associated with them.  Perhaps this is why we, as a culture, tend to treat musicians with a respect which approaches reverence.

Music itself is mentioned in the Bible, first in Genesis 4:21 (“His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe”) and later becomes an integral part of the life of Israel...

The Unknown God Made Known – Paul at the Areopagus

In Acts 17:16-31 we find Paul in Athens waiting for the arrival of Silas and Timothy from Thessalonica.  Paul spends his time in Athens well.   He goes into the synagogues to proclaim Christ to the Jews and into the marketplace each day to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles.  Paul’s single-minded purpose is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people – so that all people, both Jews and Gentiles, may be incorporated into the Church.

The text says that some of the Greek Epicurean and Stoi...

Computers and Vocation

I got my first computer when I was about 5 or 6 years old, living in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.  It was a Commodore 64 that my Dad bought at the Army PX for about $300.  It was around 1983.  Even though I was quite young, I distinctively remember seeing it on display with the box which promised all sorts of wondrous capabilities.  I begged my Dad for it, thinking it’d be a hard sell.  But, he bought it (now that I’m also a father I realize that it probably wasn’t a hard sell at all, I’ve fou...