Barnabas Powell's Blog, page 145
September 12, 2018
All Who Wander Aren’t Lost
Have you ever heard of the story of the donkey who saved a prophet’s life by talking to him? And you thought your dreams were strange! Seriously, this powerful story in the First Testament is worth your time! Read the whole story in Numbers 22. To make a long story short, Balaam is something of a prophet and some enemies of the Jews in the area want to hire him to curse…
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September 11, 2018
The Whole World in One Word
“It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones, after all.” So says the author of Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder. But life is so very often not simple. It’s complicated and difficult and filled with so many motivations all mixed together and hard to tease out the good from the bad. So, how do we live in this complicated world with the truth that…
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September 10, 2018
A Selfless Liberty
You’ve seen the bumper sticker “Practice Random Acts of Kindness.” I confess I’ve seen them all over and my reaction to this altruistic admonition ranges (depending on my mood) from mild annoyance to a twinge of guilt. But rarely does this bumper sticker psychology move me to action. But, hey, that’s the weakness of a bumper sticker mindset! So, why is it so easy to be moved but never changed? Why do…
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September 7, 2018
What ARE You Thinking?
“It is a great achievement not to be attracted by things. But it is a far greater achievement to remain dispassionate in the face both of things and of the conceptual images we derive from them.” St. Maximos the Confessor Isn’t that great? The ability to be free from a slavery to desires, but not just desires; to be free from the ideas these desires conjure in our minds! That’s the kind…
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September 6, 2018
Revealed to Babes and Not to the Wise
It started with what I thought was a simple explanation. But he didn’t “get” it. So, I tried again to make it even simpler. And still the quizzical look on this PhD.’s face wouldn’t go away. He didn’t understand what i was trying to say. Frustrated, I told him “Your just too educated to understand!” With that, he smiled, and asked some questions that helped me a great deal. My grandmother use…
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September 5, 2018
God Made a Covenant with Himself!
“I am sick of this! I mean it, this is the very last time!” I hear these words in my head and I know they are a lie. I’m having to clean up another mess someone else has made! And I feel the resentment and anger rising in my heart and mind, and starting to feel the intoxicating effects of that anger making me say and think things that are both unhelpful…
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September 4, 2018
The Purpose of the Cross
Years ago a Protestant mega-pastor wrote the book “The Purpose Driven Life.” The subtitle was “What on Earth am I here For?” Great title and a great question. The content of the book was helpful in places and, frankly, a bit theologically shallow and even questionable in places. But, come on, the greatest value in the book was finally raising the issue in a generation of people who had become gripped by…
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September 3, 2018
Clash of the Titans
Sometimes it’s inevitable; that clash of strong willed people. And, to be honest, it’s a good thing IF you have the discernment to mine the gold in such events! The truth is conflict is unavoidable IF you actually hold to timeless principles. The inevitable spirit of the age that dismisses even the notion of timeless truths demands the eventual clash of that which is temporary with that which is not. Unless, of…
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August 31, 2018
A Mother’s Love
I suppose the whole world couldn’t contain the poems, stories, and memories we children collect about our mothers. I know I owe much of my good qualities to the brave lady who raised me and my little brother. And the one quality I always remember is that, no matter what was going on in my life, I could always, and I mean always, count on my mom. The bond between mother and…
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August 30, 2018
We Did Not Yield!
There was a day when I relished a good theological argument. Jousting with this or that “opponent” over this or that doctrine was as much fun as it was challenging. My favorite fights were over questions about the Trinity or predestination or even the very question about what was salvation anyway. I’d pour over scriptures and read books about apologetics and hone my “arguments” until I thought they were ironclad! And then…
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