Barnabas Powell's Blog, page 159
March 16, 2018
Sweet Words And Distant Hearts
We live in an age where “marvelous” and “wonderful” have been tamed. We hear these words and immediately get excited about the “good” things happening! But this definition that “marvelous” and “wonderful” always mean “pleasant” and “positive” things is a reflection of our own shallow age. Through centuries of human existence, these words have also conveyed dread and fear. A “Marvel” and something that causes “wonder” can flow equally (and usually more…
The post Sweet Words And Distant Hearts appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
March 15, 2018
The Cornerstone
In ancient architecture, the cornerstone was the first stone laid in the foundation of a building and its importance was both practical and irreplaceable. It was by the cornerstone that the whole building was oriented. The cornerstone was the stone that all other stones in the building was referenced to and oriented toward. In other words, as the cornerstone was so was the whole structure. Hmm, I guess we should pay attention…
The post The Cornerstone appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
March 14, 2018
The Walking Dead
Isn’t it amazing that we humans all share some similar fears no matter what culture we come from. Most cultures have horror stories about zombies and vampires and ghosts. Why is that? I’ll tell you why. We humans are aware enough of our own existence that we fear mortality, but we also fear the unknown. And look, our common fears show up in our stories about the dead surviving to haunt the…
The post The Walking Dead appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
March 13, 2018
Cursed With Eternal Life
They even have a name for it; it’s thanatophobia. Of course it’s based on the Greek word for death – Θανατος and φοβος – literally the fear of death. It can become so bad in a person that they are terrified of dying every waking moment. Horrible! And yet, we live in such a death-denying culture we even comment at funeral homes “Doesn’t he look good?” We have sanitized death to the point that…
The post Cursed With Eternal Life appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
March 12, 2018
Same Stuff, Different Day
SSDD! You know, “same stuff, different day.” That’s the way a buddy of mine would answer as we started our workday at a factory where I worked after school in my teenage years. He had been with this company for many years and had had the same job in the factory refurbishing water meters. It was monotonous work. Same stuff, different day. We can start feeling like this in our everyday lives…
The post Same Stuff, Different Day appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
March 9, 2018
The 4 Fantasies of Fairness
I don’t believe in “fairness.” Really! I really don’t believe in it at all. Oh, I get the concept, don’t get me wrong, but I simply don’t believe humans are capable of it. At least not yet, anyway. Frankly, I’m convinced the Evil One uses our innate knowing that fairness SHOULD exist AND our inability to produce it to enslave us to perpetual agitation or despair! Look at our lesson today in…
The post The 4 Fantasies of Fairness appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
March 8, 2018
5 Benefits of Other’s Mistakes
“No life is a total waste. It can always serve as a bad example.” I’ll never forget when my best friend first shared this bit of wisdom with me. I was really down because someone that was supposed to be a positive influence on me was anything but. And I was disappointed, scared, and, frankly, angry that this man who was supposed to be my example turned out to be just the…
The post 5 Benefits of Other’s Mistakes appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
March 7, 2018
Learning to Choose
I have a friend who is a biologist and she is also an atheist. She’s an atheist because she’s convinced there is no such thing as “free will.” And she believes this because of her science. To her, every choice we think we make is actually just certain chemical reactions to different stimuli. I know, sad, isn’t it. And yet, I know some theologians who would agree with her about “free will.”…
The post Learning to Choose appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
March 6, 2018
The 3 Fold Path to Wisdom
What’s the best way to improve society? Change the person or change the society? There was a day in America when the common understanding was to change the person and society would improve, but nowadays it seems that many think that fighting to change society means addressing society’s faults rather than the faults in the persons in that society. In fact, character development USE to be one of the primary goals and…
The post The 3 Fold Path to Wisdom appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
March 5, 2018
A Painful Cure
My best friend in the world died of a brain tumor many years ago. Anyone who has either struggled with cancer or knew someone who did, knows the radical nature of cancer treatment. The chemotherapy is literally poison used to kill the cancer. But it’s still poison. Many have wondered if the cure is worse than the disease. And yet, modern science sees us surviving cancer at higher percentages every year. So,…
The post A Painful Cure appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
