Barnabas Powell's Blog, page 2
September 21, 2023
What Does “Holy” Mean?
OK, so one of my favorite movies in the whole world is “Princess Bride” and one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Vincent keeps using the word “inconceivable!” Finally, after so many times of hearing this word from Vincent, Inigo Montoya responds “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” The truth is words matter, and the meaning of words matters.…
The post What Does “Holy” Mean? appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
September 20, 2023
Armored to Fight The Real Enemy
I love this Armed Forces Motto: “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.” Isn’t that great? In other words, when you put the time into preparing for battle, you are more ready to face the fight. And what is true for physical fighting is also true for the spiritual battle each of us faces every day! What? You didn’t know this was going to be a fight…
The post Armored to Fight The Real Enemy appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
September 19, 2023
Simple Or Easy But not Both
“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. I was having a recent discussion with my daughter and we were talking…
The post Simple Or Easy But not Both appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
SImple Or Easy But not Both
“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. I was having a recent discussion with my daughter and we were talking…
The post SImple Or Easy But not Both appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
September 18, 2023
Christ Has Set Us Free
I’ve never yet heard a politician boldly proclaim “Vote for me and I’ll take away your freedom!” They are always going on about “protecting democracy” “restoring your freedom” or “protecting your rights.” Even those politicians bought and paid for by special interests are desperate to tell you they aren’t bought and paid for by special interests! The older I get, the more comical in the classic sense this appears. But, to be…
The post Christ Has Set Us Free appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
September 15, 2023
As Sheep Among the Wolves
Don’t kid yourself, the spiritual life is no cakewalk. And by that I mean there is a real struggle involved. To put it like our Orthodox Fathers said – it is war. But not the war we think of nowadays. No, this is a “war” with myself where I have to commit to a purposeful, attentive, struggle against the tug of my passions toward slavery to my desires. I have to “fight”…
The post As Sheep Among the Wolves appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
September 14, 2023
If I Be Lifted Up
The old saying is “There ain’t no way to put lipstick on a pig.” It meant that no matter how hard you try, you can’t make a horrible situation better by pretending it isn’t “all that bad.” It just doesn’t work. It’s like the awkward conversations with those who have had a family member pass. It seems all our words to “make everything OK” just sound shallow and even dismissive. It’s that…
The post If I Be Lifted Up appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
September 13, 2023
The Power of a Firm Foundation in Christ
Why do you think the way you think? In other words, what forms your opinions, priorities, and actions. Why do you choose what you choose? All of these questions go to the foundation of how you live your life. And if we don’t periodically examine the foundational formation of how we think and live, we will find ourselves being lived by life instead of living life as a free person. For instance,…
The post The Power of a Firm Foundation in Christ appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
September 12, 2023
“One Man Should Die for the People”
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…
The post “One Man Should Die for the People” appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
September 11, 2023
Cure for the Troubled Soul
In our nihilistic age, with all the turmoil of our society from pandemics to politics to violence in the streets, we moderns seem to be having a crisis of purpose, a crisis of meaning! I was having a conversation the other day with a dear, educated man, who also happens to be an ordained clergyman in one of the many Protestant denominations in our fair city. The conversation turned, as it often…
The post Cure for the Troubled Soul appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
