Barnabas Powell's Blog, page 43
May 13, 2022
The Living Bread
Christ is risen! There is actually a mental health condition called thanatophobia – the fear of death. This phobia drives those who suffer from this malady to be afraid of doing anything. But, in reality, having anxiety about one’s mortality is actually normal in us humans. Why do you think that is? Could it be that a part of us instinctively understands we weren’t made for mortality? We were made for life…
The post The Living Bread appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
May 12, 2022
I Will Raise Him Up At The Last Day
Christ is risen! “Pie in the Sky thinking is bad!” Well, that’s what he insisted was true. He insisted that my claim that we should live our lives with an eternal perspective was wrong because he insisted I would neglect the “right now” for the “Pie in the sky.” Even the great poet Henry David Thoreau, on his deathbed, when asked if he had any thoughts about what comes next, famously said…
The post I Will Raise Him Up At The Last Day appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
May 11, 2022
Real Food Saves
Christ is risen! In the church I was raised we just didn’t do the Lord’s Supper very often. In fact, there are years where I can’t remember if we did it at all through a particular year. And that didn’t strike me as strange or unusual. After all, it was just a “memorial” of a past event. Nothing more. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this attitude towards the Bread and…
The post Real Food Saves appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
May 10, 2022
Sort Out Your Priorities
Christ is risen! My mother had a famous saying to me and my brother when we were little. It usually came out when we didn’t want to do something like clean our rooms or do other chores. Usually, it was because I either wanted to keep playing or watch TV. But then, the depth charge comment would appear! “You can do what you want to do WHEN you do what you have…
The post Sort Out Your Priorities appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
May 9, 2022
The Dangers of Intoxicated Living
Christ is risen! “Step right up Ladies and Gentlemen, see the most amazing sights you could ever imagine!” You’ve heard these words before. Carnival barkers trying to get you to spend the money to see the “amazing snake boy, half boy, half-snake!” Or the “amazing Elephant Man.” Curiosity, entertainment, something “different,” something “tantalizing.” And it works. Of course, it works, they wouldn’t keep doing it if it didn’t work! We, humans, are…
The post The Dangers of Intoxicated Living appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
May 6, 2022
Don’t Hide From Yourself
Christ is risen! I come from a generation that was suspicious of tattoos! And the generation before me, forget about it! My grandfather, a lifelong police officer, always said that tattoos were degrading to a man. Wow, some pretty strong words, especially in light of today’s generation that consider “body art” a form of expression and even something to be celebrated. Times do change. Now, this isn’t about tattoos; whether they are…
The post Don’t Hide From Yourself appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
May 5, 2022
How To Avoid Judgement
Christ is risen! One of the oldest manuscripts we have for the earliest days of the Christian Faith outside the Gospels is the Didache or “The Teaching of the 12 Apostles.” This ancient writing dates from the First Century A.D. and begins with an intriguing phrase: “There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways.” It seems this basic wisdom of two…
The post How To Avoid Judgement appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
May 4, 2022
Real Communion!
Christ is risen! St. Maximus the Confessor says “Food is not evil, but gluttony is. Childbearing is not evil, but fornication is. Money is not evil, but avarice is. Glory is not evil, but vainglory is. Indeed, there is no evil in existing things, but only in their misuse.” So, the evil one only wants to get you to misuse the good and make it a detriment to your soul! And this…
The post Real Communion! appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
May 3, 2022
The Profound Terror of Real Love
Christ is risen! “Love is love” is a popular saying nowadays. When I was young, I remember the first time I heard the old euphemism of “making love.” Then there’s “all we need is love.” The list goes on and on. Most of the popular songs we sing are about love in one way or another. But the greatest line about love ever uttered is “For God so loved the world…” It’s…
The post The Profound Terror of Real Love appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
