The vainglory of teaching has allured so many
Who don’t yet understand the subject matter.
They go on and on about things
They have never vetted—and never will vet—
For they have already got what they wanted—
To stand in the place of honor.
Category Archives: Religion
Pretending in Religion
Bible Facts
Perhaps Life Here
Perhaps it is the case
That life here
Is meant to be a tougher adventure
Than you assume it must be—
And that you could and should
Learn more than seems convenient—
And overcome more challenges than
It seems one should have to overcome.
In What Sense are Christians “in the Kingdom”?
We Christians regularly talk about “the kingdom”, but in my observation, we’re not often very precise about what we mean, and I think this causes us trouble from time to time.
When we say “the kingdom”, we could possibly mean anything between the full domain over which God is king, or that tightest circle of God’s fellowship. And I think we might do ourselves a favor—even if it causes us cognitive work we’d rather not put out—to see if we can be more diligent in saying exactly what we mean. And there’s probably no context where this might make a more useful difference in our lives than in our discussion of whatever it is that our various camps mean when we say “the church”. I observe that for a great many, it seems to be the strong belief that church=kingdom. But my question to that is this:
Continue reading In What Sense are Christians “in the Kingdom”?Plenty and Need
We have plenty of:
- Land to grow enough crops and animals to feed everybody on earth.
- Sunshine to make it grow.
- Water to make it grow.
- Air to make it grow.
- People to do the work that’s required to make it grow.
- Natural resources from which to make clothing and housing for everybody.
Yet, not everybody has adequate food or shelter or clothing.
So, then, what do we need that we don’t have?
Our Son
Our son—
This wonder to us
With a mind of his own
That sees and hears the world
And reports back to us his own findings
In this sweet fellowship into which we have grown
In these nineteen years—
Not Many Ever Fully Surrender
Not many ever fully surrender
To letting the truth be the truth.
No, the masses find such promise
In pretending parts of it
To be something other
Than what they are.
A Ghost of an Idea
We want to know about ghosts,
But maybe not entirely,
Because maybe it’s somehow
More satisfying if we don’t
Find out for sure.
While This World Does Have Its Wicked
While this world does have its wicked
With their violence and schemes,
And we watch them pour their darkness
On a thousand righteous dreams,