The call for Christians to be salt and light is used like a war cry by many. It is often used to make Christians feel guilty for not doing enough or not speaking up enough or not giving enough, because if they did then surely “the world” would be changed. Surely “the world” would trust […]
Author Archive | Laura Blodgett
What Did Jesus Mean About Violent Men Taking the Kingdom by Force
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think there is any need to get hung up on two of the main verses (Matthew 11:12, Luke 16:16) where Jesus speaks of people somehow using force “to take” the kingdom of heaven. Other passages make it clear that Jesus is not advocating the use of force to “convert” […]
Can Someone Give You A Word From the LORD
This is going to be short, because it really isn’t that complicated, from what I can see. A survey of the Old and New Testaments (use the search function in the blueletterbible.org) seems to show the use of the phrase “a word from the Lord” in two distinctly different categories. Not surprisingly, one category is […]
Is the Word Theology in the Bible
The word theology is not in any of the 8 most common English translations or paraphrases of the Bible. Still, one must ask, “Does the lack of a specific word nullify or diminish the concept, or the application of the concept?” To consider this, let’s begin by breaking down the word itself. The parts of […]
Why the Word Vicar Isn’t in the Bible
Have you ever been reading a Jane Austen novel and wondered why the English call their neighborhood religious liaisons vicars? It isn’t a word in the Bible. Usually religious systems that are trying to build off of Biblical status will at least re-use Biblical vocabulary to help legitimize themselves. The answer about vicar seems to […]
What Does the Word Suffer Mean in the Bible
The word suffer in the New Testament of the Bible is translated from about 7 to 13 Greek words, depending on how you look at it. Some of the words in the longer list are from adding Greek prefixes and suffixes that result in their own explanation in Vine’s Expository Dictionary (Vine’s). Suffer is used […]
What Do You Really Know About Christmas
By Laura Blodgett on December 14, 2014 in Heart and Mind, Religious Vocabulary Word of the Day, Teaching My Children, Why It Matters
Below is a Christmas quiz to help you evaluate what you really know about Christmas. After the quiz, there is a short section going over parts of the Bible that are relevant to this festival in our current culture, as well as a link to an article from last year about the general dispute that […]
Cautions in Honoring and Remembering Our Deceased Loved Ones
My mom was a kind and wise woman. That being said, she was human. Why do I bring this up? It is not because I stand poised to complain and reveal anything against her. On the contrary, I could not have asked for a nicer mother. But I have already experienced the tendency to elevate […]
Lessons in The Inevitability of an Exposed Mind
The best lesson I learned from working in a nursing home at the innocent age of 16 years, was that sooner or later the hidden thoughts of the mind are going to be exposed. It wasn’t just the senile or confused inmates that were open books. By that point in their lives, even those completely […]
God Was in the Thunder While I Was Running But Maybe Not the Way You Think He Was
When I started my run yesterday morning, the rain was an infrequent drip from a lightly overcast sky. I had worn my Luna sandals because I was extra tired from the week of finding out my mom had terminal brain cancer, and I thought I might be prone to accidents. But I was consciously going […]