What does the Bible have to say about happiness? How does it use the word happy? How does the creator of the universe describe the conditions for happiness? In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word asar means happiness or well being. It is used to describe the “prudent man.” “Blessed (happy)
Tag: Bible
Total 82 Posts
As part of my sabbatical reflection, I am reading Marva J. Dawn’s book The Sense of the Call: A Sabbath Way of Life. An early quote in the book captured my attention. Dawn wrote: “We can easily give into our culture’s craving for happiness and miss the true joy of
I can remember times when I was confronted by injustice, my father would challenge me by saying, “Take the high road.” I knew what he was saying. Interestingly, I think that is exactly what Jesus was saying when he spoke about a narrow road that leads to life, but wide
The word “retirement,” like the word “divorce,” has never been part of my vocabulary. My sense has been that if we are in the King’s service–if the backdrop of our lives is the coming of the kingdom of God–then retirement is simply not a Christian concept. We can speak of
As I continue to reflect on the unemployment in America, I’m forced to think of what we are missing in the biblical message. Yesterday I learned about a small Christian community that was gifted with the worst lands on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Within a relatively short time, they
John echoes this in Revelation 11:15, that “the kingdoms of the world will become the Kingdom of God.” According to Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church, the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord is the message that we as the Church need to proclaim. It is “the light
God is glorified most when Christ becomes visible within us; when we are conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29, Gal.4:19, Col. 1:28-29). A good example of this is found in the book of Habakkuk, which is a book of transformation. It gives the account of one man’s spiritual
I do not think transformation is an end in itself. With the concept of transformational development I’m trying to move slightly away from the term “transformation”. Transformation became quite a “buzz word” and needs therefore clear definition. Both transformation and development can be defined as “moving towards God’s intentions.” The
Check out Catherine Hornby’s fine article Moral Rebound Finds Dutch Exploring Calvin online at REUTERS UK. With the emergence of the Global Economic Crisis, the Dutch are looking at their Protestant roots for answers. It would behoove Christians anywhere in the world who are concerned about the economic crisis to
After President Obama signed the executive order allowing funding to go to international organizations that perform abortions, people began talking about the return of the culture wars. Personally, I have found Professor James Davidson Hunters’ coining of the phrase “culture wars” to be quite helpful. The term helps us understand that the
