The question in the title of this post is probably asked millions of times a day by various people to someone who is usually just starting out in life. I remember the first time it was asked of me. At about the age of twelve or so when my father first addressed the issue. Like most twelve year olds I couldn’t understand why I needed to figure that out already. After all I was just a kid in the sixth grade! How was I supposed to know what I wanted to spend the next umpteen years doing. Well that wasn’t … Continue reading What do you want to do when you grow up?

I have come to the point where I need some time away from theology things. So I will stop blogging on RLL starting today. How long my hiatus will be I don’t know right now. Thanks to all of you who read me on occasions. I am humbled that you think my words are worth your time. I pray that all of you continue to keep our Lord and Savior front and center in your lives…. Continue reading Some Time Away….

I will let the last post represent those parallel verses that are very similar to each other. In my studies those were somewhat typical of the conflicts of words. I know there are many places in the Old Testament that people report conflicting verses. I did not attempt to cover any of these but instead concentrated on Gospel accounts.  What I found were all somewhat like the previous posts.  The overall message was consistent but the words varied. One final area of parallel verses that give me some reasons for concern is the last supper. Let’s look at those parallel … Continue reading Parallel Gospel Verses … Part 3 (The Last Supper)

Before we look at a few of the parallel verses in the Gospel accounts let’s see where there are no parallel accounts. John Chapters 1 through 4 have many of Jesus’ words that are not reported anywhere else. I don’t know if part of that is because John’s Gospel was written several years after the others so John could read Matthew, Mark, and Luke, before he wrote his. Of course the theologians over the years have noted that difference and have not included John as a synoptic gospel. Enough of that; let’s look at some typical parallel verses. Matthew 8:1-4 … Continue reading Parallel Gospel Verses…. Part 2.

Due to having frequent discussions with my “inerrant and literal” bible friend lately the Gospel messages have been on my mind. I know there are several places in the bible that supposedly report on the same event. If, as my friend, believes, every word in the bible is literally true and directly from God’s mouth (through the totally obedient hands of men’s pens) then why do the places that supposedly report the same thing use different words and sometimes seem to convey quite different meanings? I, personally take this to enforce my belief that the words are from men who … Continue reading Parallel Gospel Verses… (Part 1)

Today being Memorial Day here in the U.S. I thought I would spend this post mourning all the children of God who have died in the world’s wars. This includes both the soldiers and those innocent civilians called “collateral damage” by the military complexes. Unfortunately wars and killing have been a fact of life for all of our existence. But this killing each other complex did not come from Jesus. He made it clear that we are to love even our enemies. I totally mourn all the times that people have rushed to war instead of trying all the other … Continue reading Remembering Memorial Day…

Ok, I have probably spent too much time lately looking at the differences between us Christians and not enough time with personal revelation around the red letters. To ameliorate this condition I will try to spend more time reflecting on particular words of Jesus and what they mean to me. Of course along the way I will also have many questions. Some, given my current relation ship with Christ, I will be able to answer but many I will probably have to leave as a question. Let’s get at it. Let’s start with Jesus talking about dying for our sins. … Continue reading Red Letter Messages….