——————————————————————————————————————————————————— The two groups mentioned in the title of this post are indeed on the very opposite ends of world views. But I also believe that they have much more in common than either group would like to imagine. Let’s discuss some of their commonalities.   Both groups are very rigid in their beliefs; some would say closed-minded to any other possibilities. The atheist scientist absolutely refuses to accept any notion that there is a god controlling things. They even refuse to accept that there might be some divine origin to how the universe was formed. Any mention of … Continue reading The Atheist Scientist and the Puritan Evangelical…..

Ok here we are at the third and last post thinking about Saint Paul. Here are the final questions: In his letters was Paul  sometimes  speaking of his times or was everything he wrote meant for eternity? What about the Jeffersonian opinion of Paul? Have others believed the same thing? Are we looking at Paul’s words with a 21st century mind or of the times they were written  Let’s get right at it.  Was Paul sometimes speaking for his times and not for eternity?  This goes back to the last topic of the previous post below.  I just can’t get … Continue reading Questions about Saint Paul …. (Part 3)

Let’s continue with our discussion of Saint Paul that centers around a series of questions.  Here are the ones for today: Was Paul the most literate of the apostles? Did Paul believe that everything he ever wrote in his letters came to him directly from God? Did he have any idea that the letters he wrote would some day be considered by some as  foundational doctrine of Christianity?  These questions go directly to the content of his letters. I suspect that my questions and certainly my current opinions will go counter to what many Christians profess.  I don’t claim to … Continue reading Questions about Saint Paul…. (Part 2)

Anyone that has browsed my blog knows that I am a person full of questions.  I constantly seek new knowledge and insight. I am definitely a believer in the saying “if you are not growing you are shrinking”. In that light I am going to do a few posts about Saint Paul and his many epistles in the New Testament.  From his writings and the many books subsequently written about him we know more about Saint Paul than any of the early Christian leader including  the original twelve. I am going to be asking some questions about Paul that may … Continue reading Questions About Saint Paul……

{Postscript July 2010 – This post and all those below were imported from my old site InTheSlowLane.net} As you know I have been spending much of this holiday season scanning in photo albums from the past. It has been quite a journey so far and I have not yet gotten into all the wedding photos yet ;) . This has been a defining moment for me! I suddenly realized that I am not middle-aged anymore. We all hang on to that term as long as possible it seems. We just dread the term “seniors”.  I have previously lived in that term as I … Continue reading Middle Age??

 Here it is December 31st again. I won’t tell you how many I have seen go by but it is quite a few. My wife and I are past the stage where we stay up and ring in the new year. I am now usually sound asleep when that time ticks by.   I try to live in Christ  day-by-day but it still doesn’t hurt to look at the last day of the year as a time of serious reflection. How did I do last year? I, as usual, have to mirror the words of Saint Paul in that I still do some things … Continue reading New Year Resolutions??

  Many Calvinists like to try and pin the pre-destination label on Lutherans. I think maybe the Calvinists are just a little lonely in their corner of Christianity ;) and are looking for someone else to huddle with.   In tune with the last post here is another blog post by the CyberBrethren blogger on that topic. http://cyberbrethren.com/2009/12/16/refuting-calvinist-claims-that-luther-taught-double-predestination/ It does a pretty good job of refuting the claim that Luther believed in pre-destination. The post is pretty long, at least by my standards, but is worth the read if you are interested in this topic. I especially like the t-shirt shown. Continue reading Lutherans and Calvinists???

Lutheran’s attachment to the phrase Sola Fida (By Faith Alone) as the foundation of their beliefs sometimes earns them the banner of being very weak in good works. I believe it to be generally true that many Lutherans (in all their synods) shy away from the concept of good works for fear that others will view them as adding works to the salvation pot. I believe that some do it to a much greater degree than others.  A blog I frequent named Cyber Brethren had a post about works.  http://cyberbrethren.com/2009/10/16/how-to-teach-and-preach-about-good-works/ The author of the blog is Pastor Paul McCain who is currently … Continue reading A Lutheran Pastor’s view of good works and Martin Luther’s words

  Merry Christmas to everyone.  Let all Christians at least on this day join together to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On that I’m sure we can all agree. I want to use the words of a very popular Christmas hymn to say what Jesus’ birth means personally to me. I have re-arranged them slightly to be in more of a poetic form than a musical one. If you are offended forgive me for that.   O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see you lie; Above the deep and dreamless sleep the silent … Continue reading Christmas Eve

 It’s good to remember that Jesus grew up as a poor Jew in a poor town. His life was not about having great material possessions, but about living for God in this humble and modest way.  – Stephen Chapman, associate professor of the Old Testament at Duke Divinity School, on the discovery of the first dwelling in Nazareth that dates to Jesus’ era. (Source: USA Today) Continue reading About Jesus

…Get off the couch and back to work. This is the final post in this series that highlight from Jesus’ direct words what he expects of us. I will repeat again what I said as we started this series.   I know that for those who believe that being a Christian just means taking an altar call and then laying back and letting the Lord’s grace flow over you these might have been some difficult posts. I hope you are at least struck by the number of times Jesus talked about these issues. Christianity is meant to be lived day-by-day. It is … Continue reading To the fair weather Christian — Part 4

…Get off the couch and back to work.   In part three I will concentrate on the Gospel of Luke. Jesus’ words are rather direct in that he expects us to act like Christians. Jesus gave us abundant instructions on how to live our lives. He did his part and he expects us to do ours.  Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to … Continue reading To the Couch Potato Christian — Part 3

  …Get off the couch and back to work.   This is the second part of a four part series concentrating on Jesus’ words and what he tells us being his followers (disciples) really means while we live on this earth. This post includes the rest of the quotes from the Gospel of Mark. As mentioned in the previous post gathering these posts in one place is intended to show us what Jesus really expects from us. There are no couch potato Christians.     Mark 9:35   “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the … Continue reading To the Couch Potato Christian — Part 2

Ok, I am now finished digitizing the old photos from my college days so I will do a few more posts about them and then move on to other things. But it is nice to remember some of this stuff.  It shakes some brain cells that I haven’t used in a while. Before I tell you about the picture above (yes that is me on the far left) I need to fill you in on some more details :) . As I mentioned I worked my way through college by working about 40 hours a week in the dormitory cafeteria. … Continue reading An old flame, but I don’t think she knew it..

…Get off the couch and back to work. This being the Christmas season where more emphasis is placed on Jesus and His birth I thought I would spend the next several posts returning to the roots of this blog by concentrating solely on the words of Christ with particular emphasis on how he tells us to live. For the most part I will let the words speak for themselves. I know that for those who believe that being a Christian just means taking an altar call and then laying back and letting the Lord’s grace flow over you these will … Continue reading To the Couch Potato Christian… (Part 1 of 4)

I want to do one more post on the epistle of John before moving on. It is widely believed that this epistle was written by the Apostle John who also wrote the Gospel text of that name. 1 John 2:3-6 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in … Continue reading Jesus Commands…. (again)

1 John 4:11-12 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and  his love is perfected in us. I happened across these verses in our Sunday Bible study recently.  These words brought a new light to the meaning of  “God’s love” to me. It is up to us to show the Lord’s love. We do that mainly by the way we live. If you tell the average unbeliever that “God loves you” he will typically say “Oh yeah? That and … Continue reading Reflect the Son…

As I have mentioned one of my projects this winter is the digitize all the old photo albums from the past.  I just finished the ones from my college days at Purdue in the 1960’s and ran across this one of a good friend.  His name was Don Valentine and as the picture indicates he could do magic on the guitar and he had the voice to go with it. I thought sure one day I would be buying his albums. Unfortunately, the Vietnam war did that in.  Don was drafted shortly after graduation and sent to Vietnam almost immediately. … Continue reading Thinking of a friend from my college years…

This is going to be one of those difficult and probably controversial posts. Is Jesus Plan “B” whereas Adam was Plan “A” that failed? In other words did God really plan on Adam being the benevolent seed of mankind and when that didn’t happen he changed gears and  came Himself (via Jesus) to do the job of fixing things? This concept has some pretty serious contentions among some Christians today. Some believe that nothing can happen that God did not previously ordain in that he had absolutely everything decided from creation to the end times  even before he started his … Continue reading Plan “B”?

One year ago I brought up the Red Letter Living blog. To be honest I did it primarily to put down my thoughts on the many books and topics I have been studying the last few years. I just needed a place to think things through and put them to print. To that end this blog has been very beneficial to me on a personal level and has strengthened by faith in the words of Christ. Amazingly as the posts accumulated so did the readership. I am humbled that there are Christians out there that think I have anything worth … Continue reading The One Year Anniversary of RLL

Recently the Catholic church, and in particular Pope Benedict, came out with their own list of what they consider the seven social sins of the current times. It is interesting to see how this list is different from Gandhi’s of my last post. The seven social sins are: 1. “Bioethical’ violations such as birth control 2. “Morally dubious” experiments such as stem cell research 3. Drug abuse 4. Polluting the environment 5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor 6. Excessive wealth 7. Creating poverty Pope Benedict has spoken out on several social issues throughout his three-year papacy. He encouraged Catholics to … Continue reading Seven Social Sins (The Catholic version)

I know the above is not from a Christian person but it is certainly Christian in nature and principle. I found it under a pile on my desk. I wish it had remained on top but that was not the case. Anyway, it will now reside in a reserved section of my bulletin board above my desk. Of course this is a play off of “The Seven Deadly Sins” that played out in the Christian church in the middle ages.  Here is what Wikipedia says about that: The Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, … Continue reading Seven Deadly Social Sins (The Gandhi version)….

Some seem to think that all that is required to be a Christian is to take an altar call and declare that Jesus is your Lord and Savior and then go on about your daily business as if nothing has changed. I know I have been in that mode sometimes myself. But, that couldn’t be further from the truth. That type of mentality is what Bonhoeffer correctly termed “cheap grace”.  Being a sinful lazy person it is easy to be trapped in the “let others do it” mode. I have come to realize that being a Christian means living in … Continue reading Moment by moment…

I will admit for the first time on this blog that I am currently a member of a Protestant Church (but I won’t tell you which one :) ). Of course the Protestant church had their origin in the 16th century when Luther challenged the existing church authorities. Lutherans like to think of this encounter the same as when Jesus remanded the existing Jewish church authority. For me I’m not sure that is a valid comparison. After studying this period I have come to the conclusion that things got totally out of hand during this encounter. Both sides were screaming … Continue reading Upon This Rock? ……..

This is an awfully theological sounding title and is not typical of what I do on this blog. But as a result of the previous post I just wanted to study a little more on this justification issue. In particular I will be looking at how the major dominations differ in their views of justification. In order to make this manageable let’s break this down into different paragraphs. I will start with the Roman Catholics and Orthodox churches and then show how as a result of the Protestant Reformation others came to view it. Just to understand the magnitude I … Continue reading The Varying Theological Views of Justification