"Remember Your Baptism"

The preacher at our congregation is going through 1 Corinthians 15. In verse 29, Paul mentions something rather curious which has given many an exegete lots of headaches. "Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised, why are they baptized for them?" As the preacher mentioned, you will probably find as many opinions on just what exactly Paul meant as there are commentators. This passage is one of those biblical passages which is not quite clear and that demonstrates the importance of examining such verses in their full context: culturally, socially, historically and biblically.  

What is Faith?

Recently I read a circular message sent to those of us who work at a particular government agency from the person in charge of a higher office. As you can imagine, there were a lot of platitudes about the work that we do, about how important it is and how grateful this individual was for us and our dedication to the mission. But there was one particular section that really caught my eye. And it was in the middle of a section of the message where he spoke about his own personal experiences and values. 

Civility Indeed!

A few days ago, I had a conversation with a coworker who is a believer. During the course of the exchange, he mentioned that he's glad that his children are home schooled and are not exposed, on a daily basis, to the barrage of foul language that is heard over the airwaves and has become a constant drumbeat. He mentioned that just the day before, he heard a few little kids coming by his house on the way home from school, dropping the "f-bomb" in their conversation with seeming natural ease. This showed, he said, the perversion that even little kids are capable of.