by Susan Barnes | 17 Mar 2020 | Reading the Bible
Today, is the last in the series, Reading the Bible, for the time being, and we’re thinking about when forever isn’t forever. Many Christians believe hell is a place of eternal torment. The Greek word, aionios, is translated in our New Testament as “everlasting” and...
by Susan Barnes | 10 Mar 2020 | Reading the Bible
Today, I am continuing the series on, Reading the Bible and thinking about servant leadership. Jesus’ said, “For I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). Humility wasn’t highly valued at this time in history, so taking the role of a servant was seen as...
by Susan Barnes | 18 Feb 2020 | Reading the Bible
Today, I am continuing the series on, Reading the Bible. At the moment I’m looking at the lissue of lying, truth-telling and gossip. I know Christians who have told lies to enhance their reputation, to dupe people out of finances, and to gain employment. The...
by Susan Barnes | 11 Feb 2020 | Reading the Bible
Today, I am continuing the series on, Reading the Bible. My last post in this series was about cultural lies. This one is about confronting people, perhaps over their dishonesty. When is it right to confront people over their sin? We’re fallen people, living in a...
by Susan Barnes | 4 Feb 2020 | Reading the Bible
Today, I am continuing the series on, Reading the Bible. I’ve had a break from these posts for a while, but I have a few more random thoughts that I’d like to share. The next few are about different aspects of truth-telling and lies. How do we take our...
by Susan Barnes | 3 Dec 2019 | Reading the Bible
Today, I am continuing the series on, Reading the Bible. This post looks at truth telling and confidentiality. During World War II many Christians hid Jews. In order to do so, they were required to engage in deceptions regarding identity papers and ration books, as...
by Susan Barnes | 26 Nov 2019 | Reading the Bible
Today, I am continuing the series on, Reading the Bible. This post looks at the purpose of the commandments. The sixth commandment tells us, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). While this seems to be an unequivocal directive, we find there are times when murder is...
by Susan Barnes | 19 Nov 2019 | Reading the Bible
Today, I am continuing the series on, Reading the Bible. This post looks at what it means to be obedient. When you listen to some Christians talk you would think Jesus said, “Perfectly obey my commands, and then I will love you.” This isn’t what Scripture teaches....
