The Avengers and the Body

Posted on July 25, 2012 by jim0211

I wrote an earlier post that looked at a spiritual theme in the Avengers movie. That one had something for both the lost and Christians, so I posted it on both blogs. There’s another theme that really only applies to Christians, and it only really changes the end. Here is the post again, but with a slightly different ending. Continue reading →

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The Avengers and the Individual

Posted on July 19, 2012 by jim0211

The Avengers is one of the best superhero movies ever made. Like some other recent superhero movies, what made it so good wasn’t just the spectacular adventure, but the personal stories intertwined with that adventure. Real characters that develop as the story unfolds, adding a literary depth to the well-crafted adventure. In this case, a key theme was how a bunch of diverse and independent characters came together to battle something bigger than all of them, and how they ultimately succeeded. There’s was a success born not only from physical power, but from a paradox ultimately more powerful than even the tesseract. The seed for this paradox was planted near the beginning, during Loki’s speech. Continue reading →

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A Definition of Discipleship

Posted on July 7, 2012 by jim0211

Update: The ideas presented here are expanded to include seeing God, in addition to hearing Him, starting in this post.

In the Great Commission in Matthew, Jesus clearly commands His church to make disciples. While a necessary step to making disciples is to work with the Holy Spirit to make believers from the lost, it’s clear that we’re not to stop there. In fact, the church is to continue making sure that those who accept the Lord’s call grow in their dedication and Kingdom effectiveness. To be effective in this work, we need a Christian definition of discipleship. So let’s start by looking at Scripture for insights. Consider one of the most clear statements made by Jesus on this matter: Continue reading →

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Hoffman Covered Bridge

Posted on June 26, 2012 by jim0211

My latest WWP entry has been posted to my VR site here. Same image, but more text than on the WWP site, including some spiritual perspective as I wonder about other uses for such a location. The theme was “Heritage”, and covered bridges seemed to have something to say for this area.

Took this VR while we were getting ready to head up to my folks for Father’s Day, which was the next day. Although the WWP entry is fairly standard, the blog entry experiments a little with adding spiritual perspective.

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A Place for Spiritual Explorations

Posted on June 13, 2012 by jim0211

All over America, people find creative ways to share things they are passionate about. One way they do that is to build museums. Often designed to show large or elaborate collections, many are more modest. Historical museums abound, but it’s also common to find sites with different themes: railroads, arctic life, steam engines, clocks, board games, etc. (In fact, there are more museums in the U. S. than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined!) The best are more than just exhibits, they engage people in creative ways that encourage them to take something when they leave, something more than photographs or a trinket. With all these examples of people sharing what’s important to them, why is there so little representation of Christian spiritual truths? There are many religious museums, but where are the exhibits that teach spiritual truths, instead of scientific ones? This may seem an odd idea, but I believe that when one considers the amount of parable and other creative expressions of spiritual truths in the Bible, it shouldn’t seem odd at all.

What follows is an imaginary tale of a family visiting such a place, told from the father’s perspective.

This week on the Williams family update: we visit the The Gate Museum. Continue reading →

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The Rich Young Ruler at Pentecost

Posted on June 2, 2012 by jim0211

The account of Jesus encountering the “rich young ruler” is often used to illustrate the spiritual difficulties that result from wealth. But in reading it this way, I’ve often struggled with certain parts, especially the version in Mark. Why did Mark point out Jesus’s love for the man, considering what follows? Why did Jesus give the man a work to do, when we know that works can’t save? And is it impossible for a rich person to get into Heaven, or is it one more thing “possible with God”? These puzzled me for years, until I prayed about it.

I began to see that the man asked Jesus how he could get himself into Heaven, and Jesus showed him the answer by giving him something he could not do. Of course, it’s impossible for us to get into Heaven on our own. But rather than stop with what’s impossible with man, we need to continue on to see what’s possible with God…

Continue reading →

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Picturing Satan Disguising Himself as an Angel of Light

Posted on May 16, 2012 by jim0211

In pondering the ways Satan deceives us, it’s clear that he will sometimes use tactics that are not blatantly evil — even seemingly good things can still be from him. Separately, I’ve recently run across the use of UV-fluorescent invisible inks to make full-color pictures that can be seen only under UV light. Seems like this printing technology could be used to illustrate the spiritual truth. Continue reading →

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Walking on Dry Land

Posted on April 30, 2012 by jim0211

Being led by the Lord implies that we are moving. Although it’s important to know how to wait on the Lord and to be still, sometimes we need to move to understand His will for us. And sometimes we need to show that we trust Him, and not just say it. The Israelites were faced with just this sort of situation right after leaving Egypt… Continue reading →

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Corban University Paths

Posted on March 30, 2012 by jim0211

My latest WWP entry is duplicated here. This entry is substantially the same as that hosted on the WWP site, although somewhat higher resolution. The theme was “Paths”, and I chose to take a VR at the center of Corban University, where a lot of paths converge. By locating near the prayer chapel, it gave an opportunity to explore non-physical paths, too.

This was a pretty easy VR to take. My daughter hung out with me while taking it, which was great. Her dorm is behind and to the right of the prayer chapel, so it was pretty convenient.

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On the Plains

Posted on March 29, 2012 by jim0211

Our spiritual walks have many ups and downs. We speak of mountaintop experiences, where we draw especially near to God and His presence is especially manifest to us. We think of the Transfiguration, and the glory and peace of being in His very presence. During such times we feel as if our spiritual batteries are being recharged, and we’re ready to face the valleys of life. We think of those valleys in terms of the “valley of death”, and know that our Lord is with us even there. These are the times of Job, when we find that His presence is especially close during times of trial.

So we see the Lord walking with us on the mountain tops and valleys, and even carrying us from time to time. But also consider the boring, featureless, daily plains of life.  Continue reading →

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