Radically Happy

  • 1 Timothy 5 Family Matters

    Questions: What is the question?”Read More” to pursue answers from First Timothy.Lord, make me a Fountain of your Love.Draw me into your PresenceAnd fill me with your Holy SpiritThat I would know you as my FatherAnd manifest the image of ChristIn this world, and the world to come.

  • 1 Timothy 4 Diet and Exercise

    “These things” also seem to be contrasted with the “fables” (perhaps because that is what the brethren remember instead!):But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself [rather] unto godliness.Becoming godly is clearly hard work — but it is worth it:For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable…

  • 1 Timothy 3 Lead? Wait!

    None of us is perfect, but we choose to affirm an impossible (but good) goal in order that we can glorify God for His mercy — through our repentance — whenever we fall short.Moreover, this seems like just a small taste of Paul’s heart, meant to encourage Timothy in the…

  • On Theocracy

    In the strictest sense, this is impossible in America, since in evangelical Protestantism (the majority religion in the U.S., as well as the most politically active) we don’t really have an organized priesthood.However, the real problem is when those who claim to speak for God are also in charge of…

  • 1 Timothy 2 Got To Pray

    So for now, I’m going to stubbornly stick to my tiny little interpretation of this one particular facet of God’s will, and see how far it gets us in this chapter.To start with, what is the truth he wants us to know, that is intimately tied to our salvation?For [there…

  • 1 Timothy 1 Charge!

    Alas, so few people (on either side of the issue) bother to pay attention to the full context of what Paul is commanding: the Right obsesses about the Law and ignores Love, while the Left does the opposite.The shared tragedy of both sides is that they have lost sight of…

  • Amos 9 Sift Lord

    Rather, I am tempted to see this as referring to the diaspora and exile, which only those who cling fast to their God will survive (as a people).Though, to be sure, the passage does seem to bespeak a more immediate judgement — especially on those who deny it:All the sinners…

  • Amos 8 Calling it Qayits

    And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will…

  • Amos 7 Plumb Worn Out

    Amen.Amos 7:1-17Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, [it was] the latter growth after the king’s mowings.And it came to pass, [that] when they had made an end of eating the…

  • Amos 6 A Dis-Eased Population

    for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:In other words, they have treated morality as a something they can construct to serve their own hearts, based on their own power and wisdom:Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not…

  • Amos 5 Seek, To Live

    Amen.Amos 5:1-27Hear ye this word which I take up against you, [even] a lamentation, O house of Israel.If the previous chapters foreshadowed judgement, this chapter makes it sound like judgement has already occurred:The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; [there…

  • Amos 3-4 Crime and Punishment

    Questions: What is the question?”Read More” to pursue answers from the Prophet Amos.Lord, make me a Fountain of your Love.Draw me into your PresenceAnd fill me with your Holy SpiritThat I would know you as my FatherAnd manifest the image of ChristIn this world, and the world to come. Amen.Amos…

  • DiaBlogue: My Bad

    As I like to say, “anger is a great stop sign, but a lousy street sign”: it tells you that something is wrong, but not where.In this case, I concede that the underlying problem is mine: I had some fundamentally mistaken assumptions about the issues of our diablogue and the…

  • Amos 2 Lyin’ of Judah

    Questions: Why does God punish us? Is He fair? What have we done to Him? What has He done for us? Have we despised His gifts? Do we think we can get away with it? “Read More” to pursue answers from the Prophet Amos. Technorati Tags: amos, bible, judgement, prophets,…

  • Amos 1 Payback

    Questions: How do prophets get their start? Why does God speak to us? What does He want to say? What ticks Him off? Whom is He angry with? For what? What’s He gonna do about it? “Read More” to pursue answers from the Prophet Amos. Technorati Tags: amos, bible, judgement,…

  • Joel 3 Judgment Day

    Questions: On what basis does God judge the nations? Do they deserve it? Have they asked for it? Does He play favorites? At what price? What is the fruit? “Read More” to pursue answers from the Prophet Joel. Technorati Tags: bible, joel, judgement, prophets

  • Joel 2 What A Day

    Questions: Is God’s day coming a good thing? Should we be alarmed? Is it His fault? Should we repent? How? Why? Is God really good? In what way? Do we need to call on Him? Will we? “Read More” to pursue answers from the Prophet Joel. Technorati Tags: christianity, joel,…

  • Stoned, Part II: Un-Stoned

    Continued from “Three Stones“… [I open my eyes. I am lying with my head on Jesus lap. I am a child, perhaps a tween. We are in a garden — beneath the cross. It is early morning, but already hot. A light mist blows from somewhere, cooling us. It is…

  • Joel 1 Listen up, Grasshopper

    Questions: Do we seek God amidst tragedy? What does He have to say to us? Is He responsible? How should we respond? Will we? “Read More” to pursue answers from the Prophet Joel. Technorati Tags: christianity, joel, prophets

  • Welcome to 2Transform.US

    Alas, parting is such sorrow, but time marches forward, and all those other cliches. Yes, I finally made the plunge and moved into the 21st-century. For those long-suffering readers who’ve been dying to leave comments, now you can — so please do!