Ari Umble

✨👁 👁✨ In the Gutter Staring at Stars: How Jesus Heals the Blind [3 parts]

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” - Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) This line is a remarkably biblical metaphor that captures three deeply scriptural realities: 1. Shared human fallenness (the gutter) 2. Upward-directed hope and vision (the stars)

👑⚖️📜🩸✝️ Covenants of Binding Love: Blessings of the Lesser [6 parts]

I. I. What Is a Covenant? A covenant is a formally ratified, relationally binding agreement that establishes obligations, identity, and future between parties. It includes: * Defined parties * Stipulations * Blessings and curses * Oath formula * Often a sign * Often blood (life pledged to the agreement) 🩸 It is stronger than a contract. A

📜📜⚖️ The Cross as Place of Divine Lawsuit: God’s Case Against a Covenant-Breaking Nation [4 parts]

I. 1️⃣ The Setting: Crucifixion at Golgotha All four Gospels place Jesus between two criminals at Golgotha. Tracking the two criminals crucified with Jesus of Nazareth, we need to harmonize the four Gospel accounts and pay close attention to sequencing, tone shifts, and time markers. 🕰️ * Gospel of Matthew 27:38,

✨🧭👑 The Legend of Prester John: When Hope Becomes Fuel for Self-Deception [3 parts]

The legend of Prester John is one of the most fascinating intersections of myth, geopolitics, eschatology, and devotional psychology in medieval Christianity. It is not merely a curiosity—it is a diagnostic window into the medieval Christian imagination. Let’s examine three dimensions: 1. What the legend was 2. What

📜🔗🧎‍♂️ Covenant, Curse, and Coercion: Reading Servanthood Honestly [2 parts]

We cannot read the English word “servant” in Scripture without confronting the fact that many of the underlying Hebrew and Greek terms refer to actual enslavement — often chattel, sexual, and coercive. 📜 * Chattel slavery is a brutal system of bondage where enslaved individuals are legally defined as personal property (chattel) of

(B) 🏠🧠🛐👑📜🗣Resources of Remembrance: How We Can Mimic the Function of the 1st Century Church Without Copying Form [4 parts]

Most modern Christian “speaking” would feel structurally foreign to a 1st-century ekklēsia gathering — even if the content overlaps. Let’s examine what could be reasonably done to bridge the gap while bearing in mind that they did what was acceptable/expected in their day and we'd be

(A) 👑⚖️🛐 Prayer: A Coherent Juridical Narrative Spanning the Canon [5 parts]

Looking over some paperwork for a CASA case I was surprised to see the word "prayer" used. Asking a supervisor about its use, I was fortunate enough to find one who had a history in legal and she informed me the use of the word prayer is somewhat

✨🪨👑 The Relationship Between Faith, Confession, and Trust [4 parts]

I. 🕊 FAITH I. Hebrew (Old Testament) 1.(’emunah) From the root אמן (’aman) — “to be firm, reliable, steady.” Core idea: firmness, steadiness, fidelity, reliability. This is not primarily mental belief. It is relational constancy. Key observations: * Used of God’s faithfulness (e.g., Deut. 32:4). * Used of a person’

🧬🧠❤️📢⏸️🙏 Myelination: Why Young People Should Be Encouraged by Their Limitations [5 parts]

I. What Is Myelination? Myelination is the process by which nerve fibers (axons) are wrapped in a fatty insulating layer called myelin. Think of it like insulation on electrical wiring ⚡: * Unmyelinated axon → slow, inefficient signal transmission * Myelinated axon → fast, precise, reliable signal transmission Myelin allows signals to “jump” along the

(B) 🐑🧠🐑 Known by the Shepherd, Not Just Known by the Crowd [3 parts]

Placing Matthew 7:21–23 beside John 10:14 a striking truth emerges: The central issue is not whether you know the Shepherd’s name, but whether the Shepherd knows yours. These passages interpret one another. I. The Two Statements Matthew 7:21–23 — “I never knew you” “Not everyone

(A) 👁🧩👑 Andrew Overlooked: What This Apostle's Role Reveals About the Scandal of Christ [4 parts]

I want to take some time to reflect on the Apostle Andrew and his Rabbi prior to Jesus. Andrew’s statement, “We have found the Messiah,” is not casual enthusiasm. It is a declaration that the entire trajectory of Israel’s story has reached its turning point. And this is

⛓️🩸⚖️ ✝️ ⚖️🩸⛓️ A Black Man's View on Biblical Slavery: The Theft and Restoration of Agency [3 parts]

I. ⚖️ The Paradox: From Enslaved by Men to Enslaved by Love For a Black man in the United States whose ancestors were enslaved, the call of the Kingdom—to become a “slave of all”—is not an abstract metaphor. It is loaded. It carries blood memory. 🩸 It touches history, dignity,