I. 1. ✝️ “God is love” is not a sentiment—it’s ontology When John says “God is love” (1 John 4:8), he’s not saying God has love as a quality; he’s saying love describes God’s very being. Biblically, love (agapē) is not an abstract feeling but
I. 1. 🏠 Shared Habitat: Dwelling in the Fear of the LORD After a date where the receipt for lunch totaled $31.91 the association of those numbers jumped out at me immediately. 31 + 91. The Proverbs 31 woman and the Psalm 91 person who dwells with God in the shadow
I. 🧠 The Wise Woman of Tekoa 📖 2 Samuel 14:14 ““We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and He devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.” This
I. 1. Growth Is Not Instant Anywhere in the Body Especially not where transformation happens No part of the body grows by bypass. The fastest systems (nervous reflexes, adrenaline responses) are not the systems that build a person. The systems responsible for formation—bones, muscles, immune memory, and especially digestion—
I. 1. The Core Text: James 1:21 📖 “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” “Putting away moral filth” isn’t religious window-cleaning —it’s a decisive, embodied act tied to repentance, formation, and allegiance.
Matthew 26:6-13 - While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant.
I. 1. The Strategy Is Not Corruption First, but Dehumanization In the 1973 film The Exorcist, a younger priest, Father Karras, asks the seasoned exorcist Father Merrin why the demon has chosen to possess a young girl. Merrin’s response articulates one of the most profound theological truths ever voiced
I. 1. The Third-Century Plagues: A World Coming Apart During the 3rd century, the Roman world was hit by at least two catastrophic pandemics: * The Antonine Plague (late 2nd century spillover, likely smallpox) * The Cyprian Plague (c. AD 249–262) Contemporary sources (including Cyprian of Carthage and Dionysius of Alexandria)
I. 1. Jacob on the Run: Humanity Under a Just Judgment Jacob functions not merely as an individual patriarch but as a representative human—adam writ small—and the wrestling scene in Genesis 32 becomes a compressed anthropology and soteriology. Jacob is fleeing a threat that is entirely justified. Esau’
I. 1. The Biological Pattern: Use It or Lose It In nature, vision is metabolically expensive. Eyes require constant energy, neural processing, and upkeep. When light ceases to be useful, evolution does not preserve sight out of sentimentality. Well-documented examples: * Cavefish (e.g., Astyanax mexicanus) Born with rudimentary eyes that
I. 1. The Call to Leave: From Command to Choice There is a deep and intentional biblical resonance between Ruth leaving her people and Abraham leaving his land and kin. Scripture is not merely repeating a motif; it is refining it. Ruth’s story reads as a later, embodied commentary
I was curious to explore how the Enuma Elish, sometimes lauded as reliable simply because it is more ancient than the Torah, approaches the concept of relationship between humans and the divine and then contrast that to the correcting view of the latter text. I. 1. Enuma Elish: Humanity in