THEODYSSEY - welcome fellow travellers!

Notes: Ref. Stanza 1, see Colossians 1:12-14. Paul emphasizes that when the Father rescues us through Christ, we are placed then and there in the Kingdom of Jesus, "although" Heaven certainly awaits us!

Ref. Stanza 2, see Galatians 4:25-26. Here, Paul refers to the "Jerusalem that is above" as our "mother", that is, the place from which our faith comes. The Seed of Abraham, Christ himself, is from that place (Galatians 3:14).
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This ought to be an intersting read: http://ignatiusinsight.com/authors/gkchesterton.asp

Why do I get the feeling Chesterton is the Theodore Roosevelt of Christian belief? Maybe it's the similar look, verve, nerve, zest for life, intellectual agility, daring, and strong convictions.

Today is Yom Kippur on the Jewish Calendar, the holiest of the Jewish festivals. Here's a good primer about it:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_meaning_does_Yom_Kippur_have_for_Jews

One phrase from the Wiki article that I like: "There is no commerce of any kind in the Jewish areas".

There is a certain part of our daily repentance-walk wherein we need to dispense with our own means of travelling. There is more than dependence here. Jesus is telling us to walk with him. Side-by-side. Step… Continue

It helps me to think that holiness is respecting God the Holy Spirit who lives in us. By doing this daily and in a conscious way, we demonstrate receptivity to Him our Annointing--and this empowers us to obey the two greatest Commandments of loving God and neighbor and as ourselves.

How do we show respect to the Spirit of Christ? St. Paul gives us a powerful outline in Phillpians 4:8-9. These "whatsoever things are" are opened-ended, yet specific. Our obedience to the moment, from a clean heart… Continue

Although many of us, myself included, do not have the time to study in an in-depth manner the nature of our "Hebrew Roots" in Messiah Jesus [i.e., the grafted-in way non-Jews are saved], there is a certain framework that, I think, can help us. Namely, to what extent is our life in Christ an exclamation point or a question mark. I'll call these the ? and ! schools.

A backdrop for this is Psalm 101:2a: "I will be careful to lead a blameless life--when will you come to me?"

A blamel… Continue