Acts of the Apostles - This is the second half of Luke’s history, the first part being the Gospel which bears his name. Again we see a meticulous historian at work, telling the history of the beginning of the church in chronological order and anchoring it all to places and people in the secular world. … Continue reading Introduction to the New Testament -2
Author: Bob Goodnough
What do you want to be when you grow up?
When I was growing up in the 1950’s, the older generation had scraped and scrabbled to survive the depression and they wanted their children to have a better life. The key to that was to get a good education so you could be someone who could make a living without working hard. Maybe that wasn’t … Continue reading What do you want to be when you grow up?
Canada Day Rain
As my dear wife says, times have changed. For several months the forecast promised rain that never materialized. Today the forecast promised 1 mm and we have received 15 so far.
Introduction to the New Testament – 1
The Gospels Matthew - The writer calls himself Levi; the other gospels call him Matthew, perhaps a name given to him when he became a disciple of Jesus. He was a publican before his call, a man who collected taxes on all merchandise transported along the road where he was stationed near Capernaum. This was … Continue reading Introduction to the New Testament – 1
Robotic Christians?
Am I nothing more than a robot? Is every detail of my life preplanned and manipulated by an unseen hand, right down to the moment and circumstances of the end of my life? That made sense to Zeno the Stoic, to Augustine, to Mohammed, to Buddha and to John Calvin. Some people find it comforting … Continue reading Robotic Christians?
Hope
Ah hope! What would love be, stripped of the encouraging smiles, that teach us to look behind the dark clouds of today, for the golden beams that are to gild the morrow. —Susanna Moodie
Blood lines
I received my DNA test results yesterday, then signed up for a 14 day free trial with ancestry.ca. I spent the rest of the day filling in the gaps in my family tree with the information they already have on file from kinfolk near and far. It's a fascinating exercise. I am a mix of … Continue reading Blood lines
African Americans and the Bible
The January - February issue of Christianity Today carried an article entitled Black Bible Reading Endures. I would like to share some of the statistics and a couple of quotes from that article. Twice as many African Americans as other Americans to say that Bible reading is crucial to their daily routine. They are twice … Continue reading African Americans and the Bible
Introduction to the Old Testament – conclusion
The Writings Psalms - The hymn book of Israel and the source of many hymns of the church. Half of them were written by David and reveal his love for God and for the people of God. Some are raw with emotion, some are prophetic. If you look at the headings you will find that … Continue reading Introduction to the Old Testament – conclusion
The church as the most important family
There are serious consequences of losing a sense of family within the church. . . We assume that the nuclear family can meet this need, and yet some of the loneliest, most isolated people in our communities are married with children, often so frenetically busy with child rearing and/or caring for aging parents that they … Continue reading The church as the most important family
