I am sitting here imagining the last supper. It’s 1st century Palestine, in a room with a simple, wooden, rectangle table where Jesus and 12 disciples are seated. There are no chairs, everyone is sitting on the floor. It’s a dirt floor, the room has a low ceiling and a narrow doorway.
Eleven million is a significant number. In a week when we remember six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, let us not forget there were eleven million victims altogether because five million non-Jewish victims were also exterminated by the Nazis. This should also be a week for remembering another eleven million terrorized people – the undocumented immigrants living under an American-style terror.
It is good for us to be here. Be attentive. The Webster Dictionary defines an ‘aha moment’ as a point in time
A troubling storm has engulfed the disciples. On a rickety fisherman’s boat in the early morning hours, a violent storm with terrible winds has surrounded them. The NRSV says their boat was battered, King James says it was tossed, the NIV says it was buffeted; whatever term you prefer, the boat is getting beaten up.
The church as we know it came about when one group of believers was opposed by a dissenting group. Then it became necessary for each group to define their concepts of Christianity and to label all others heretics.
When it comes to the existence of the devil, people normally have one of two reactions: they dismiss the devil and scoff at the idea that there is such an entity, or they exalt the devil, and attribute far more to him (or it) than is deserved. In a recent Gallup poll, 70% of Americans believe in the devil. Half of those surveyed believe that he (this evil force is most often referred to in masculine terms) is a personal force, while the other half believes he is an impersonal force. Let us see what the Bible says about Satan, the devil and the evil one.
♥ Humility does not mean self-abasement, it means recognizing an Infinite power greater than our little self.