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On the evening of December 24th, as it did on various parts of the planet, Christmas came to Lifelink Memphis.

There it was met by a unique assemblage of individuals: locals and travelers, friends and strangers, people from assorted zip codes and some who whose address was simply "the street."

I would like to take this opportunity to direct your attention to A Short Conversation With God, a post I have recently unleashed upon my blog The Ominous Comma.

It's funny and fairly meaningful. I think you might like it.

Happy Friday

-Brent

In support of the argument that 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is teaching that women should be silent in church meetings and never speak, address, or especially teach the body of Christ, some would point to 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 as another proof text.

There is no doubt that 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is one of the most debated passages in all of Scripture.  This specific passage is only one in the midst of a theology concerning women and their role in the body of Christ.  I have decided not to address the whole theology of women but mainly just this passage, along with another closely related passage in 1 Corinthians 14:33-35.  Though there are many differing views concerning these two passages, and we definitely should be willing to listen to those views, I hope to lay out at least some teaching that can help us further get our heads around t

What if you reached into your pocket one day and discovered an ATM?

Not the whole machine, but rather just the cash slot, connected wirelessly somehow to the national treasury.*

What if every time you put your hand into this pocket you received a crisp, non-counterfeit hundred dollar bill?

What if having realized the impossibility of hording a fortune so vast, you proceeded to give those bills away to everyone you met?

Would you want or need a special tee-shirt to let everyone know you were Financially Endowed?

I am not a man of nostalgia. I don’t particularly like to look back and wonder where the good ol’ days have gone. I recognise that a true disciple of the kingdom is one who brings out of his treasure both new and old (Matthew 13:52). Yet, I am one who is ever looking to keep his eyes fixed on the future, to where God is taking us. Thus, I hope you understand why I am not so stuck on reminiscing.

Christians from east and west, north and south, and everywhere else in between, should be encouraged that the ultimate crux of Christianity lies not in the cross, but rather in the resurrection. As Paul makes clear to the Corinthians, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men" (1 Cor 15:17-19).

A phrase that is very common in every Christian’s vocabulary is the “grace of God”. We hear it spoken a lot and we probably say the phrase a lot ourselves. It has become cliché for all Christians, almost as if we have known the words since our mother's womb.

Because of this, it can become all too vague and familiar, lacking real meaning in our hearts. And it is because of this that I wanted to get a fresh glimpse of God's grace, and I pray that I am able to pass on to you a new taste of God's beautiful grace.

Hebrews 4:14-16 says this:

We truly live in a “global world” today. It’s not just our little neighborhood, our city, nor even our own nation. Whereas the world of the New Testament times was the “Roman world”, the world of today is actually the whole of planet earth. Our global world is ever expanding in its technology, communication as well as its population. It is estimated that the world’s population is currently 6.7 billion people. It is amazing to note that in 1955, the world’s population was approximately 2.5 billion people.