Chi Rho

Here’s a symbol you often see in churches: and in cemeteries: The symbol is a sort of monogram or shorthand meaning “Christ,” and is formed from the first two letters of that word in Greek (“ΧΡΙΣΤΟ&#x03A3″). Those first two letters are, respectively, Chi (Χ) and Rho (Ρ). The letter Chi is pronounced “key” or “khee.” … Continue reading »

What’s Wrong with Some People?

I read something today that made me stop and puzzle over it: Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully. —Proverbs 28:5 I’d seen that verse many times before, but I never really saw it. Getting several bites at the apple is one of the advantages of … Continue reading »

Tools for Bible study

I was puzzled about a verse I read this morning, and decided to write about it. I also thought it might be useful to share here some of the tools that are available for doing Bible study. We live in the golden age of amateur Bible scholarship. Thanks to sites like Bible Gateway and Bible.CC, … Continue reading »

What’s the Church For?

If a curious stranger asked one of us what it was that Christians believed, some of us would stumble our way through the Apostles’ Creed (“I believe in one God, Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth…”). Others might think of John 3:16 (“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so … Continue reading »

Fascinating Data in the Bible, Yahoo Listings, Etc.

I just stumbled upon a site called OpenBible that has the most fascinating blog. I just spent about half an hour reading one article after another, and finally decided I needed to share something. Fascinating place. Give it a look. I just added its RSS feed to my Google Reader. So what am I sharing? … Continue reading »

Yousef Nadarkhani update – keep praying

The pressure is getting to Iran’s clerics, so they’ve started lying about what they’re doing: “His crime is not, as some claim, converting others to Christianity,” said Gholomali Rezvani, deputy governor of Iran’s Gilan province, where the persecuted pastor was sentenced to death by hanging. “He is guilty of security-related crimes.” Those crimes, claimed Rezvani, … Continue reading »

Bible Translation

Joel Hoffman has posted a series of articles about Bible translation at his “God Didn’t Say That” blog. A good place to get started is with this one about the false dichotomy between accuracy and readability.

Pray for Yousef Nadarkhani

Have you heard about Yousef Nadarkhani? He’s a Christian pastor in Iran who is facing state-approved murder for the “crime” of apostasy. Apostasy is turning away from a belief, either to another faith or to atheism. It’s a crime punishable by death in some (all?) countries with Islamic legal systems. In civilized places, it’s a … Continue reading »

Peter’s Act of Obedience

When Jesus, a carpenter, gave Peter, a fisherman, advice about fishing, Peter obeyed. What can we learn from him? Luke tells of Peter’s reply, when Jesus told him to put his boat out into deep water and let down his nets for a catch: Simon replied, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. … Continue reading »