Snapshots and Synapses

Death passes over Resurrection life revealed Future Hosanna One of my favorite story-tellers is also one of my lease favorite poets: J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord Of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy. As I understand it, Tolkien longed to be a poet, but when I read the LOTR years ago, I learned to skim over the stanzas of embedded poetry, wishing the author had only written in prose. Yet here I am writing a haiku to summarize the poetry of Passover Palm Sunday. Today is that day. April 13, 2025 is both Passover and Palm Sunday, and to some small degree I can appreciate the artistry of the Ultimate Poet, Who is Sovereign and for Whom nothing is merely coincidental. The Author of our lives has carefully chosen each of us to live at this time in history, and He reminds us that the feast days of Hebrew Scriptures shall be the feast days of Jesus’ Millennial reign.   You see, Passover is a celebration of Yahweh’s protection for God’s people in Egypt; the blood of a lamb caused the Angel of ...

A summary of Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon, the wisest man of all time, reflecting upon man, the world and life’s meaning.   What benefit do people get from all the effort which they exert on earth? Of all that has ever been accomplished, what has been truly worthwhile? So I decided to look at all options and discern for myself what was worth pursuing in life, in the limited years man has on this world.  Should I seek wisdom and knowledge? Should I pursue self-indulgent pleasure or material wealth?  I realize that wisdom is preferable to folly, but just as one dead fly in perfume ointment gives off of a rancid stench, so a little folly can outweigh much wisdom. I have come to understand that pursuing carnal pleasure or possessions is ultimately folly.  If an iron ax head is blunt, and a workman does not sharpen its edge. He must exert a great deal of effort; so wisdom has the advantage of giving success. For wisdom provides protection, just as money provides ...

So as to not be too heady as well as lay the groundwork for this particular blog, what does dichotomy mean? According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, dichotomy is: a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities [e.g.] the dichotomy between theory and practice also : the process or practice of making such a division [e.g.] dichotomy of the population into two opposed classes So “dichotomy” is simply a division within one thing, most often in the sense of polar opposites.  And what is “being”? As a verb, it’s just the act of existing while when used as a noun it a living thing. You and I are beings, and we are both currently acting out our existence. So the rather intimidating title “The Dichotomy of Being” is simply two contradictory beings in one entity. Now again, I don’t want to get too deep, but words are important and I couldn’t find a word I liked better than “dichotomy” to describe what our existence is like because as believers we are...

When I was a young adult, I was intrigued with the words of Winston Churchill: “The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that, when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are often no longer strong.” Would you agree or disagree with this statement? It made perfect sense to me at that time. Compromise was often needed to operate from a position of strength, and I could do more good if I positioned myself to a place of power, where the strong make the rules. Compromise was simply a negotiating tactic to gain or secure power, and if I valued anything above strength, including justice, then it would eventually weaken my position. Churchill lived out his beliefs as evidenced by his decision to bomb French ships during WWII at Mers-el-Kebir. It was debatably a masterful, strategic move that prevented the French fleet from falling into the hands of Nazi Germany, but we’ll never know what “could’ve been” if Churchill hadn’t done that. W...

With the growing conflict in the Middle East, the eyes of the world have been turning toward Israel. So it was no surprise when I was asked the question: do I believe that Modern Israel is the same Israel that’s talked about in the Bible. That question is slightly complicated and one that causes some debate in Christian circles. Understanding the complexity of the question To answer this question some people may argue that we must first draw a distinction between Modern Israel and Ancient Israel. There is no doubt that Ancient Israel is all throughout Scripture, and we know historically it was destroyed as a nation. The people of that ancient nation were scattered throughout the world just as God foretold as early as Deuteronomy, one of the first books in the Bible. God warned that this would happen to Israel as consequence of their sins. Known as the diaspora, the Jewish people wandered for thousands of years without a land to call their own and yet they maintained an identity. I don’...