Snapshots and Synapses

I read an interesting statistic: 60% of professing born-again Christians believe that Buddism, Islam or Hinduism are equally valid paths to heaven, no belief in Jesus required. This is in stark contrast to historical Christian doctrine. Is it a heresy or an evolution of thought?  Now I don't doubt the sincerity of people on either side of this topic, those who believe Jesus is the only way to heaven and those who believe in multiple paths. I have friends who I know desire spiritual growth who are not Christian and would not profess to be Christian. I don't doubt their sincerity. The truth is by it's very nature exclusive, so anything that is not true is false. So sincerity only goes so far, and if not aligned with the truth, some people are sincerely wrong. This is written with no disrespect for others, but it is meant to challenge thoughts that maybe people have accepted without thinking. There are many other religious belief systems, and I don't plan to focus on any o...

Christian Unity is a beautiful thing, but should it be the goal of Christian Communities? A couple years ago I wrote about Christian Unity , and having just re-read that blog post, I believe it still relevant. So I’m going to ask a question and request that you take a few moments to ponder an answer before reading further: Will a Christian community be more likely to find Unity if the people love one another, or would people be more likely to love one another if seeking Unity? Take a few moments to consider before reading further.  I believe that Unity for the sake of Unity is a symptom of a religious spirit , something that can draw us away from who we are called to be. Focusing on Unity as a goal will instead destroy the love that should characterize an healthy community of believers. The call for unity could easily silence individuals who may feel like they are unable to express a different viewpoint from others or ask a difficult question. Remaining quiet is to remain unknown, ...

With one exception that I'll get to later, I've never known anyone who has led a sin-free life. I know for sure that I haven't. I recall hearing one pastor claim that they "haven't sinned in 30 years!", and I immediately had the thought: "You just did."  Believe it or not, a Christian's goal is not to live sin-free. Now, I realize that this statement may shock people and seems a little counterintuitive especially since many religions promote the idea of reaching perfection. There are many Christian circles that promote this same ideal, but at the heart of Christianity, there is a different goal. I'm not saying that anyone who desires to live sin-free is a "bad Christian" or an untrustworthy person. I've been that person. I'm just saying that the goal of a Christian should not be to live sin-free. Instead, it's a by-product of reaching our goal. Why would you want to be without sin? So let's be honest: why do you want...

I mentioned in the  first part  of this blog series that there is a purpose to church and that God tells us we need church. So why do we need church and what is its purpose?  I claimed to have an answer that many pastors do not, which is admittedly a pretty bold statement, but I trust what my friend has told me when he has challenged pastors with this question. Still, there is no scientific poll surveying clergy that I’ve investigated, but I am going to assume it's true based on the lack of real depth I've seen in biblical teachings that could easily be mistaken as a TED Talk. But if I assume good intentions, I would say that most pastors see an inherent value in church and admire a beauty in it. However, when asked the question “What is the purpose of church?”, it's possible that they could be caught off-guard. Similar to a child asking a parent “Why is the sky blue?”, they know the sky is a beautiful blue and enjoy gazing upon it without ever wondering the source of it’...

Why should anyone go to church? Isn't it enough to love God and love others? And aren’t so many churches filled with hypocrites and money-grabbers? I get more from reading my Bible than hearing someone speak a dumbed down or hyped up sermon spattered with a few Bible verses, so why should I waste my time in a church service? Besides, I have been hurt and betrayed by church people. Why subject myself to further pain? Around this time of year over 20 years ago I was given a series of visions that showed how many people would leave church. That doesn’t seem so strange now, but even when I wrote why  I don’t want to go to church , it was a new phenomenon. Re-reading my post, it rings more true today. I can give you the bottom line:  We go to church because God says we need it.  My walk with Him is stronger today because I listened, albeit reluctantly, and I understand the purpose of church as a result. There are pastors who can’t make that claim. I know that for a fact becaus...

How Should Christians View Jews? I'll start answering this question by pointing out that the most effective lie is a half-truth. The half-truth leaves holes in between the whole truth, making it believable yet incomplete, the vacuum between facts pulling in all sorts of false assumptions. That is why the US court system makes witnesses swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It does not ask someone to tell "their truth" because the truth is true regardless of how someone perceives it. The truth is not subjective, changing with the perspective of the individual; rather, it is objective, unchanging and factual. Artemis II was not created with opinions or subjective perspectives. It's mission was successful because scientists applied objective facts when building and designing the spacecraft and its flight plan. In the same way, your opinion and my opinion about the Jewish people don't matter from a biblical perspective. Yes, there are dif...

I believe the Lord told me how to prepare for the “End Times”. Now to be technically correct, we have been in the End Times since Jesus ascension to heaven, but now we are near the end of the Age. There’s so much I could elaborate on that topic, but I believe it might take away from instead encouraging you to read this handbook for the end of the age . Written nearly a decade ago, it remains true and relevant to the world we live in now.

 Rather than writing something new, I thought it better to revisit a post from 2021:

There’s a story in the Book of Acts about an Ethiopian man who is reading from the Book of Isaiah. The man was a court official, representing Queen Candace, so he would have been both intelligent and educated, considered competent to represent his kingdom, but he was unable to understand the Scripture until God sent Philip to explain it to him. Phillip, led by the Holy Spirit, approached the man and asked: “Do you understand what you are reading?”. The man replied: “How can I, unless someone guides me?” We can often feel that way, and people can blindly accept the teachings of a so-called Bible expert, looking for someone like Philip to explain things to them. In the process, we can lose sight of Who should be our Teacher. Now I’m not saying to disregard what others have to teach us; Proverbs tells us to seek many counselors  in the pursuit of wisdome. However, I’ve spoken with more than one person who sounded like that Ethiopian man, not knowing how to understand because they hea...

How should we pray? Before answering that, I believe we should ask ourselves why are we asking? Do we want to know the best format or the best formula for prayer? Or maybe we desire to make our prayers more powerful. Perhaps we want to know why some people's prayers are answered but ours are not.  Some people may quickly respond: we should say the Lord's Prayer! Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped praying, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.” Jesus told them, “When you pray, say this: Father, let your name be kept holy. Let your kingdom come. Give us our bread day by day. Forgive us as we forgive everyone else. Don’t allow us to be tempted.” Luke 11:1-4  But some people looking for just the right formula may question this. Should we say the Lord's Prayer like we do in church or like Luke showed us in the passage above? Or should we follow the pattern in Matthew below? “When you pray, don’t be like hy...

The United States of America had obviously not been formed when the Bible was authored, so “USA” and “America” are not words you’ll find in the Bible. However, that doesn’t mean that Bible prophecy is missing key points or that the Bible doesn’t have anything to say about the United States of America. It does mean that if there are one or more prophecies about America in the Bible, the prophecy will not clearly name the US. I have written before about America in the Bible. When I wrote America in the End Times ( Part 1 and Part 2 ) in 2021, I was concerned about the growing division in America. I also referenced Isaiah’s prophecy against Ethiopia (Isaiah 18). At the time I recall thinking of Ethiopia as a country, but believing Isaiah’s prophecy was about America because it referred to an unnamed country beyond the borders of Ethiopia. I have since realized that “Ethiopia” is the English translation for “Cush”, and that Cush refers to the land occupied by the descendants of Cush, whic...

“Why God?” is a cry people often make when they question why God allowed something to happen, but that is not what this short discourse is about. It’s actually more foundational, and while I’m not planning to prove anything, I am going to briefly describe why it’s logical to believe in God. While belief in God requires faith, it is not blind faith. There are multiple “logical” arguments that provide a rationale for belief in God and one practical decision matrix that even a child could understand. (I was that child!) Gr. Logos - word, discourse, reason  I don’t think it coincidence that Jesus was described by his close friend John as Logos. See John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word [gr. Logos], and the Word [gr. Logos] was with God, and the Word [gr. Logos] was fully God. These logical arguments for the existence of God are briefly described below. Cosmological Argument Gr. Cosmos - the order of the world or universe  aka Unmoved Mover or Prime Mover; the concept that cause...

I was asked a question: “Do you think Adam and Eve’s decisions to keep the commandments before perceiving  good and evil had the same value as after?” It’s an interesting question, but before it can be answered, we need to look at it more closely. Value is based on perception. In economic terms, the value of anything is based on its perceived worth. We don’t buy something for $500 that we believe is only worth $5.  So the question is inherently complicated by my follow-on question: “Who evaluates the worth?” From one person’s perspective, there may be more value in obeying when we know what we’re giving up, when we perceive something good that we won’t get by following God’s commandments.  In other words, we think we know what is good because we have decided it is good, and we can often label something “good” that is in reality a temporary and deceitful pleasure that is ultimately bad for us. For example, when Adam and Eve ate from the fruit they thought it would be good ...

So what is Christmas all about? We know it's not about Santa, Die Hard or Christmas RomCom movies, and we can sometimes reflect on how Christ came to save us from the consequences of our wrong-doings (aka - "sin"). Theologically, this means Christ came to atone for our sins, meaning He took away our sins and chose to take the punishment on our behalf. This is all true, but is this why Christ came to earth?  Yes, He came to atone for our sins. Colosians 1:13-14 says: God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of his Son, whom he loves. His Son paid the price to free us, which means that our sins are forgiven. But more than that, He came to end the rebellion of Man (see Daniel 9:21-24 ) and to bring the reconciliation described in  Colossians 1:21-22 : Once you were separated from God. The evil things you did showed your hostile attitude. But now Christ has brought you back to God by dying in his physical body. He did this so that you...

Published in paperback on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Shepherds-Letter-Mitchell-Malloy/dp/1973415933/ Copyright © 2007 Mitchell Malloy All rights reserved. ISBN: 9781973415930 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS All our talents come as a gift from above, and all we do is to imitate the Great Giver with gifts of our own. Soli Deo Gloria!

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...