Category: My Second Conversion

My Second Conversion: What is the Resurrection? (Part 1)

Resurrection. It is one of the few things surprisingly that Jesus and the Pharisees agreed on. The Apostle Paul would later use it in a trial before the Sanhedrin saying he was brought there because of his belief in the resurrection. This weirdly caused the Pharisees to temporarily forget that Paul was a traitor to … Continue reading My Second Conversion: What is the Resurrection? (Part 1) →

My Second Conversion: Facing Jesus (Part V)

In my last post, (sorry it has been so long) I wrote about how I believe that loving God by loving our neighbors was modeled through the life of Jesus who is our link to God. This week, I am going to try and wrap this up by showing you what that looks like. I … Continue reading My Second Conversion: Facing Jesus (Part V) →

My Second Conversion: What is Sin? (Part 1)

Sin. Sinner. Sinful. These words do not have modern secular equivalents. Even among those who are well-versed in religious language, sin is widely debated and little understood word. We could do some Hebrew/Greek word studies, but my purpose is for you to continue to come back to my blog. Nothing lowers the view count like … Continue reading My Second Conversion: What is Sin? (Part 1) →

My Second Conversion: What is Salvation? (Part 1)

Salvation. The word conjures up images of being snatched from the burning pits of eternal fire and being placed on the path of eternal bliss forever. In the Christian tradition, this means different things to different groups. The early Church's position on salvation is encapsulated in Cyprian's theology that those who remained were real and … Continue reading My Second Conversion: What is Salvation? (Part 1) →

My Second Conversion: A Meditation on Knowledge (Part II)

In the last post, I talked about what I consider to be the five pathways of knowledge. Here they are again: 1. Revelation 2. Reason 3. Empiricism 4. Experience 5. Relationship Okay, great philosophical discussion. So, what does it have to do with how I live, and how I see the truth? How useful is … Continue reading My Second Conversion: A Meditation on Knowledge (Part II) →

My Second Conversion: Facing Jesus (Part IV)

In my last post, I talked about how spirituality or lack thereof should derive from the priority established by Jesus: love God and love others as ourselves. This means there are three dimensions of love involved: Love God Love Your Neighbor Love Yourself Hmmm...is this a coincidence that three parts are involved? God exists in … Continue reading My Second Conversion: Facing Jesus (Part IV) →

My Second Conversion: A Meditation on Knowledge

This blog is based on an older reflection from nine years ago (yikes) and has been updated to reflect my more current thoughts and beliefs. It is not a continuation of Facing Jesus as that blog is still forthcoming. After reading John 1:1, I began scribbling a bunch of thoughts on knowledge and truth. As such, I … Continue reading My Second Conversion: A Meditation on Knowledge →

My Second Conversion: Facing Jesus (Part III)

If we agree, and I hope we do, that the previous checklist is not a true measure of Christian spirituality, then how do we get it right? Is there a right? Jesus summed up both the Old Testament and any other inspired writings to come with one statement: “You shall love the Lord your God … Continue reading My Second Conversion: Facing Jesus (Part III) →

My Second Conversion: Facing Jesus (Part II)

In the last post, I started a checklist of tongue-in-cheek things I used to follow to determine whether or not I was a follower of Jesus Christ. I continue it today because I am a) not done and b) having to much fun. You can see the previous list here. Do you agree with biblical … Continue reading My Second Conversion: Facing Jesus (Part II) →