opinions and musings

Recovering the Biblical Meaning of Hell The word most often used by Jesus and translated "hell" in our English Bibles, is actually the Greek word Gehenna. Gehenna referred to a literal place in Jerusalem, much like we would say "Central Park" or "Fisherman’s Wharf" to designate places within New York City or San Francisco. This place Gehenna in the first century was a valley just outside Jerusalem known as the "valley of Hinnom". It was a place used to burn garbage and the fires were continually burning there. It was also a place filled with worms and maggots feeding on the garbage.   Not a pretty picture.   During the time of Israel's Kings, hundreds of years prior to the time of Jesus, this same valley was a place where worshippers of Molech sacrificed their children to the false god by burning them alive. This is referred to in the book of 2 Kings 23:10. Jeremiah prophesies three times in his book that Jerusalem will be destroyed...

Relational church is something my wife and I have been involved in for the past eight years.  I use the term “relational” church rather than “organic” or “house” church for a reason.  The covenant people of God – those who have received forgiveness of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – they make up the universal church.   The church is people, not buildings and not meetings.  Reading through the New Testament, one realizes that the relational commands such as “love one another”, “forgive one another”, “bear one another’s burdens” etc. can only be carried out in the context of a small group of believers who are committed to the Lord and to one another.  The NT letters were written to clusters of believers who were gathering in homes to celebrate the Risen Christ all across the Roman Empire.  The letters were often circulated among these small clusters within a given city or region.  So we have the letter to the believers at Rome, the letter...