Simple Majesty

By Matt Horan

Paul seemed to get a lot of questions about the afterlife.  His responses always betrayed his desire to talk about other things, like making disciples and remaining a faithful church, but knowing how distressed the churches were about it, he occasionally would write to them with some answers, such as in 1Corinthians 15.  The question that seemed to be most on their minds here was: “What is going to happen to the people who have died before Jesus comes back?”

The disciples of Jesus Christ believed that he would be coming back soon—in their lifetime.  So when followers of Jesus started dying before he came back, they had a theological dilemma on their hands.  What will happen to people who are not still alive to greet Jesus when he returns?

Good Rejoicers

By Matt Horan

I love movies.  Most of the communication between my brothers and sisters involves quotes from movies.  There’s a perfect movie quote for every situation, and when the four of us are together, you can feel confident that one of us will come up with it.

I’m With Him

By Matt Horan

Let’s journey back to the first century for a few moments, to the moment that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.  John has just told the gathering crowd that being a descendant of Abraham is not enough to help them escape the “coming wrath.”  He says, “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

That can’t be good.

Jesus Christ: Wedding Crasher

By Matt Horan

My first date with my wife did not go entirely according to plan.  We were in college, and I’d invited her over to my fraternity house to cook her dinner on this new deck we’d just finished building.  So I spent all afternoon cleaning my gross fraternity house, and have the place all ready to impress a girl.  Susan shows up, walks out onto the deck, and it started pouring.

What Would Santa Do?

By Matt Horan

The Council of Nicaea in 325AD was one of the most important church meetings ever.  A man named Arius had gained many followers by teaching that Jesus was a mere man, no more divine than anyone else.  A great council was called to answer the question: “Who was Jesus?”

After Arius spoke, one little-known bishop, listed as attender #151 in the roll of the council, from the poor town of Myra in present day Turkey, was so insulted by his presentation about Jesus that he walked across the room and slapped Arius right across the face.  He was immediately jailed for the outburst—stripped of the robes of his office and all of his possessions and locked in a cell.

Sorry God, That’s Asking a Little Too Much

By Matt Horan

Do you remember when the year 2000 was a really big deal?  Remember all of the stuff that we were supposed to have in the year 2000?  Flying cars.  Cars that drive by themselves.  Phones where you can see the person you’re talking to.  I remember the movie, “2001, A Space Odyssey.”  It’s about a manned mission to Jupiter.  I don’t think we’re too close to that.

Now, maybe those inventions just didn’t pan out.  Too tough to invent, to expensive, etc.  Or, maybe we decided that we just didn’t want that innovation.  I mean, flying cars are a good idea until the kid next door turns 15, gets his learners permit, and starts flying over your house on the way home every day.  (However, one was spotted on Google Earth not long ago.)

I Was There

By Matt Horan

I’ve been mulling over a phrase.  Frankly, there’s something about this phrase that, when I say it, just seems to have gravity.  I keep saying it over and over, trying to figure out why.  What’s the big deal?  Let me share it with you.

“I was there.”

Dating, No-Hitters, and Throwing Pennies in a Fountain

By Matt Horan

A professor was giving a big test one day to his students. He handed out all of the tests and went back to his desk to wait. Once the test was over the students all handed the tests back in. The professor noticed that one of the students had attached a $100 bill to his test with a note saying “A dollar per point.” The next class the professor handed the graded tests back out. This student got back his test, his test grade, and $64 change.

It seems that, if we have enough money, we can solve any problem.  Being sued?  Get a great lawyer.  Kids not learning enough?  Send them to private school.  Health problems?  See a great doctor and get some medicine prescribed.  Don’t like how you look?  Join a gym, get some cosmetic surgery, or buy the South Beach Diet book.

I’ll confess that I’m not always a big fan of generosity.  I’d much rather have a lot of money and buy myself something nice.  

Learning to Speak: Connecting as Central to the Christian Faith

Interesting read from Duke Divinity School: Connecting to others is key, whether live or on Twitter?  See this article by Amey Victoria Adkins

Learning to speak | Faith & Leadership.

Entrepreneurial vs. Tenured Pastors

Interesting insights from a local paper in Illinois:

Tom Ehrich: Setting Clergy Free

How YOU Doin’?

By Matt Horan

I think I’ve successfully managed to talk about Joey from Friends and the Bible in the same post.  And they said it couldn’t be done…

During Israel’s Feast of Weeks, Ruth has been traditionally read as a celebration of faithfulness.  Naomi was an Israelite who lived in Moab to escape a famine.  She lived with her husband and two sons, who married Moabite women, Orpah (not to be confused with Oprah) and Ruth.  Tragically, Naomi’s husband and two sons died, and she encouraged her daughters-in-law to return home to the Moabites and try to find new husbands.  Orpah was eventually persuaded to return, but Ruth did not.  (Orpah, not Oprah.  Oprah would have stayed.)

Three Dog Night

By Matt Horan

For some reason, I found the song “One is the Loneliest Number” in my head the other day.  For me, sometimes hearing the song will get it out of my head, so I was perusing the internet to see if there was some way I could hear it without the time or expense of downloading it or requesting it on the radio.  In my travels along the information superhighway, I discovered that it was the second biggest hit by the group Three Dog Night.  (The biggest was “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog.”)