Author: kevingdrendel

I am sixtiesh, an English Literature major in college and an attorney by profession. Faith informs my life, and this blog is about my faith journey.

Where Spiritual Growth Happens

The view from the mountaintop reveals the lush growth that takes place only in the valley.

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Photo by Chris A. Fraley at Bonticou Crag

Mountaintop experiences are great. We wish we could stay there forever, but we can’t. We have to come done where mundane, everyday life always follows, and we find ourselves trudging along in the valley.

Let’s face it: we spend most of our time in the valley, but we yearn to be on the mountaintop. If someone could bottle that mountaintop experience, it would sell!

In fact, people do try to buy it. People try drugs, alcohol, sex, thrills and other things looking for mountaintop experiences. I have done that too, but I have found that there is no substitute for experiencing God’s presence – even in the valley.

I would buy it if I could! But, God’s presence can’t be bought. Mountain top experiences are not something that we can experience all the time. That isn’t the way it works. It didn’t even work that way with Jesus and his disciples.

Continue reading “Where Spiritual Growth Happens” →

Words have Power

Both faith and science instruct us that words have power

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The phrase Words Have Power on a Blackboard

I find reminders of God in science. This article, Scientific Evidence Thoughts & Intentions can Alter the Physical World Around Us, provides another link between science and religion, demonstrating the creative and destructive force of words/thoughts. Christians talk about the power of prayer, and science backs it up.

I do not believe that these scientists have any religious inclinations; at least none that I am aware. The experiments do not necessarily mean that God is behind the phenomena. The experiments do show, however, a positive correlation between positive words and positive thinking; and they show a correlation between negative words and negative thinking and decay and degeneration. Continue reading “Words have Power” →

Slavery in the New Testament

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When I first tackled the subject of slavery in the New Testament, I missed many of the references and the larger context, so I have taken some time to revisit it and expand on what I previously did.

kevingdrendel's avatarNavigating by Faith

hieroglyphics of slaves in Abu SimbelA recent conversation with one of my sons spurred me to consider slavery as it is addressed in the New Testament. The Bible is criticized by skeptics by pointing its treatment of slavery. Indeed, there are instructions given to the nation of Israel that seem to endorse slavery as an accepted practice. In the New Testament we do not see any statement condemning slavery. What does the Bible say about it?

Slavery was common among all nations through most of history. We tend to view slavery through the lens of racism in the United States, but servitude has taken many forms over the centuries (captors in war, indentured servants, etc.). Slavery was also common in the culture in the 1st Century AD.

For Christians, Jesus is the lens through which we view all of the Scripture. Jesus introduced a fundamental paradigm change, and so, for a Christian take on slavery, we need to…

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Slavery in the New Testament

Slavery was common in the culture in the 1st Century AD, and it is, therefore, not surprising to find references to it in the New Testament. Following are the references to slavery in the New Testament and some commentary to put it in perspective.

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hieroglyphics of slaves in Abu Simbel

A recent conversation with one of my sons spurred me to consider slavery as it is addressed in the New Testament because the Bible is sometimes criticized by skeptics who point to its treatment of slavery. Indeed, there are instructions given to the nation of Israel that seem to accept slavery as a practice, and the New Testament does not expressly condemn it.

So, what does the Bible really say about slavery?

Continue reading “Slavery in the New Testament” →