Some Time Off:

As those of you who have followed the Press Box for the past few months have noticed my posting has recently dropped off pretty significantly. This has been because, with trying to graduate, I have been distracted and had to place my priorities in other directions; one might say I have been experiencing writer's burn out. 

My plan is to take the month of June completely off from posting, replying and checking my reader. This is because hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be transitioning from Wilmore to a new home. We'll see when and where we end up, hopefully when I come back in July, I'll be able to give details for those interested.

So, until July, farewell.

Read the words of Paul.

Read this passage found in II Corinthians 8:1-15:

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

I find this passage interesting. Paul is talking about an offering for the churches in Jerusalem. He seems to say that those who have in abundance (are rich) shouldn't be too rich. And those are lacking (are poor) shouldn't lack too much. He is advocating redistribution of wealth! Perhaps we should call Paul a liberal. 

What do you think?

Great Quote:

It is time that Christians were judged

more by their likeness to Christ

than their notions of Christ.

- Lucretia Mott,

Quaker abolitionist

& women's rights advocate

(1793-1880)

Great Quote:

It is more difficult to fight poverty in a rich country than in a poor one.

- Mother Teresa

Revelation 4 & 5: The Key to Understanding John's visions

(Here is a paper from my class on the book of Revelation. Its kinda long, but if you would like to read it have at it!)

The book of Revelation is the least understood book of the Bible. Ironically, it is one of the more written about books. I once heard a youth pastor say, “If you want to get student’s attention, talk about sex or the book of Revelation.” If you would like proof of the book of Revelation’s ability to capture people’s attention, look at the popularity of the Left Behind Series. The problem is that, as it has been said, there are as many interpretations are there are interpreters. Thus, the book is widely confusing, and because of its mystical nature, people are drawn to attempting to figure out what it means.

With so many understandings and so many hermeneutical methods through which people find their meaning in the text, it is no wonder that the book has become so confusing for so many. The majority of pastors simply refuse to preach this text. Others, who attempt to preach from it, often end up preaching ideologies that do not seem to fall in line with a responsible reading of the rest of the Biblical text. This leads to the question of, ‘how can we gain a proper understanding of the message in the book and where do we start?’

To read more, click here.

Quote:

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be ... The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists. 

- Martin Luther King Jr

HT - http://blog.sojo.net/