Congratulations indeed on finishing 1000! And thank you too for what you wrote in the Halloween discussion. Your love for your neighbours shines through so strongly. May God bless you continually as your learn his word and share his love.
I too pray for you, JDJDJD, that you will know the powerful reassuring presence of God as you go into the hospital this morning. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him. (Romans 15:13)
Here’s how J. John put it in a Facebook post on Monday…
Let me explain why I don’t agree with Halloween:
First, Halloween deceives us about evil. It creates a cartoon vision of evil as trivial, harmless fun that no one could possibly see as a threat. Yet all evil is serious and any messing with supernatural evil particularly so. To fool around with evil is a fool’s game.
Second, Halloween distracts us about evil. It presents evil in terms of the obvious and the spectacular; things that proclaim their identity with fangs and claws, cackles and cloaks. Yet evil is at its most seductive when it is silent and subtle. The most dangerous evils are not clumsy figures in skeleton outfits knocking on your door; they are infinitely better disguised. In the real world the most deadly evil doesn’t turn up with nocturnal cries of ‘Trick or treat!’ Instead it tiptoes around unannounced in broad daylight. It is there in the sudden opportunity to lie, gossip, slander or steal. The problem with the road to hell is that it never states its destination. By focusing on the recognisable and the grotesque, Halloween obscures the fact that most evil wears a charming face.
Finally, Halloween denies the defeat of evil. In Halloween, supernatural evil is presented as unchallenged and victorious. Yet as a Christian I believe that that’s only half of the story and the darkest half too. The reality is that evil has been defeated at the cross and that one day the crucified King, Jesus Christ, will return and abolish even the memory of it forever. That, not Halloween, is the story that I want to celebrate.
Thanks for the explanation Eileen. I agree with Symota, it’s great that there are people using this site in so many ways, but we’re all learning God’s word and we can encourage each other. May God bless you as you learn.
Thanks. It is truly a blessing from God to spend time with him each morning using this app. I see I joined LearnScripture nine and a half years ago, so my long-term average is adding 210 new verses per year, which is 4 new verses each week.
Thanks. It is truly a blessing from God to spend time with him each morning using this app. I see I joined LearnScripture nine and a half years ago, so my long-term average is adding 210 new verses per year, which is 4 new verses each week.
I just worked out my average too Peter and it is exactly the same as your. 210 per year. What a coincidence. I was also surprised to see I’ve just reached 10 years on this site. It really is such a blessing to me too. Stay blessed!
I noticed a striking similarity between these two setences… in John 19, Pilate said, “Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you.” But earlier, in John 10, Jesus had said, “I have authority to lay down my life, and authority to take it up again.” So Jesus understood the true nature of power and authority, and he was able to reply to Pilate, “You would have no authority at all over me unless it had been given to you from above.” And actually the same if true for us. God has authority over our destiny.
The end of Mark is intriguing. I quite like the suggestion that Mark deliberately ended the narrative without a neat conclusion, because he says in Mark 1:1 that his book is ‘the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ’. And he couldn’t write the conclusion because the gospel is ongoing, even now. So it’s suggested that Mark ended with, ‘they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid’ as a way of challenging his readers ever afterwards that they (we) have a responsibility to continue the gospel message.
The same thing happened to me a while back - I missed a day when I was a couple of months short of the 2-year badge. I was annoyed at the time but afterwards I found that I was enjoying learning scripture more without the pressure of having to add one new verse each day (and seeing the review queue getting longer and longer).
Congratulations from me too! And I’m impressed that you’ve completed so many more verses than you’ve started in the last week. That means your long-term memory is a lot better than mine!!