Celtic Odyssey

As we continue on in our study of New Testament eschatology (the first post can be found here ), we’ll now turn our attention to the letter to the Hebrews. 1 This letter was, for a long time, one of those “locked books” for me. It seemed that there was something deeper going on than just “Jesus is the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law.” But, for the life of me, I couldn’t get very deep. And then I discovered eschatology and the floodgates opened. Or, perhaps, I should say that I discovered a historic eschatology. That is, an eschatology that has been a part of the ancient church for a long, long time. I started to see that Jesus fulfilling the law was only the beginning. There was so much more to that statement—about what it meant for the ancient Hebrew people, the first followers of The Way of Jesus, generations of future followers, and creation itself. And about when it would all be fulfilled. All of that is packed into the letter to the Hebrews. And its impact is felt right...

John 20.19-31 (CEB): It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you don’t forgive them, they aren’t forgiven.” Thomas, the one called Didymus, one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger in the wounds left by the nails, and put my hand into his side, I won’t believe.” After eight days his disciples were again in a house and Thomas was with them. Even ...

Because of the recent “blood moon” (as of the writing of this post) and all of the questionable “end times” fear spins that have been produced because of it, I wanted to look at another passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans. In chapter 13, Paul wrote: Romans 13.11-12 (adpated) : As you do all this, you know what time it is. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your sleep. Now our salvation is nearer than when we first had faith. The night’s almost over, and the day is near. So let’s get rid of the actions that belong to the darkness and put on the weapons of light. The first thing that stands out here is the second sentence, “Now our salvation is nearer than when we first had faith.” Once more, Paul echoes a statement from Jesus. In Luke’s telling of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus said (compare Matthew 24.29-34 ): Luke 21.25-33 (NLT) 1 : “And there will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed ...

This Easter weekend, Mahina and I drove to Kansas City to visit our daughter, Mariah. Her boyfriend, Michael, had arrived the day before. Friday night was Mariah’s senior solo show at the Kansas City Arts Institute. It was fantastic! Mariah was so stressed. It wasn’t necessary. There were about a hundred people or more that came to the tiny space — some flying in from great distances — just to see her quilts. She made some really good connections and may have sold a couple of pieces and has a commission or two in the works. Mahina and I were sitting outside speaking with the chair of the fiber department. She was going on and on about what such an amazing artist Mariah is. She stated that Mariah’s peers respect her. Also, if Mariah can produce that type of work in just one year, she’d love to see what Mariah will do in the future. While we were talking, the local paper came by. When the photo journalist saw the crowd, she exclaimed, “Holy cow!” and went back to get more equi...