Tag: healthcare

Exaleipsei

Exaleipsei

by preacherpollard ♥ 1 Comment

Wednesday’s Column: Third’s Words

Gary Pollard

Jesus is the great healer and the Bible is full of passages that comfort, encourage, give endurance, and help us cope with a broken world. It’s full of so much more! A higher purpose gives us existential meaning, and the Bible outlines that purpose. It also has a few passages that fire me up, and those are the ones I want to share today.

Revelation 21

This is our reason to live the Christian life (Matt 19.28; Rom 8.18-25; I Pet 1.3-7, 13; 4.12-19; II Pet 1.3-4, 10-11; 3.3-13; I Jn 3.1-3). We’re looking forward to something much better, but what kind of stuff are we looking for?

  • –  Zero dysfunction! No pain, grief, disease, crime, taxes, tornados, war, death in general, aimbots (if you know you know), etc.
  • –  God gets rid of tears (Rev 21.4)! The context is a message of hope for early Christians who were dealing with devastating loss. But God will ἐξαλείψει all tears. Exaleipsei is future (will happen), and seems to be a comfort word. I had always pictured a Men in Black kind of thing, where all painful memories are obliterated and new ones made. But the word seems to indicate that an interaction with an infinitely compassionate Father will be more than adequate to get rid of any pain. If you’ve ever comforted a spouse or child who was grieving and physically wiped their tears away, that’s what this word describes.
  • –  Everything is brand new (21.5)! None of the junk that we’ve dealt with here will be compatible with our new home.It will be wildly exciting: the best accomplishments of each nation will be there (21.25-26). God and his son provide all we need (21.22-24). True unity exists because we’ll all be on the same side (21.27). No need for healthcare or accountants or coroners or search and rescue or militaries or law enforcement! Those exist to push back against evil, which won’t exist in our new home. Revelation 21 is a rich chapter, but it’s full of excitement! God doesn’t speak empty words. Take him at his word and read the chapter very carefully. It’s hard to walk away from that study without getting pumped for heaven!!!
This World Is Not My Home: Some Reminders

This World Is Not My Home: Some Reminders

by preacherpollard ♥ 5 Comments


Neal Pollard

  • “My team” got crushed last night in embarrassing fashion. Today, life continues.
  • A talented actor succumbed to his cruel coping mechanism and craving and is found dead in his apartment. Heroin is not the answer.
  • Unrest and fighting in Bangkok, Kiev, Aleppo, Moscow, and Bangui remind us that men of various earthly motives continue to use carnal warfare to gain power and subjugate their enemies.
  • Conservationists and whalers literally colliding their ships in Antarctica show how passionate we can be about things that ultimately cease. The same is true of those arguing over a pipeline from out of the north.
  • Even morally conservative people cheer the “good news” that abortion rates are their lowest since 1973—but over a million babies per year were still slaughtered in that 13% decline.
  • Handwringing over government healthcare and economic volatility dominates some people’s focus, while so little attention is given to the church’s mission to get heaven’s inheritance into the hands of as many as possible.
  • One “alternative lifestyle” is trumpeted, promoted, and force-fed the public through every media means possible, while the most important “alternative lifestyle”—Christianity—is sneered at and belittled.

Hey, but the reminders are not nearly all so negative.

  • I derive deep joy and peace from my daily communion with my Creator.
  • The church, though imperfect, is filled with people who are trying to please God and help each other get to heaven.
  • Jesus is greater than every challenge, discouragement, and strife.
  • Every spiritual blessing in Christ keeps every faithful child of God buoyed up in the most turbulent circumstances.
  • So many are going against the popular tide out of devotion to Him.
  • In the darkest times, the promises of God shine their brightest.
  • Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing!

So, what kind of day are you having.  Maybe adjusting your perspective will help!

  • Our happiness is not tied to our net worth, worldly acceptance, or access to pleasure and ease. It is often most found where these are most lacking.
  • Evangelism still works and will always work.
  • Through consistent compassion and Christlikeness, we can reach the hearts of people struggling with so many of the ills previously mentioned and explode their stereotypes and prejudices against Christianity.
  • In the end, we will be victorious through Christ!