Category Archives: Wide Angle

A Man Named Paul (Wide Angle)

Posted on May 19, 2022 by salooper57

In this Wide Angle series of posts, we have been surveying the mountain peaks of biblical revelation – the most important people and events in the history of God’s interaction with humans. We have been skipping from one mountain of … Continue reading →

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The Baptism of the Spirit (Wide Angle)

Posted on May 11, 2022 by salooper57

Reading time: Approximately two minutes. There are some things in Acts 2, regarding the coming of the Spirit, which we would do well to note. The first is the meaning of the word baptism as it is applied to what … Continue reading →

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The Holy Spirit and the Church (Wide Angle)

Posted on May 5, 2022 by salooper57

The Catholic Church has created a great deal of controversy, but is surely right, when it says, “Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus – “Outside the Church there is no salvation.” That is because no one outside the church is inside Christ. Continue reading →

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Is the Holy Spirit Optional? (Wide Angle)

Posted on April 27, 2022 by salooper57

(Reading Time: Approximately 3 minutes) Sometimes Christians get the idea that the presence of the Spirit of God in our lives is an option, something we can take or leave, like heated leather seats and dual zone climate control. It’s … Continue reading →

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“What Does This Mean?” The Gift of the Spirit (Wide Angle: Acts 2)

Posted on April 17, 2022 by salooper57

(Reading time: approximately 3 minutes.) In Acts 2, St. Luke tells us that the sound of a mighty wind came from heaven and filled the house where Jesus followers were staying. What looked like “tongues of fire” separated and rested … Continue reading →

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The Coming of the Spirit: An Essential Part of Salvation (Wide Angle)

Posted on April 7, 2022 by salooper57

(Reading time: 4-5 minutes) Today we’ll use our wide-angle lens to focus on the strange events that took place on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost during the same year that Jesus was crucified and resurrected.  The word Pentecost is a … Continue reading →

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The Continuing Presence of Jesus (Wide Angle: Acts 1)

Posted on March 31, 2022 by salooper57

How must they have felt as they walked back to the city? What did they talk about? There was something final about Jesus’s departure. They probably understood that they had entered a new phase of life, but how were they to live it? “Witnesses to the ends of the earth”—how were they to do that? What would it look like?

As they walked back to their accommodations in Jerusalem, they had no clue about how to answer those questions. The future was a blank. They didn’t know what their lives were going to look like. All they had was Jesus’ instruction. Continue reading →

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The Ascension: A Post-Resurrection Disappearance

Posted on March 16, 2022 by salooper57

Reading time: 4-5 minutes. (This Wide Angle look comes from Acts 1. Verses not otherwise identified by book and chapter are taken from there.) When Jesus was crucified, and his followers had despaired.  When he was raised, they were astounded.  … Continue reading →

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Up, Up and (yet not) Away! (A Wide Angle Look at the Ascencion)

Posted on March 9, 2022 by salooper57

(Reading Time: Approximately 3-4 minutes.) When really big changes take place – the ones that are destined to transform the world we live in – they often go unnoticed. When the first Ford rolled off an assembly line in 1913, … Continue reading →

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The Resurrection: “He Is Going Ahead of You” (Wide Angle)

Posted on March 2, 2022 by salooper57

(Reading time: 3-4 minutes.) We’ve been looking at the resurrection of Jesus over the past few weeks and it is now I time to put on our wide-angle lenses. Survey the big picture. Eve’s son would crush the serpent’s head … Continue reading →

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