Thursday Theological Threads

  Matthew 24:36-44 NLT Let’s do another round of Name that Song . Last time, no one knew where I was going so let me give you some hints: This song comes from 1981, it was one of the first 90 videos played on MTV, and it was the first #1 song to feature rap. Any guesses? It’s a surprising one so let me give you some lyrics from the rap part: “Face to face, dance cheek to cheek / One to one, man to man / Dance toe to toe, don’t move too slow / ‘Cause the man from Mars is through with cars / He’s eatin’ bars, yeah wall to wall / Door to door, hall to hall / He’s gonna eat ‘em all / Rapture …” The song is “Rapture” by Blondie. That’s what I think about when someone says “rapture.” But most of you probably think of that idea in Christianity where true believers are sucked up to heaven and leave only a pile of clothes behind. Those left behind will deal with a difficult tribulation here on earth. There was a fictional series of books based on this idea. This idea only started to gain ...

  “Advent begins in the dark” - Fleming Rutledge Advent means arrival. This is the time of the church year where we prepare for the arrival of Jesus. Our colors are purple for the dawn of the early morning—when it’s dark and you’re waiting for the sun to rise, for God’s new day to come. ‌ Thursday was Thanksgiving, so if you watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown that’s a beautiful illustration of Advent. Linus is out in the field waiting for the Great Pumpkin. For Advent, it’s like we, as Christians, are out in the field—and everyone else thinks we’re crazy—but we’ve been given the faith to believe and know that because our Lord came once, he will come again. So, like Linus, we wait and we watch. And, surprisingly, Jesus continues to meet us until he comes in final glory. Here is the prayer for the first Sunday of Advent from The Book of Common Prayer: Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mor...