Who’s That Knocking At Your Door?

It was late afternoon when I arrived at my destination—a quiet, old cemetery on the outskirts of Pittsburgh.  I walked up a small hill to a stone pyramid about six feet high.  Each of the four sides had a carved image of an open book surmounted by a cross and crown.  Nearby was a headstone whose inscription read “Charles T. Russell…  The Laodicean Messenger.”  I had journeyed several hours just to see this grave of a man considered by many to be an end-time prophet of God. Continue reading

What About the Enneagram?

Question:  Someone has asked me about the Enneagram.  What can you tell me about this?  (T. in Virginia)

Answer:  The Enneagram is extremely popular right now.  Use of the Enneagram is found in the business world.  Psychologists use it in analyzing their patients.  New Age cults use it as an instrument for helping people to achieve spiritual enlightenment.  Christians are using it as a tool to understand themselves and others, and to guide them in their prayer life.  The possible uses of the Enneagram seem endless, according to its advocates. Continue reading

An Ordinary Supper

“Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary.”
~ Blaise Pascal

One of the foibles of human nature (and tragedies of life) is how we can get used to almost anything.  Even the sacred.  Consider the Passover celebration.  This ceremonial meal celebrates one of the most extraordinary events in the history of not only Israel, but the world—the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.  By command of God, the Children of Israel observed the Passover each spring—the roasted lamb, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs.  Year after year, the same ritual, the same four questions, the same menu.  All of it so familiar. Continue reading

Group Snapshot: Emin

Emin is a little known cult; however, it is very popular in certain circles.  We first became aware of the group due to its popularity in Israel.  Emin is a mixture of New Age beliefs and practices, and some traditional western occultism.  In addition to Israel, it is to be found in Europe and the U.S.

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Of Unicorns and Griffins

My wife’s youngest sister Martha (hello Maha!) likes to celebrate a rather unusual holiday. For several years now she and her family have made a concerted effort to observe with appropriate ceremony and festivity the holiday of Groundhog Day. Their celebration consists of eating lots of sausage (ground hog… get it?), singing Groundhog Day songs, and watching the Bill Murray movie about the day. Way to go, Martha!

Such an interesting idea—celebrating a holiday that others mostly ignore. There are many days like this on our calendar. Indeed, you can do a search on the internet and find that there is something being celebrated every day of the year. This runs the gamut from National Lazy Day (August 10) to Start Your Own Country Day (November 22). You can celebrate almost anything almost any day. Yet, in this abundance of serious and silly holidays, sometimes there are lesser known days of importance that are overlooked… and overlooked to our loss, I would like to say. One such holiday happens to be today.

March 25 is a day that is usually just another day on the calendar for most people. Unless it happens to be your birthday—or you are really into celebrating National Pecan Day or Waffle Day—you will probably go through the entire day without giving a thought to its significance. Yet it is indeed significant. Why? I am glad you asked.

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