“The heavens” also carried another important meaning in the ancient world. It referred to the dwelling place of God. The heavens are the invisible, intangible realm occupied by the Lord and his hosts.
When we come to embrace Jesus’ map of heaven, we will discover that it works so much better than the one we’ve inherited from popular Christian culture.
Many scholars describe the civil rights movement as a political movement with religious dressing—useful for the movement’s purposes but not central to the message. But the work of historian David L. Chappell, based on testimonies by civil rights activists and leaders, contradicts this. Their accounts indicate that “it was, for them, primarily a religious event.”
The weird thing about hangovers is that I adapted to them. They set the tone for the day: the muscles governing my movement would be sore, the head housing my mind would ache, the seat of my heart would feel broken, and the voices of my soul would speak only shame.
