Thoughts: Keys to Hades

A brother of mine is teaching his students through Revelation and this question came up:

"It says that the Son of Man holds the keys to Hades, what does that mean?"

He gave me permission to repost my response:

It's a good thing you're teaching about Revelation the weekend before the world ends.

Cartooning

Ran across this today, I find a separate joke in each panel:


The first panel pretty much sums up my views on the weekend's pending apocalypse (and velociraptors).

The second panel is a wonderful skewer of interfaith pluralism (which is my second-favorite type of pluralism).

The third panel I do not find the humor in. I think it may have something to do with mathematics or physics.

EDIT: Info on Error Bar. Now, fully informed, I can laugh at the third panel.

(cartoon via xkcd)

Upcoming Reading

A holiday for me, I was able to make a purchase of books for my summer course and some for my thesis research. These are the three that I am excited for:

Dissident Discipleship: A Spirituality of Self-Surrender, Love of God, and Love of Neighbor
David Augsburger

Publishers Weekly: "Drawing on the Anabaptist traditions, Fuller Theological Seminary professor Augsburger explores what spirituality looks like when it imitates Jesus and is directed outward in service to the world, instead of inward on the self."

Pseudonyms of God
Robert McAfee Brown

Robert McAfee Brown is one of my favorite authors in his presentation of reading scripture from marginalized perspectives.

The New Global Mission: The Gospel from Everywhere to Everyone (Christian Doctrine in Global Perspective)
Samuel Escobar

Chuck Van Engen: "Samuel Escobar, the dean of Latin American Protestant Evangelical missiologists, gives us here an insightful, careful, concise and passionate overview of the complex and constantly changing reality facing us all in the church's mission today. Escobar demonstrates a clear and compelling missionary commitment to the missional goal that, in the words of Donald McGavran, 'women and men become disciples of Jesus Christ and responsible members of Christ's Church.'"

If you want to help me with further research, see my Bibliography here at Amazon. If you want to borrow a book, come by the house.