...Given For You.

Over the past month, I've both donated whole blood for the first time in 17 years and donated platelets for the first time ever.

A little background:

The first time I gave blood was at a blood drive in High School. The donation itself was uneventful, but as I stood to make my way to the snack table, my vision began to narrow, and as soon as I sat down, I passed out. It was humiliating and scary, and while I didn't regret donating blood, I wasn't eager to repeat the entire experience.

But when the church I serve hosted a blood drive a month ago, I decided it was time to try again. I knew I'd be surrounded by people who knew me and loved me, and I'd be able to go right back to my office to lie down if necessary. While on the cot, I quickly became lightheaded and nauseated (per tradition), but I let the phlebotomists know and they immediately took measures to alleviate the symptoms. I didn't wind up passing out, and while I wouldn't call the experience comfortable, it was a triumphantly successful return to blood donations. 

Sermon: "Don't Be the Antichrist", Selections from 1 John (April 25, 2021)

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Although 1 John is often lumped in with the epistles, it’s an unusual one, in that it doesn’t follow the conventional patterns of a first-century letter. Actually, it’s composed more like a sermon than a letter. Instead of addressing the specific questions or issues arising within a particular Christian community, 1 John seems to be casting a wider net, offering guidance to the Church at large. Given that it was probably written around 90 CE (making it one of the latest epistles in the biblical canon), this makes sense—as the Church grew, it became more and more imperative to make sure that EVERYONE was on the same page, so that Jesus’ message wasn’t being distorted in the world’s largest game of “Telephone” ever.