Glossary

Here I will provide short definitions of terms with which some or even most people may be unfamiliar. The entries will not be listed in alphabetical order, but in the order of their first use within a post. If there are terms for which you would like definitions, please request them in your comments. Thank you.

My Persona

What is this name Mi-ka-El? Where does it come from? What does it mean? To begin with it is part of my “persona” in writing this blog. Let me explain.

Based in part, I assume, on the quote from the Book of Revelations in the previous post (Fire in Heaven??), in the early days of Christianity a legend arose that has been told, at least in Catholic circles ever since. I call it a legend because I’ve been unable to find anything like it in Holy Scripture. The passage from Revelations cited above is the most similar to it. The legend goes something like this…

A certain archangel, Lucifer by name, who was one of God’s favorites, rebelled and challenged God’s authority. A created being, he nevertheless saw himself as equal or superior to God and said, “I will not serve!” Threatened with an eternity in hell, he responded, “It is better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven.” He succeeded in convincing a third of the angels to join in his rebellion.

In defense of God’s honor and glory, another archangel cried out, “Who is like God?” This question became the archangel’s name, Michael, and a rallying cry for those angels who remained loyal to God. It was then that the war in heaven ensued and spilled over onto the earth with Lucifer becoming known as Satan or the Devil.

Mi-ka-El (pronounced “My-kul”) is a phonetic rendering of the name Michael. It also reveals the actual question and rallying cry; “Mi” (Who) [is], “ka” (like or equal to), “El” (God)? Almost from the beginning of the Christian faith, Saint Michael the Archangel has been designated by the Catholic Church as God’s champion and the defender of the Christian faith.

The title banner for Fire in Heaven announces its primary function or goal of “proclaiming and upholding God’s glory and honor, protecting and defending His Church on earth.” To this end, and hopefully with his acceptance and approval, I’ve intentionally adopted the persona and “voice” of my namesake, Michael, in my posts. I can think of no better way of fulfilling the goal of Fire in Heaven than by teaching, promoting, sharing and encouraging the faith through musing about what it means to be true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Fire in Heaven??

Fire in Heaven? Where did that come from? What does that mean? Well, uh, it came to me out of the blue – or should I say red. The phrase was initially prompted a couple of years ago by a glorious sunset that filled the sky, which was covered by smoke like clouds. This is the photograph I took, a portion of which forms the main background for the blog’s title banner at the top of the page.

The sunset looked like the sky was on fire and, as I watched it, I was reminded of this passage from the Book of Revelations:

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"

Revelations 12:7-12

The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized there was more there than met the eye – excuse the pun.

The Book of Revelations also tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is illuminated not by the sun or the moon, but that Jesus Christ is it’s light. But Jesus is known not only as the eternal and uncreated Son of God, but also the presence of God’s Love among men and the embodiment of Truth. Therefore, it is Love that illuminates the Kingdom of Heaven (or the Kingdom of God) and a major ingredient of love is truth. Thus, the fire of God’s love and truth fills the heavens.

But wait! There is yet a second fire in heaven that, while much smaller and dimmer, merges with God’s love. This is the fire of love for God that is held by the good angels and the saints. And sadly, the third fire is one that is opposed to both of the others. This is the fire of hatred, anger, jealousy and pride held by Satan and his cohorts.

These fires in heaven have spilled over onto the earth for God has poured out His love on us and those loyal to Him not only love Him, but all that He loves. And, as Revelations says, Satan and his angels are cast down and make war not only against the citizens of heaven, but against us as well. And until Jesus comes again, the fire of war between good and evil, love and hatred, pride and humility, selflessness and selfishness, obedience and rebellion rages in heaven and on earth.

So, in my mind, the blog’s title is apropos because here we will talk of God’s Love and Truth and of what our loving response should be and how we can and must fight against evil with every action of every moment of our lives. For, as Christians - that is, as disciples of Christ, we should want to please Him in all that we think, say and do.

Policy

The heart of the Judeo-Christian message is one of love. Jesus tells us that God’s law is encompassed by the two greatest commandments; love for God and love for one’s neighbor. A major component of love is respect. In keeping with Jesus’ teaching regarding the greatest commandments, I have established a policy for participation in Fire in Heaven.

Respect for others, including views that differ from mine or from those who comment on my posts is required at all times, by everyone. Therefore, polemics, insults, disparagement, condemnation or any other language that I deem disrespectful or contrary to Christian charity and morals are strictly prohibited. This includes pornographic, racist, sexist, or anti-religious material as well as spam. For this reason, all comments must be approved before they will be published on Fire in Heaven. As the owner of the site, I alone have the right and authority to determine what is and is not acceptable. All unacceptable comments will be deleted. At some point in the future, those who do not adhere to this policy will be permanently banned from the site.

A respectful dialogue is encouraged. Disagreement is one thing, attacks and provoking confrontations is another thing. Differences in opinion with my posts or the comments of others should be communicated by presenting one’s views along with rational reasons behind them. It will be helpful to us all, if you provide additional support for your perspective, citing reputable Internet sources (with links to these sources). This is to be a conversation between friends, brothers and sisters of the same human family, and not a contest of wills or ideology.

Welcome

I want to welcome and thank all of you for reading and participating in my endeavor to present, promote, encourage and defend lifelong, sincere practice of the Christian faith in all of our daily activities and decisions. My desire is to strongly encourage true discipleship to Jesus Christ, placing Him first and foremost in everything we do. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a disciple is one who “embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another.” However, a true disciple does more than this. He or she acts on and lives the teachings they claim to embrace.

Unfortunately, my observations and experiences suggest that many people fail in the call to be true, faithful, steadfast and obedient disciples of the Lord. It is not enough to call oneself a Christian but fail to live out the wishes (commands and teachings) of Christ, who is God and both deserves and is entitled to our all consuming and steadfast love in direct response to who He is and all that He has done for us. I hope to promote and encourage that response in several ways. First by presenting the Christian faith in a conversational manner that encourages dialogue. Second, I want to draw, from everyday life and the media, examples of both true discipleship and its lack thereof. Although my orientation is Roman Catholic, there is far more that all Christians share than there are things that separate us. Thus, there is much to be gained by all, regardless of our individual orientations. Indeed, it is my hope that non-Christians as well will benefit from this conversation.

My aim is to present and support the Truth of Faith. Most of what I will write is firmly rooted in Holy Scripture. Yet, where I believe it necessary, I will include explanations from the Catholic perspective. In doing so, my intent is not to create confrontations. Rather, I believe that the more we know and understand another’s beliefs and attitudes, the more we can find common ground and points of intersection and agreement. Therefore, to foster dialogue and sharing between us all, except for the introductory posts (such as this one) on this blog, comments are both welcome and encouraged. However, it is absolutely necessary, before you begin commenting, that you read the Policy post. That post describes my “no tolerance” attitude toward what I deem to be un-Christian behavior.

There is an order to my posts as I follow both major and minor topics and trains of thought. However, the current host for my blog (Google's blogspot.com) displays posts always with the newest ones first (in the reverse order of when they were first written). The only (dissatisfactory) option I have is to reverse the order in which the posts are listed in the Blog Archive on the sidebar to the right. Although this will list my posts in the proper order, they still will not be displayed in that order (this is a shortcoming that Google needs to correct). The only way you'll be able to read the posts in the order intended is by clicking on each post individually. I regret and apologize for this inconvenience.

I want to encourage you to include in your comments a sharing of your own faith experiences and any suggestions or ideas you may have for improving this blog for everyone’s benefit. Thank you again for joining us.