Me in a white dress, holding flowers with a veil and a train?Wearing a dress for Key Club initiations in high school was traumatic enough for me, but being the bride of Christ?Because there are already numerous reviews that cover the technicalities of the book I will simply refer to a few items that stick out to me.Since I personally take the more literal side of the discussion I disagree with Collins’ conclusion that Genesis 1.1-2.3 do not recount seven twenty-four hour days.The material is academic, exegetical, theological, apologetic and devotional.Though penned for fellow scholars and serious students of Scripture, the uninitiated in Biblical languages can still gain much from the volume and follow most of the thinking Collins develops.At some point while I was playing or preparing to play Monday Night Football, the news broke about the Ferguson decision. It’s been a while since I’ve written here, but I did put together a piece about the video satellite model of churches for On Faith.

I'd not read any non-fiction work by Catherine Marshall.The Bible has nothing good to say about homosexual practice.That may sound like a harsh conclusion, but it’s not all that controversial.But as a single woman or man, how do we process that concept? Christ wants His Father to prepare us and protect us.""As a guy, it's hard to process because I always think of 'bride' in the female sense," says Brian Roberson, a youth pastor from St. "I know the Bible is talking about waiting for the bridegroom, but the whole concept of marriages and weddings isn't something guys talk about all the time like women do.""One of the biggest challenges for men in understanding how we are the bride of Christ is learning how to receive God's love for us," says Kris Mc Daniel, a pastor from Atlanta who leads a service for young adults called Vineyard Sunday Night. The key for us is to understand how to be embraced and loved by God, yet that seems to be a big stretch for us at times."For a woman who has never been a bride, the concept can be challenging but more concrete."To be the bride of Christ is the fulfillment of the romance you always wanted," says Kim Fleek, a physicians assistant student at Emory University. And understanding the concept of being the bride of Christ within the pretenses of our culture can be nearly impossible."I don't think you can mentally picture it in the culture in which we live," says Matt Wilson, a voice communications planner from Atlanta. To fully understand what the Bible is talking about when it tells us that Christians will be the bride of Christ, we need to transport ourselves back 2,000 years to Jerusalem so we can grasp the context of the Jewish culture.It's interesting how our culture shapes – or in most instances, misshapes – how we view concepts in the Bible.As a kid, when I first heard that Christians are to be the bride of Christ, I had a hard time understanding how being a bride related to my life.