Personal Studies
-
What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?
Our world is not always a nice place. We see evidence of violence, sorrow, and hatred everywhere we look. Much of our common history is driven through conflict motivated by religious intolerance, ideological differences, oppression, or wonton cruelty. We are told by many political and even religious leaders to fear the world around us, to Continue reading
-
Politics and Christians
Over at The Kitchen of Half-Baked Thoughts, Tim Archer is inviting discussion on politics and Christian living. He writes: In July, I was at a Christian workshop in Florida. Several people expressed to me their concern about the upcoming election. Concern is a mild word for some of them. It was closer to panic. I Continue reading
-
Be the Change You Look For
Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus is not an individual many of you may be familiar with, but you are probably familiar with his assertion that “change is the only constant.” While there indeed may be “nothing new under the sun” in God’s eyes, we live in a culture that is ever-changing, that is always in Continue reading
-
Faith and Risk
In Children of Dune by Frank Herbert, a character merely known as The Preachers asks this question of the multitudes looking for some form of religious satisfaction: “Is your religion real when it costs you nothing and carries no risk?” In this question, he challenges his listeners to examine what they are investing in their Continue reading
-
Running Without Legs
A Boy Without Legs On January 2, 2008, one of my favorite bloggers posted this short anecdote to his site: On the final day of a trip to Disney World with my family last month, I saw something remarkable: a boy, 4 or 5 years old, with two artificial legs, running around Mickey’s Toontown Fair Continue reading
-
Where I Intended, Where I’m Needed
Life very seldom turns out exactly as we plan. Think back twenty or thirty years. Back then, if someone had asked you where you would be in as many years, what would you have answered? Where did you picture yourself living? How many kids would you have expected? What kind of house or car would Continue reading
-
Free Books for Sale
Where I have hallway duty, the media center specialist has been placing library carts of books that are being phased out of the system – free for kids to take and keep. The carts went untouched for a couple of days until one small boy asked me, “What do those books cost?” “Nothing,” I replied. Continue reading
-
Who Will You Eat With?
Remember the Pharisees in Matthew 9:10-11 when Jesus was eating with those scorned by the (self-proclaimed) righteous of the day? “…they said to His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with tax gatherers and sinners?” What if we modernized the words a little? “…they said to His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with gays Continue reading
-
I Know Whom I Have Believed
What do you know about your faith? In a recent book called Religious Literacy, author Stephen Prothero critiques the general theological ignorance of the United States – usually credited as the most religious nation in the world. Some statistics cited point to fewer than half of American adults know that Genesis is the first book Continue reading
-
Changing Identities
I live with an autism spectrum disorder. I acknowledge this, and I refuse to be treated medically. My autism is part of who I am. It is my identity, and, if a person with an ASD is high-functioning enough to be self-sufficient and a productive member of society without medical intervention, I strongly believe it Continue reading
Simply Gospel 