Christianity

I often comment on popular culture with an eye towards Christian issues. That is exactly the case with today’s post. The following quote has been making the rounds on social media lately and I felt the need to share my thoughts. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man — living in the sky — who watches everything you do, every minute of every day.

Every so often I stumble across an article that really saddens me. In a story about the decline in celebrating Kwanzaa, there appeared the following quote. “My mother, she was very hard on trying to make us celebrate Kwanzaa. She felt that it was more important than Christmas,” Howard student NAME REDACTED told The Root. “Kwanzaa has more definition of life — Christmas is just presents.̶

From the moment European travelers set foot on this continent, they recognized God’s grace on their endeavors and gave thanks for their success. One of the earliest legal documents, The Mayflower Compact, set out in simple language the plan and purpose for this early colony: Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant th

It seems every time there is a national tragedy or terrorist attack or seemingly any random act of violence, the question comes up, “Where is God?” Let me be perfectly clear on this point, God is love. There is no evil or darkness in Him whatsoever. Jesus makes it very clear that it is Satan that comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). Once you understand that basic truth, it gets easier to under

This last week I was working on some content for Luke 13. This is the story of Jesus healing the woman that was bowed by Satan. If you are not familiar with the miracle, you can read the entire story here: Woman, Thou Art Loosed from Thine Infirmity! Or learn more about the subject here: Healing The Woman Bowed By Satan. The story starts with Jesus teaching in the synagogue one Sabbath day. He encounters a woman th

Norway Terror Attack The facts aren’t all in yet, but a quick search of Google shows that the worldwide media is gleefully reporting the “Conservative, Christian, Right-wing Radical” meme. At least one German paper acknowleged in the opening sentence of one of their reports that the motive is not known. That was nice. When we see attacks like this we automatically assume that they have an islamic

About 2,000 years ago in a lonely, dusty outpost of the Roman Empire, three men were put to death by crucifixion. Two of the men were criminals and earned their punishment. The third, named Jesus, was completely innocent of all charges against him. The Roman authorities, always concerned with the threat of insurrection, had given in to the religious authorities and had tortured this man by flogging, mocking and for

There are no eggs or Easter bunnies here. This is a post about one of the most exciting events so far on this planet, the resurrection of Jesus! What happened in Israel 2,000 years ago is the foundation of Christianity. Religions throughout the world have all sorts of rules and dogma telling you how you can earn eternal life or win the favor of their respective deity. Some require you to even murder “infidels

I recently read an article that challenged its readers with a quiz. Taking violent verses out of the Koran and Bible, the challenge was to name the source for the verse. The object of course was to prove that all religions are inherently evil – at least I think that was the point. I do agree that individual verses without context can be twisted to mean just about anything. If we are drawing a comparison stric

When Religion Goes Bad I was doing some research for a writing project based on Psalm 22. This is the Psalm quoted by Jesus on the cross. In it, David, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, vividly reveals in precise detail some of the events surrounding the crucifixion of Christ. This is centuries before the actual event and hundreds of years before crucifixion was even widely practiced.  It is an amazing Psalm, but

Writing for me is therapy. I’m a bit of a loner, in case you did not already figure that out. I have lots of friends and family, but I seem to keep most things to myself. Men are taught to not show any weakness, as if emotions or honesty would be perceived as being weak. Conversations with other men tend to be about women, sports, women, cars, women, career, women, hunting and of course women. This would expl

I do not think there is any job more important than being a mom. Yes, fathers are important too, but your mother is constantly there, nurturing and teaching in ways that men usually can’t. I lost my Mother in 1991. I miss her so much. I have blogged about her before and so some of this may be repeated. She was a woman ahead of her time. She worked for the military during World War 2, graduated from Southern M

After reading yet another article attacking various ministries and denying spiritual gifts, I felt the need to share some thoughts. I do not post the original article, because again my purpose is not to ridicule or embarrass the author. But hopefully this might help somebody with questions in this area. You know its interesting, most of the Saducees and Pharisees, the church leaders and intellectuals of Jesus’

Why Blame God? The following blog post was in response to an article written asking why God allowed the Arizona shootings. No other topic brings out the passion in me than someone ignorantly blaming God for evil. The god of this world must be amused that he is never accused of anything. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. – John 10

Lord, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table. I am presently working on a page about Jesus healing the daughter of a Syrophoenician (Matthew 15:21-28 Mark 7:24-30). Part of this requires research to find other sources that might be helpful to my readers. I was so saddened by some of the commentary out there about our Lord and savior Jesus. One page said that Jesus was tired and annoyed, so as a human

A Thunderstorm Lesson Today, I found myself reading in my bedroom when a late summer storm hit. Boris is usually terrified by storms, but this time he came and crouched on my lap. As the thunder and lightning intensified, he would start to move towards the utility room, his favorite “safe” place during storms. But I would talk to him and get his focus back on me and he would settle back down. Then ther

God Does Not Abuse His Children! “My (sickness) is one of the greatest gifts that God has given me.” — A Theologian Recently, I read an article by a prominent theologian that made the point that his sickness was a “gift from God.” I edited his statement above and do not list his name. The point of this is not to judge or condemn this man. But I am fascinated by Christians who make stat

A Very Special Christmas Blog One of my favorite holiday movies is It’s A Wonderful Life. I’ve probably watched it 50 times and it never grows old. If you’ve never seen it, or just forgot the story, it involves a man named George Bailey. Now George has always wanted to do great things. But throughout his life, circumstances have caused him to settle for what he believes is a less than a wonderful

God’s Little Message “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t send miraculous signs and messages to remind us of his love? I wondered that myself in the past. I rationalized the apparent silence to mean that there were more importa

Remembering 9/11 Sometimes it seems I’m the last to know what’s happening in the world. I didn’t know we had been attacked until well after all four jets had made their deadly plunge. My first inclination that something wasn’t right, was the lack of air traffic from the municipal airport that was then near my home. It wasn’t until much later in the day when I learned the full truth and