I love visual truth. Even though I am a person who loves words, and communicating thoughts, emotions, questions, and experiences through just the right word or phrase chosen to build a vivid picture of truth in one’s mind, there is nothing quite like a visual “object lesson”. Tonight mine came in the form of a…
Life With God
Trust
A while back, I was having a conversation with a friend about the centrality of trust to Jesus’ teaching in the gospels, and Scripture as a whole. It seems to be a foundational principal of Kingdom thinking. We were discussing the various tenets of faith, and trust, and belief, and as we hashed it out…
Beautifully Stained
I wrote a new song recently. Actually, I wrote two. (That was quite odd. Two in one day was a new experience for me.) To be fair, these songs are not actually yet fully complete. I’m certain that I will tweak them musically as well we lyrically. But for the most part, two near-complete songs…
The Blame Game
Deep within the heart of mankind is a hesitancy, if not an outright refusal to accept responsibility. Some of us are able to work up the courage on occasion, but generally our first (and second, and third) response is to point the finger at someone else. Yesterday a friend told me a story he had…
Scattering, or Gathering?
Recently I was catching up on some podcast listening and enjoyed hearing Wayne Jacobsen’s response to an article by John Burton. I am unfamiliar with Mr. Burton, but in general, his interpretation of observable trends does seem to differ from mine—at least, his conclusions certainly differ. His article is titled: “You are NOT the church:…
Christianity, or Jesus? (Aren’t They the Same?)
Our family is currently making our way through the book of Luke together. We’re taking our time, but I do enjoy reading in larger chunks, so we will often read what might be the subject of an entire series of sermons in one sitting. Tonight, we read through the fifteenth chapter: the three stories of…
Conditional Libertarianism
I have been enjoying Ron Paul’s book, Liberty Defined. Enjoying, and finding myself becoming frustrated by it. See, there’s no doubt in my mind that I am mostly a libertarian. Mostly. I’m not completely one because I understand that people—you, and me—are sinful. We have a natural bent towards doing the wrong thing. (Or, not…
Special Moments
Some days just have those moments. Today has had plenty. (And not all good ones, mind you.) Jen had a super-frustrating day with (she said) every one of the kids, who just wouldn’t listen to her at all. They only wanted what they wanted when they wanted it. Eventually, she just couldn’t take it anymore…
Approval
What if… you never received approval from anyone? Would you still be OK? Could you still be… you, without some form of approval; healthy, or unhealthy? I’m really not sure what answer—if any—would be the “right” answer to those questions. I’m not even sure I have any answer. The fact that we members of the…
You Have Value
Note: The following thoughts are not really well-formed, nor necessarily “going anywhere”. I am mostly working them out as I type. In the season of life I am currently in, it’s been quite obvious to me that we, people, are flawed. Even the best of us. There’s a deep-rooted—at the core of us—tendency… but more…