Stopping to Think

"Rose early to meet with him whom my soul loves." Robert Murray McCheyne   I think about that quote from McCheyne now and then. How dearly that man loved his God; and he fostered and kindled that love by rising early to meet with the maker and lover of his soul.    There is a flippant, lightweight, Jesus-is-my-boyfriend kind of Christianity that exists  in many evangelical churches. This can be displayed in music full of sappy emotionalism and empty platitudes: "Jesus makes me happy all the time", "Jesus, lover of my soul, Jesus I've lost all cognitive control." It also can be found in devotional literature that focuses little on the person of God and doctrines such as His holiness or His majesty, contrasting them with my sinful estate; rather the focus is on how He feels toward me, with little to say about why He might feel that way or what He might expect of me. These things are really easy for me to pick on, and frankly i...

Throwback Thursday is a series of posts, wherein I will on (some) Thursdays post a piece of writing from back in the day. Generally not from this blog. I will edit lightly for readability, but my intention is to allow each piece to stand basically as written. Over the years my mind has shifted on many things, as my knowledge of life, the Scriptures, and myself has grown. I'm not in the business of hiding this fact, so these will probably (at least on occasion) contain some things which even I think are crazy. Originally posted on Facebook as, "Anything over 50 on gravel is dumb. Anything over 70 is scary.", December 4, 2009 at 2:23pm Public Friends of Friends Friends Friends except Acquaintances Only Me Custom Good feed South Lake Youth Ministries See all lists... Le Mars, Iowa Area Plummer, Idaho Area Family US Postal Service Acquaintances Go Back The title has nothing to do with the note, but I thought it might grab some attention. So last night I went and sa...

Originally Posted on Facebook, April 21, 2008 at 1:20am Public Friends of Friends Friends Friends except Acquaintances Only Me Custom Good feed South Lake Youth Ministries See all lists... Le Mars, Iowa Area Plummer, Idaho Area Family US Postal Service Acquaintances Go Back So, I was sitting in Sunday School today and we were talking about Christ's resurrection, and how having four different accounts is important. And the question came up as to what the reasons are for having multiple accounts. And of course everyone gave the obvious answers. Multiple (non-conflicting) accounts prove to us that the story is true. Different accounts bring different facts to the forefront. Multiple writers give us at least one we can relate to in either a social, economic, or spiritual way. And while all this stuff is good and true, something else stuck out to me, especially as I read the different accounts. Everyone one of the gospel authors (and for that matter, all the different au...