Stopping to Think

Three years ago I wrote this piece.  I thought about just re-posting it today. However, I wanted to mark five years with something different. This won't be long; and it's mostly for me. You left without much warning. Like a punch to the kidney, when life seemed so carefree So many things I learned from you; Showed me how to care about others. Dude, we were like brothers. Our friendship still puzzles me. Multitude of differences that might stall many friendships, made no difference at all. Five years changes a lot of things: it won't change this, nor will many more, that you're missed here, by people galore. By the way, know that I'll chuckle when your Blue Devils fall to the Zags. Sure, Duke's alright: But Few's got this in the bag.

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?  Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ” Jesus, in Luke 17:7-10 My little girl and I have a bedtime ritual. We read from one of her storybook Bibles, then read the corresponding passage from the Bible itself, followed by a hymn and prayer before I put her in bed. However, occasionally the story which is portrayed in the kids Bible is only a few verses in length, and so I read some of the surrounding context. Such was the case the other night, and it brought us across Luke 17:7-10. This of course is not the first time I had read these...

Preface: This will be far shorter than it ought to be, and grew out of what I intended to be a reply to a comment on my comment on my wife's Facebook status related to the releasing of a movie about a number and a color (confused? I am). The gist of the question I want to answer is this: who determines what does or does not go in the bedroom?  What is sex? Before we can address what is "okay" sexually, we have to first lay a groundwork, or perhaps better, a framework for understanding this issue in light of the Scriptures. If you read this blog very often then you're probably aware that I care a lot about what God says in His word, as I believe it is the only place we can go to find out how this life really is supposed to work.  The first question we need to ask is, "what is sex?" The first place we look in answer to that question is the opening part of Genesis: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; And God bl...

In his book, "Til We Have Faces", C.S. Lewis uses one of the most captivating phrases I have ever come across: "The stench of holiness." I want to briefly explain why this phrase has been gnawing at me for over a year.  I grew up in church and I've owned a Bible since I was a very small child. I've read the Bible quite a bit over the last 18 or 19 years; even that intimidating section at the front which we refer to as the Torah (though I spend less time there than I ought). However, the problem one has when reading any part of the Bible, but especially parts discussing the sacrificial system of the Israelites and other nations, is that I am a 21st Century American. That is to say, there is a rather wide culture gap between my world and theirs. And what this phrase from Lewis did was awaken my senses to the reality of their world. How easy is it to read over and over about the blood of sacrifices being poured out on the altar, of cows and sheep and pige...

Following up on the poem I posted yesterday, here is a quote from Wayne Grudem: A tragic example of male dominance was reported on the front page of USA Today: International Edition (Sept. 6, 1994): "No girls allowed: abortion for sex selection raises moral questions" was the caption on a photo of a doctor performing an ultrasound on a pregnant woman in India. The cover story, "Asains' Desire for Boys Leaves a Deadly Choice," reported that according to Dr. Datta Pai, a Bombay obstetrician, "99% of those found to be carrying female fetuses aborted their unborn children." (2A). The story explained that "modern technology, the strong cultural desire for boys and pressure to reduce population have joined forces in a deadly combination in India, China and much of Asia to produce a booming business in sex selection...the practice of aborting female fetuses appears common judging by the emerging statistics that show lopsided sex ratios throughout Asi...

Unborn life, inside the womb headed for a trash-can tomb She moves, feels, hears, dreams oh! that we would hear her screams Precious life, how can't we care? This blood guilt we all shall bear When you and I leave earth's strife God shall ask, "did you save life?"

"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love..." 1 Peter 1:22a This verse strikes me. It catches me off-guard, and tells me something I do not expect. I am a Calvinist. About as Calvinist as they come, subscribing to all five points of the classic TULIP acrostic: Total Depravity Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Irresistible Grace Perseverance of the Saints Which basically is a more complex way of saying that I believe salvation to be a work of God, not man, lest anyone boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). So, when it comes to thinking about purification, my mind typically thinks of the objective purifying we experience by being identified with Christ, our sin-bearer and righteousness-giver (2 Corinthians 5:21). He bore my sins in His body, therefore in the eyes of God they no longer are borne by me. Now, let's glance back at our opening verse. How does Peter say his readers have purified their souls? By obedience to the tr...