The Bible seems to be full of contradictions. It’s not, of course. But seemingly. For example, this testing God stuff: Deut. 6:16, Do not put the LORD your God to the test… Mal 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, [...]
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What you have in common with ESPN
ESPN is a massive media outlet that delivers information to millions of people around the clock. They blew it a few times covering the amazing Jeremy Lin story. They issued a statement: At ESPN we are aware of three offensive and inappropriate comments made on ESPN outlets during our coverage of Jeremy Lin.Saturday we apologized [...]
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The Confused Protestant’s Guide to Lent. Plus 10 ideas for how to observe it.
A lot of us protestant types aren’t exactly experts on the subject of Lent. The continuum of lent awareness goes like this: This post will only be helpful to the JV squad on the left side of that continuum. If you’re positioned more toward the right side you might want to consult an expert. Or [...]
Continue Reading →A Different Kind of Diversity
I wish churches were more diverse. I wish my church was more diverse. Sometimes when I meet new people at church I think to myself, “They’re awesome! I’m so glad that they’re here! If they weren’t white I’d be even happier.” Is that bad? Don’t answer that…I know it’s bad. We’re slowly becoming more diverse [...]
Continue Reading →the last thing I want you to think about me…
My truck’s a beater (better than an old limo). It’s a severely hail-damaged 4-cylinder with crank windows, manual locks, an aftermarket air-conditioner, and a ton of miles. It may not last much longer. I’m a family man now so when the wheels fall off of this one the next truck is gonna be a people-mover. [...]
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Sin can be fun
Since becoming a dad I’ve spent a lot more time at (and on) playgrounds than I ever would have expected. It’s a good thing. But I’ve begun to develop opinions about what a good playground is (and isn’t). We visited one that got pretty high marks from me, except for one colossally stupid thing. See if [...]
Continue Reading →Why the Bible won’t spoon feed your politics to you
There has always been a debate about how to apply what we read in the Bible about politics. Israel was a theocracy. That meant (among other things) that the Church and the State weren’t separated. Taxes and tithes were all dumped into the same pot! But that system changed when Israel demanded a king. At that [...]
Continue Reading →How to know God’s will (or at least a start)
3 of 3 (FYI, Here’s part 1 and part 2) The ‘how-to’ section is always tough. So here are a few disclaimers: this isn’t an exhaustive list. this isn’t a formula or a trick. this doesn’t exclude the obvious! That being said, when you’re trying to figure out God’s personal will, working through this list sure [...]
Continue Reading →God’s will, downgraded.
Yesterday: some different forms of God’s will. Today: a false distinction between forms of God’s will. I’ll keep this simple: The oft-discussed ‘perfect will of God’ is a redundant statement. If it’s his will it’s perfect, by default. The problem with the phrase is that it gives rise to a false version of God’s will: the [...]
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Is There More Than One Form of God’s Will?
(Part 1 of 3) How can I know God’s will for my life? It’s the question I get more than any other. It’s rarely said like that, though. It’s usually more specific: Should I take that job? Should I quit this job? Should I go to college? Should I marry this person? Should I buy this [...]
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You look ridiculous out there!
Have you ever noticed that the gap between people who actually know how to ice skate and those who don’t is enormous? I took this picture while getting in some family time at Ober Gatlinburg recently: Just because you lace up and get out there doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing. The skilled ones glide [...]
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Royal Jelly
A queen bee is special. No queen, no colony. She’s royalty. But apparently, in terms of DNA, every bee in the colony is identical. They all start out the same: jobless, genderless, larvae. And when the time comes for a new queen a larva is chosen (again, no different than the ones around it). This [...]
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