As I continue this year’s trek through Scripture, today’s reading (Proverbs 17-19) included several verses that aligned with advice I’ve given as a leader. In order: Don’t allow a conversation to escalate. The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out (Proverbs 17:14, English Standard Version). When a dialogue starts…
Author: Alan
Alan is an ordinary guy, living in a small, high plains Colorado town...and humbled to be a minister of God...
Happy 238th Birthday United States of America
Happy Birthday America… If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at…
Church Discipline in the Internet Age
In yesterday’s post, “In Defense of Braxton (I.E. What I Think About Ergun Caner),” I stated: However, I don’t think Christendom has come to terms with applying Matthew 18 in a Internet world where, it seems, pretty much everything we do is in public. This is what I was referring to in the Book of…
In Defense of Braxton (I.E. What I Think About Ergun Caner)
July 29, 2014 update: WordPress notified me that my site had a large increase in traffic today. Checking the stats, it was this post specifically. Not too much later I read on Twitter the likely reason: Braxton Caner is reported to have committed suicide. My heart aches. Pray for Jill and Egun Caner, their family…
Do You Have a 5-4 Faith?
In a decision yesterday that was a win for religious freedom, the U.S. Supreme Court found in favor of Hobby Lobby and some other companies, ruling that they cannot be forced to provide insurance coverage for certain types of birth control they consider abortifacients. Although I am more a glass half full kind of guy,…
We Get What We Really Want
Ultimately (and eternally) God gives us what we really want: But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels (Psalm 81:11-12, English Standard Version). I can’t help but think this does not bode well for…
Free Will == Brain Background Noise?
The concept of free will could be little more than the result of background noise in the brain, according to a recent study. Okay… According to the research, published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, decisions could be predicted based on the pattern of brain activity immediately before a choice was made. Well, looks like…
Differences Between the Two Largest Presbyterian Denominations
You may have heard that the Presbyterian Church (USA) just moved to divest of three companies doing business connected with Israel (strike 1) and to allow their ministers to bless same-sex marriages (strike 2). However, this comparison of them and the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) shows they, from a Christian and biblical sense, struck…
Heaven
Why does God not make certain things clearer? Heaven is, by definition, outside our experience, but all intelligible descriptions must be of things within our experience. C.S. Lewis from Weight of Glory (page 33 in my HarperOne edition).
Minimum Parental Effort
As I looked out of our apartment complex’s exercise club window into the playground I saw a toddler in one of the swings… Her mom gave her a single push while actively chatting on her smart phone (and holding the leash of two dogs which, coincidentally, shouldn’t be in the playground). The toddler had her head turned…
Privacy Isn’t Just for Criminals
“If you’ve got nothing to hide, then…” Isn’t that a popular refrain as authorities continue to incrementally invade our privacy? This is not a political blog; it is a religious one. However, government spying has real-world implications to believers around the world. In many places it is impossible to show your unapproved faith in public (or…
50
I meant to write these thoughts on my birthday, but as I’ve gotten older time seems to move much more quickly. (Oh, to be 10 again when it seemed like 20 would never come.) A half century has made me appreciate every second of time more; it seems unfair that simultaneously it should pass with increasing rapidity. But,…
Assuming the Best in a Skeptic’s World
Although I’ve been trying to behave and not spend my birthday surfing the web (since I am blessed with a family that is far better than anything the Internet can offer), this tweet intrigued me: https://twitter.com/RaviZacharias/status/476172426607206400 I took it as Ravi Zacharias endorsing the statement…a head scratcher for me. So, I followed the link to…
Video of the Week
Okay, so I haven’t been keeping up so that it is the “Video of the Week”…more like the “Video of the Three Weeks.” 🙂 But, I’ll get better…especially if you share your suggestions with me! 🙂 This week, an acoustic video from a new band I discovered this week, Unspoken: [youtube=http://youtu.be/to3p-zgOCXU&w=512&rel=0] And a bonus lyric…
Why Do We Assume a God…?
Before an article I posted earlier today, I wrote this on Facebook and Twitter: Why do we assume a God who can create time can only create it from the beginning forward? On Facebook my friend Terrance commented: Elaborate !!! Sounds Interesting To which I responded: