Traitors for Christ
A month or so ago my little guy, Augie, asked me, “Is it okay to be mean to a bad person?” How would you answer that? Not just “yes” or “no”…but what would be your reasoning for your response? I cannot remember exactly what I told him (my memory is not that good), but it…
The stockings are emptied; the gifts are open. What remains is more important: time with loved ones. Perhaps the greatest gift the Lord gave us in 2015 is a new home in a new town. From the first day we visited Strasburg, Colorado, we have seen the beauty of its land and its people. That…
Last Saturday, heading to breakfast at Burger King followed by a haircut, Augie (my eight year-old) and I were chatting…and…I can’t remember exactly why…but the subject of trees came up. That led to a question of the first tree, and Augie said the first one created by God was the Tree of Life. What do you…
I read a truly disturbing article last night: “Why German Protestants Will Stop Converting Muslims” Basically, a draft document for the Protestant Church in Germany nixes the idea of evangelizing Muslims: The Church does not only categorically rejects the conversion of reform-minded Muslims but outright dismisses all missionary work directed at Muslims. There is so…
To my atheist readers and friends, the article below will come off a bit snarky, but I actually respect your skepticism and penned it the way I have to prompt dialogue, not insult your laudable aversion to blind faith. It seems to me that atheists (and others) can hold I am someone who has blind faith in fairy…
The fickleness of humans in two verses (Matt 21:9 & 27:22, English Standard Version)… And yet…there is nothing He is unwilling to forgive a repentant heart…
Although I basically touched on this point a long time ago in “Jesus loves me (but not you), this I know…” (Part 1), as I was reading in Matthew, I was reminded that those who say that God only loves the saved have a hard time with this part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:…
I have a lot of concern about Christians who, in my opinion, treat others in an un-Christlike manner when calling for accountability or discernment. If they get taken to task on social media, I am less than empathetic. If anything, I enjoy them being zapped. Then… I developed friendships with a few of them. When those…
Reading in Matthew today, I ran into this again: Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to…
Depending on your picture of the Most High, this may sum up your perception of Him: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31, English Standard Version). Perhaps the most famous sermon based on this sentiment is Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”…
I have been blessed with the opportunity to lead the tween/teen class for church, and the material I’ve been provided is very good. However, in today’s lesson (based parts of Amos) it appeared to separate God’s judgment and discipline from God’s love. I think this is a mistake. I love my 7 year-old more than…
Happy New Year everyone! I haven’t decided on my list of resolutions, but this post will fit two of them: To spend more time truly with my family To post more regularly on Traditores How it fulfills #2 is somewhat obvious :-), and it’ll meet #1 in that I am keeping it short and then I’m…
Last night I saw some posts on Facebook where people lamented they were having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit. I cannot claim to have that issue given, this year, I created a somewhat popular Christmas radio station and…of course!…have provided my yearly Christmas album must haves. 🙂 However, over the past day or so as I thought…
I listen to old-time radio all night, specifically 20th Century Radio. This morning, after my wife’s alarm unintentionally went off (doh!) and my youngest daughter (not considering it is two hours earlier here, doh!) texted, “Happy Thanksgiving,” Night Beat’s “Target for a Day” episode was playing. The main character, reporter Randy Stone, had been falsely accused by…
Last night (rather, this morning) before I went to sleep I posted this quote from the Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times on Facebook: Dr. Alexander Whyte of Edinburgh was famous for his pulpit prayers. He always found something to thank God for, even in bad times. One stormy morning a member of his…