I was shopping this morning and saw this guy wearing a black T-shirt with “Where is your god now?” written over and over on the back in white letters. Then, in bright red letters over that, it said “Fear the living”.
It would be funny, if it wasn’t so sad.
Where is your god now? Read More »
If I could paraphrase the ending, flee from anything that will prevent you from living the life to the full that Jesus offers to us. Skip the fantasy online world. Skip the impersonal “friends” that we gather online, even though we’ve never met and know little to nothing about each other.
Get to know Jesus. Be able to recognize His voice, able to tell the difference between the offers from God and the temptations of the devil. Don’t just play pretend games, when we’re already in the ultimate, real, struggle for our very souls!
We are basically online junkies – a decade of changes Read More »
Politicians tell us to pray. It was a classic headline. At least at the beginning. Top lawmakers call for prayer. It’s not unusual. Politicians praying or telling us to pray. But then there’s the rest of the headline. Top lawmakers call for prayer, unity after Iran launches missile attack against US forces in Iraq. That begs the question – Pray to who?
Many Americans pray, as do many people around the world. But again, pray to who? Maybe especially in this case, it’s a huge question.
Politicians tell us to pray. But to who? Read More »
All things are yours … Really? Does the Bible really say that? Well, yes, but … if you’ve read much from this site, you know how important context is. The phrase – all things are yours – is taken from the book “What we talk about when we talk about God”.
Back to context. It’s from the preface to the book. We haven’t even made it to the first chapter and something’s messed up.
All things are yours … Really? Read More »
Do you know what “Do not be afraid” is supposed to mean to Christians? And if you’re a “Trump” Christian, do you understand the significance of adding “unless I hate you”? Christian or not, I’ll tell you, there’s no place in the Bible where you’ll find “unless I hate you” said in the same sentence as “do not be afraid”. So why do some Christians insist on hating?
Do not be afraid. Unless I hate you? Read More »
What is freedom of religion? It depends. Who gets to define freedom? And who defines religion? Maybe even who defines “of”. We’re looking at China in this series, but the same issues come up everywhere. It’s all about who sets the rules. One thing we can be sure of – it’s not God. Not in China. And not in my country or yours either.
Here’s the thing about freedom – of religion or of anything. See that eagle flying around in the sky? That eagle is free. But he’s probably looking for someone to eat. Something alive. And when the eagle finds his target, a little bit of freedom is lost. A life is gone. And the eagle remains free.
With people, freedom of religion is kind of like that. Someone’s “flying around” above us. Someone who either doesn’t like our religion, or likes theirs better. Sometimes they hate our religion so much they want to kill it. If they’re strong enough – they can certainly take out individual people. Even any given church building. But can they destroy an entire religion?
What is freedom of religion? Read More »
Is it possible to have “freedom of religious belief” and maintain social harmony? Sounds difficult, doesn’t it. Experience tells us it’s pretty much impossible. Does it have to be this way? Or are there things outside of religion that make it so difficult?
Is it even worse when governments get involved and laws are created? And does it get even worse when the laws are created to enforce “harmony”?
Freedom of Religious Belief versus Social Harmony Read More »
Part of the goal of the Chinese government is to water down Christianity to the point where it retains so little of Jesus’ teachings that it means nothing in terms of salvation. In essence, they are trying to put the Chinese people into the scenario of the Church in Laodicea from Revelation.
We use the word love so much these days that it often doesn’t seem to mean much. There’s lots of love, but without caring. Love without caring. For instance, I love sushi, especially ikura and uni. Add a quail egg, and there’s even more to love. But does that love include caring? No. It’s just food, there’s no caring associated with that love.
But then there’s you, the person reading this. Chances are I don’t know you – and you don’t know me. How can I love you the same way I love sushi? But I do care about you. I care enough about you that I spend lots of time and energy writing things for this site and my other one. That’s caring without love. Or is it?
The problem of love without caring Read More »
Should Christians vote based on where tax dollars go? I know many Christians who think they do exactly that. As in give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. You know the issues. Abortion. LGBT. Immigration – illegal immigrants, emphasis on “illegal. These topics and many others are hot button issues for many on the so-called Christian-right. While they may be “right, in the sense that “right” indicates conservatives / Republicans – are they “right” as in the sense of right and wrong? We’ll get to the liberal left in a moment.
What did Jesus really say to Christians about paying taxes? Read More »
