“My Precious”: Entitlement

Recently there were a couple of stories in which people disappointed me. The first happened during a Colts home game. A player on the opposing team attempted to throw his helmet against the wall out of frustration. However his helmet stuck a bit to his glove, and ended up flying into the stands instead. Obviously this wasn’t good, though the fan in its path saw it and caught it without injury. Now if I had been in that situation, I don’t think it would have occurred to me to do anything but give the guy his helmet back. I have no use for it, and he needs it for the game. Sure, it wasn’t good for him to have thrown his helmet at all, but it going into the stands was an honest mistake, and “no harm, no foul”.

However apparently the Continue reading →

Judgmental God?

The other day I was thinking (as I often do): one of the most common views of God is that he is looking over our shoulders, just watching for us to do something he doesn’t like, and when we do, he gets all mad and upset at us. I wondered why it is that this view is so common, and then I realized: maybe it’s because so many Christians are this way—or at least the most outspoken ones. Maybe God is seen as unloving, unaccepting, unforgiving, and judgmental because many Christians are seen as unloving, unaccepting, unforgiving, and judgmental.

“If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it Continue reading →

Spiritual Conduits

There are different ways we connect with God. Different people connect with God better through some means than others. Below are listed nine spiritual “conduits”, which is adapted from “Spiritual Pathways”1:

  • Study (Intellectual): connecting with God through study, ideas and theological concepts.
  • Exhortation (Activist): connecting with God through actively challenging people in the areas of social justice, evangelism and/or morality.
  • Service (Caregiver): connecting with God through serving others and helping to provide for their needs.
  • Enthusiasm: connecting with God through joyful emotional expression and enthusiastic worship.
  • Nature: connecting with God through immersion in nature.
  • Sensation: connecting with God through artistic Continue reading →

Differing Attitudes Toward Friendships With the Opposite Sex

I recently read a blog post by Dan Brennan which I thought was very good. (Unfortunately, at the time of this writing I have not yet had a chance to read his book, “Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions” though it is high on my list.) I wanted to take the time to unpack my explanation of the subject, because, while the article is good, I think it could be hard for people to understand due to being unfamiliar with the debate and due to certain words commonly being misused.

The topic at hand is intimacy between people of the opposite sex. First of all, intimacy has often been used to refer to only physical intimacy, or sexual intercourse (though these aren’t even the same). However intimacy is much more than that, and doesn’t even Continue reading →

God and Country

Last week I was at an outdoor church service. They did communion and during this time, they put various “color” shots up on the video screen. (“Color” is lingo for camera shots of scenery, settings, objects, etc., which are nice backgrounds but aren’t the main programming.) During communion I noticed that they put up a couple of shots of the American flag. I realize that most people would think this was nice and not see the least problem with it—in fact they are likely to think this is a good thing. However it greatly disturbed me.

To me, displaying the American flag prominently during communion was a sign of just how highly we American Christians think of our country. While I imagine few people consciously think this, it’s like Continue reading →

Who Is Most Important and Influential?

You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder them.
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do? The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies, awards tarnish, and achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do Continue reading →