Blog Archives
Who Needs Facts When We Can Speculate?
Jon Stewart had fun with it (in a nice way), David Letterman wasn’t so nice but both were responding to the sheer idiocy of the furor over an ancient scrap of papyrus suggesting that someone named Jesus used the word “wife. ” It is only because we are so desperate for Read the rest of this entry
Ambition Needs The Killer Instinct.
If you can understand him, old Will Shakespeare gave us some great insights. Try this one for size: When Macbeth had his ambition stirred by three witches pointing out he could become king by assassinating his faithful lord, he drew back from committing the crime.
His hardened wife read his letter hinting at his emotions and mused of him: “Thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without the illness that should attend it.” Read the rest of this entry
How To Really Get Ahead In Life.
Is ambition good or bad? Desirable or something to avoid at all costs? Is it okay to want to get ahead in life or is the spiritual person suppose to be free from all that stuff and just passively accept whatever life brings? Read the rest of this entry
Condoms Are The Solution, What’s The Problem?
Earlier this year there was a conference which included serious consideration of how to address the problem of abortion for Christian women. Of course we’d like to deny this is a problem but then we are also likely to consider unfavorably a woman who felt she needed an abortion – single mother, cover-up adultery, dysfunctional family, date rape, unwanted children . . . Read the rest of this entry
How Much Does it Cost To Go To Hell?
We get so used to hearing this the other way around: counting the cost of being a disciple, that we forget that every choice has its own set of costs associated with it. “It costs a man just as much or even more to go to hell than to come to heaven,” Soren Kierkegaard. Read the rest of this entry
If You Really Loved Me You’d Do It!
Last post left us with the dilemma of what to do with the guy on the end of the rope. On one hand we have the opportunity to prevent a person from destroying himself by his own action but the price of doing so means that we can no longer do anything else and are held as helpless captives. None of this results from a conscious choice we have made beyond our willingness to help anyone we can. Read the rest of this entry
Why Do Women Hear God More Than Men Do?
Here’s a chance to put the gift of skepticism to use. Christianity Today ran a recent article with the sensational title: Why Women Hear God More Than Men Do. It’s a respected magazine with wide readership among Christians so we might expect Read the rest of this entry
The Astonishing Benefit of Crippling Doubt
“My doubt is actually part of my faith,” says Andrea Dilley . In fact, without doubt we would have no need for faith. We tend to think of these as opposites and, of course, we value faith and despise doubt. Beware the person who is Read the rest of this entry
Six Practical Steps to Freedom From Resentment
She grew up feeling she was different from other girls. She hated the way her uncle forced her to keep their secret and she lived in dread of the times when she would have to stay at his house. Read the rest of this entry
How To Be Offended, Resentful and Forgiven All At Once.
| Eric Kounssays, “And finally, even as God is able to forgive only those who recognize their need of His forgiveness and call upon Him for it, we are able to offer forgiveness only to those who acknowledge their offense and request it (Luke 17:1-4). “Forgiveness” which is not acknowledged and received by the offending party is not genuine forgiveness at all. It may make us feel better, but it is not really forgiveness.”One of our discerning readers has raised an important and very practical question which needs to be considered, “How would you counsel a Christian who has been sexually abused by his father, for example, where the issue has never been reconciled?” |
