My wife and I are going through the Bible together, starting at the beginning.  As we’re doing this, I thought it would be interesting to post any questions or reflections here.  I started doing this a while back, but here I’ll be including both mine and my wife’s reflections. 
We don’t hold back: if we find [...]

I am completely unschooled when it comes to medical care and the current healthcare debacle.   I am somewhat neutral amid the propogation and opposition of Obama’s healthcare plan.   His plan, inasmuch as it’s portrayed in mainstream media (and who can trust mainstream media about anything anymore?) makes it sound largely like socialized medicine.  You have [...]

1. lot made the wisest choice he thought possible; ended up living in sodom. abram went where lot chose not to go, and god gave him all – abram made the first (and humble) move, and graciously gave lot first pickin’s. a lot can happen when you do the simple, gracious, giving thing.
2. [...]

Just saw a quote on Twitter from Stanley Hauerwas:
“Before Constantine it took courage to be a christian. After Constantine it took courage to be a pagan.”

What concerns me a little is the tone of this statement.  And it’s funny, because I don’t know the context, so I can’t say anything about Hauerwas’ tone in its [...]

Christianity has its own culture.
Because of this, Paul’s urge to make our calling sure is taking on a new sound for me today, because I am forced to ask myself, “Are you really a Christian, or are you just immersed in Christian culture?”
I think that is a question that we all need to ask ourselves.
See, [...]

There’s a lot about the nature of our God revealed in the first little bit of Nahum (and it’s a very small book, so it wouldn’t hurt to go read it real quick – honestly, took me about seven minutes or so).
The first bit deals with some attributes of God that we post-modern folks [...]

The problem with the gospel lies in our desire to dig holes.
With prideful belief in our inalienable rights to decide for ourselves how we will live our lives, we enthusiastically grab the Shovel of Self and commence digging.  (“The Shovel of Self”- hmm.  I should call Eckhart Tolle – maybe he could write a [...]

Here’s to all you fans of the prosperity gospel. Big suits, big cars, fancy glasses shaped like stars.
God wants you to have it all.
Doesn’t He?
Let’s ask St. Augustine:
But what sort of pastors are they who not only fail to prepare the sheep for temptations, but even promise them worldly happiness?
God himself made [...]

I spent the evening on the patio of our local Panera Bread.  The restaurant had closed, so there was no one else there, and a nice breeze was blowing.  We sat discussing religion, and I was able to vent some frustrations about our modern conception of church.
But we also talked about how us followers of [...]