Category: Uncategorized

I started reading James Farwell’s, This is the Night: Suffering, Salvation, and the Liturgies of the Holy Week, and I came across this quote: Some social theorists, historians of philosophy, and theologians argue that the narrative structure of the modern myth of “progress,”—the structure of the “idealist diamond” that reduces suffering to a concept—was bequeathed… Continue reading Progressive Suffering

I saw this billboard the other day. There was a phone number that went along with it. I’m sure they’ve received some calls about it, and I pray that they have been successful in helping people remain in the faith. However, that a Christian organization felt the need to put this up is disturbing, not… Continue reading Losing Faith In God?

I am generally pretty open about my struggles with depression. I’ve even discussed my suicidal thoughts. I have made plans, and never (obviously) fulfilled them. The other day, I watched a webinar on our identity in Jesus Christ. It was a good webinar, don’t get me wrong, but it managed to trigger something. During the… Continue reading Unneeded

Job lived 140 years after this, and saw his children and grandchildren to the fourth generation. Then Job died at an old age, having lived a full life. Job 42:16-17 (ISV) The global population continues to grow. The rate is slowing, and that’s probably a good thing. The earth is a finite resource and also our… Continue reading What Have We Lost?

Part of me wanted to make this post at Devotion.al, but I realized this might be less devotional than Devotion.al deserves (a problem when you write at both, and the lines are often gray). Christians have long been trained to abhor the word hypocrite. Jesus has a thing or 10 about hypocrites. The problem is… Continue reading Vain Hypocrisy

I’ve been a co-lead pastor for a church for less than a year. I’m tired. The first time I wanted to quit, my senior pastor said… If you can do anything else in your life, and believe that is indeed what God wants you to do, then do it. Ed Eby I might have gotten… Continue reading Can I quit? I want to.

In the Parable of the Talents, there are 3 servants listed: the really successful one, the not as successful one, and the fearful failure. Jesus taught in parables, leaving room to interpret. I’m taking some liberties, I know, though I expect I’m not the first one to think of it. The consensus is that Jesus… Continue reading The Unspoken Servant

Does the church need buildings? Is the church a building? Does God? Who does?

When scripture and Christians discuss rich and poor, what really is being discussed?

At the beginning of Christianity, it was an outsider religion, but still functioned within the confines of a restrictive climate. In Romans 13, Paul discusses how Christians are to treat authority. Moving to today, are we really listening to Paul’s words?