On the eve of Thanksgiving, in the last few quiet moments we will experience at my house for the next several days— before the kids return home from school or their working lives, before my sisters and their families fly/drive in from distant places, before I see my Mom, and my Dad and his wife […]
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While driving through Taylor County in North Central Florida, my eyes were drawn to a large sign advertising a “Fusion Buffet”, which struck me at first as a little progressive for this rural area. It shared a pedestal with a sign for a motel, and beneath the headline of the sign were smaller words that […]
My favorite stories are those of redemption, and I am sure that I’m not alone. Think of great movies you’ve seen or books read, and chances are they involve one or more flawed characters who are faced with an opportunity to play a part in something bigger than themselves, like saving another person or even […]
I live in a coastal town, and the beach is often where I walk or exercise. My wife and I also enjoy winding down in the evenings together by strolling south to the decades old pylons anchored in the sand, especially at low tide when the beach is as wide as two football fields. Walks […]
Some people describe what being a Christian means in very complicated terms. They point to various doctrinal statements and propositions about God, Jesus and the Bible, and insist that embracing them makes one a Christian, and applying them constitutes “the Christian life.” Never mind that a multitude of other churches claiming the name of Jesus […]
There are two primary strategies employed by self-righteous, religious people through the millennia to convey the message to anyone who may be listening that “We’re better than you.” The first, discussed in last week’s blog post, is “religious grand-standing,” that is, calling attention to one’s own good works and religious acts. The other, which we […]
No one likes to be overlooked or ignored, especially when it comes to any good deeds that we do. That is why people have through the ages made it a point to do their good deeds or religious acts in a way that achieves maximum visibility or exposure. Whether it is through long, flowery and […]
When Henry David Thoreau observed over 160 years ago that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”[1], I am pretty sure he had no inkling of specific problems we struggle with in the 21st century. I mean, how could he possibly foresee the national emergency which is the epidemic of opioid addiction, or the […]
“Mercy triumphs over judgment,” wrote the apostle James (James 2:13). That’s good to hear. It seems like there are a whole lot of people these days who are more interested in passing judgment than they are in extending mercy. But James reminds us of what Jesus taught on a hillside long ago: “Blessed are the merciful, […]
I’ve had an ongoing correspondence with a man about spiritual things. We met under unusual circumstances and I learned, in a very tense and difficult situation, that this man identifies as a Christian. So do I. That led to a series of letters that started when he first reached out to me by “snail mail,” […]