A man once asked, “Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?” His name was Solomon, the third king of Israel. Despite having 700 wives and 300 concubines, he appears to search for an alluding answer. Perhaps the first woman to walk the earth can help us in searching for an answer.
Read MoreOpening his eyes after a deep sleep, Adam’s gaze was fixed upon the most alluring figure. In that moment he announces, “She shall be called woman”. Adam’s identifying announcement is either a matter of orthodoxy, myth, or something else. If orthodoxy, his words bring a great deal to the table in identifying a woman and questions of how he knew. If myth, his words can be read as mansplaining by not giving Eve the opportunity to identify herself, “My name is Eve, I am a woman and I go by the pronouns she and her."
Read MoreWe’ve all read tales of hope or despair.
You may have read classic stories like David Copperfield (Dickens), Tom Jones (Fielding) or Les Misérables (Hugo). If you have, I guarantee your imagination latched on to a growing theme of hope as you turned each page.
How do I know? It’s what the author intended you to experience. Victor Hugo said of his novel Les Misérables, “So long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of this nature cannot fail to be of use.” The story of Jean Valjean has brought hope to many as a tale of redemption!
Read MoreWhy are college students becoming dumber in America? Perhaps Orson Wells was correct predicting that colleges would one day teach anything, including a degree in mud pies. The answer is well-documented: long-term decline in IQ scores, verbal competence, the ability to emotionally cope, social skills, and overall maturity are diminishing. But it was not always this way.
Read MoreRemember wearing masks?
The inconvenience of it all, and in hindsight, the debunked reasons for wearing a mask in the first place. Preventative for sure, but with no guarantee. Every State, City, and School District seemed to have a different set of rules for the same virus. Though we toed the line, I don’t think the virus was listening.
And listening is something that requires you to take the mask off, not from your face but from your mind and heart.
Read MoreSelf-help books are an oxymoron…because they are written by someone else! I’m not opposed to self-help books, but considering the industry is currently valued at $44 billion it does give pause for thought that people are searching for something clarifying about themselves. Choices on the bookshelf are as varied as Baskin Robbins selection of 1,400 ice-cream flavors (originally 31); and the methods of self-help are just as numerous.
Read MoreJoy, in the biblical sense, is a choice. It’s not something that happens to you. It happens within you. St. James wrote that we are to “count it pure joy” whenever we face challenging times. If we are to espouse joy in difficult seasons of life, why does there seem to be a lack of intentionally embracing this heartening experience?
Read MoreConflict of faith and doubt are a necessary irritation to the soul. The irritation presents itself as an unavoidable chafing to the soul when we pray. As such, we are haunted by the words, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). But dare we admit it? If we do, the result of doubt aggravating faith quite often forms the most beautiful pearl of possibilities, in that, “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). In the waiting room between the ascension of Christ and His return, we face moments of crisis where doubt unwantedly rubs against our faith. Embrace it.
Read MoreThere are many recorded accounts that could be called “almost-drowned”[1] where vivid experiences are explicitly shared. They involve consciousness, lungs burning like hot lava, brutality where everything goes black, sheer panic, and shock. Neurologists and phycologists point out these terrifying sensations inform us we are still alive, albeit for a few moments.
Read More“I don’t believe in God, but I miss Him.”
Wow, what a statement!
In his fictional work A Sense of Ending, Julian Barnes describes the journey of a schoolboy all the way to retirement. The book left me with the impression of an honest reimagining of the nameless father who said to Jesus, “I believe but help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). More importantly for this blog, the statement perfectly sums up the conundrum of our present reality. On every platform, virtual or in-person, there is an increased desire to be personally authentic. That desire, however, can go too far missing the One who encompasses all authenticity and originality.
Read More“It’s a boy!”, said the doctor.
Two years later he said the same thing when my second child was born, “It’s a boy!”
Three years later the midwife announced something I was hoping for, “It’s a girl!”
The doctor and midwife were not assigning a gender as each of my three children made their debut in the world. What they did was count their fingers and toes, tested their eyes and ears, measured their weight and length, listened to their heart, maneuvered their joints, and noted their genitalia.
Read MoreIn this blog, I want to build on that foundation by looking at four conditions that shed further light on this elemental understanding of human identity: chaos, order, non-order, and disorder. Recognizing these conditions, albeit briefly, will help navigate our thinking through what seems to be an idolatry of identity today. So, let’s begin at the beginning.
Read MoreThis next season of blogs is all about the subject of human identity from various positions. In this first blog, I want to lay a foundation for what follows that supports a biblical understanding of human identity. The reason for this series is self-evident in our world, at least in the West: identity politics[1] is now atomized and organized in such a way that history is now anti-history, religion is anti-religion, and culture is now anti-culture. A brief explanation will help.
Read MoreThis is my final blog about Advent as we approach Christmas Day where we traditionally celebrate the birth of Christ. The theme of Advent in this final week is love.
In the mid 20th century, a lady called Avid B. Christiansen wrote a poem that later became a hymn. You might not know it in this blog, but I guarantee you’ve heard it at some point. It is called, “Love Found a Way”.
Read MoreOnce upon a time – 1674 to be precise – a baby boy was born to a loving husband and wife. Their names were Isaac and Sarah. It was during this time that people began to pull away from the established church – or the Church of England to be precise. Those who would not conform to the State Church were known as dissenters. People of that time, like Isaac and Sarah, could not enroll at Oxford, Cambridge, or any other prestigious university for their education unless they were members of the Church of England. Without this membership, they could not run for any public office or become a member of Parliament.
Read MoreJesus would often say to his disciples, “You have heard it said…” (Matt. 5:17) and then continue by quoting various sayings that were common in his day. Likewise, we’ve all heard it said many times, “Listen before you speak.”[1] It not only makes sense, it’s good manners as well, right? Well, Jesus would follow his comments with, “But I tell you…” (Matt. 5:18). It’s the conjuncture “but” that I’d like to capitalize on to contradict the saying that is allegedly filled with sense-making and manners.
[1] First coined by American author William Arthur Ward (1921-1994). He created numerous inspirational maxims in his poems, articles, and meditations.
Read MoreWhere are you right now? Not your location, but your current circumstances. What word or phrase describes your situation? Happy or depressed, included or lonely, healthy or addicted, joyful or grief, focused or aimless, or something else? Wherever you are, it is precisely from that place where you can begin a meaningful journey through the season of Advent.
Read MoreIn his allegorical story called Animal Farm, George Orwell writes, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”[1] The animals on a particular farm were rebelling against the concept that humans did not distribute resource, opportunity, and privilege equally. In pursuit of Comrade Napoleon’s vision of an egalitarian world – where all animals can be equal – the livestock passionately rebel against the human power structure.
Read MoreI’m going to take you from the sublime to the ridiculous in this blog, and for the first time, I’m going to sincerely be an advocate for women’s rights, or more specifically, women’s rights in competitive sports.
Read MoreLogic and reason are being ushered out of the room. What’s left is a growing fog of how beliefs and values are expressed and especially the language that is used. Once upon a time logic and reason cleared any foggy notion that came up in conversation, but we are now seemingly left to the unquestionable people that lack rational thought.
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