My thoughts

I grew up in an “independent / fundamental” Baptist Church. There was a huge list of “dos” and “don’ts” that was our primary understanding of life. Our world view was to grudgingly hold to this list for fear of offending God and being sent to hell. Of course, in our own delusion, we lived as if it wasn’t so much wrong to do these things as it was to get caught. The “don’ts” were basically: no dancing, no going to the movies, no smoking, no playing cards (except for the game, Rook. For some reason this card game escaped the condemnation of the “fundys”), certainly no sex before marriage, no gambling, no sports on Sunday, and probably a few more that I…

What is the goal of parenting? I think to put it in a very condensed nutshell; it is to “train a child up in the way they should go.” Of course, that’s the easy part; defining the goal. Now, application, methodology, etc., this is what all the books have been written about. It seems to me that to some extent, most authors have approached the subject from an outcome based perspective rather than what I would consider a more biblical, obedience based approach. What do I mean by this distinction? An outcome-based perspective would simply be to find what works and go with it. However, the Scripture spells out very clearly that we are to live in obedience, and while our obedience…

I was reading an article this morning titled; “What is 'gender-affirming care' for trans youth? The subject, the “T” in LGBTQ, is in the news on a nearly daily basis of late. One of the phrases that is often used when looking at this subject is, “assigned at birth”, as in the sex that a person is “assigned at birth”. Interesting phrase. It would suggest that, at the moment of birth or shortly after, those attending to the birth, I would assume primarily the physician, has the authority to “assign” the birth of the child. There is no mention of genitalia or any other physical feature that might be involved in this “assignment”, rather that it is just “assigned”. Now, hopefully, the…

There are 4 Foundational principles of knowledge; Law of non-Contradiction Law of Causality (Cause and effect) Basic or limited reliability of sense perception Analogical use of Language One of those laws, the law of causality or cause and effect, is the one that most directly speaks to “actions and consequences”. Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is the agency or efficacy that connects one process (the cause) with another process or state (the effect), where the first is understood to be partly responsible for the second, and the second is dependent on the first. Simply put, every effect has a cause and every cause has an effect. When we say or do something, that action, whether verbal or…

One of the more recent conversations I’ve had with a person who is hostile to Christianity (actually hostile to all religion) got me thinking about a most common practice among both those hostile to the faith and those of the faith. That is looking to something or someone other than Christ/Christianity to form their view OF Christianity. This person frequently pointed to the occurrences of January 6, 2021, the scandals that involved those professing to be Christian, the President voted for by many who identify as Evangelical Christians,  those passages in the Old Testament that would be seen to be contrary to the teachings of Christianity, as well as those who teach a different Gospel but identify as Christian. One of the…

By nature, I am not a detail-oriented person. I tend to think in generalities. I would choose the broad brush before I would choose the one for the more intricate work. As I’ve gotten older, I have seen more and more the importance of details and how they affect the larger picture. One particular verse has been of great help in my re-education. Most people, including myself (up until recently), when asked if they could quote I Peter 3:15 would say something along the lines of; always be ready to give an account of the hope that’s in you. If that was their answer they would be both right and wrong. Right, in that the verse does have that thought and those…

  “Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. All may change but Jesus never, Glory to His name.” This song, written by A.B. Simpson was one that was sung often at my home church during my earliest years. I remember it well. It had a very distinct sound that made it easy to remember, though I never gave any real thought to the words and their implications…until many years later. When we are young, we know virtually nothing of “change”. We pretty much, subconsciously, think that, when we wake up in the morning, all will be as it was when we went to sleep the night before. It’s mom or dad who alert us to changes. When I was growing up, and…

It appears to be contrary to our nature to invite criticism. I know I don’t like it when someone points out an apparent or potential flaw in my thinking. None of us want to think that we may be wrong. In fact, we go to great lengths to protect our perceived ‘rightness”. Of course, this may be one of the great ironies of the day. Over the past several months I’ve had an ongoing conversation with a friend..  Our conversation (carried out on line, through email and Facebook) can get pretty contentious at times but usually ends (for the time being) with a smiley face or a light-hearted bit of humor. This is, of course, necessary to express the emotion that is…

As is often the case for me, I was inspired to write this after reading the following article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-siebold/pennsylvania-pastor-wrongly-suspended_b_4310212.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592 I would encourage you to read the article to give a fuller context to the rest of this article. Words have meanings. And though there was never a time in history when we all agreed on the meaning of all words or statements, there has never been a time in my lifetime that “meanings” have been so diverse. The statement below is a great example. The article above is about a United Methodist minister from Pennsylvania who had been suspended from the church for 30 days after performing a marriage ceremony for his son to another man. There are three statements that I…

The Sin That So Easily Besets One of the arguments I have heard regarding the normalcy of homosexuality from both the more general public to Christians to atheists and everyone in between is that “they” were born this way and didn’t have a choice. My initial response to that was negative, given that God calls homosexuality sin, why would someone be born that way. Certainly, God wouldn’t create a being with a desire that is contrary to his ordered way. Yet, many say they have been same-sex attracted for as long as they can remember. The argument from the “other side” is mostly that it is environmental. Exposure at a young age to homosexually erotic material, sexual abuse, peer pressure, are said…