I know nothing about Canadian hockey. Nothing except what I have read in two separate books now: a statistical mystery involving birthdays that ultimately had a simple explanation.  A few years ago a researcher noticed something odd about the birth months of Canadian hockey players; from the top school age leagues to the NHL, the following trend was consistent: 40 % of the players were born in January, February or March. 30% were born in April, May or June. 20% were born in July, August or September. And only 10% were born in October, November or December.  The researcher scratched…

 Even more astounding than how incredibly wrong the Pharisees and rulers of the people were in their zeal to please God by executing the Son He sent to them is the incredible depth of forgiveness Jesus offered them from the cross.  He actually prays to the Father on their behalf: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)  Before the Father’s throne, He advocates for His own murderers precisely because they are completely mistaken in what they are doing.  When I am the victim of someone else’s sinful actions, the temptation is to grow even angrier…

So, speaking of not being able to distinguish between being 100% wrong and 100% right, the most incredible example of this has to be the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.  It is hard to wrap my head around how incredibly wrong they were. For three years they pushed back against every sermon Jesus spoke and every miracle He performed. They took deep offense at His every word. They asked Him snarky questions and set verbal traps for Him. They plotted violence against Him and stirred up crowds. Eventually they succeeded in having Him arrested, bringing Him to trial, seeing Him brutally…

Here’s another truth I picked up this past year like a stray dog that unexpectedly followed me home one evening and now has become loved and cherished even though she is often annoying and demanding of attention. (Yes, I am thinking of Ginger. God love her.) Here it is in a nutshell from Scott Adams: “No matter which side is right on any given topic, the one thing we know for sure is that being right and being wrong feel exactly the same to all of us. We can’t tell the difference. If we could, everyone would agree on everything…

 This is my annual soapbox speech about the benefit of one of the most under-utilized of the spiritual disciplines: fasting. Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the season of Lent as we anticipate the arrival of Easter.  For years now I have participated in the longstanding Christian tradition of “giving up something for Lent”. Over various years I have given up candy in general, chocolate in specific, meat, colas, and even snacking between meals. A good fast is one that involves fighting some temptation on a daily basis. Something that causes a bit of pain to go without.…

 I am using this space to kick around some ideas and process them a bit, and see which ones stick. In that process I am more than willing to admit I could be wrong about absolutely anything that I write here. A few days ago I wrote “All sin is birthed from a legitimate need that takes a wrong turn.” Now, maybe the word “all” is too strong in this case.  Or maybe it isn’t. I’m still pondering. At any rate, I was reminded recently of the story of the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 and, lo and…

 In thinking recently about how sometimes when we face trials we get the sword, like James, and sometimes we get the angel, like Peter, I was reminded of a tough conversation I had had with one of my supervising teachers during my student teaching days. Mr. D was a an upright and conscientious man and a good role model for me in the classroom. I appreciated his guidance and valued his judgment. That’s why I was stricken with shame for making him terribly angry one day. You see my grandfather passed away in the midst of my student teaching and,…

 We’ve all heard “Love the sinner, hate the sin.”  And the first half definitely seems on target: God absolutely calls us to love the sinner. But who says we need to hate the sin?  I guess “hate the sin” sounds good and righteous in theory, but in practice it amounts to “judge the sin”, which isn’t even a hop, skip or a jump from “judge the sinner”.  Maybe “hate the sin” would be passable advice if it wasn’t for the fact that we all have a huge self-righteousness problem. (Have you ever noticed how other people’s sins are so much…