I caught a YouTuber called MethodMinistries interviewing Seth Dillon (of Babylon Bee fame) about his views on Calvinism. Long story short, Seth isn’t a fan.  One of his best lines was “Satan isn’t a Calvinist”. Why not?  To paraphrase Seth, if Satan understood that certain people were saved no matter what they did or didn’t do while all others were doomed no matter what they did or didn’t do – and it was all predetermined to play out according to God’s eternal decree … why work so hard to draw anyone into hell? Might as well kick back and watch…

Melissa and I had the opportunity to have dinner alone with Caleb last night before he headed back to El Paso today.  I asked him how his acquaintances in the military compare to those he knew in college.  As I suspected, a great many seem to be living rather shallow lives – their time spent on chasing sexual conquests, drinking alcohol, and playing video games.  Reminds me of the famous Henry David Thoreau line: “The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation.”  Hedonism often does a good job of masking the desperation underneath, but it can never erase it.  One…

 All the kids are home and I have decided to spend as little time at my computer as possible while it lasts.  Sharing meaningful quotes, though, is always quick and easy, so here’s one from sDonella Meadows I came across in James Clear’s newsletter: “There is too much bad news to justify complacency. There is too much good news to justify despair.” Everything in me yells “Amen!” at this thought.  And I’d like to think that this is how I approach life in general. 

James Clear is aware of the trap of confirmation bias: “The more an idea is tied to your identity, the more you will ignore evidence it is false. People seem to have no trouble finding reasons to ignore the merits of ideas they dislike.” Is this why people invest so much energy in theological arguments? I can’t think of too many things more closely tied to our own sense of identity than our beliefs about God and humanity.  Clear continues with a concise description of what some call “beginner’s mindset”: “To continue to grow and learn, you must be willing…

Spending time in the developing world leads inevitably to lots of reflection on the nature of charity and generosity and my own responsibility to my fellow man.  And that gets rather uncomfortable. Because, honestly, there’s a part of me that wishes I could shut out all the needs and inequalities and the suffering of others. It’s tempting to throw up your hands and ask, “What difference can I make anyway?” But Scripture doesn’t leave that as an option.  Here’s a passage I came across this week as I have been working on a Thanksgiving weekend sermon: Hebrews 13:9 – Do…