Our stress levels have been on the rise recently. I suppose we were about due – it seems you can’t go too many months without some major stressors creeping into your life. Especially as you get older. Melissa’s mom underwent surgery this week to remove a cancerous growth and we are anxiously awaiting reports which will determine next steps for her. Grandma’s health issues have cast a bit of a pall over upcoming special family events – like her own 70th birthday and Caleb’s college graduation  – which would have otherwise been pure joy. Melissa is weighed down with her…

During my childhood, the United Methodist Church rarely left a pastor in one place for more than 4 or 5 years. By the time I entered the 8th grade, Ray Brown was the third man to pastor my home church in Shelbyville, Indiana.  I never much liked him. This was due partly, I suppose, to the fact he had replaced Reverend Jack Haskins whose son was my best friend. The bigger problem was that Reverend Brown was a phony. I picked up on it quickly: The man couldn’t be bothered to learn my name or any of my brothers’.  So…

I have to admit that for years I ignored this C.S. Lewis Classic because of its title. Eventually I figured out that The Great Divorce was NOT about marital problems. The word “divorce” in this case is used in its broadest sense of “separation”.  So the “great” divorce to which Lewis is referring is the separation between Heaven and Hell.  If you are wondering, it’s not one of Lewis’ scholarly works – it is every bit as imaginative as his Narnia books or Screwtape Letters. And just like he does in those books, Lewis is able to sneak up on…

Any attempts made by churches or youth ministries to scare people into the arms of Jesus under the threat of Hell are counterproductive. Yesterday in Sunday school, we were reading the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18.  You probably remember the story. A King decides to settle accounts with all of his servants. The first to be called owes a huge debt. Under the threat of being sold into slavery along with his wife and children, he begs for more time. The King does one better and completely erases the debt.  But then the story takes a dark…

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. In reflecting on 2 Timothy 2:7, I was reminded of this quote from famous Christian missionary, Jim Elliot: “We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are “harmless,” and therefore unharmed. . . . We are “sideliners” — coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much…

I grew up the third son in a line up of 4 boys. So I was a middle child … and painfully shy.  I remember on every occasion my mom had to introduce her children to someone, she would give each of us a label: “This is Ryan; he’s our oldest. This is Spencer; he’s our athlete. Here’s Russell; he’s our youngest” – at this point Mom would reach behind her, pry me loose from her leg, and drag me out into the open – “and this is Steven, he’s our Quiet One.” I was timid, to say the least.…

Here’s another of my book reviews for class. This book was on how the Bible was pulled together: Review of F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture, Intervarsity Press: Downers Grove, 1988.  Introduction: The Question of Belonging Unlike Muslims or Mormons, orthodox Christians lack the easy solace provided by a mythology of sacred writings delivered by heavenly messenger, simultaneously dictated, recorded, and canonized. On the other hand, many believers simply never question the Bible’s origin, blissful in their ignorance. The risk, however, is falling prey to forces intent on attacking the validity and authority of Scripture, sometimes even from within…

If you will indulge me, I want to share a follow up to yesterday’s snippet of my exchange online with a Calvinist named “Dulls”.  (No comment. 😏) I ranted for several paragraphs about how the Calvinist presuppositions about God determining all things makes their God a sadist, creating billions of sentient beings who are born predestined to die and face God’s wrath. There is no definition of “love” which could be stretched to encompass God’s apparent feelings towards those destined for hell. He hates them. And Dulls is OK with that.  (A bone-chilling admission for a Christian.) How did Dulls…

I have been arguing with Calvinists on YouTube again. I try to resist, but sometimes I get dragged into it. And once I start, I always have to get the last word, because in online arguments, THAT means you won the debate. 😉 This post offers a current snippet of a back-and-forth that has gone on for several days. My Calvinist friend, Dulles, has accused me of ignoring context AND the plain meaning of various verses. Now he protests I have “twisted everything”. (Yet he keeps coming back for more!) Below you will find his objection and my windy response,…

Mercy:  1.”compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence”.  2. “an act of kindness, compassion, or favor” (dictionary.com) I watched my dad once inflict a hearty load of emotional stress on a couple of teenage girls. He had caught them shoplifting at our family business, Major’s Five & Dime on the corner of Harrison and Broadway. Phone in hand, Dad threatened to call the police and outlined the repercussions these two young ladies would face: charges, fines, a record. They sobbed and pleaded for mercy, beside themselves with fear,…