Mystery And Subterfuge In The Blogosphere
Things are not always what they seem. Seems I’ve been had, deceived by some people who feel that the New Covenant allows us to use lies and deceit in our dealings with one another. Interesting, to say the least.
Have Progressive Christians Abandoned Too Much?
The realm is there, surrounding us, but maybe we have become too intelligent or perhaps too religious to seek and embrace it. In our quest for being the right kind of Christian, or sometimes for just not being the wrong kind, is it possible that most of us, conservatives and progressives alike, have become Christian extremists, losing the center of what our faith is really about: not right belief, not right words, not right denomination or politics, but an intimate connection with the God who created us, an inner peace unlike any our five senses can provide? It’s scientifically inexplicable. It’s mystery beyond any words. Yet there is where we most clearly experience and encounter God.
How the West is Helping to Destroy Christianity in Syria
Because most Christians in Syria have remained neutral in the two-year civil war and some have supported the government, the insurgents with the ‘Free Syrian Army’ perceive Christians as enemies. Consequently, they have begun systematically confiscating land belonging to Christians, in addition raping women and killing children. Dozens of churches have also been desecrated or completely destroyed, mainly around Homs and Aleppo.
Astoundingly, the anti-government ‘Free Syrian Army’ is considered moderate by the West and is supported by the David Cameron, the Obama administration, NATO and the EU.
Can We Stop Talking About “Millennials” Now?
What would happen if we opened up just a little room to explore the idea that not getting our way may actually be ‘The Way?
What We Should Be Talking About When We Talk About Miley Cyrus
The problem is not Miley Cyrus. The problem isn’t any one person. Not Lady Gaga or Keisha or that guy who sings “Same Love.”
The problem is always, always sin—sin in Miley onstage and sin in you as you listen to her songs on the radio and sing along or read articles about her on-again, off-again love affairs in the check-out line.
Sin is what you saw in graphic detail on your television on Sunday night. And sin is what you see most every other night, too—on tv and in your chair.
Save the World, Lose Your Own Family…One of the Biggest Issues Facing Ministers
If you are a minister, make sure you make time for two things: 1) Self care: this is time developing your inner self, dealing with your issues (pride, guilt, messiah complex, boundaries, etc) and 2) Your family: don’t leave them in the dust while you pursue your passion and dreams. Make sure to walk along side them. Help grow their faith. Foster in the life of your spouse a deeper relationship with God. Enable your children to develop a deep passion for kingdom work. What good is it if a man saves the whole world but loses his family in the process? Be wise. We are called to sacrifice…sometimes we sacrifice things for the church and other times, if we are wise, we will know when to sacrifice church things for family. This takes wisdom and it won’t always come naturally to you but it has to be done if you are going to make it.
No, thanks: Stop saying “support the troops”
In reality, the troops are not actually recipients of any meaningful support. That honor is reserved for the government and its elite constituencies. “Support our troops” entails a tacit injunction that we also support whatever politicians in any given moment deem the national interest. If we understand that “the national interest” is but a metonym for the aspirations of the ruling class, then supporting the troops becomes a counterintuitive, even harmful, gesture.
Hong Kong’s paper crafters work overtime to feed hungry ghosts
The Hungry Ghosts festival that has prompted Ha’s exquisite labors centers on a superstition that the spirits of the dead return to Earth during the seventh month of the Chinese Lunar calendar, which runs from August 7 to September 4 this year.
Five meters (16 feet) long, Ha’s boat is one of numerous paper offerings ordered by Buddhist temples at this time of year, when many Chinese around the world tread more cautiously and make an extra effort to appease the roaming souls.
Man blows up house inflating air mattress
But the mattress was leaky, so he used an industrial strength puncture repair spray to try and fix it. This reacted with the inbuilt electric pump, causing a violent explosion which threw him across the room, ripped doors off their hinges and smashed windows.